Unplug

Hi Lovelies,

Just to let you know I won't be on social media for the next few weeks, as I am going on holidays, and I will take this time to unplug myself from everything. I need to recharge my battery as not to feel that social media is running my life, as I am in the beginning stages of it. I have no idea how people manage to run jobs, Youtube, blogs, Instagram, Twitter, FB, Snapchat and all the other social media outlets and look for pokemon at the same time! I can class myself as addicted to my phone by now. Yes, I am aware I can prepare drafts and post them on Mondays as not to miss my schedule, but I decided not to put this pressure on myself. I don't want leave my family and run into internet cafe to work (I have done this in the past, and believe me, everything that can go wrong, does on such occasions) The place I will be staying at does not have wi-fi. Hard to believe, I know, but thanks God these places still exist and I am looking forward to my digital detox.

Wish me luck and see you shortly! Try not to miss me too much, but be sure of this, I will be back with a bang! Love you all.


Xo,
Renata.

Summer 2016 Empties & Stuff I Am Waving Goodbye To

Hi Lovelies,



Welcome back! And if you are new here, welcome 💕💕💕

Here's what I used up during summer months, and a few expired /covers eyes in shame/ products, plus a few products that didn't suit me or gave me allergic reactions, all sorts of reasons I am throwing products away.

Cold Pressed Oils shea butter
I love this shea butter, l am on my third jar already and that is saying a lot! It helped me a lot with my dermatitis while l had it, and l still use it to this day on my face and hands. This small family business does beautiful cold pressed oils, l will link their Etsy shop here. I have tried several things from their line, all with great results. This shea butter is the best I have tried to date, l have used several brands but this wins hands down.

Cortas Neroli water
It is constantly in my empties posts, so l won't go into the great details, check my blog posts if you are interested in how l use it.

Pur Minerals Brow Perfection
I only used the wax side of as the powder was way too warm for me. Will l repurchase? No, because thanks to the lovely reader who goes by the name lina_loves_green on IG I discovered something way better and cheaper - Alterra products. See them here.

2x Christopher Drummond concealers
They expired on me! Don't you hate when that happens? I bought a set of three of them via ebay once l discovered this concealer, (review here) and because l didn't know the product yet, l couldn't have predicted the outcome of this, as in expiration of two whole bottles of it! If l knew how pigmented this is and how little l would need it, of course l would have bought just one bottle instead of three, because now l just wasted money. Oh well, l will know better from now on. Since then they rebranded as Hynt Beauty and l have the new concealer as well, review here.

Dermalex 
I have talked about this in my “Dermatis Be Gone” post, and this is my second bottle. While l am mostly symptoms free, l sometimes get outbreaks if l accidentally gluten myself, so l always have it on hand. 

Sample of 100%Pure Pink Grapefruit body cream
Yes l would pick it up, if it was on sale (you know my frugalista tendencies by now). Great ingredients and smell, rubs in really well and its really moisturising. I won't rush to buy it simply because l have too much other stuff to go through, but if you are looking for good clean and natural body lotion, this is a good one.

PurMinerals Pout Plumping Lip Gloss
This doesn't appear to have a name, but it doesn't matter, l am not repurchasing anyway, this was impulse buy in TKMaxx, the colour doesn't suit me much, l found myself not reaching for it at all, plus the ingredients are not the cleanest as l would like them to be. As soon as l found my fave natural lip gloss ever - 100%Pure Gemmed Lipgloss in Peacock Ore, l retired this one for good.

100%Pure Coffee Cherry Sun Damage Corrective Cream 
I haven't had a chance to use it at all, so l can't give you my opinion on it, sorry! It came as gift with purchase while l had my dermatitis, so l couldn't use it, and when l healed and was ready to give it a go, it expired on me, it came out all separated from the tube, so l was not about to risk it and put it on my face.

Juice Beauty Stem Cellular CC Cream with SPF30
I bought this sample from Naturisimo as l was really interested if it will live up to the hype, and to protect my face from the sun. I wasn't blown away, but it probably was the case of expecting too much. It has a strong herbal smell. I am not decided yet whether l will purchase a full size of it or not. This summer I have full sizes of 100%Pure and Kimberley Sayer SPF creams, so l might purchase this next summer, who knows?

