By Lauren Kramer

If you’ve not strayed past the beauty aisle in Shoppers Drug Mart recently, rest assured you can stock up on Israeli veggies without even stopping in the produce section at Safeway or Loblaws. The two-year-old Israeli beauty line Yes To Carrots has a range of 21 products, and recently launched line extensions in the US, called Yes to Tomatoes and Yes to Cucumbers. Beauty shoppers are saying a resounding ‘yes!’ when it comes to applying Israeli vegetables to their skin and hair.

The brand launched in Shoppers Drug Mart in April 2008 with ten products, and added three lip butters in October last year. To date they are available in over 1,000 stores across our fair country.

The face, body and hair care products are free of parabens and use mud and minerals from the Dead Sea, combined with Beta-Carotene from organic carrots and other Israeli-grown veggies. The products are manufactured by Yes To Inc., a company headquartered in San Francisco with offices in Tel Aviv and space on beauty shelves in 17-plus countries.

Yes To Carrots was created in Israel by Uri Ben Hur, who is still involved in the products’ manufacture and formulation. When he approached Ido Leffler two years ago with the opportunity to buy into Yes To Carrots, Ido says he was instantly attracted to the brand name, the combination of organic fruits and vegetables and the inclusion of Dead Sea Mud in all the products.

Leffler, 31, is now the global chief executive officer and wears the brand’s signature colour – orange – as often as possible. His business card reads proudly “chief carrot lover.” Born in Israel, Leffler grew up in Australia and studied business and marketing in Sydney. For the past few years he has spent two weeks of every month in Israel, and considers himself Israeli and Australian.

“It’s important to us that we’re eco-friendly and that the products are natural, but we also want them to be affordable, because in our view that’s the key to getting more people into this trend,” he explains. “Not everybody is going to be able to buy a $60 cream, but a $14.99 cream or an $8.99 shampoo is something that most people can do.”

That’s the approximate price point on much of the products in the Yes To Carrots range.

The community minded company also has seeds on its priority list, and dedicates a portion of all proceeds to its Yes To Carrots Seed Fund, a non-profit organization created to assist communities in need of developing self-sustaining, organic food sources.

Its first partnerships have occurred in Columbus Ohio, in three gardens: the Native American Indian Center of Central Ohio, the Horn of Africa Community Center and the Fifth Avenue Community Housing Network. Organizations worldwide can apply to the seed fund by requesting an application on the company’s website, www.yestocarrots.com.

Browse through the products and you’ll find yourself truly enamoured with the prospect of smothering organic vegetables all over your skin and hair. There’s lotion for elbows, body scrubs and butters, body mist, shower gel, carrot juice shampoo and hair mud conditioner. Veggies never sounded this good on a plate!

Related posts:

1. Israeli cows, long lost cousins from Canada
2. Where to Find Trendy Israeli Clothing in Canada
3. How Can I Drink Israeli Wine in Canada?