If you’re having a Valentine’s Day wedding, or really any sort of winter wedding, your lips could probably use some work. Winter lips aren’t always the most kissable. Winter air can dry your lips out and even make them flaky. Ick. That said, so long as you have a few days, you can have kiss-ready lips by your big day.

First Exfoliate

Try one of the following treatments…

• Use a small, soft, and slightly damp and warm washcloth to rub your lips gently in a circle motion daily.

• Take a dab of organic honey mixed with a dab of white organic sugar and gently use your finger to  rub the mix onto your lips. This is a yummy and soothing exfoliating rub.

• Use an organic lip scrub treatment such as Kiss Me Over the Garden Gate Lip Scrub which contains organic ingredients and Plum Seed Oil which is rich in Vitamin A, E, and antioxidant.

• For super problem lips, exfoliate then, at night, sleep with a thin coat of natural petroleum jelly on your lips or a rich lip balm.

Next Treat & Prevent Future Problems

You should wear a lip balm or gloss or lipstick that contains SPF, such as Eco-Lips. Yes, even in the winter and yup, every day.

Some people think using lip balm or gloss will dry your lips out more than using nothing. That’s not my experience though. You want to keep your lips well moisturized. I like Bubble & Bee organic products, All Good Lips and Eos. You can also make some homemade cranberry lip gloss if you like.

Top Your Lips

Of course choose a color that suits your skin and wedding day colors. However, in the winter you should go for a satin shine or rich glossy finish, not matte, because your lips need brightening.

The general color rule is that darker, deeper red shades – raspberry and burgundy are good for very pale and dark skin, while bright reds and light berry (think strawberry) are good for medium skin tones. That said, I’m not much for rules. I know what looks best with my skin tone because I experiment and you can too.

One of the best places to find the perfect green wedding ring is at greenKarat. They’re not the only green wedding ring place around, but they are one of the largest. They’ve got a huge beautiful selection and plenty of personalization options to boot.

The Gatsby Band

Eco-perks of greenKarat:

• They “Just say no” to Canadian diamonds – which by the way aren’t so eco-friendly or conflict-free despite what you may have heard.
  All the primary metal in every greenKarat design is recycled, and every gem is either created or recycled. In fact many of their designs are now made exclusively in 100% post-consumer gold.
• greenKarat is realistic, not greenwashing. For example, they note, “While we only carry jewelry which we consider to be ‘mostly’ green, it is almost impossible right now to achieve a perfectly green product.” Rather than trying to be the green king, they provide consumers with a a really nice Green Assay disclosure for each and every component of every product, which covers the ecological characteristics of the jewelry you buy. This way you can use your own green ethics and values against the assay to make a purchasing decision. They also openly share their jewelry practices.
• They calculate all carbon emissions associated with energy usage from mining gold through making jewelry, and offer an opportunity to buy credits which will make your purchase carbon neutral. They send your contribution to a project which adheres to The Gold Standard.
• greenKarat’s offices are operated using 100% wind generated power

greenKarat has lots of rings to choose from including a build your own, or custom green wedding ring option. With the custom option you can build a ring from the ground up or simply substitute various parts – say if you have a vintage stone in the family that you’d like to use. They also have the fab myKarat Registry, which allows couples to create keepsake wedding rings out of gold pooled by their friends and family.

Personally, I think their ready made wedding and commitment ring options are great though, and I’m super picky. Some examples of their work that I love…

My two faves shown above are Watermelon Snow made with recycled white gold and a created pink diamond and Under Blue Ice made with ecologically and socially responsible created diamonds and/or sapphires. Although I like the pink better (I’m a girly girl).

If you’re looking for something more or less flashy, or a basic band, greenKarat has you covered as well. Check out the gallery below for other lovely ideas…

Shown above…

• First Fig
• Celestial Love
• Mont Blanc
• West Egg

Visit greenKarat to learn about choosing your eco-friendly wedding ring.

In the previous post we looked at the problems with diamond wedding rings, which leads us to needing an alternative. Here are some ideas…

Signature Apollo 6 Prong A Ring – R34 – man made diamond shown above

Antique stores: Used is a great way to get an eco-friendly wedding ring and antique stores will have some beauties, as will estate sales and some auctions. Vintage rings look amazing but the downside is that sizing can be iffy, the search can take longer, and it’s harder to find a ring for the groom.

Use your old jewels: If you or someone in your family has significant jewelry it can be melted down into a ring in most cases depending on the material and size of the piece. Talk to a trusted local jeweler or contact GreenKarat to learn more. You can also simply wear a ring that’s been passed down in your family.

Go with alternative materials: Wooden bands are gaining in popularity and are easier to find now. There are many made with sustainable, reclaimed, or recycled wood and some with silver or other accents. The downside is that you’ll need to learn specialty care and I’ve heard that if a wooden ring breaks, it can be impossible to fix. That’s something you’ll want to ask the designer about.

Go synthetic: If you’re longing for the look of a diamond, without the eco-issues, check out synthetic diamonds; basically diamonds grown in lab conditions. Visit Apollo Diamond to get a man made diamond that looks amazing.

Skip the ring: Wedding tattoos and alternative shared jewels are one option. Tattoos actually aren’t all that eco-friendly though, but if you and your mate choose another piece of jewelry, say a shared stone in a bracelet or necklace you’ve got plenty of sustainable options.

What sort of sustainable wedding ring are you interested in?

First in bad news there are not really and truly any conflict free, eco-friendly diamond wedding rings. In good news no one says you have to 100% get a diamond wedding ring. Diamond wedding rings are a confusing topic because of the no-conflict issue.

Is conflict free diamond even a real term?

Yes, plenty of jewelry sellers use the term conflict-free, but it’s not a real certified term by any means. Some jewelry retailers will claim that they track every single diamond from the mine to the polisher to the shop to ensure ethical practices, but the mere act of mining diamonds sets them up as not eco-friendly, and since the term zero or no-conflict diamond is currently self-policing it means little. No one is checking up on diamond sellers.

The Kimberly Process is doing work to track conflict diamonds, but they’re not a certifying party. In fact the entire warranty system endorsed by all Kimberley Process participants, all buyers and sellers of both rough and polished diamonds relies on “personal knowledge and/or written guarantees provided by the supplier of these diamonds.” I.e. again, self-policing.

If you go hunting at diamond stores, even those selling “conflict free” they won’t be able to offer any substantial proof of their non-conflicts.

Learn more:

• There Are No Clean Diamonds: What You Need to Know About Canadian Diamonds
• There are no conflict free diamonds
• Diamonds: No One’s Best Friend?

What can you do?

You can realign your thinking – a diamond is not an indication that your love is real or that you’ll be happily married; other stuff matters more.

You could be unique – everyone has a diamond. In spite of their cost they’re not all that rare. Rings exchanged for love actually have a long history but diamonds as the jewel of choice is only indicated by an early monopoly in the diamond industry that you don’t have to blindly follow. Going with another ring will set you apart and support your eco-ethics.

You should know – if you absolutely need a diamond wedding ring it will not be conflict free and it will mean a cost to the environment.