We haven’t had the chance to meet all of the people behind the products on Abe’s Market in person but I was fortunate to hang out with a few at the fancy food show last week. Nichole of Nicobella fame and I spent time walking around the show meeting different companies and sampling some of what is to come on Abe’s Market (hint: chocolate, marshmallow, vegan chocolate, creative chocolate..)
Nichole has an engaging natural energy that makes talking to her fun. She is super passionate about growing Nicobella and it was inspiring to hear the excitement in her voice as she shared her plans for expansion.

TCHO chocolate invited us to visit their factory on Sunday night, check out the short of clip of Nichole and me there followed by Lisa’s entertaining video feature  of Nicobella:

(Note the guy in the yellow hat at the end – nothing says delicious chocolate like a yellow hat)

The idea of creating an experience around a product sounds generic. It’s easy to talk about but few have pulled it off.
I am lucky to call a shinning member of that exclusive group an old friend.
Jeff Rubin is a candy master. He has elevated candy from something you buy for a few cents at checkout to a destination. He not only has built a candy experience but he has done it several times. Have you been to FAO Schwartz in NYC, have you seen how a toy store is focused on candy? Dylan’s Candy Bar? It’s Sugar? These are all Jeff’s creations. My grandfather was in the wholesale candy business and if he was still alive he could animatedly discuss his admiration of Jelly Belly, Altoids and of someone who has made candy into a destination. Jeff and I met at the Fancy Food Show where he happened to find time to plug Abe’s Market

Hey there, I’m Lisa.

I’m super excited to have an opportunity to reach out to you through my Abe’s Market Blog. If you are passionate about our Earth, living natural and enjoying personal care products then you and I have a lot in common.

I adore personal care products but I’m not a fan of artificial additives and toxic ingredients that are so commonly found in basic items today.

My goal with this blog (besides making new friends) is to introduce natural alternatives to luxurious products that make you feel pretty and fabulous.

I cringe at the thought of the thousands of beautiful ladies unknowingly applying Phosphates, Chlorhexidine, gluconate, Ethanol, Hydrogen peroxide and Methyl salicylate on their lips before their dates. Yes, those are just some of the ingredients found in popular lipsticks today. It’s a scary reality.

I love lipstick but refuse to ingest these toxins.  So, I’ve found a non-toxic alternative that looks fabulous and speaks my language of love, hope and compassion.

PeaceKeeper Cause-Metics is unlike most cosmetic companies available today. Their beauty philosophy is to not act like a cosmetic company but to act as a movement for humanity and to create a beautiful c a u s e. Inspired by truth, health and individual growth, each lipstick has simple mementos about freedom, joy, wisdom, voice and self-esteem. Their products are created with natural, pure ingredients like beeswax, grapeseed oil and vitamin E. It’s their dedication to the beauty world, and I am thankful for that.

My red favorite: Paint me Compassionate

Be sure to always wear with a smile. It looks good on ya!

A simple way to share the c a u s e: I like to buy two: 1 for myself and 1 for a girlfriend who is in the dark about lipstick toxins.

OrganicNation.TV is a cool site that “is an exploration of the American sustainable food landscape.” It’s one of many sites I follow to stay well-informed in the world of natural products, and it’s where I pulled this video. It’s a short interview with Ken Cook, president and co-founder of the Environmental Working Group. He discusses the balance required to make organic food available to more people at cheaper prices while maintaining the high organic standards.

Is BIG Organic the Enemy? from OrganicNation on Vimeo.

While Abe’s Market is broader than just food, and not all of our products are organic, Mr. Cook’s vision rings true for me and what we are trying to do at Abe’s Market. Not all consumers live near a farmers market or healthy store offering a wide range of natural products. And for natural product sellers, it’s not easy to get broad product distribution and have a platform to tell your unique story. But all consumers deserve easy access to fantastic natural products from passionate sellers. Abe’s Market is about enabling the match between hungry consumers who are ready to make healthier choices for themselves and their families and the real people who make fantastic natural products.

We’re always adding to our impressive list of sellers. Recent additions include:

yogoco, maker of a fully functional, very stylish, easy to use, eco-friendly and sustainable Yoga bag, that holds everything you need for a Yoga session, keeps your mat aired even when the mat section is closed, will take a 26″ wide mat and is fully wipeable.

Three Tablespoons, whose treats are baked from scratch and charged with meaningful nutrients.

Karma Organic Spa, and its line of products that include an organic soy based nail polish remover in three scents (Lavender, Tea Tree, and Unscented with Vitamin E) and organic nail polish.

We often try the products before they are offered on Abe’s or soon after. Because Green-Lullaby’s Multibox has been in such demand we only received one a few days ago. This coincided with our goal of starting to feature videos of products. Jon and I shot two videos, one with his kids and one with mine. Objectively, my kids love the Multibox and had a whole lot of fun putting it together. There has been a lot of opening the lids to put new toys in and Uri was trying to sit inside one of them early this morning.

Here is our first of hopefully many videos of us interacting with fun, useful and natural goods that can be found on Abe’s Market…