As well as Facebook, radio shows and all those other great applications, there are now a bunch of apps that help people to live organically more easily.

First, up there’s Go Organic! which apparently showed people how to get coupons for Earth Day… but now you can use it to find the nearest organic grocery store, just by typing in your zip code.

Then, there’s FiveADay, which tells you exactly what’s in season along with lots of nutritional facts and recipes.

And, there’s YOGA Instructor - which guides you through poses at your own pace. Bliss. Sleepmaker Rain, which simulates rainfall to help you sleep. And aWake! which helps you wake up more gently than the average ear-piercing alarm-clock-style ring. And Tap & Track Calories… which is pretty self explanatory

Isn’t technology amazing?! All we need now, is an app to tell people the benefits of organic skin care ingredients and the problems associated with chemical ones… Apple, if you’re reading, get onto it!

Anyway, If you are lucky enough to have an iPhone, be sure to check out the wealth of apps available. You never know, one or two of them might just help you along the road to better health…

Make sure you step away from all technology for a bit of time every day, however. We all need a bit of natural grounding, after all.

Our heartfelt congratulations must go to Tara Smith and her brilliant Base Coat Serum which has just been named winner of the Natural Health & Beauty Awards’ Styling Product category.

I mentioned celeb hair guru Tara’s range a while back because it really is one of the very few organic and natural hair care ranges I’ve tried that actually works as well as its chemical-laden counterparts. The Base Coat Serum is particularly great and has already captured the attention of celebs and ordinary folk (like Heat Magazine!) alike… and at £4.49 a pop, it’s pretty affordable.

Tara only launched the range last summer but it has already received numerous accolades - the C Curl shampoo and conditioner range won the Kiss & Make Up award for Best Shampoo and Conditioner last year, while the whole range received a Highly Commended for Best Organic Launch at the Pure Beauty Awards. This March, the products were also shortlisted for the Company Magazine Hair awards, while Tara was shortlisted for Celebrity Hairdresser of the Year back in February.

Of course, having more than a handful of A-listers on your books probably helps a bit with the promotion. Her clients (and friends) include: Demi Moore, Anna Friel, Natalie Imbruglia, Marisa Tomei and Rosario Dawson.

Check out Tara Smith’s organic hair care range on www.cultbeauty.co.uk (international delivery available) or at Tesco stores across the UK.

We know SOPHYTO organic skin care works every time, but we still want y’all to have absolute faith in its clinical ability to improve your skin, so we are collecting a group of esteemed doctors who have seen the SOPHYTO light and go as far as to recommend it to their patients.

We’ve already introduced you to the wonderful Dr Frank Lipman - the father of SPENT among other things - and neurologist and nutritionist Dr David Perlmutter has also been a friend of SOPHYTO for ages. But now we’ve added a new doc to our stable - the revered Scott Hernberg.

Founder of New Jersey’s eminent Tomorrow’s Wellness Center, Scott is a veritable jack of all medical trades, but one of his key fields of interest is the non-surgical enhancement of the skin - which includes, diminishing wrinkles, softening sun spots, melasma and acne scaring, improving skin tone, and tightening lax, sagging skin. He is also keenly concerned with optimising natural health practices. As such, SOPHYTO Organics skin care is right up his street…

Scott says: “As a physician founder of a holistic oriented Wellness Center with a strong focus on aesthetic medicine I am very pleased to offer my patients professional grade, certified organic skincare products from Sophyto. My patients use these effective skincare solutions for acne, anti-aging, fine lines, and wrinkles. The products are reasonably priced, and environmentally friendly. Nothing in the marketplace competes with the patient’s satisfaction from using Sophyto. The company is fantastic to work with and provide excellent customer service.”

For more info about Dr Hernberg and are other medic friends, check out our endorsement page.

We’ve noticed that Michael DeJong is getting a lot of publicity at the moment for his new book: Clean Body: The Humble Art of Zen Cleansing Yourself. And, while we fully support the idea of swapping toxic chemical-laden cosmetics for natural alternatives, we’re not entirely sure about some of the recipes he’s proposing.

For instance, DeJong’s “Citrus Derma Bath”, which uses just lemon, olive oil and a little salt. Now, these ingredients are all natural but not necessarily the best combo for your skin. Salt can be very drying, and if it’s ordinary, processed table salt, it will contain no nutrients. And, with a pH of 2-3 lemon is far more acidic than the skin’s normal pH5.5…

So, please tread carefully when concocting your own skincare. Natural doesn’t always mean skin-friendly!

Ghent's popular veggie chain, Greenway Foods

Well, if you decide to move to Ghent in Belgium, then it will be virtually impossible not to. Yes, this 20,000-strong city has decided to make every Thursday a veggie-only day. Obviously, this is not going to be mandated with force, but it will be strongly encouraged, with all of the town’s restaurants agreeing to offer at least one vegetarian meal on a Thursday, if not the whole menu. Schools across the city, as well as one hospital so far, have pledged to get involved and the organisers of the venture, Flanders’ Ethical Vegetarian Association (EVA) hope the universities and other businesses will do so too.

Ghent has long been feted for its vegan and veggie food so this unprecedented move has been met with huge support from residents who kicked off proceedings with a vegeterian foodie street fair last Thursday.The idea behind the project is cutting carbon emissions. According to UN data, meat production and consumption is responsible for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions - even more than cars! EVA said: “If everyone in Flanders does not eat meat one day a week, we will save as much CO2 in a year as taking half a million cars off the road.”

