You don't say?
A couple of statements I encountered today basically begged for a very, very facetious response of "You don't say?"
--After being told of a new outsourcing scheme undertaken by a company in the past fiscal year, a shareholder at an investor conference said to the CEO ( in all seriousness and as if it were something that differentiated him from other investors): "I'm a very big fan of low cost processes, so, kudos."
--The cover story in my alma mater's alumni magazine this month is an introduction to Michele Moody-Adams, the new dean for Columbia's undergraduate college. The headline on the magazine's cover describes her only as "a strong advocate for undergraduate education."
Things I Used to Buy That I Don't Love Anymore
I recently read a few scary articles about all the bad stuff in normal sunscreens and shampoos. Please note: I've linked to the articles there for reference, but if I were you, I wouldn't read them. Ignorance is more blissful (and a lot less expensive) than obsessing over ingredient lists and buying only all-natural personal care products.
Anyway, I didn't think it'd be too hard to find all-natural hair products I liked. For years, I almost exclusively used conditioner from an all-natural brand, Nature's Gate, not for fear of chemicals but because I just loved the smell and how shiny it made my hair. I'd kind of forgot about Nature's Gate and hadn't used it in the past couple of years, but I figured it'd be easy to buy a couple of bottles at my trusty neighborhood health food store and get back on the wagon.
Well, they had Nature's Gate products, but they definitely weren't the same. First of all, the brand has a new slick look, which was disappointing, since I loved the old hippie bottles.
But the really awful part was how much they've changed the formula. This is the ingredient list from the old Nature's Gate conditioner:
Purified Water, Extracts of Chamomile, Nettle, Ho-lien-hua, Nelumbo Nucifera, Comfrey Root, Cherry Bark, Schleichera Trijuga, Kusambi Bark, Burdock, and Yucca, Vegetable Emulsifying Wax, Coconut Oil, Methylparaben, Myrrh Oil, Lavender Oil.
This is what goes into the stuff that's now sold under the Nature's Gate label:
Water, Cetearyl Alcohol, Quaternium-87, Polysorbate 60, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract, Urtica Dioica (Nettle) Extract, Prunus Serotina (Wild Cherry) Bark Extract, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Flower Extract, Arctium Lappa (Burdock) Root Extract, Yucca Schidigera Root Extract, Lilium Candidum (White Lily) Bulb Extract, Nelumbo Nucifera (Sacred Lotus) Flower Extract, Quercus Alba (Oak) Bark Extract, Butylene Glycol, Glyceryl Undecylenate, Phenoxyethanol, Fragrance, Caramel.
What's up with that? Well, a little digging seems to shows that the formula changes got under way in August 2006, about a year and a half after Levlad, the company that's always made Nature's Gate, was acquired by a private equity firm. Surprise, surprise.
Don't get me wrong: I know M&A can often be a great thing for brands, but what the acquirer did here puzzles me. Why would they buy Levlad only to make so many unpronounceable additions to its flagship product right now, as more and more people are scrutinizing ingredient lists? The new formula may be cheaper to make, but I'd personally be happy to pay double what I used to pay for Nature's Gate just to have the old formula back-- and I'm sure I'm not the only disappointed former fan.
Oh well, it's back to the haircare drawing board for me. Any suggestions for *truly* all-natural shampoos and conditioners are very welcome!
Anyway, I didn't think it'd be too hard to find all-natural hair products I liked. For years, I almost exclusively used conditioner from an all-natural brand, Nature's Gate, not for fear of chemicals but because I just loved the smell and how shiny it made my hair. I'd kind of forgot about Nature's Gate and hadn't used it in the past couple of years, but I figured it'd be easy to buy a couple of bottles at my trusty neighborhood health food store and get back on the wagon.
Well, they had Nature's Gate products, but they definitely weren't the same. First of all, the brand has a new slick look, which was disappointing, since I loved the old hippie bottles.
But the really awful part was how much they've changed the formula. This is the ingredient list from the old Nature's Gate conditioner:
Purified Water, Extracts of Chamomile, Nettle, Ho-lien-hua, Nelumbo Nucifera, Comfrey Root, Cherry Bark, Schleichera Trijuga, Kusambi Bark, Burdock, and Yucca, Vegetable Emulsifying Wax, Coconut Oil, Methylparaben, Myrrh Oil, Lavender Oil.
