Whole Foods Natural Glow Makeup & Pampering Event - Los Altos

One of my favorite events to cover each year is Whole Foods' annual beauty sale. The 2014 and 2015 events in Campbell were such fun experiences. I was already very excited for this year's event when they mailed me these baby and skin care samples. There are still two more events this weekend so make sure you sign up for your makeover adventure!

A big thanks to Lauren from Pink on the Cheek for helping me film our experiences getting a make over with the brands at the Los Altos event. See my YouTube video below.

Photo by Pink on the Cheek

First I got my foundation, concealer, eye liner, and mascara done with Dr. Hauschka products. The foundation is so light weight and provides a nice even coverage. I hardly felt like I had make up on. Dr. Hauschka is also really known for their skin care products which I can vouch for from previous years' samples. I'm not concerned about having my baby kiss me with these products on since they're made with natural ingredients.

Later I went to ZuZu Luxe and Gabriel Cosmetics to touch up my brows, eye shadow, and liquid liner. I was so amazed with the pigment in their shadows and how light weight it came on. The liquid liner was also very smooth and dried quickly. They gave me gifts of the Bisque and Charcoal colors. Highly recommend these shadows as a combo.

All the goodies from the event!

This cutie Lauren got a makeover from Mineral Fusion, ZuZu, and Gabriel Cosmetics. Her skin looked flawless.

A few food vendors were at the event including these yummy healthy Coco Roons from Wonderfully Raw.

And we have a brief but refreshing cider tasting with Rambling Route from Washington. The Apricot and Yakima ciders were my favorites.

Sustainable SCU Tour - Smitten Ice Cream - Dandelion Chocolate - Hidden Villa Farm

During my time at Santa Clara University as a grad student working on my MBA, I had never heard about the Food and Agribusiness Institute until I competed for them in Atlanta. Had I known, I would have surely studied this discipline since it's so interesting. The FAI program plans food field trips for its students and I was able to attend one such event even though I'm an alumni.

The point of this field trip was to learn about local food start ups and about sustainability practices used by Bay Area food businesses. We started in San Francisco, at Smitten Ice Cream.

Smitten gained popularity for it's ice cream made from liquid nitrogen. Founder Robyn Sue Fisher originally wheeled her liquid nitrogen tank and ice cream around on a red Radio Flyer cart. Now Smitten has grown to two popular locations, one in San Francisco and another in Los Altos. The San Francisco location we visited is run out of a repurposed shipping container. Extra sustainability points!

I had the sour, slightly tart and tasty rhubarb crisp flavor. Smitten chooses only local and organic ingredients that make the most business sense for their products. This means they choose organic ingredients if it tastes the best in their ice cream. They do blind taste tests on ingredients from several local food purveyors before including one into their ice cream. 

Our next stop was San Francisco favorite small batch chocolatiers, Dandelion Chocolates.

Our guide demonstrated how the staff at Dandelion checks the quality of their bean shipments by hand, removing impurities from the batch before processing. He even showed how a batch of beans are cut to reveal the cacao nibs inside that eventually become chocolate.

Dandelion makes all their chocolate in house in barrels like these. With such dedication like sending their employees to visit their suppliers' farms once a month, and painstakingly sorting beans by hand, it's no wonder Dandelion produces quality small batch chocolates. You can stop by for a tour any time or enjoy chocolates and drinks in their cafe.

The last stop was my favorite because who doesn't love being outdoors on a beautiful day? We toured Hidden Villa farm in Los Altos Hills. Hidden Villa teaches sustainability and social justice through various programs at the farm including tours, a Cow Wow milking demonstration, and summer camps.

This is not just any pile of dirt, it's where compost is made.

These adorable pigs are fed with food scraps from the farm and from local restaurants to help make use of food waste.

We were given free range in the garden where I picked edible flowers to make this garden burrito. I also pulled a white carrot out of the ground, washed it and ate it with the top still on. I call that farm-to-stomach, the latest improvement on sustainability.

Mustard flowers are in season. These are edible also but they mostly make a great backdrop for photos.

Thanks to Santa Clara University's Food and Agribusiness Institute for hosting this trip. I had a great time and learned about 3 very different local businesses/organizations.

Smitten Ice Cream on Yelp

Dandelion Chocolate on Yelp

Hidden Villa website