Chemical Salon Goes Clean

Celebrity stylist Elizabeth Alvillar couldn't take the harsh chemicals that her work involved, but Alvillar loved her job and decided to find a way to make it healthier for herself and her clients by creating Isvara Organics.

"I could shop at health food stores, but the [cosmetics] products were not of salon quality," she said.

When her son, now 14, went into a diabetic coma, she decided she would change her life if he survived. He did, and she kept her promise.

She cut back her hours, commuting to Carlsbad to work four days a month at La Costa, an exclusive spa that kept the paparazzi out. She moved to Capitola and got a business permit to set up a lab to create her own blend of cosmetics without synthetic chemicals. Her products include shampoo, conditioner, hair coloring, skin care, lotions and makeup. Her company, Isvara Organics, is named for the Sanskrit word for creator.

"..I love her shampoos and her conditioner," Branagan said. "You smell the smell. It's incredible the way it washes your hair. And it's not any more expensive"

She is well-aware of the concern about chemicals from hair, skin and other beauty products.

"Everything you use absorbs into your skin," she pointed out.

Still, she's not a total convert. She hasn't switched to organic makeup and she doesn't carry Isvara products at Warmth Co."

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