the truth serum

At the end of the rainbow, there’s this delicious power plant bowl waiting. Now that we’ve officially turned the calendar to autumn, it’s time to get inspired by fall flavors. We turn once again to the seasonal plant-based recipes in one of our favorite cookbooks, “Plant Power Bowls:  70 Seasonal Vegan Recipes to Boost Energy and Promote Wellness” by author Sapana Chandra. Here’s the recipe for the Rainbow Quinoa Bowl, with Lemon-Tahini Dressing.   Sounds perfect for days when the sky is grey (as it often is in Seattle). This recipe is packed with craveable ingredients and a fun mix of...

The Castor Oil plant is one of the oldest cultivated crops in human history, dating back about 4,000 years!   Castor oil (Ricinus communis) is made from pressing the seeds of castor beans, producing an oil thicker than olive oil, with a pale yellow color.   Cleopatra kept a stash for her beauty rituals (the Queen of the Nile was such a trendsetter).  The story goes that she especially liked how it made her hair shiny – making it perhaps the world’s first conditioner.  So why is such an ancient ingredient getting so much buzz today?   Essentially, it’s getting a rebrand.  As...

We’re elated to announce the return of our beloved Wonder Whip lip whip.  It’s still “naked” (or “untinted” if you’re shy), but now has a hint of sparkle and spearmint, which makes it really refreshing.  You could say we’ve done a literal “refresh” of one of our classic products. Wonder Whip is near and dear to us because it’s the foundation of our Evergreen Giving Back program.  When we started Kari Gran, we knew we’d want to make giving an ongoing part of our business.  We decided to donate to organizations who are doing the hands-on daily work to make...

Know that feeling when you’ve just met someone and feel like you could talk for hours? That’s what happened when I recently had a phone chat with Dr. Emilia Javorsky.  She’s co-founder and chief scientific officer of Sundaily, a company that makes a pair of gummies targeted to boost skin health. It was “Hello” followed by 30 minutes of fun, lively conversation.   Almost instantly, we realized we share a passion for a simple, holistic approach to skincare:  healthy skin comes from a healthy lifestyle, not just products you use on your face.  Her philosophy mirrors our own: “We focus on...

“We don't need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly.” -Anne-Marie Bonneau, Zero Waste Chef This is a story of a boy, a bag of old batteries and a dilemma. Owen was 6 when he first tried to figure out where to dispose of used batteries in Seattle    He knew they had chemicals that were bad for the environment and shouldn’t go in the garbage.   It was harder than he thought.  After a few phone calls, but he found a safe place.  Then he started collecting from his neighbors and with...

If we’re good to our bodies‑—eating healthy, drinking plenty of water, exercising and getting enough sleep—then we usually feel pretty good, too.   But there’s one essential nutrient that up to 80% of people don’t get enough of.   Can you guess what it is? If you answered magnesium, give yourself a gold star! Magnesium plays a central role in just about every bodily process, from the metabolism of insulin to blood pressure regulation as well as being crucial to the health of bones.  It also metabolizes Vitamin D. Talk about multi-tasking! Magnesium comes in many specific forms — it’s not...

I was recently reading a blog on the Lanshin site https://www.lanshin.com/blog/the-gospel-of-hydration-for-saving-your-skin and I was completely  captivated by the idea of approaching the idea of drinking 8 glasses of water in a different way, here’s what sold me “If you know me, you know I love this book. If you see me at work, I literally do not shut up about it. When I suggest better hydrating, many patients say to me, "but I drink SO much water!" And then I ask them to take a picture of my Quench book and order it, asap.” I ordered it.  Asap.  There’s a chapter that really...

It’s hard to believe my little summer project has come to an end and I’ve consistently been doing something for the past two months. Did you catch that extra special word consistently?  I know myself and I’ve got a somewhat limited attention span and the key is consistency. I ended up throwing one more tool into the mix after I was contacted by the Lanshin Treatment Studio with an offer to try out the Lanshin Pro tool.  It’s essentially the Swiss Army Knife of the Gua Sha tools as far as I can tell.  I didn’t originally run out and...

Are you aware that our planet is facing a water crisis? I confess this was only on the edge of my consciousness until it popped up in a  couple of recent articles I read. Here’s what we’re faced with: Increasing water demand from a growing world population, coupled with climate change, making regions dryer than ever, means that we’re beginning to feel the effects of water scarcity. Already, almost 2/3 of the world’s population is faced with water scarcity at least one month out of the year. The majority of this is due to agricultural use, but a warning flag...

Not to be confused with one of my favorite Gold Bars from Fran’s Chocolates!  Oh, and if you’re ever in Seattle, a tour of Fran’s Chocolates facility in Georgetown will not disappoint https://frans.com/stores/georgetown/.   Full disclosure, not quite sure if the one I purchased actually contains any gold at all…..I was seduced by an ad on Instagram over a year ago, long before I was aware of the gold standards of gold sculpting bars from Jillian Dempsey Until I decided to do this summer project, it had sat unused in my drawer. This little summer experiment allowed it to move from...