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Woman of the Week: Linda Stephenson

How often do you look at the ingredients of your beauty products?  It’s not a common practice. Most people are unaware of the chemical names of toxins that linger in popular beauty products. If you’re fairly good at looking at ingredients in the foods you eat, it’s time to become more aware of what you put on your body. That’s where Linda Stephenson comes in. Stephenson is the CEO and the brains behind Mereadesso skincare products, a luxury brand of plant-based products that are targeted to cover a range of skin issues in a one-step approach.

It only took a few minutes of chatting with Stephenson to know she’s a ‘chemically aware’ beauty guru who cares about the health of her skin — and my skin as well. While enrolled at the University of Toronto, Stephenson studied Chemistry and Biology with a minor in Botany. After landing successful positions at Mary-Kay cosmetics and MAC in the mid-90’s, Stephenson moved on to a purely technical position at  Estee Lauder. Stephenson left her corporate roles to work privately with clients and to study brand acquisition, focusing on how beauty products are positioned in the industry.

Stephenson was always on the go and working tirelessly to market well-known beauty products with a reinvented look. When Stephenson started her family and have birth to her son, she barely had time to think. She was used to being the person that was good at branding and helping people, but it became time to do it for herself.

Stephenson loves to travel, and got used to compressing all of her beauty products to fit into her tiny travel bag. As a busy mom. she noticed all her friends had similar lifestyles — working moms, travellers or even guys who are minimalists. That’s why around eight years ago, Stephenson made use of her educational background ,as well as her corporate directory of contacts, to launch Mereadesso, her own skincare line.

“For me it was a natural evolution from a technical background with over 20 years of experience.” said Stephenson “My products are pretty much plant based— I don’t believe in the ‘magic’ ingredient theory. Our skin is an organ, we live and we work, we need vitamins and minerals.”

With this idea in mind, Stephenson set out to nourish the skin by using natural and real ingredients to calm, heal, and soften the skin by supplying the skin with vitamins, antioxidants, enzymes, botanical extracts and minerals that our bodies can extract.

Unlike many water-based beauty products, Mereadesso is over 30 per cent aloe based with infused minerals and vitamins. One of the things Stephenson wants customers who shop in the beauty industry to be aware of is the ingredient list of products. Look for paraben-free products with real ingredients that are easy to understand. For instance, if you want more Vitamin A, the chemical name is beta-carotene or retinyl palmitate, so look for that listing in your ingredients lineup. The highest percentages will be listed first eg: water and the lowest ingredient of percentage will be listed last eg: fragrance.

“Look for the selling point, not the label claim. Take awareness to your own skin, look for what you need and what you can manage.” said Stephenson.

One of Mereadesso’s best selling products is the original one-step and all in one moisturizer. This moisturizer is aloe based and is a combination of a day cream, night cream, serum, primer and moisturizer. It is also a product designed for all skin types. As Stephenson said, most clients would come to her saying they have sensitive skin, but what does that mean ? Stephenson says to look for the commonality in the products you use that can cause redness and rash and most often this is linked to fragrance. Mereadesso products are fragrance-free in addition to being free of sulfates or artificial colours. Over all, there are about seven different product categories that users can enjoy with Mereadesso, including another best seller — the face and neck cleanser. This cleanser was designed to come with a gentle exfoliating cloth for easy cleansing.

” People need to exfoliate. Cell renewal rate slows down as we age and by removing the dead layer of skin cells, this prompts our skin to renew.” Stephenson said.

Stephenson pays a lot of attention to packaging. For instance, the travel kit comes with a reusable pouch. This kit was actually one of the selling points for landing Stephenson’s products in luxury retailer, Nordstrom. Most products don’t have a secondary purpose, but Stephenson plans to utilize her packaging.

