Clean Hair, Clean Teeth

Soft Hair, Toned Face

Clean Body, Clean Hands (Bonus:Clean Dishes)

Clear Skin, Healthy Hair

Soft, Hydrated Skin

If I were allowed to splurge, then I'd buy a little bottle of this stuff to add to the argan and coconut oils. Lavender is a dream come true.

Baking Soda, Apple Cider Vinegar, Castile Soap, Argan Oil, Coconut Oil, Lavender Essential Oil.

What products can’t you live without?

Also, if you haven’t entered the mantra perfume giveaway then you probably should. ; )

After seeing a recipe for homemade makeup remover on the Green Beauty Guide Blog, I decided to make my own version with the ingredients we had on hand. I typically use coconut oil to remove my eye makeup, but I’m almost out of my current stash…so trying something new seemed appropriate.

This makeup remover is super simple, and it gets the job done!  It doesn’t leave quite as much of an oily residue as coconut oil does, which is nice.

To make this product, I used:

• 1 oz of green tea
• 1 oz of grapeseed oil (you could probably use olive oil if you don’t have grapeseed!)
• 1/2 oz of vegetable glycerin

I simply funneled the above ingredients into an empty bottle I had lying around. The bottle has a pump, which is especially convenient for applying only a small amount of the product onto a cloth or cotton ball.

The oil/glycerin and the tea separate, so be sure to shake this product before using it (if you decide to make your own batch)!  I’m keeping my remover in the fridge, as the Green Beauty Guide Blog suggests. : )

I’m crazy about Etsy for too many reasons to count, but the excellent customer service that tends to accompany a small business is probably the greatest selling point for me. When I contacted Rebecca from Wash The Day Away to request a product to review, I was delighted by her quick and friendly response, as well as her willingness to also do a giveaway on Turby and John. Check back next week and see how you can win your own jar of the lovely body butter I’m about to review. Trust me, you’ll love it!

Ingredients (provided on the product page)- “Coffee Butter, Organic Cocoa Butter, Rice Bran Oil, Organic Unrefined Coconut Oil, Sweet Almond Oil, Emulsifying Wax, Optiphen, Cocoa Absolute.”

The preliminary report that I created in the Cosmetics Database gives this product a hazard score of 2. The only ingredient I couldn’t locate in the Cosmetics Database was coffee butter.

Some great things about this product:

1.It’s free of parabens and fragrance.

2. It contains organic ingredients.

Product Description(provided on the product page)- “Mocha Body Butter is a great skin conditioner. Treat your skin to a dose of anti-oxidants, Vitamin E & D, Fatty Acids and Proteins. Mocha Body Butter will nourish and keep your skin touchably soft all day long with the help of nature’s richest and most moisturizing ingredients.

The scent of Mocha Body Butter is just like a mug of hot Mocha Cafe Latte. Coffee, Intoxicating Dark Chocolate. Yum! A wonderful way to start each morning!”

Price-$12.00 for a 4 oz. jar.

Performance- The light, whipped consistency of this body butter left me with unbelievably silky skin. After allowing the product to dry for around 5 minutes, my skin didn’t feel the least bit greasy. It did, however, feel thoroughly moisturized all day long. Now that’s impressive!

Scent- This product has a lovely, deep, rich scent; it’s reminiscent of coffee and dark chocolate. However, it isn’t so overpowering or lingering that it’s a problem.

Rating- 9/10. I subtracted 1 point for the less than perfect hazard score, but this product is otherwise pretty remarkable.

We recently picked several peppers, a few tomatoes, and a pretty eggplant from our garden.

Using an Ezra Pound Cake Recipe, homegrown basil/tomatoes, and farmer's market mozzarella, Danielle made a delicious tomato pie on Tuesday night.

• Guide to Cooking Oils- Who knew corn oil was linked to breast and prostate cancer? Jeez!
• 17 Cool Treats for Your Dog- I’d never even considered freezing chicken and beef broth in ice cube trays for my sweet dogs, but I’m definitely going to now!
• And here’s the Fresh Tomato Pie with Basil Garlic Crust recipe.

Monday night, I made the dreamiest body scrub using a modified version of Adrianna’s recipe over at A Cozy Kitchen. It smells delicious (actually, it smells a lot like my current deodorant + some coconut), and it’s just what my dry, itchy skin needed. My knees, elbows, and feet have never felt better! I knew this scrub and I were meant to be the moment I saw the word grapefruit. My sweet neighbors across the street have given us permission to take advantage of their grapefruit tree, so we usually have a steady supply of those guys that is both free and delicious.

