Out and About: Chicago Natural Beauty Expo and Green Festival 2012

This past Sunday I attended two events. The first was the Chicago Natural Beauty Expo which was hosted by Rachel Odem and sponsored by Miss Jessie's. The first hour and a half was pretty much mixing, mingling and shopping with the vendors. I saw a few things I was interested in but I'm on the tightest budget ever so I didn't make any purchases.

Next,  there was a fashion show which featured designs from the Double Stitch Twins and selections from the Essential Elements  boutique. There were some really nice pieces in the show.  And the models were all shapes and sizes which the audience really appreciated. One full-figured model in particular received a round of applause every time she hit the stage; she "worked" every outfit she had on.

 I had to leave shortly after the fashion show to head to the next event. Oh, and I can't forget to mention the free goodie bag which contained two full size Miss Jessie's products (Super Slip Sudsy Shampoo, Curly Meringue) and a deluxe size sample of Curls Unleashed Set It Off Curl Boosting Jelly. I don't know much about the Curls Unleashed line but I tried Miss Jessie's when I first went natural and didn't care for it much.  Also, I tend to gravitate toward more natural products these days but I will test these out and see what the results are.

Free Canvas Bag

The second event I attended was the Green Festival which took place at Navy Pier. I went with the beau and we got there about 2 hours before closing. This was a good thing because most of the crowd had cleared by then. So no long lines and no crowding around tables (especially those with free samples).

We walked around to check out all of the exhibitors (there seemed to be fewer than in previous years) grabbed some free samples, pamphlets, got a couple of snacks, and bought some items to take home.


Here are some of the things that we bought and sampled:

Dr. Bronners Soaps (free sample)
I have used these soaps in the past and have always liked them. There were tons of samples and the exhibitors let us take as many samples as we wanted. I'm sure they didn't want to take anything back with them.

Wholesome Sweetners-Stevia and Raw Cane Sugar (free samples)

Manitoba Harvest Hemp Hearts (free sample)
These are raw shelled hemp seed hearts which is the very center of the seed.
I have used these in my smoothies before and I like them.

TGIN Ginger Peach Soap ($5)
This soap is from Thank God I'm Natural (TGIN) and it smells really good. I also had the chance to chat with Chris-Tia Donaldson who is the owner of TGIN.

PowBab Superfruit Chews ($8 for 15 chews)
The beau bought these chews and gave me a few. They are quite tasty.  They're made from a superfruit called baobab.These are not available in many stores but they are hoping for people to request at their local Whole Foods and other health food stores. For now you can buy them on Amazon.

RAAW fruit and vegetable juice ($1each)
These were really delicious. I bought two Pineapple Cucumber and got a Better Beets for free. They were $1 at the show but I am sure they are more expensive in the store.


















We also tried fresh coconut for the first time from Peeled and mac and cheese from Soul Vegetarian. And that pretty much wrapped things up. Overall we had a good time and though there appeared to be fewer exhibitors this year, there seemed to be more small local businesses which is a good thing. And we met some very nice vendors/exhibitors with great products and/or information.  Though there was one vendor who I had to side-eye because he looked at my hair with a disapproving look and said, "Looks like your hair could use some moisture." I said, "Pardon?"  He repeated himself and he proceeded to hand me some moisturizing spray. No thanks and sir, you need to go back to salesman school. I didn't say that but that's how I felt. And I was feeling pretty good about my hair that day too; I was getting compliments all day.

Anyway that was my Sunday. How was your weekend?  Do anything fun?