In fact, Stephenson let me in on another skincare secret — avoid buying anything in a jar. The blanket rule is that the preservative system in a jar is there to kill mould and bacteria from forming on your moisturizer, but after being exposed to air and the constant dipping of your hands, the preservative system has to be more aggressive, which is no use to your skin. Mereadesso uses pressurized products in metered dose pumps to protect the product and keep out bacteria.

As Mereadesso continues to grow, Stephenson keeps her team small, but mighty, as her products are mostly available to order online in the United States; although it is also being featured on The Shopping Channel and is available at Nordstorm.

If you are wondering about the name Mereadesso, it was simple. ‘Mere’ means mother in French and ‘adesso’ means ‘now’ in Italian. When Stephenson became a mother, this was when her life changed and she decided to put all her beauty steps into well-rounded and unisex products for minimalists. Because of this, and more, this name will always be close to her heart.

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Sustainability

Toronto launches #KissesforBees at city hall

Toronto is buzzing about bees. A new art installation popped up at city hall Friday — a giant pair of red lips with milkweed plants inside of them. The idea is to attract native bee pollinators and promote education around the importance of protecting these buzzing critters.

The City of Toronto, along with Burt’s Bees, Wildlife Preservation Canada, and Live Green Toronto, were at Nathan Philips Square to reveal the art installation and promote bee pollination in the city. “Some people don’t realize how important bees are, but like we heard today, every three mouthfuls of food is pollinated by bees and without them we aren’t eating,” Councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon said. “It is important that we plant pollinator gardens and educate people on the importance of bees.”

Sustainable T.O. executed the design of the art installation on behalf of Burt’s Bees and it took a large team to complete the project. “Burt’s Bees created the conceptual image and I worked with a fabricator to produce what we see here,” Environmental Designer at Sustainable T.O. Joel Anderson said. “There is an internal skeleton that supports the design and there are hundreds of hexagonal tubes that formed the shape. Then holes were carved into the installation to put the plants in.”

Pollinators such as bees need native plants to thrive and the entire plant ecosystem depends on bees to grow food and flowers. “There are 15-20 species of bumblebees that are native to Ontario and are currently endangered. There are many species of bees that are crashing and we are trying to stop it. Pollinators are important so that plants can have sex. This is one of the most critical elements of our ecosystem and a lot of plants rely on bees,” Executive Director of Wildlife Preservation Canada Randal Heide said. “Monarch butterflies will also benefit from the milkweed. Unfortunately, farmers hate milkweed and use pesticides to kill it, but disseminate monarch butterflies. In the cities, we have banned these pesticides and we have green spaces. Cities are probably a safer place for bees and butterflies.”

The art installation is a part of a larger campaign that Burt’s Bees is running to promote pollination in Toronto. They have launched the #kissesforbees campaign and for every lipstick sold, their partner Wildlife Preservation Canada will plant 100 wildflowers. The art installation will be featured until the end of June and will then be a part of the pride parade in July.

After that, the perennial milkweed plants will be donated to the David Suzuki Foundation who will distribute them to locations around Toronto to help further promote bee pollination for years to come.

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Bee pollination
Sustainability

What’s the buzz on bee pollination?

When was the last time you saw a bumble bee? These magnificent yellow and black critters are supposed to fly from plant to plant, pollinating them and allowing these flowers to grow into fruitful crops; but, something has happened. The bees are slowly disappearing — and with them the world’s hope of becoming sustainable.

Broccoli, cantaloupes, cucumbers, pumpkins, blueberries, watermelons, almonds, apples, and cherries are few of many fruits and vegetables that rely on bee pollination to grow. When bees drink nectar from a flower, they brush against the stamens (the male reproductive organ of a flower) and pollen sticks to the hairs on the bee’s body. The bee then transfers the pollen to the stigma (female reproductive organ) of the next flower it visits and fertilization occurs, which creates a fruit with seeds.

Unfortunately, bee populations have been decimated due to genetically modified crops and increased amounts of pesticides used on foods. According to Honeylove, an American urban beekeeper’s non-profit, there were over five million bee colonies after WWII. There are less than half that amount today.