This is what goes into the stuff that's now sold under the Nature's Gate label:
Water, Cetearyl Alcohol, Quaternium-87, Polysorbate 60, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract, Urtica Dioica (Nettle) Extract, Prunus Serotina (Wild Cherry) Bark Extract, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Flower Extract, Arctium Lappa (Burdock) Root Extract, Yucca Schidigera Root Extract, Lilium Candidum (White Lily) Bulb Extract, Nelumbo Nucifera (Sacred Lotus) Flower Extract, Quercus Alba (Oak) Bark Extract, Butylene Glycol, Glyceryl Undecylenate, Phenoxyethanol, Fragrance, Caramel.
What's up with that? Well, a little digging seems to shows that the formula changes got under way in August 2006, about a year and a half after Levlad, the company that's always made Nature's Gate, was acquired by a private equity firm. Surprise, surprise.
Don't get me wrong: I know M&A can often be a great thing for brands, but what the acquirer did here puzzles me. Why would they buy Levlad only to make so many unpronounceable additions to its flagship product right now, as more and more people are scrutinizing ingredient lists? The new formula may be cheaper to make, but I'd personally be happy to pay double what I used to pay for Nature's Gate just to have the old formula back-- and I'm sure I'm not the only disappointed former fan.
Oh well, it's back to the haircare drawing board for me. Any suggestions for *truly* all-natural shampoos and conditioners are very welcome!
Macro-micro-blogging
I feel like I have Tweet-worthy thoughts, but if I signed up for Twitter now I'd just be awkwardly, far-beyond-fashionably late to the party. Not sure what to do about this in general, but for now I'll just post a couple micro-thoughts on my macro-blog.
- My favorite "Wait, what?" sentence from the September 2009 issue of Harper's Bazaar: "Because it's smothered in sequins, making it the perfect wear-anywhere item for our times."
- I was recently shopping for a petcare gift certificate (my sister's starting a Ph.D. program this fall and would
probably enjoy a day or two off of caring for her Yorkie.) Turns out, reading reviews of pet boarding
places on Yelp is a sure-fire way to get freaked out. Is this because lots of pet owners are ridiculously over-protective and will never be satisfied with anyone else's care of their pet? Or is it that no matter what cute name you
give it (doggy daycare, luxury puppy hotel), it's a kennel, and most kennels just aren't especially nice places?
Flying over everything
Today I experienced my second major poem finding success story! This one may be even sweeter than the first, since I've been searching for this poem on and off since I read it once in 9th grade--10 years!-- and the difficulty of my quest was compounded by the fact that it was originally written in Spanish.
But somehow, when I randomly conducted my search tonight (a highly sophisticated method I've developed that is basically typing some general concepts that I'd remembered from the poem into Google) it came right up. Maybe they really are constantly improving the algorithm over there?
Reading it now, I'm pretty impressed that I was so enraptured with this poem at the age of 15 (when I was very naive to romance, as I would remain for a good number of years thereafter.) I suppose it stuck with me so much because it spoke to exactly what I thought I'd want to find in a future ideal beau-- and I have to say, the 15-year-old me was pretty right on the money.
Amor Sin Amor (Love Without Love)
By Luis Llorens Torres
I love you, because in my thousand and one nights of dreams,
I never once dreamed of you.
I looked down paths that traveled from afar,
but it was never you I expected.
Suddenly I've felt you flying through my soul
in quick, lofty flight,
and how beautiful you seem way up there, far
from my always idiot heart!
Love me that way, flying over everything.
And, like the bird on its branches, land in my arms
only to rest,
then fly off again.
Be not like the romantic ones who, in love, set me on fire.
When you climb up my mansion,
enter so lightly, that as you enter
the dog of my heart will not bark.
But somehow, when I randomly conducted my search tonight (a highly sophisticated method I've developed that is basically typing some general concepts that I'd remembered from the poem into Google) it came right up. Maybe they really are constantly improving the algorithm over there?
Reading it now, I'm pretty impressed that I was so enraptured with this poem at the age of 15 (when I was very naive to romance, as I would remain for a good number of years thereafter.) I suppose it stuck with me so much because it spoke to exactly what I thought I'd want to find in a future ideal beau-- and I have to say, the 15-year-old me was pretty right on the money.
Amor Sin Amor (Love Without Love)
By Luis Llorens Torres
I love you, because in my thousand and one nights of dreams,
I never once dreamed of you.
I looked down paths that traveled from afar,
but it was never you I expected.
Suddenly I've felt you flying through my soul
in quick, lofty flight,
and how beautiful you seem way up there, far
from my always idiot heart!
Love me that way, flying over everything.
And, like the bird on its branches, land in my arms
only to rest,
then fly off again.
Be not like the romantic ones who, in love, set me on fire.
When you climb up my mansion,
enter so lightly, that as you enter
the dog of my heart will not bark.