Apparently, the idea has already attracted attention from other enterprises and communities across Europe and even as far as Canada.

A bold step, indeed. Well, while being extremely health conscious, Team SOPHYTO is not strictly vegetarian at all. I, for one, love fish and would really struggle to give it up, especially as most veggie protein options consist of lots and lots of soya/tofu ingredients which we now know to be less than ideal substitutes…

What do you think? If you are totally or mostly veggie, how do you do it? If you can suggest some really great, healthy veggie meals, we’ll test them out and if we’re convinced we’ll post the best ones here… Go on, share the wealth!

Organic Idol? Doesn’t sound like the obvious addition to Herr Cowell’s portfolio, does it?! And, thankfully it isn’t. In fact, no celebrities are allowed anywhere near this venture.

And, it’s not a TV talent contest either (which is good because there frankly aren’t enough hours in the day to watch the ones already on air). Instead it’s a campaign by The Organic Institute, part of the US Organic Trade Association (OTA), to find a national consumer ambassador for the US organic industry.

So, it really could be anyone. Interested? Well, all you have to do is submit a 30-second video to a YouTube page, explaining why organic products are so great. And just like the Idol TV shows (if you discount the fixing scandals!) the public will decide! The 12-most viewed videos will be put forward to the judging panel and the winner will be announced at All Things Organic in Chicago in June.

So, what are you waiting for…?!

Ok, so we didn’t know much about it before we heard that SOPHYTO was going to get a mention in the latest copy but now that we’ve done a little reading, we really, really do love BOHO Mag. And, apparently, so do lots of you already, if the number of Facebook fans is anything to go by…

Set up by a die hard fashionista who wants other girls to know that being chic and being eco-conscious don’t have to be mutually exclusive, BOHO looks as high-end as all your regular glossies (except it’s not because it’s made without the chemical shine, so it’s nice and matte) but it’s made from post-use recycled paper and the ink is made from natural soy.

So, you get to look at pretty natural and organic things and read about pretty people doing good natural and organic things for the environment - eg. Neve Campbell and eco-model Summer Rayne Oakes - safe in the knowledge that no trees were harmed in order to bring you these lovely pages.

BOHO seems to have struck a chord with the media as well - CW11 did a spot on the launch and loads of other sites have put their 10c-worth in as well…

The summer issue should be out May 15 - and we’re in it so it’s definitely worth a look!

We seem to be on a bit of a roll here… (touching wood as she types…) SPA Magazine has also recognised SOPHYTO’s green credentials, by singling us out to illustrate No.4 on it’s ‘Good List‘: Nourish yourself with eco-friendly products.

It says: “SOPHYTO ORGANICS Makes fair trade, certified organic, and vegan products in a pharmaceutical-grade lab in England.”

All true.

Check out the June issue of SPA for the full story or click here to see our bit in full.

Pssst, a little birdie just told us we’re going to get a mention in the next issue of BOHO Magazine, due out later this week. If you see it before we do, be sure to let us know how it looks, won’t you…

We’re so chuffed - not only did SOPHYTO’s organic Polyphenol Skin Drops win the ELLE Green Stars Award for best natural anti-ageing product, but the illustrious Soil Association (by whom we are proud to be licensed) actually featured our win in their daily news digest.

This may not sound, or more to the point, look like a lot but we’ve known of people trying to move heaven and earth to get such prime billing… It seems to be harder than getting their organic certification in the first place! Who knew that all you had to do was win a fancy award, eh?

Whatever you happen to believe about its origins (ie. whether it was a random, but ‘natural’ occurrence or a deliberate act of bio-terrorism), if, like me, you’ve been getting a bit fed up of the constant hype surrounding this imminent swine flu ‘pandemic’, check out what the ever-rational Dr Frank Lipman has to say on matter for The Huffington Post.

In short, there’s no need to panic - far more people die every year from recognised strains of flu, than are likely to die from this new hybrid strain of human, pig and bird flu. But, there are natural ways to boost your chances of resistance, even in the unlikely event that you do come in to contact with this virulent illness, says Dr Lipman - which essentially boils down to following the SPENT programme we at SOPHYTO HQ (along with Organic Gwyneth Paltrow) have been raving about:

• Get enough sleep
• If you are not getting at least 20 minutes of sun without sunblock daily, take a Vitamin D supplement. Get your Vitamin D level checked. You want your level to be between 50 and 80.
• Take regular exercise
• Eat phytonutrient-rich meals (lots of colorful salads and dark greens)
• Make sure you are getting enough protein and healthy fats – avocados, nuts, olive oil, fish oil.
• Take actions to lower your stress levels – meditate, practice restorative yoga, spend time doing something that makes you happy.
• Take a probiotic (like UltrafloraIB)
• Take 2g of Vitamin C daily (like Ultrapotent C) or Immunocore, which has Vitamin C, Zinc and mushroom extracts, all which enhance macrophages, natural killer cells, and T cell subsets.
• Eat lots of garlic. Or, if you have an aversion to garlic, take Andrographis Plus, which is an antiviral supplement.
• Wash your hands frequently.

So, if you remember to do all this AND eat/live organically where possible, we reckon you’ll not only survive this little hiccup, but live happily and healthily through the next round of ‘pandemics’ as well…