There is also a common misconception that the honey industry actually helps the bees, but this is not the case. Instead, large commercial honey brands use corn syrup to feed the bees instead of letting them keep their honey, and it results in sick colonies that have a lower rate of survival. Honey is also an essential food source for bees to survive in the wintertime and replacing this vital resource with a sugar substitute like corn syrup does not provide bees with nutrients and vitamins they need to pollinate properly. Instead, there are rising occurrences of bee colonies dying off entirely from a corn syrup diet because it lacks the enzymes and nutrients found in honey. If society leaves the bees in their current situation, the insect may go extinct and many of our essential foods will die off permanently with them.

So, what can people do about it? First of all, try planting some bee-friendly plants, vegetables, and fruits in your garden. Bee populations vary depending on their region, and the best way to ensure bees flourish is to plant native plants. Bees thrive with open native blooms where they can access the nectar and carry pollen easily from flower to flower.

bees milkweed
Common milkweed is another affordable and local plant in Ontario.

Second of all, build and hang a bee hotel near the garden. Simply nail together a box with one open side, and fill with blocks of wood or logs that have small holes drilled into them. This provides tunnels for the bees to nest in and wind-protection on the other side. Join a local beekeeper’s group to learn more about bees in your particular region.

Bees plants
Bees love Anise Hyssop Flowers and they are local to Ontario!

Ontario’s ecosystem really does depend on the buzzing creatures — with the world claiming a sustainable future, let’s not forget about these small and easily ignored insects. Not many people enjoy having a buzzing sound in their ear, but without it, the world is so much bleaker.

When was the last time you saw a bee? Let us know in the comments below!

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Sustainability

Going green in Toronto with these community apps

Toronto is growing to be an environmental city with greener buildings, more emphasis on city cycling, and vegan restaurants popping up everywhere.

Alongside the new green trends sweeping across the urban landscape, apps that focus on sustainability and green initiatives are gaining in popularity as well. From biking apps to basic trading, there are many different ways to engage with your digital environmentalist side. Women’s Post has compiled a short list of interesting and revolutionary apps below:

BIKO

BIKO is a new cycling rewards app that recently launched in Toronto after having success in Bogota Columbia, Mexico City, Vancouver. For every kilometre cycled, the app will give one ‘biko’ point. Potential prizes you can receive with these ‘biko’ points include free coffees, beer, helmets, cycling parts, and discounts at partnering restaurants. The rewards are relatively easy to obtain, especially if you are a commuter cyclist, as exemplified by a free Jimmy’s coffee that costs 10 Biko points. The app also offers cycling maps across the city and you can record your cycling routes to share with other friends who use the app.

My City Bikes Toronto

This cycling app is useful for beginner cyclists and offers several links to cycling maps in Toronto, biking rules, and bike stores where equipment is offered. It also offers cycling paths specific for families, road and commuter paths, and safe paths for women to travel on at night.

Bunz

Bunz is a community sharing app where you can trade an item in exchange for another. The app is extensive and offers trades for items, a chat link to let people know about events in the city, job offers, and helping people with volunteer opportunities. It is a great way to connect into Toronto’s urban community and to find anything you need without an expensive price tag attached.

Live Green Toronto App

Live Green Toronto is an app that uses an interactive map to help people living in the city find green businesses easily, while updating to find the best ‘green deals’ available. Live Green also pledges to plant a tree every time 20 deals are claimed, which is a positive initiative towards living green in the city. It also provides green business owners with a way to reach more customers through the app.

Ontario Nature Forest Foraging Guide

The Ontario Nature Forest Foraging Guide is a fantastic fit for nature lovers who want to teach themselves and their families about the various types of plants and trees in Ontario. It provides information on how various plants and trees grow in each season, and whether they are edible or not. A few of the plants including burdoch, willow, yarrow, and birch. It offers pictures of the plant and where to spot it as well. Definitely a cool app for people who love looking for plants and trees in the forest.

