My Favorite Deodorant

My favorite deodorant is the Crystal Body Deodorant Roll-On.

This deodorant contains no aluminum chlorohydrate, aluminum zirconium, parabens, or phthlates. It is made of natural mineral salts, and it really works to keep odor at bay. I have tried a couple other roll-on mineral salt deodorant, and this is the only one that keeps the stink away even through a vigorous workout. I love this stuff - it works without that "fragrance" scent that comes in many conventional deodorants, and there's no itchy feeling that sometimes accompanies natural deodorants.

I use the original, unscented version. It retails for $3.99 at Walgreens. One deodorant lasts about 6 months.

~ Susan

When Good Deodorant Goes Bad

Let me start out by saying that I love Rainwater Botanicals, and I think that this is an aberration.

I purchased some deodorant from Rainwater Botanicals in the middle of October. I really liked it- it was comparable to Lavanila's Healthy Deodorant in both effectiveness and scent (lavender vanilla). I used it for about a month, but then it turned on me!

I was at work, and I noticed that something didn't smell very good... and then I realized that that something was me!  I work at a desk, so it's not like there I was working up too much of a sweat for this stuff to handle. Something in the deodorant was reacting with my skin/sweat and causing it to smell really awful. I'm sure of this because the couple days after this stuff turned that I went without deodorant were completely odor-less.

Ingredients:
Soy wax, Organic virgin coconut oil, Organic arrowroot powder, Baking soda, Carnuba wax, Organic neem oil, Tamanu oil, Rosemary extract, Essential oils.

I'm not sure if these photos capture it, but the 

deodorant took on a grey-ish hue. I've since found a new deodorant that I'm happy with, but I'm wondering: has anyone else had this issue with a natural deodorant before? If so, please share!

~ Susan

Haul: Rainwater Botanicals

Rainwater Botanicals, an Etsy shop that specializes in natural bath and body products, is having a fall sale. I had never purchased anything from the store, so I decided to take advantage of 15% off everything (promo code FALLING4FALL) and sample a bunch of its products.

All the stuff I got - I think their packaging it adorable!

Rainwater Botanicals has been around since 1999. The company is committed to using high quality, natural ingredients and offering products at low prices. Their products are paraben-free, phthalate-free and sulfate-free.

Rainwater Botanicals' Etsy shop pages have a lot of text, and were a bit difficult for me to navigate. The titles of different products are cut off, so you need to know what you're looking for in order to find it. (Hopefully this post will help!) The "Shop Sections" bar on the left side of the shop's page is helpful if you know what type of item you're looking for (deodorant, hair care, skin care, etc.). I do really appreciate that all of the ingredients are listed online so you know what's in the products before you buy them. The ingredients are also listed on the packaging as well.

The names of the products don't seem to follow an over-arching naming system, which can make it hard to find the products you're looking for. To make the products I purchased easily search-able, I used the exact names from the Etsy Shop.

I'm in the market for some natural skin care products, so I got one of each of their sample packages of their different skin care lines: Troubled Skin, Nourishing Skin, and Sea Buckthorn Nutritive. My skin seems to pretty much hate my current routine (I finally switching from my Clinique 3-step), and I'm hopeful I'll some of this stuff.
  
Try Me Size Troubled Skin Care Kit

This kit contains samples of:
- Troubled Skin Toner
- Troubled Skin Serum
- Troubled Skin Facial Cream
- Troubled Skin Facial Soap
- Pimple Potion

Nourishing Facial Try Me Travel Size Kit

This kit contains samples of:
- Nourishing Facial Toner
- Nourishing Facial Serum
- Nourishing Facial Cream
- Nourishing Facial Soap
- Eye Serum

Sea Buckthorn Skin Care Try Me Kit for all skin types

This kit contains samples of:
- Nutritive Face & Body Lotion
- Nutritive Day Hydration
- Intensive Eye Cream
- Nutritive Facial Soap
- Sea Buckthorn & Pomegranate Serum

The long awaited sample size deodorants
I've been looking for the perfect natural deodorant.

I got the sample kit of all the deodorants - there are two different sample kits, one offers samples of all 8 scents, the other offers samples of 3 of your choosing. I also got a full-size deodorant in Lavender Vanilla since my boyfriend always liked it when I wore my Lavanila deodorant in that scent.

Dead Sea Mud & Pumpkin Facial Mask Antioxidants and Enzymes
I love masks, they make my skin feel so good. I got the sample size of both masks that Rainwater Botanicals sells.

The Dead Sea Mud contains a large range of highly concentrated minerals. It helps to remove excess oil and dead cells from the skin's surface. This 1 oz. jar can provide 4 to 5 facials.

The primary ingredient in the Pumpkin Facial Mask is... pumpkin! According to the website, pumpkin is a rich source of antioxidants & enzymes that act like alpha-hydroxy acids and that can help reverse the signs of aging.  This 1 oz. jar can provide 3 to 5 facials.

Antioxidant Facial Serum Woodland Blueberry &
Skin Repair Serum For Scars Wrinkles and Acne

I've been trying out a bunch of different serums. I'm over moisturizers - serums hydrate my skin without leaving a sticky feeling behind all day, and these: a) are really cheap for serums packed full of antioxidants and b) have great ingredients.

Intensive Repair Cream for face and body

This face and body cream is formulated with antioxidant oils and extracts to battle the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, scars, acne, and stretch marks.

Herbal Healing Salve for Natural Healing

This was Rainwater Botanicals's first product. They say this is good for all sorts of ailments - cuts, scrapes, cracked skin... I thought this could be useful to have, so I got the smaller size to keep in my purse even though the larger size is a much better price per ounce.

Moisturizing Coconut and Dead Sea Salt For Hair

 
I'm hoping this spray will give me beachy waves. There's another version without coconut, but my hair is pretty dry, so I went for this version.

Free Samples!
I was pleasantly surprised when I found that some free samples were included in my package!

This is a full size of the Ginger Nut Tinted Lip Balm and samples of two of their natural perfume oils. I already tried out the Lip Balm - smells like gingerbread - sooo good!

I feel good about all the things I got - they have great ingredients - and I'm looking forward to trying them all out. There was an issue with my order - an item I bought got left out - but Sara (the shop owner?) responded to my message within an hour and I got a notice of shipment from USPS within two! Honestly, that just made me like the shop more because this is the fastest response I've ever gotten from a company.

The coupon code lasts until October 31. :)