To start out our retailer series, we would like to feature a dynamic, family-owned brick and mortar store in Brooklyn, NY that is deeply committed to helping their customers make the switch to non-toxic! Junk Free Beauty carries an assortment of sought-after clean beauty and skincare products for the entire family. They have also started an e-commerce store and are slowly on-boarding the brands they carry to their site. The ladies behind Junk Free Beauty treat their customers like royalty; 1. individualized, top-level service in their retail store 2. delivery service of their non-toxic products to local customers and 3. non-toxic makeup and skincare parties! No wonder why Junk Free Beauty is a premiere destination for clean beauty in the Brooklyn area with many, loyal customers!

We love working with Junk Free Beauty because they are so passionate about what they do and if you follow them on Instagram you can actually feel their passion throught the tiles! Give them a follow and you will see what we are talking about!

We asked Gloria Molcho, one of the sister co-founders of Junk Free Beauty some questions about JFB:

How did you get started in green beauty?

Everyone in my family has a different story that brought them into this Green Beauty World. My oldest sister was trying to conceive which lead her to do her own research on products. Once she was pregnant she only wanted to use the safest ingredients. My mother watched my grandmother suffer from Alzheimers and did her own research to figure out why certain diseases are more prevalent in America today than ever recorded. My story with Green Beauty started when I was recruited to open Junk Free Beauty. I just fell in love with the idea of natural clean products. The knowledge I have gained from opening Junk Free Beauty has led me down a path of health and wellness in my lifestyle and the way I eat.

What is your vetting/product selection process?

We have a long list in known harmful ingredients that we do not accept into our store. If we come across an ingredient that we do not recognize, we head to the Environmental Working Group’s website and do our own research.

How is your store different from other green beauty stores?

We offer very personalized help. Our staff is passionate and knowledgeable on every product we carry. We try our best to educate our customers on products enough for them to make their own decisions.

From your many interactions with customers, what do you feel is the hardest type of product for them to transition from?

The hardest thing for most to transition in their life is their deodorant. Nobody wants to take the risk of smelling and/or sweating. Sometimes the first non-toxic deodorant you buy can work, and other times you may have to try a few different options until you find one that works for you. It depends on the person.

Are there any products in the traditional marketplace that you wish were available in green beauty/lifestyle?

I would love if there was a nontoxic version of fake hair fibers for men and women who experience hair loss. I also would love to see a self tanner that has color stay for a few days.       

What is your best selling Pleni Naturals product?

Pleni’s Apple + Broccoli Wash is by far our best selling product, not just by Pleni but of all our baby washes. People love the smell, the packaging and the feel of it. Now that the wash comes in a 16oz. they're selling better than before.

What's next for Junk Free Beauty?

We’re hoping to be able to make some of our own products. Were looking to make inexpensive, bulk size house cleaning products and basic home necessities.

We ask this question in all of our Q and A Blog Series: What are some favorite veggies in your home and how do you prepare them for your family? 

My husband and I love love love brussel sprouts. After washing them, I cut them in half and douse them in a marinade with balsamic vinegar, agave and avocado oil. Set the oven to 400 degrees and lay brussel sprouts on a flat baking sheet until they're golden crispy.

We love this recipe especially over warm brown rice with chickpeas with a lemony Tahini sauce drizzled on top. MUST TRY.

If you stop into Junk Free Beauty at 2154 East 4th street in Brooklyn NY through 5/21/19 and mention this blog post the ladies at JFB will offer you a 15% discount on Pleni Naturals products! Tell your local Brooklyn friends!

We are excited to introduce you to Amber - mother, photographer, and creative spirit who we love following on Instagram. Amber has two young children and is our kind of mom - she likes to cook, lives a healthy lifestyle and is intentional with the clothing, toys and other items she purchases for her family, like skin care products.  Amber reviews the Pleni Naturals products on her blog,  Driftless Wanderings and you can read Amber's experience with our products here.

Once you’ve hit that 6 month mark and start introducing new foods to your baby, it’s every parent’s goal to try and teach their little one about healthy food. We try multiple options to test and train their palettes with purees, mushes, and more. Yet, no matter how hard we try, we are still met with resistance, or worse as they get older and start tasting all the sugary, cheesy snacks their preferences rapidly shift away from veggies and towards the goodies. Picky eaters quickly emerge and meal time can become a major struggle every day. Check out delicious recipes that help our picky eaters explore new foods from Katie at Eat Pretty Darling. Just like it is with adults, the easiest way to stay healthy at the table is to make it a part of multiple aspects of our lives.

Think about the trend of avocado - in the last decade, the consumption of avocado in the US has increased by 79%. Concurrently, avos have been much more prevalent outside of the grocery store or your favorite Mexican restaurant's guacamole.  Now, almost every coffee shop has avo toast, avocado ice cream is a thing, and fresh accessories, toys, and more, frequent our everyday lives.