There are many sustainable apps and these are a few options that are specifically being used in the Toronto area. Whether it be cycling, re-using items, or hiking in the forest, trying to engage in as many environmental activities when living in a large city is essential to keeping the world clean!

Which are your favourite green apps in Toronto? Let Women’s Post know in the comments below.

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Home & Garden

Ringing in the spring with adorable crafts

Spring is here and what better way to ring in the new season then to make decorative themed crafts with the kids. While Spring is known for its dreary, rainy weather, it doesn’t mean the family can’t have fun. Spring-themed, DIY projects are trending across the internet, and Women’s Post has helped you sort through Pinterest. Here are five craft-ideas that are sure to keep your kids entertained, and dress up your house for the flower-season.

A Bird House

Building bird houses can be done in so many different ways, but using a hammer and nails is a fantastic opportunity to teach kids (and brush up on your skills) of rudimentary carpentry. Simply get six pieces of evenly squared ply-wood and ensure one side has a door. Then use the hammer and nails to create a box and voila! You will have a state-of-the-art bird box. Make sure to get paint that is made for wood surfaces so that you can decorate your bird feeder with vibrant colours.

If you are not comfortable allowing your kids (or yourself) to use a hammer, head to a nearby craft store and purchase a pre-made box to decorate. Don’t forget to pick up some seeds so that the birds are enticed to hang out in your backyard!


Homemade wind chimes
There are many ways to make a homemade wind chime, but one of the easiest versions uses materials found in your own backyard — a stick. Lay the stick flat and tie a series of strings around it with three quarters of the string hanging down. Thread beads, wooden toggles, and other noise-making materials from the strings. Make sure they are different colours and feel free to add a bell or two for that nice ringing sound. Tie up the ends of the string and make the pieces different lengths for more visual interest. Tie another string to the stick in order to hang the wind-chime. Be sure to put it outside or in a window so you can hear it clanging away.


Planters in jars 
If there are any glass jars left over from winter preservatives, a way to re-use and recycle is to use the old jars as planters. Simply buy a bag of soil and seeds that can grow in small planters indoors (herbs like basel, thyme, or lavender) and plant away. Try to find a variety of herbs or coloured indoor plants for a beautiful visual effect. Place the jars by a window in your kitchen or living room so they have access to sunlight. These planter jars can brighten any home and give your house a fresh spring look.

Painted rocks

Painting rocks is a simple and enjoyable family activity, and doesn’t require a lot of planning or materials. Simply go to a nearby beach and collect a series of rocks with a flat surface to paint. Use acrylics to paint the rock. There are several animal templates online to for cute rock animal, but be creative! These rocks can be used in the backyard as stepping stones or simple decoration when leaned against a wall.

Paper flowers

The classics! For paper flowers, gather a few different colours of tissue paper and pipe cleaners. Pile the tissue neatly one on top of the other and fold them together to make an accordion. Once the accordion is completely folded into one lengthwise fold, wrap pipe cleaners one third down the tissue to make three parts. Cut above the pipe cleaner. Fan out the tissue around the pipe cleaner and fluff the paper up to make a beautiful paper flower. Place it in a vase (no water) decorated with paint and paper.

 

What are your favourite spring crafts? Let us know in the comments below! 

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Teaching the cycle of life — with gardening

Gardening can be used as a powerful tool to teach children the interconnectedness of all things — including our dependence on and understanding of how the cycle of life works. It may appear to be a bit deep of a conversation to have while your family plants their tulips and herbs, nevertheless I think it’s an important connection to emphasis.

Plants are born, and once they die, they can return the next year in a new form, or grow into something else that helps the earth. This process of gardening helps children understand the concept of life and death cycles in a larger context. We are all born, we all die, and what happens to us is merely within the nature of life itself. Using gardening as a teaching tool for kids to understand the philosophical inquiries of the meaning of life may seem a bit far-fetched, but what better way to concretely show how the life works in its most natural state.

