10 Natural Products You May Have Missed

When freelance writer Irene Lacher sought the newest of the natural, she went where she could be immersed in the organics of progress and filed this report ...

"The pesticide-free lifestyle is all the rage, judging from the galloping growth of the natural-products industry. 'Natural' personal-care products alone are a $5 billion industry, which has been mushrooming at the healthy rate of 15 percent a year, according to the National Nutritional Foods Association.

"Consumers want to look good and feel good. Naturally, so do we, so we recently trolled the aisles at the Natural Products Expo West in Southern California to track down some of the more intriguing offerings in the booming market.

"Juniper Ridge Incense, Soaps, Tea and Sachets Break out the sunscreen if you ever join Hall Newbegin's social circle. The owner of Berkeley, Calif.-based Juniper Ridge Western Wild Goods rounds up his friends for foraging forays into the mountains and deserts of the West Coast to gather juniper, prickly pear and white sage. Newbegin, who calls himself the 'head wildcrafter,' cooks them up into wild plant products that really smell like the great outdoors -- more so, he says, than perfumey products on the shelves of chain natural-foods stores. Try the spicy Port Orford Cedar sachets culled from the Klamath-Siskiyou forests along the coast of Southern Oregon and Northern California."

Heini's Cheese Chalet

"Everything old-fashioned is new again. Heini's Cheese Chalet is located in Holmes County, Ohio, which claims the world's largest Amish community. And in these days of global warming and other high-tech headaches, the sect's distaste for modernity is looking good. Amish farm milk has none of those nasty, newfangled artificial growth hormones, and it's all Heini uses in crafting its different varieties of cheese -- yogurt-cultured, lacey baby Swiss and Amish milk-can cheddar. Fortunately, though, Heini's doesn't deliver by horse and buggy."

Himalaya Dental Cream

"This takes the competition for cool-toothpaste-that-doubles-as-bathroom-decor to a new level. Vintage, French, been there, done that. Himalaya Dental Cream is not only exotic, it uses dandy ingredients based on ayurvedic principles, such as neem, which is said to fight germs, and pomegranate, which tightens gums. After all, does Crest have meswak and babool?"

Happytails Dog Smog Remedy

"No reason your puppy shouldn't benefit from herbal ingredients such as dandelion, rosehips, red clover and skullcap. Happytails, a canine 'spa' line, offers such natural elixirs as Perky Pup, Fur Butter, Sleepytime Tonic and, for the true 'muttrosexual,' Dog Smog Remedy, which promises to freshen your pooch's breath -- and any other emissions that may occur."

Tender Tush Organics

"No organic baby would be complete without diapers made of organic cotton farmed near the West Indian coast. Gail Cameron started Tender Tush in Astoria after the birth of her son, Andy. She wasn't happy with the organic diapers on the market, so she made her own. Cameron says her products don't have the allergens of conventional diapers that might irritate your favorite little tush. And it's never too early for your brood to help save the planet. Cloth diapers don't pile up in landfills, and Tender Tush supports a farm that doesn't use child labor."

Wild Juices

"First there was free-range chicken. Now there's juice on the loose. Pure Fruit Technologies says that none of its antioxidant-rich juices are of the caged variety. That is, you're not likely to find the juices of mangosteen, goji berry, gac fruit and seabuckthorn berry in the freezer of your corner grocer. Pure Fruit Technologies blends juices to create concentrated liquid supplements, which are to be sipped just one preservative-free ounce a day. Choose from Mango-xan Antioxidant Formula, Goji-Zen Longevity Formula, Gac-Chi Heart & Vision Formula or Seabuck-7 Rejuvenation Formula."

Wrinkle Quencher

"You thought it was bad enough that the relentless march of time was playing havoc with your skin? Apparently, time has a co-conspirator that you probably haven't even considered: bad vibrations. But stress not. Aroma Crystal Therapy Ltd, which uses what it calls 'the tools of vibrational science' -- hey, it only sounds like an oxymoron -- says it will fix them by tapping into 'these powerful frequencies: Rife technology, light, sound, color, bio-magnetics, intent and crystal energy spectrums.' So you think collagen and peptides are enough to stave off crow's feet? Ha. Pony up for Wrinkle Quencher Formula and Gardener's Dream Cream 'for broad spectrum results.'"

Now this is our idea of Health Food

"Toast your health with a screwdriver made with organic vodka -- Altitude Spirits' pesticide-and-chemical-additive-free Vodka 14, which for some reason attracted one of the largest crowds at the expo. Follow that up with a nice juicy hunk of Vintage Natural Beef with no added hormones or antibiotics.

"Finish with a serving of chocolate, which has all those groovy antioxidants. Bissinger's Naturals practically prescribes them. On the back of its bags of yummy chocolate-covered walnut crunch, the company officially lets you off the hook by noting that, 'your daily calorie intake may allow for 165 to more than 250 discretionary calories.' Let's see, at 45 calories per crunch, that comes out to ..."

Kona Deep

"No list of natural products would be complete without that most natural of products -- water. But as you've doubtless surmised, merely drinking water from sparkling, stream-fed springs in the upper reaches of the Alps doesn't cut it anymore. Now drinking water must come from Hawaii, and not just Hawaii, but the undersea currents of the Global Conveyor Belt 3,000 feet below the surface. 'At this depth, the pristine deep seawater is unspoiled, electrolyte-rich and aged for millennia,' says Kona Deep's parent company, Deep Seawater International."

Pillow Talk Ergonomic Cushions

"These days it isn't enough to be politically correct. You must be ergonomically correct, especially if you're engaging in that particular form of athleticism known as Tantra. Yogis have blocks, and now fans of Tantric sex have pillows -- Pillow Talk ergonomic cushions, which come in all shapes and sizes. You also can use the pillows for yoga, Pilates and birthing."