My recipe differs from Adrianna’s slightly in that used Olive Oil instead of Grape Seed Oil. Sadly, the latter was nowhere to be found in Lake Charles. I also halved the amount of grapefruit zest because two large grapefruits seemed like plenty (and my arm was tired after zesting the first two). Check out the full tutorial here, and please share your thoughts/suggestions if you make your own batch!

Image Courtesy of albabotanica.com

Ingredients (provided at cosmeticsdatabase.com)- “Organic ricinus communis (castor) seed oil, brassica campestris/aleurites fordi oil copolymer, oleic/linoleic/linolenic polyglycerides, silica silylate, coconut flavor, soybean glycerides, organic beeswax, butyrospermum parkii (shea butter), silica, organic cocos nucifera (coconut) oil, ammonium glycyrrhizate and tocopheryl acetate (vitamin E).”

This product receives a hazard score of 2 on the Cosmetic Safety Database, with tocopheryl acetate being the only ingredient with a hazard score above a 3.

Some great things about this product:

1. It contains organic ingredients.

2. It’s free of preservatives.

3. Alba Botanica cares about the environment.

Product Description (provided at albabotanica.com)- “Tropical fruit extracts and certified organic emollients are blended together to create exotic lip glosses that best reflect the beauty, vitality and spirit of the Hawaiian Islands for soft, shimmering lips.”

Price- $4.95 for .42 oz.

Performance- I’m more of a chap stick wearer than a lip gloss wearer (which is why this tube has lasted over a year), but I usually grab this stuff when I’m in the mood for lip gloss. It’s glossy without being sticky, and it doesn’t make my lips look ridiculously shiny. It stays put for a pretty long time as well, assuming I’m not licking my lips constantly. It smells like it would taste delicious (see below), but it doesn’t really have much of a taste.  When I’m feeling fancy, I like to add a little red lipstick underneath. Plus, my lips are way soft after using it.

Scent- This lip gloss smells almost exactly like a sample that I have of Coastal Classic Creations Sand Waves Perfume, which is kind of a great thing.

Rating- 8/10. I subtracted 2 points for the ingredient with a hazard score of 4. Shouldn’t a product that I put on my lips, and accidentally end up eating a lot of, have the best and safest ingredients possible?

Would I purchase this item again?- I might try to find something with a lower hazard score next time, but I definitely don’t regret purchasing this product.

I knew I'd probably like these eye shadows the minute I saw those adorable little birds.

When I received a sample set of Alima Pure’s Rainforest Collection in the mail, I felt both privileged and excited: privileged because it’s not every day that I get the chance to try and review something before it’s actually available for purchase, and excited about the lovely shades that would soon adorn my eyelids.

Ingredients (provided on product packaging)-Mica (CI 77019),  Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Iron Oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), Ferric Ferrocyanide (CI 77510), Ultramarines (Cl 77007).

These specific products are not yet in the Cosmetic Safety Database, so I linked to the ingredients individually. There are no ingredients with hazard scores above a 3, and it’s probably safe to assume that the overall hazard scores of these products would be around a 3 since there is an Alima Pure eyeshadow in the database with very similar ingredients.

Some great things about these products:

1. All of Alima Pure’s products carry the BDIH “Certified Natural Cosmetics” seal.

2. These products are cruelty-free.

3. $2 from each Limited Edition Collection purchased will be donated to Rainforest Action Network.

Product Description (provided with product packaging)- “Alima Pure pays homage to the “jewels of the earth,” the Rainforest. Between 40 and 75% of the world’s species are indigenous to rainforests. Important to the health of both the planet and to individuals, rainforests remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and recycle water; and one-quarter of the natural medicines in the world come from rainforests.

Bromeliad- this sparkling light green will refresh your spring color palette.

Jaguar- a slinky, golden-brown shimmer that pairs with anything.

Macaw- as vibrant as the tropical bird, a light, shimmering teal.

Kapok- a deep, dark brown sparkle to provide depth to your look.”

Price (provided with product packaging)-  $30 for a set of 4 eye shadows (a $44 value).

Application/Performance- I usually don’t bother with eye shadow unless I’m going to a wedding or something comparably formal, and even then I tend to stick with a safe shade of brown that I’ve had for years. I wore it almost daily in the early years of high school (mostly in unflattering shades of pink and orange), and I think I grew tired of it at some point. Needless to say, I felt particularly out of practice when preparing to apply this stuff. To my surprise, they were much less messy than I’d imagined and required a minimal amount of effort, which involved using  a damp brush to apply and then blend (advice given by Jena, whose blog I adore) and a damp cotton swab to correct my many mistakes.  Since I don’t wear concealer, I simply wiped away the bits of shadow that ended up on and around my under eye area with a damp cloth. I’d advise anyone who wears concealer, powder, or foundation to apply this eyeshadow before applying the aforementioned. Once applied, these eye shadows did an impressive job of staying put and sparkled just enough that I felt feminine and pretty but not like someone with an bizarre fairy obsession. These shadows come off easily with a little coconut oil, as I’m sure that they would with soap or any eye makeup remover.