When my daughter was young, we had a garden of beautiful hybrid tea roses in our backyard and the two of us would tend them in the summer. She would help me dig up the dirt with her little bucket and we would watch these beautiful flowers bloom. On the other hand, we would also watch these flowers die at the end of the season. Every year, it would make my daughter sad. She couldn’t quite comprehend why we would tend so carefully to a set of flowers that would wither away at the end of season. Through a child’s eyes, it made me realize how truly sad it is to watch a brilliant flower slowly shrivel up and fall apart unto their inevitable death.

I explained to my little girl that the roses would return next year and that the flowers have to die in order to be born again. Explaining the cycle of life and death to a child through gardening ultimately helps when a loved one dies as well. It is a way to explain to a child that everything from a flower to a person has to die, but that it gives way for something else to be born in its place. The following year when my daughter saw our beautiful roses bloom again, it also helped to prove that the cycle of life is constantly moving and changing.

Understanding that all living things from plants to people are intrinsically a part of the same world is a connective and vital experience as well. It may also be interesting to explain that the cycle of life means that we return to the ground once we die, and become something else again.

It is hard work to tend to plants and help them grow, and ultimately is an example of how life works in itself. Next time you are in the garden with the kids, talk about the cycle of life — it is sure to be a beautiful, philosophical experience for everyone involved.

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Sustainability

Five vegetables and fruits to grow indoors

As someone who doesn’t have a backyard, I miss gardening greatly. But, with a green thumb and a little bit of ingenuity, gardening indoors is possible. Growing fruits and vegetables in your home can be simply satisfying — seeing something grow from a seedling to something we eat can be deeply rewarding, not to mention delicious to consume.

1. Avocado 

Avocado trees can be grown indoors and produce a delicious fruit that is full of iron and vitamin E. The best way to grow avocados is to purchase a small avocado plant and place it in an area with high ceilings, because it can grow to over 11 ft. high (though this takes a number of years)! Make sure to plant with sand in the bottom of the pot to avoid the avocados becoming waterlogged. Potted plants can sometimes become clogged with water and then the plant itself drowns. Water daily, and prune the shoots for optimal growth.

sprouts-763457_1920

2. Microgreens 

Microgreens includes sprouts, radishes, kale, swiss chard, or beets. Fill a shallow tray with soil and moisten with water. Sprinkle the seeds evenly and place in direct sunlight, preferably on a windowsill. If you do not have access to direct sunlight, grow lights that can be purchased at most local gardening stores. Water with a light spray bottle daily so the sensitive plants won’t become waterlogged. Microgreens are relatively easy to grow and taste delectable in a summer salad.

Fresh herbs. By Suzanne.
Fresh herbs. By Suzanne.

3. Herbs

The easiest edible plants to grow in both indoor and outdoor gardens are herbs. Dill, basil, and rosemary are popular options and will leave your living space smell delightful. Planting in a shallow planter similar to microgreens and placing close to sunlight will help the herbs grow. Basil needs as much sunlight as possible. Remember to prune the herbs so that they flourish.

Lemon Tree.
Lemon Tree.

4. Lemons

Lemons can be used to flavour dishes and adds a refreshing taste to a cool glass of water in the summer months. Purchase a two to three year old dwarf lemon plant from a nursery and put it in a pot that is slightly bigger than the bulb of the plant. Use a draining plate in the bottom of the pot to catch extra water. Mist the leaves with water and keep the soil moist. Lemons need at least 12 hours of sunlight daily to thrive.

5. Oranges 

Similar to lemons, dwarf orange trees can grow successfully indoors while potted. Purchase a tree from a nursery and pot it with a draining plate to allow access water to leave the soil. Spray the leaves and keep soil moist in the sunshine. Buying both an orange and lemon plant together would be a worthy purchase considering their care is so similar.

Get growing indoors, and enjoy the increase in oxygen flow in your home, and fresh food on your table. What do you grow indoors? 

 

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