June Favorites

1. Dr. Bronner's All-One Hemp Peppermint Castille Soap

I received a sample of this in my June Pink Moment Bag and I picked another one up from Whole Foods. I love peppermint body care items - the scent and the tingle makes me feel awake and happy.

2. Julep Nail Vernis in Sarah

Sarah is a sheer pink coral with iridescent glitter. Julep nail varnishes are 4-free, meaning that they don't contain formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, toluene, or DBP. I like them because they're much more chip resistant than other brands I've tried.

3. Essie Nail Polish in Geranium

When I saw this at CVS I had to get it - it's a spectacular pink-orange-red that's more on the red end. It's very cheerful.

4. Julep Nail Vernis in Lily

This is a bright color that is great to wear on the toes. What can I say - I really enjoyed nail polishes this month. :)

5. Seventh Generation Chlorine Free Baby Wipes

I've been using a bunch of baby wipes while cleaning. They make day-to-day light cleaning very easy. Whenever I have a free moment I'll wipe down surfaces with a wipe, which allows for more time between deep cleanings. When I launch a more serious attack on my counters I make a solution that's half white vinegar and half hot water, then add some of Dr. Bronner's liquid Castile soap.

6. Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Exposed

This blush makes me feel very summery. It's kind of a blush/bronzer hybrid, which I like because I'm very pale. Because it's not a true bronzer, I get some glow without looking orange.

I've also been really enjoying the new Maroon 5 CD. I've loved Maroon 5 even since their first album was released in 2002, a couple of years before "Harder to Breathe" was played on MTV. My favorite songs so far are "One More Night," "Lucky Strike," and "Tickets."

~ Susan

A Soapy Whole Foods Haul

For the past couple of months I've been using the small soap samples from my monthly subscription boxes. The samples are pretty small, and using them was getting annoying. I decided to stock up on a bunch of full-sized soap bars.

I want to buy natural soap, but I also want to purchase affordable soap. I went to Whole Foods and picked up the cheapest brands they had. I'll try these out and then re-purchase the one I like best.

Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps All-One Hemp Peppermint Pure-Castille Soap Made with Organic Oils

Ingredients: Organic coconut oil, organic palm oil, sodium hydroxide, water, mentha arvensis, organic olive oil, organic hemp oil, organic jojoba oil, organic peppermint oil, salt, citric acid, and tocopherol

Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps All-One Hemp Almond Pure-Castille Soap Made with Organic Oils

Ingredients: Organic coconut oil, organic palm oil, sodium hydroxide, water, organic olive oil, organic hemp oil, organic jojoba oil, natural almond fragrance, salt, citric acid, and tocopherol

These are sold separately for $3.29 each. 

365 Vegetable Glycerin Soap French Milled Unscented

Ingredients: Saponified coconut and/or palm oil, vegetable glycerin

365 Vegetable Glycerin Soap French Milled Lavender

Ingredients: Saponified coconut and/or palm oil, vegetable glycerin, caramel color, fragrance & essential oil

These are sold separately for $1.99 each.

Verve Natural Moisturizing Bar Unscented

Ingredients: Sodium palmate (palm oil), sodium cocoate or sodium palm kernalate (palm kernel oil), aqua (water), glycerin (vegetable), sodium cocoyl isethionate and steric acid, sodium cocoyl isethionate, sucrose cocoate, titanium dioxide (natural color), pentasodium pentetate, sodium chloride

These are sold in packs of three for $3.99, or $1.33 each.

~ Susan

 

Wembe Chocolate Cleansing Blend Soap

I bought some chocolate soap and started using it in the shower.

At first, I thought it was dirt... but then I realized that the soap was turning the water brown. Lol, it's very disconcerting, I keep forgetting and thinking it's blood or dirt. So, while I like the cocoa smell of this, I think I'll stick with less pigmented soaps in the future!

~ Susan

Smoothie of the day: orange juice, strawberries, banana, non-fat yogurt

Seasonal Favorites

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas! Here are some products that helped me get into the spirit of the season:

Yellow Stone Bees Tea Tree Peppermint Hand and Body Cream

This cream smells delicious! It's minty and sweet. If I could eat it, I would. 

Sumbody Peppermint Body Soap

This soap is both moisturizing and tingly. I like how it looks like a candy cane. This also smells mouth-wateringly sweet. 

Scrubz Peppermint Scrub

What can I say, I really like peppermint at this time of year. :) The grains in this worked to exfoliate my skin while the oils helped moisturize it. 

WYK Candle in Whispering Pines

The smell of pine makes me think of Christmas. It's fresh without being overpowering. 

bareMinerals Eyeshadow 2.0 in The Top Shelf

I've really been feeling these shimmery eye shadows at this time of year - they seems festive without being garish. This duo contains a champagne color and a light bronze.

I'm going to keep on enjoying these products all the way until Twelfth Night!

~ Susan

Haul: Lavender Moon Company

I hope you had a great Labor Day weekend!  I spent the weekend in Winchester, Va., where I happened upon the Lavender Moon Soap Company. I've been looking for some good, natural, wonderfully smelling soap and I was happy to find what Lavender Moon had to offer.

Lavender Moon was started about thirteen years ago in New Hampshire by LynneAnn Trask. LynneAnne's twins were born prematurely with very dry, sensitive skin. Because their skin was so sensitive, LynneAnne set about developing a product that she could trust for use on her own babies. After a lot of testing, she came up with the products that she sells today, including  hand-poured, moisturizing vegetable glycerin soaps. They are all created on the store's property using "only what is necessary." Plus, over 90% of the packaging is made in America and can be recycled. Lavender Moon does no animal testing and uses no animal by-products.

I decided to make a purchase after I read the ingredient list (and after I smelled the soaps!).

Ingredients: cocoate, sodium palmate, ricinus communis (castor) seed oil, carthamus tinctorius (safflower) seed oil, glycerin, water, sorbitol, sorbitan oleate, glycine soja (soybean) protein, fragrance oil, color, titanium dioxide 

After I got home, I put the ingredients into Skin Deep and it gave the soaps a rating of 2 due to the "fragrance oil" and unspecified "color." I spoke to LynneAnne about the fragrance, and she said that essential oils are too harsh for babies' skin and that she uses fragrance/aromatic oils. When I asked her about phthalates, she seemed to be unsure what I was asking, and assured me that nothing was in the soap that didn't need to be. After putting the ingredients in Skin Deep, I also did a search for aromatic oils. These came up with a score of 0, while unspecified oils came up with a score of 4. Overall, I feel pretty good about these soaps. Plus, they smell great!

There are over twenty different scents. While the scent is definitely present, it's not overpowering or headache-inducing. My initial favorite is luna. I also purchased: baby, indigo, fabulous, ti amo, chrome, girlie girl, mint mint mint, bella notte, and milk & honey. I meant only to get a few, but after smelling them all I ended up with about half of the scents that were available. Luckily the packaging is pretty, so I'll enjoy looking at them before I use them up. :) LynneAnne mentioned that each bar should last about 3-4 weeks, so it looks like I'm set in the soap department for a while!

I'm really pleased. I got my desired soap, and I can feel good about supporting a small business with laudable business practices.

Even if you don't live near Winchester, you can check out Lavender Moon Soap Company here.

UPDATE: these soaps do not last 3 to 4 weeks. When used  in the shower, each bar was used up within a week. Instead, I put these out on soap dishes. When used to just wash hands, they last over a month.