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Live Good Organic Cotton Sateen Sheets. From Live Good.

Live Good, Inc., is definitely one-of-a-kind. Not only does it make its products — bedding and decorative pillows — with fully certified organic cotton, the company also manufactures in the United States using sustainably sourced materials, including organic and renewable kapok fibers, unfinished wood buttons, and formaldehyde-free water-based inks.

All this results in unique items, including bedsheets, which I had the opportunity to try. Live Good’s organic cotton sateen sheets are unlike any I’ve ever had. They’re really soft, despite having a thread count of just 300, and they have the slightest bit of texture that makes sleeping on them a unique experience. The fitted sheet comes with a lot of room for a tall mattress — one with a pillow top, for instance — but once you wash and dry it, it shrinks a lot. Actually, you’re supposed to wash and dry it before using it for the best fit, so follow the instructions!

The only thing is, like most sheet sets, these are not cheap and weigh in at a hefty $250. But, if you’re concerned about the environment and fair labor practices, which Live Good is also a proponent of, then purchasing these should be a no-brainer.

Live good, my friends.

Note: Sheets were complimentary.

Lion baby pillow. Photo from Les Violettes.

You care about a lot of things.

You care about what you eat and how your food was grown and prepared. You care about who makes your clothes and how they were made. You care about how companies treat their employees and their stance on the environment.

You care about living good.

So does Jennifer Chi, who founded Live Good, Inc., which makes fully certified organic cotton products. Not only that, but Live Good manufactures in the United States (Orange County, Calif.) using sustainably sourced materials, including organic cotton fabric and thread, organic and renewable kapok fibers, unfinished wood buttons, and formaldehyde-free water-based inks.

“There are just so many reasons why I felt a need to start Live Good, Inc.,” said Chi, who has spent time working as an international investigator examining factory production. “At the heart of it all was the challenge to prove to myself, as well as the corporate community, that it could be done. I wanted to see what it takes to build a company that creates quality products while complying with environmental and ethical standards. I want Live Good, Inc. to set an example for other businesses.”

As a factory investigator, Chi witnessed factory workers getting sick from dealing with toxic materials and unsanitary working conditions, in addition to them working long hours and being paid low wages. That’s why she wanted to manufacture in the United States — to maintain the highest standards of hygiene, fair labor practices and respect for the surrounding community. And that’s why all Live Good’s products are free of pesticides, synthetic fertilizers and irradiation.

The results are soft-to-the-touch sateen sheets, terry blankets and decorative canvas pillows. The Live Good ethos is especially important when it comes to children’s products, and you can rest easy knowing the company’s baby items won’t be harmful to your little one. The pillows, which come in five cute animal designs that depict endangered species, come as an organic kapok insert that’s moisture-resistant, quick-drying, lightweight, hypo-allergenic, mold resistant and odorless wrapped in a sateen cover printed with water-based ink. Sounds pretty good when you think about how babies always put things in their mouths!

I would like to see Live Good succeed in its corporate social responsibility. Hopefully we’ll see more socially and environmentally friendly products from this company soon.

Note: Live Good provided a complimentary baby pillow.

Root Beauty deodorant

Do you make it a point to buy and eat organic food? Do you also pay attention to what you put on your body as much as you do to what you put in it? If you do, then Root Beauty is for you.

Root Beauty is a local L.A. company that makes organic facial moisturizer, hand cream and deodorant from recognizable ingredients. For example, the hand cream contains organic shea butter, cocoa butter, jojoba oil and sweet almond oil. That’s it.

Founder Kristin Lauterbach just launched the company in May, but she has been a proponent of living a toxin-free life for years. She started out buying local, organic food but soon realized there was so much more to think about.

“I started reading what was in the [beauty] products I was buying, and I couldn’t pronounce most of the words on the back of the bottle,” she said. “I realized I was putting chemicals all over me all the time. I wanted to know how I could reduce my chemical exposure while still maintaining my urban lifestyle.”

So Lauterbach started making her own skin care products in her kitchen. Through trial and error, and “a little art, a little science,” she came up with products that she would give to friends and family, who encouraged her to sell them. After a while, she realized this was her calling and decided to take a break from the film industry she was working in.

I took the Balance Face Moisturizer and the deodorant for a two-week trial run, both with better-than-expected results.

The Balance moisturizer, which contains organic grape seed, bergamot, niaouli, lavender and vitamin E oils, is formulated for combination and oily skin. Because it’s oil-based, I was a bit skeptical as to how it would balance my already oily skin, but almost immediately I could tell that my skin felt better and looked more balanced. It wasn’t the best option for me when it came to being a bit sweaty, as is the case in this current heat wave, but other than that, I have no complaints. I even used it with a prescription rosacea cream, and I didn’t experience any adverse effects.

When it came to trying the deodorant, I was kind of scared, actually. I’ve never not used an antiperspirant, and I was afraid I would be a sweaty mess without one. But the organic corn starch and the baking soda kept me pretty dry (under normal temperatures, not so much in this current heat), and the organic virgin coconut and rosemary oils kept me smelling almost good enough to eat (not really, but the deodorant on its own smells really tasty). Just remember to keep it cool because if you don’t, it’ll separate due to the addition of coconut oil. The fact that this natural deodorant works nearly as well as aluminum-laden antiperspirant is a welcome development for someone who’s married to the person who made a documentary about our chemical body burden.

Trying to buy beauty products that don’t contain phthalates, which often hide in the names of “DBP,” “DEP” and “fragrance” (try finding something that doesn’t contain “fragrance”!) and have been known to cause disruptions of the endocrine system, is really tough. But Root Beauty makes it easy, and it sounds as if Lauterbach is on to something here — personally and professionally.

“Root Beauty just became a natural progression of my journey,” she said. “I know this sounds cheesy, but I love when people try my products and they not only work for them, but they really enjoy them.”

Note: These products were complimentary.