Rating-9 out of 10 seems like an appropriate rating for this collection; I subtracted 1 point because the ingredients aren’t entirely hazard free. As far a performance goes, I am beyond satisfied!

Would I purchase this item again?- Well, since this collection is being offered only for a limited time, I probably won’t have the chance. However, I do plan to buy several samples (which are only $1.50 each!) of colors that are sold year round.  Of the Luminous Shimmer Eyeshadows, I have my eye on Azure, Ombra, and Gold Dust. From the Pearluster group, Viola and Champagne are my picks. The loveliest of the Satin Matte shadows are Juniper, Fawn, and Wedgewood.

*These products were courtesy of Alima Pure. The opinions are all mine.

Here are a couple of pictures of me trying out my new eye shadow:

Left Eye: Macaw & Jaguar, Right Eye: Bromeliad & Kapok

Wearing eyeshadow makes me feel fancy, and I plan to do it more often.

Thoughts:

• The article suggests removing makeup with olive oil, but I prefer taking off my eye makeup with coconut oil, because it comes off with much less effort (and everyone knows that the less you scrub the sensitive skin under your eyes, the less likely you are to get wrinkles).
• I can’t wait to try that Greek Yogurt and Papaya Enzyme Conditioning Mask. It’s at least tenth on a long list of masks that I need to try, and I mean it when I say need.
• I had no idea what Kefir was before reading this article.
• I’m definitely going to put honey on my heels the next time I clip my toenails and exfoliate my feet.
• Egg yolk might prevent hair loss? I have some balding friends that could definitely benefit from that information.
• Since dark chocolate makes skin less prone to dryness, I’m off to eat some of the dark chocolate-covered strawberries that Kirby made for me. It has very little to do with them being absolutely delicious. Not!

First, I rounded up the ingredients: Local Honey, Organic Coconut Oil, Organic Olive Oil, Organic Yogurt, and Cranberries.

Then, I combined the the ingredients in the top half of a double broiler.

The next step is to heat the ingredients in a water bath until the mixture begins to boil and then let it sit for five minutes.

Warning: the final step is very, very messy if you don’t have a sieve. I didn’t photograph it because my hands were disgusting, and I couldn’t safely operate a camera. Since I didn’t have a sieve, I squeezed the mixture through a knee high stocking into a small glass container. I know it sounds pretty gross, but the stocking was clean so don’t judge me.

Ta-da!

Making this first batch of lip gloss was definitely a learning experience. It’s a little oilier than I’d like for it to be, and it doesn’t stain my lips like I had hoped. Also, I’m keeping it in the fridge because that appears to be necessary to keep it solid. On the bright side, my lips are soft, and they taste tart and delicious. Next time I’ll probably use less olive oil and more cranberries.

Image Courtesy of Stylehive.com

DayNa Decker Botanika Essence Soak in Ella-I got a free bottle of Essence Soak in the mail recently for the purpose of trying and then reviewing, and I can’t even begin to describe how great this stuff smells. It isn’t fleeting, either. It’s a wonderful, rich, floral, intoxicating, long-lasting scent. I sprinkled about two and a half hands full of this soak into the tub just before getting in. It was probably my favorite part. It makes a fun crackling noise as it hits the water.  AND I don’t even have to feel guilty about using it because this soak is free of parabens, sodium lauryl/laureth sulfates, glycols, petrolatum, synthetic colors, phthalates, DEA, and TEA. The super cool packaging is pretty nice as well.

Image Courtesy of Swansonvitamins.com

Garden of Life’s Extra Virgin Coconut Oil- Not only is coconut oil great for taking off eye makeup and keeping skin moisturized during the winter months, a tablespoon full is a lovely addition to a hot bath. This particular brand of coconut oil is organic, which is even better. I spent most of my time in the tub rubbing my legs and feet. It made them so soft! A word to the wise, though: be careful. Coconut oil makes for a slippery tub.

Image courtesy of Nationalpost.com

Dr. Teal’s Oatmeal Bath Soak- This solution is perfect for dry, itchy skin. The best part? It’s not nearly as messy as regular oatmeal since it’s in powder form. I sprinkled about a half a cup of this solution into my dream bath.