Yes to Carrots Color Balm

Happy Valentine's Day!!! Here's what I'm rocking on my kissable Valentine lips. :)

When I saw a display with the new color balms from Yes to Carrots, I picked up the shade Soft Plum so I could try it out. I liked it so much that I headed back and picked up the other two colors - Rosy Bloom and Peachy Keen.

These impart a little bit of color and a lot of moisture. Soft Plum is the most noticeable on the lips, while Peachy Keen doesn't really show up at all. They have a nice sheen, but no sparkle.

Swatches from left to right: Soft Plum, Rosy Bloom, Peachy Keen

Same order, under slightly different light

These are nice tinted balms that are easy to throw on, even without a mirror. These are good choice for Valentine's Day - they amp up your natural lip color, but you don't have to worry about them getting smeared while kissing. :)

Ingredients: RICINUS COMMUNIS (CASTOR) SEED OIL, CERA ALBA (BEESWAX), ETHYL PALMATE,HELIANTHUS ANNUUS (SUNFLOWER) SEED OIL, SIMMONDSIA CHINENSIS (JOJOBA) SEED OIL, OLEA EUROPAEA (OLIVE) FRUIT OIL, SORBITAN TRISTEARATE,THEOBROMA CACAO (COCOA) SEED BUTTER, BEHENYL BEHENATE, EUPHORBIA CERIFERA CERA (EUPHORBIA CERIFERA (CANDELILLA) WAX), COPERNICIA CERIFERA CERA (COPERNICIA CERIFERA (CARNAUBA) WAX), CI 77891 (TITANIUM DIOXIDE),CI 77491 (IRON OXIDES),TOCOPHEROL,AMMONIUM GLYCYRRHIZATE,CI 77492 (IRON OXIDES),DAUCUS CAROTA SATIVA ROOT EXTRACT (DAUCUS CAROTA SATIVA (CARROT) ROOT EXTRACT)

If you're looking for a bit more color, Yes to Carrots make "Lip Tints" that are much more opaque.

~ Susan

Drugstore Deals

I stopped by Walgreens today to pick up some razors and while I was there, I checked out the natural beauty section (they usually have Burt's Bees, Yes to Carrots, Dr. Bronner's, and other brands grouped together). They had some good deals on items that have been discontinued, so I thought I'd share them so y'all can take advantage of them if you'd like.

 

I picked up shampoo, conditioner, and a color balm from Yes to Carrots. The shampoo and conditioner were on clearance, so I got each for $2.39 (I think they usually retail for $7.99). The price had kept me from trying these before, so I was excited to pick these up for even less than what I spend on my hair pair from Trader Joe's. The tinted balm is new and a coupon next to the display gave me $2 off which brought the price to $3.99. 

 The display said that this line of tinted lip balms (or "color balms") is new. They had three shade available and I chose the darkest, soft plum. I tried it out and it's very smooth, not waxy at all. It's a very nice balm, better than most of the others I own, but I prefer the texture and color payoff of the Burt's Bees tinted lip balms just a smidge.

Lip shimmers from Burt's Bees, some items from Shea Moisture, and a bar soap from Dr. Bronner's were also on sale for under $3 each, but they were all sold out. /:

A couple nice deals on the internet: LivingSocial is selling a voucher for 100% Pure. For $25 you get a voucher worth $50 to spend on 100% Pure's website. You can access the deal here. (It ends tomorrow.)

Rainwater Botanicals is giving 15% off all purchases with the coupon code "4LOVE" through February 14th.

~ Susan

Burt's Bees Haul

The weather has been growing colder and my lips have been getting drier, so I decided to pick up some more lip balm.

Here are a few Burt's Bees products that I picked up at CVS:

Burt's Bees Aloe & Witch Hazel Hand Sanitizer and Beeswax Lip Balm

I always like to have hand sanitizer on me, but didn't want to keep using conventional ones. This hand sanitizer is all-natural, but still kills 99.99% of germs. The Aloe Vera moisturizes so your hands to get dried out. The balm it came with is plain and good to have on hand for every day.

Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream and Rejuvenating Lip Balm with Acai Berry

I use cuticle treatments often to keep my cuticles from drying out and peeling off. This balm is also very standard, but has a fruity flavor.

Burt's Bees Tinted Lip Balm in Pink Blossom and Lip Shimmer in Watermelon

These lip products are a bit more fun. They are tinted and almost give the appearance of a lip stick or lip gloss on the lips.

Burt's Bees Tinter Lip Balm in Rose and Lip Shimmer in Rhubarb

I picked these up in case the others don't show up very well.

Here's to keeping moisturized in the winter months!

~ 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. :)