Natural leaders

These four beauty insiders are making a difference in your looks and helping the planet in the process.

By Mary Rose Almasi

In the world of beauty, you have many options: Recycle containers from your shampoo/conditioner, skin-care or makeup products; educate yourself about botanical ingredients; and use products that create less waste. For each of the following beauty insiders, these actions are integral to their daily work ethic. Whether they're trying to improve the world by contributing less to overburdened landfills or by spreading knowledge about how to -- respectfully -- tap the planet's riches to look beautiful, these pioneers from different sectors of the beauty business all serve Mother Nature.

A champion for the planet
John Paul DeJoria, chairman and CEO of John Paul Mitchell Systems

John Paul DeJoria's Tips for Happiness

• Get your hair cut, styled or blown out at a salon.
"Self-esteem starts at the top," says DeJoria. One of his favorite Paul Mitchell hair-care products: Tea Tree Special Shampoo ($9; call 800-321-JPMS for salons near you), which "literally makes your scalp tingle," thanks to oil from the tea-tree plant.

• Smile.
Starting your day off with a smile makes all the difference, says DeJoria, who adds: "Happiness should come first, health second and wealth third."

• Read Be Nice (or Else!)
by Winn Claybaugh (Von Curtis Pub., 2004), a book about making kindness a part of your daily life. "This book makes you feel good instantly," says DeJoria.



Minimalist guru
Mary Tkach, executive director of environmental sustainability for Aveda Rebecca James Gadberry's Beautifying Advice

Mary Tkach's Tips for Healthy Beauty

•Delve into the origins of the beauty products you choose.
Tkach's love of particular products is closely tied to the relationships she's formed: "For the company and for me personally, I can't help but care deeply about the indigenous people once I've met them." In her shower, Tkach uses Aveda Shampure Shampoo ($9; aveda.com) with its blend of aromatherapy essences. "I love the aroma, which is a mix of lavender and orange, but I choose this product because it contains babassu and I think about the people I've met in Brazil whenever I use it," she says.

• Surround yourself with the friends and people in your life who make you happy.
Being happy radiates outward and can make you more beautiful, says Tkach.



Holistic herbalist
Barbara Close, founder of Naturopathica skin care and Naturopathica Holistic Health Spa

Barbara Close's Healthy-Living Tips

• Take a break to make tea.
"It's the perfect five-minute escape," says Close, who maintains a window box where she grows lemon balm, verbena and geranium -- herbs known for their calming properties. When she wants to relax, she picks some leaves from each plant and makes her own herbal brew.

• Give your skin a massage.
Whenever Close has 10 minutes, she treats her clean facial skin to a gentle steam bath by hovering over a bowl of steamy hot water, which helps clean the pores. She follows with a massage using an ounce of lightweight jojoba or sweet apricot oil plus a few drops of an essential oil. (Try lavender if you have oily skin, chamomile if your skin is dry, geranium for normal skin and neroli for an acne-prone complexion.)

• Keep your skin hydrated.
Close's current favorite moisturizer from her product line is the Creme Cassis Bio Amino Replenishment Cream ($85; naturopathica.com), a concentrated, lightweight blend for all skin types with omega-3 fatty acids (which help strengthen skin's natural moisture barrier, preventing water loss) and black currant-derived hyaluronic acid (a highly effective skin humectant that binds water to skin, and in doing so, helps keeps it soft).



A gardener at heart
Rebecca James Gadberry, cosmetic chemist

Rebecca James Gadberry's Beautifying Advice

• Protect your skin's natural moisture barrier.
Start your daily skin-care regimen with a gentle cleanser (one that won't leave skin feeling tight, a sign that the barrier has been disrupted).

• Look for moisturizers with lipids,
ceramides and essential fatty acids. These can help maintain skin's natural moisture barrier, thus preventing water loss, says Gadberry.

• Protect your skin from inflammation.
Gadberry prefers plant-derived anti-inflammatory ingredients like aloe and lavender, or PLA2, a compound that helps buffer damage from everyday exposure to wind and sun and is found in Estee Lauder's Verite sensitive skin-care line ($22.50-$60; esteelauder.com). Another skin-soother: white tea. Find it in Origins A Perfect World White Tea Skin Guardian ($47), for the face; A Perfect World for Eyes ($25); and A Perfect World hydrating body lotion ($25; all at origins.com).