The effect? We eat more avocado! Our brains are trained by frequency, the more we see avocados out and about, the more we want to eat them too. Think of what we can do as a culture by taking all our favorite fruits and veggies and giving them the same attention outside of the dining room or kitchen.

This very concept is what inspired the creation of Pleni Naturals skincare products! And we are so excited to see that there are more companies out there with the same mission!

One such company is Little Foodie - We met founders Dena and Jessica through Instagram and we immediately fell in love with their collection of onesies and toddler t-shirts with fun, brightly colored fruit and veggie characters on them and whimsical play on words. Seriously, so cute!

To CELERYbrate all things fruit and veggies, we have partnered with Little Foodie and Eat Pretty Darling for an epic giveaway (valued over $100!).

As a family, we've actually been thinking about moving for a couple of years. We love California and have extended family there - but the cost of living is extremely expensive in our California town and we really wanted to buy a house (we've been crammed in a 2 bedroom condo for years and are ready to have some SPACE and some glorious GRASS!). Of all the choices of where to move with healthy living in mind and an outdoor lifestyle, we chose Boulder, CO as the new home town for our family -  and our business! Pleni Naturals is now officially a Colorado LLC! If you purchased products from our website within the last few months you may have notice that on your return label the products didn't ship from California; they shipped from our new location in Boulder! 

Our transition to Boulder has been pretty seamless. The kids are enjoying their new school, they have friends and are involved in activities, and the people here have been very warm and welcoming. Probably the most difficult part of our move has been getting our condo in California ready to sell (which we did) and the endless paperwork, etc. moving the Pleni Naturals business to Colorado ;).  It's all worth it in the end! The kids' have been to a couple of Birthday parties already and Liam recently celebrated his 6th Birthday with lots of new friends at a trampoline park nearby. Rhys' 8th Birthday party is around the corner (a pottery party at the local art studio - she's my little artist) and she is having her first sleepover really soon.

To back up a little bit, about a month after moving from California to Colorado we started looking for a house to buy. Knowing we wanted to buy a house within 6 months after moving to Boulder, we decided to rent a furnished house at first and put our stuff in storage so we wouldn't have to move everything twice. It's been hard and freeing at the same time not having all of our belongings with us! As it turns out, real estate in Boulder is a bit crazy! The market is very competitive and pricey here - just like Northern California (but homes here are not QUITE as expensive). After being crammed in our California condo with two kids for years, we had a couple of prerequisites for the house in Boulder being 1)  Super important to have a two car garage. There are many houses here with a 1 car garage and having space for our cars and storage is really important to us 2) We need at least 3,000 sq ft of living space. No more air mattresses for our guests! We definitely wanted a guest bedroom for family and friends when they visited and a dedicated play space for the kids besides their room and 3) The house couldn't be a total rehab job. We just don't have the time or patience for that. If the house is livable as is and we can work on stuff over time - we can do that. 

We looked at a lot of houses and there were a few that fit our basic criteria but I didn't like them for one reason or another (weird floor plan, back yard didn't feel private, only a 1 car garage, etc.). Then we found a house we really liked and put an offer on it. There were 8 offers on the house and 1/2 of them were over asking price! What?! Are we in the Bay Area or Boulder?! Needless to say, we didn't get that house. About a week later our real estate agent sent us another listing and the house looked really promising from the photos. I went to see the house and right away - seriously loved it! The house just felt GOOD. It fit all of our criteria and I liked it! This is promising! My husband Shane came to see the house the next day and he felt the same about the house as me. So we put an offer on the house and thought we wouldn't get it because of our previous experience. But guess what?! Somehow we got the house! Yay! We finally have our home that we have been wanting for years!

The house already has some great landscaping but I've always wanted to have a bee and butterfly habitat in our yard so I picked up something called a "garden in a box" that is offered here in Boulder. I am finally digging in some dirt in the ground (as opposed to pots, which is all I could do before in our condo) and it feels so good! I can't wait to watch the bees and butterflies doing their thing in our yard (with all the bunnies, too ...there are so many bunnies around our neighborhood!).

We are getting ready to paint the house with a non-toxic option from Benjamin Moore (their Natura® Paint collection) and will take measures to make sure our home is as non-toxic as possible, as this is obviously really important to us. As I selct things for our new home, I will be referring back to some go-to bloggers and all around nice and well-informed gals Janny - Janny Organically, Molly - Maison Pur, Lisa - This Organic Girl and Suzi - Girl Gone Green (I am sure I am missing a few others) as they have great reviews and tips on non-toxic living on their respective blogs.

I plan on writing another post with what non-toxic options we decided to use in our house and will share in time! Running a product company and blogging feel like two separate businesses for me - but I am trying! :)

Thanks for reading! And Boulder - you have another new local skin care line in town! Folks here love shopping and supporting local and I can't wait to see what new doors open for Pleni Naturals.

PS I am big into local, too. Like the photographer I used to take these photos. Thanks, Haley! She has an awesome feed on Instagram too @motherlovinyogi. Here are a few more photos from our shoot with Haley.

xx,

Allyson