One of the biggest triggers is if I change from my regular laundry detergent, or stay at a hotel when they seem to use quite strong detergents.

For many years I have been using the Ecover range and in particular I find the Ecover Zero Non Bio Laundry Liquid a great help with my skin.
It is totally unscented, which I like, but even the regular Ecover detergents don’t have the strong chemical scent of mainstream laundry detergents, which I find very overpowering.

A while back I also recommended Ecover Zero to a friend whose child had eczema all over his body. Although his eczema didn’t clear completely at that time, they certainly felt there was an improvement over other products they’d tried.
I have used Surcare from time to time too and my skin seems to get on OK with that, however, I try to go for Ecover wherever possible due to its excellent eco credentials.

I have always avoided biological detergents as I believed that the enzymes in them might prove irritating, however, most of the time biological detergents also contain synthetic fragrance as well, so if you do react to the product it can be hard to know whether its the enzymes or the fragrance that are causing the problem.

On balance for now my top recommendation for the best laundry detergent for sensitive skin is Ecover Zero Laundry Liquid, and our friends at Big Green Smile UK stock the entire range.

Do you agree? I’d love to hear about your experiences and recommendations for the Best Laundry Detergent for Eczema Prone skin, please comment below and share your advice.

Get £5 off when you spend over £50 during organic beauty week. Enter code BEAUTY at checkout. Offer ends 27.09.16.

Organic YOUR September...
Good things happen when you go organic.

It’s here again already!
September the traditional harvest month, time for back to school and new routine resolutions, is also the time when we celebrate all things organic for #organicseptember.

All month long we'll be sharing our knowledge to help demystify organic products.

To help explain the benefits to you, your family and your environment for making the choice to go organic, and with loads of offers available too, there has never been a more affordable time to Go Organic.

Follow us on twitter and facebook and sign up for our weekly offer newsletters to ensure you always stay up to date.

Happy Organic September.

It is important that sunscreens protect against both UVB and UVA radiation to give protection from the burning (UVB) & the cancer causing / ageing (UVA) rays. The cosmetics industry considers that the UVA protection of a product should be in relation to its SPF.  This means that that the level of UVA protection provided by a product is at least 1/3 ratio of its SPF.

The star rating system was created by Boots and is only licensed to brands that are stocked by Boots in exchange for a license fee and is therefore not something that the organic brands can take part in. That is why you don't see the stars on their packaging. There is a very telling article about this here.

The industry wide symbol for UVA protection in a sunscreen product is a small circle with the word UVA inside it.

We have obtained statements from our 3 main sunscreens brands regarding their UVA rating and these are as follows:

Lovea: “The Lovea sunscreens have the highest possible rating for UVA protection.  This is because the UV screening ingredients are made up entirely of zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. Both these ingredients offer the highest possible protection from UVA & UVB.”

Lavera: “Our UVA filter is a 1:3 ratio, so for every 3 UVB rays the sun product protects you from it will also protect you against 1 UVA ray.  There is also a UVA logo on the front of the sun product to show that it protects against UVA as well.”

Green People: “Our UVA protection is equivalent to 3 stars but unlike the conventional brands our products are packed with great ingredients and help sensitive skin. They are extremely well tolerated by eczema & allergy sufferers too.

• Under testing our SPF30 sun lotions filtered out 81.6% of UVA rays and gave a UVA/UVB ratio in excess of 0.60 of the claimed SPF level which is the standard set in the EU Recommendations.
• SPF15 filtered out 78.2% of UVA rays under testing. Because the SPF is lower, this still exceeded the 0.60 ratio and came in at 3-Star protection under the Boots system”

The advice in the media is to look for the highest SPF possible to protect ourselves and our families. But many people are surprised to find that an SPF50 does not in fact offer double the sun protection of an SPF25. The reality is that an SPF30 sunscreen already offers 97% protection against UVB rays, moving up to an SPF50 only offers 98% just 1% more. 

For some people wearing a high factor such as an SPF50 gives a false sense of security and tempts them to reapply less often and stay in the sun longer than is really sensible. Something they won’t do if they are wearing a lower SPF.

Staying out too long without reapplying seriously increases the risk of UVA sun damage because in order to achieve efficacy of the UVA protection the most important thing you can do is reapply frequently and liberally no matter how high the SPF factor.

We highly recommend the sunscreens we stock at So Organic and we use them on ourselves and our children. If you need any advice or help in choosing the right product please don’t hesitate to get in touch or call us on 020 8465 5600.

Lots of So Organic customers use the Mooncup. This little cup is made from soft silicone, which is derived from silica, a naturally occurring compound from the earth. Some people worry of exposure to pesticides, chemicals or bleaches when using tampons or pads but the Mooncup menstrual cup contains none of these.

