Sarah also has an Etsy shop full of handmade bras, panties, and lingerie, and I’m smitten with just about every item in her shop. Lord knows I love a good sleep bra.

Go ahead, check out Sarah’s blog/shop! You’re bound to see something you love. : )

Image Source

My mom and grandmother went to an Arbonne party a little over a month ago, and they scored a couple of 10-Piece Precision Brush Sets.  The EcoTools brush set I was using had seen better days (I’m not even sure how two of the brushes ended up in the set), so I was understandably pumped when Danielle returned from her visit to Mississippi with a precision brush set for each of us.

Out with the old.

In with the new!

Talk about an upgrade!

Have you ever read the ingredients on a bottle of cheap nail polish? If you’re lucky enough to have them listed (and are capable of reading the tiniest words you’ll probably ever encounter), then you might be shocked by what you see. It wasn’t until just before throwing out my old polishes and remover that I forced myself to look at the ingredients. One of the few recognizable ingredients on each bottle was formaldehyde resin. The remover was no better. Think acetone, parabens, and artificial colors that hardly seem necessary in a polish remover.

I avoided doing research on the horrible ingredients hiding in popular polishes for a very long time; I knew my findings would cause me to make a possibly expensive change. I’ve had several natural polishes on wishlists in the past, but I was never able to justify the initial high cost on top of shipping. When I saw Piggy Paint* at Pink & Blue Avenue, a local gift shop for babies and new mothers, I took it as a sign that it might be time to make the switch. I thought it over for a few days, and when I returned to the store I bought a bottle of Piggy Paint in Sea-quin (which is free of formaldehyde, toluene, phthalates, Bisphenol A, ethyl acetate and acetone)  as well as a bottle of Piggy Paint acetone-free nail polish remover. My next move was getting rid of all my Sally Hansen, Petites, and Essie products.

I feel pretty great about my purchase, and I consider it $20 well spent. I’ll be heading to the beach for a week on Saturday, and my toes will look great without being covered in formaldehyde. A post on achieving beach-ready feet at home is on its way! I’ll talk more about the performance of these lovely products in said post.

*I know, I know. As the name suggests, this product was created for kids. However, as the website states, “Piggy Paint is a natural, eco-friendly nail polish designed for fancy girls.”

I was a fancy girl at 7, I’m a fancy girl at 21, and I’ll still be a fancy girl when I’m 50. Count on it!

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.

We were running low on tea, so I bought two new boxes today when I went shopping with Danielle. One thing that I love about Marshall’s is that they always have awesome-looking teas for reasonable prices. I just drank two cups of the tea in the pink box, and it tasted like a cherry jolly rancher.  I’m assuming that it has something to do with the Cherry Flavor that’s listed in the ingredients (which I honestly didn’t notice until a few minutes ago…I guess I was mesmerized by the pretty packaging and the curious spelling of the word aging ). Aside from the cherry flavoring, the tea has pretty great ingredients: Hibiscus, Rosehip, Buckthorn Berries, Strawberries, Blueberries, Raspberries, and Blackberries. I haven’t tried any of the new Earl Grey yet, but I’m pretty excited to do so, because it’s made with actual Oil of Bergamot (unlike the box of Twinings that we just finished, which is made with bergamot flavouring). Looks like I’ve just taken up residence in Fancytown, USA.

Also, I think I might have a Stye. I’m not sure because it isn’t painful, but I can plainly see a small bump on the lower lid of my right eye at the base of my lashes. The eye in question has been a little red for two days, and it’s a real bummer. I’ve been searching for home remedies,  and apparently warm, used tea bags are supposed to help. Can anyone confirm this, or does anyone have their own bit of advice for getting rid of a stye?

This is me with my pretty friend, Allie

Your eyes aren’t playing tricks. That is a fancy Christmas vest that I’m wearing.

Preparing to travel home, Christmas parties, Christmas shopping, Christmas crafting (which I will post about eventually), and fighting off a cold have been keeping me pretty busy lately. I honestly didn’t have much time to throw together anything even kind of original today. Still, I think you guys should check out Care2′s list of 20 Green Gift Ideas. There are some real winners here and there. I love a list that includes animal lovers.

Desert Essence tea tree oil mouthwash

1. Desert Essence tea tree oil mouthwash- Let’s get real, natural toothpastes don’t actually do much for bad breath.  Flossing and brushing are great for making my teeth look clean, but mouthwash is where it’s at if I want to talk close to someone’s face (and I do).  I love the way this stuff tastes, and it makes my breath downright pleasant.

Spring Valley tea tree oil

2. Spring Valley tea tree oil (that walmart jurnt)- Can you tell that I’m a big fan of tea tree oil? Tea tree oil, when applied a few times a day, makes my blemishes go away in half the time.  I stopped using it for a while because I wanted to see if something like Clean & Clear  Persa-Gel 10 would work just as well, but I quickly realized that tea tree oil was far superior.  Kirby hates the way it smells, but I do what I want. Also, I find the licorice/hippie scent comforting for some reason.  Sometimes I like to call it tree tree oil. That’s how I roll.

Burt's Bees vitamin E body and bath oil

3. Burt’s Bees vitamin E body & bath oil- I love pure vitamin E oil, but this is a lot less sticky and it smells like a yellow starburst. I put it on scars and stretch marks, and it really does make them go away faster. Imagine that!

Yes To Carrots c me smile citrus lip butter

4. Yes To Carrots c me smile citrus lip butter- I never thought I’d stop using vanilla Soft Lips until I tried this guy. I prefer it. I don’t feel the need to reapply as often, and it doesn’t leave that weird lip scum build-up that sometimes happens with Soft Lips. Know what I mean, or am I just gross? Also, I sometimes put this on underneath a few light strokes of the lipstick that I posted about. It looks fancy.

Ojai Lavender natural conditioner

5. Ojai Lavender natural conditioner- I tried using this as a regular conditioner, and it made my hair kinda flat and oily-looking. But then I tried using it before shampooing my hair, and I loved the results.  It makes my hair look really shiny, like Pantene Pro-V commercial shiny. btw, I condition my hair again with my usual conditioner after shampooing.

Why:

• special occasions
• putting it on and immediately wiping it off/rubbing it in can sometimes leave a nice and subtle shade that looks somewhat natural
• because I can

Consequently (and perhaps unfortunately), I picked up the reddest and cheapest shade I could find at Walmart this evening.

Rimmel Lipstick (shade: Red Hot)

Either this lipstick is the absolute worst, or I just discovered that I have the kind of lips that do not agree with lipstick. Picture a clown’s mouth. There you go.

Also, the color is nothing to write home about. It is a little too orange when applied for my liking.

Lesson Learned: Cheap isn’t always best.

Oh, and the ingredients are probably dreadful as well.