Non-organic cotton accounts for a quarter of the world's pesticide use. As one of the main ingredients in tampons this is a scary thought. Organic tampons are great though do still absorb (in addition to menstrual fluid) the natural moisture that maintains a healthy vaginal environment. The menstrual cup does not absorb; it only collects flowing blood.

By reusing the menstrual cup every month you contribute fewer tampons to the sewerage system and less pads to landfill. Plus think of the energy required to source, manufacture and transport the material used in what is estimated to be around 10,000 tampons and pads in one woman's lifetime. The menstrual cup is a perfect little sanitary device. You save your body from unnatural substances, you save money and you save the environment all at the same time!

Learn more about the Mooncup menstrual cup >>>

Silk Duvet Review: "I have slept under a long fibre mulberry silk filled duvet for the last 6-7 years. It is feather light and drapes beautifully keeping me wrapped in comfort all night long. It is warm in winter, cool in summer and is very breathable allowing me and my husband to both feel comfortable. Even though with regular duvets we prefer different weights, we both love our 9 tog silk filled duvet and use it all year round. When staying away from home no other duvet ever comes close, even when staying at good hotels we always can’t wait to get home to the comfort of our silk filled duvet! Unfortunately the company we used to get our Silk Duvets from is no longer around. I am so happy to have found Natalie and Snow Blossom to be able to once again offer our customers the joy and comfort of sleeping under silk. The quality of the Snow Blossom products is the best I’ve ever seen."
Sam (So Organic Founder)

 I had never heard of bedding containing bamboo before coming across a luxurious bedding stall at one of the country shows. Just touching a sample pillowcase made of this fibre was very intriguing. It seemed to take away all heat from my hand. Sleeping all night in a heat wave does not diminish this curious phenomenon and both hubby and I awake not at all grumpy!

Panda lovers need not worry, as it is not the same genus of bamboo that the dear creatures like to eat – it is harvested especially for fibre production. I did ask that question as there has been so much fuss and worry about panda feeding habitats.

Happily Snow Blossom bamboo bedding and silk filled duvets and pillows are now available here at So Organic. If you need some advice in choosing, please call our product specialists on 020 8465 5600, they'd love to help.

Man’s consumption of ever increasing amounts of fossil fuels mean that we are now making the polar bear share his home with us as we move in to mine oil and coal.

Polar bears now have a smaller area in which to hunt which means food is harder to find and oil spills and manmade pollution cause danger to polar bears by poisoning their food source and coating their fur so that they can’t keep warm.

We think that if polar bears could talk to us they would ask us to stop spoiling their home and hurting them with our selfish ways.

We believe that we listen to the voice of nature, minimise our impact on the earth and conserve its precious resources and habitats by being green wherever we can. To help convey that message we have made our polar bear from entirely recycled materials that would otherwise have been thrown away.

Lucy Siegle who writes on green issues for the Observer was there filming the car and the amazing reaction to it so hopefully you should be able to watch the film via the Ecotricity website soon.

The Ecotricity eco bond is a way for you to invest your money to get a better return that you would at the bank (7%) and because you’re investing directly with Ecotricity you enable them to invest even more in building capacity to product more green energy quicker. It’s a definite win: win situation.

If you’re looking for simple ways to go green and really make a difference without it affecting your life (other than giving you a nice warm fuzzy feeling that you’re doing your bit), then switching your electricity to Ecotricity is a great step. They invest far more than any other energy company in new sources of green energy, which is what we need to do if we want to reduce our reliance upon fossil fuels and make a sustainable change for the future.

Ecotricity don’t charge any more for their energy either, and price match with the 6 main electricity providers so when there’s no premium for using green electricity, what other excuse can you think of for not using it? We can’t change the world overnight, but we can make a difference by working together to take steps in the right direction. Switching to Ecotricity is a very easy first step. We’ve changed over, and I hope you will too. Switch now….

As part of this initiative, the Deputy Director for Enterprise Policy and Strategy, David Wilson will work with the So Organic Founder Samantha Burlton and Chief Operating Officer Stuart Burlton to see what it is like on the ‘front line’. Stuart Burlton commented, ‘We are looking forward to having David work with us, and showing what running a small business is like in today’s economic environment. The Organic Industry has it’s own challenges, so it will be great to have a senior member of the Department for Business, Industry and Skills working with us.’

The So Organic team have a number of challenges and projects awaiting David Wilson, who is looking forward to stepping in to the business world. David said ‘The experience will be invaluable, and I will be hoping to take back as much knowledge as I can to further the cause of small business within the department.’

The work experience commences in October 2010, and you can follow David’s progress through the So Organic Blog, Twitter and Facebook, and at www.SoOrganic.com.

We're offering 10% off with code CELEB to all customers old and new to try and encourage more people to try organic products.

Also we'll be posting an organic tip every day on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

Finally if you're in the London area come and see us in our Greenwich store for free refreshments and 20% off this Saturday 11/09/10 between 10-12pm!