Neal’s Yard Remedies White Tea Toning Eye Gel
This still has more than half of a product left, and l happily used it for around nine months before realising it expired on me! Doh! This is a very good product and l enjoyed using it in conjunction with Lil Fox eye butter, l feel it really did make a difference and l am about to post a blog review on it.

Hurraw Moon Balm
This is a favourite, and as soon at it finished, it was swiftly replaced. Amazing ingredients, smells of vanilla and l really enjoy using it. 

Neal’s Yard Remedies Bee Body Lotion
This mini came in a set and while l enjoyed using it, l doubt if l will repurchase it anytime soon, simple reason being l have too much of other stuff to go through, but if l ever will repurchase NYR body lotion, it will be this one as l don't really enjoy the scent of other lotions. By the way, this bottle sucks, it is impossible to get the product out!

Nelsons Arnica Cream
It didn't do anything to my or kids bruises oddly enough, and expired almost unused. Not repurchasing. I since discovered a brilliant remedy for all sorts of skin boo boos, and that is manuka and tea tree gel.

RosehipPlus rosehip oil
This was a score in TKMaxx at around 12€, or at least l thought was a score,until l realised my skin reacts badly to it. The front of the bottle says its Australian certified organic oil, but the back of the bottle says ingredients are rosehip oil AND tocopherol, which is vitE. People with gluten allergies or sensitivities can react to vitE derived from wheat, but when l asked company where the vitE is derived from they kept insisting it is pure oil with nothing added to it, despite listing clearly saying otherwise, and would not confirm the source of vitE to me. As l couldn't use it on my face, l used it on my hands and hair, but needless to say l am not repurchasing.   

Vidaneem Organic Neem oil
I bought it to treat my dermatitis once l remembered it helped to treat my daughters stubborn nappy rash when she was just s tiny baby, l have read a few success stories in neem oil use for dermatitis, plus l figured out it can't hurt to use antifungal antiviral thing on the skin, right? Oh so wrong! My skin was irritated to no end when l applied it and l basically haven't touched it for many months and it is probably expired by now. I am a bit ashamed l haven't used it for my hair masks or something, but it just got lost in between many things l own, and l pulled it out just now, while cleaning out my drawers.

Allafia hand soap
Nice product, nice clean formula. I got it in TKMaxx and l can't find it there ever since, one of drawbacks of shopping there, yes, you might find nice clean products,but you won't find it ever again. If it does come back sometime (l should add it’s US brand not available where I live), I am stocking up!

Mi-Oils Raw Argan Oil
This was my first and only purchase via FB, and l am throwing it away because it is years old if l am honest. The company no longer exists sadly, so l am not repurchasing for that reason, but if l will come across raw argan oil, l am sure getting it.

100%Pure Coconut Body Scrub
This stuff led me to 100%Pure, l mean that's how l discovered this brand, and when l checked their website and saw that they also do make up I was like “Woohoo, happy days!” I got this for 9€ in the last Black Friday sale, so yes, it lasts a while. Normally it is 35€ so I don't  know if l am repurchasing, scrubs are one of the areas I prefer to DIY and save money on. I bought it because I got it on super deal and because I was curious for years!

Borneo007 - whole range of products
I should have had included this in my last - disappointing products - post as this is the biggest disappointment I’ve had when it comes to make up! Imagine situation - you just had a baby, and a few weeks later you are told the job you had no longer exists, so you are jobless and penniless, because all the savings went into preparing for the baby. Your husband also loses his job two weeks later. So you spend a year without any treats for yourself, and when your Bday comes around, you decide to treat yourself to a new make up. I got it via etsy beauty - l was looking for a clean ingredients and a good price, so after days of research l chose this company and l got full sizes of mineral foundation, concealer, blush and three or four eyeshadows. What a disapointment! Nothing from these products worked for me, the powder had no coverage, yet it looked terrible cakey (yes, that is possible!), the concealer creased like crazy and was way too light for me, when l wore the blush, l was asked if l got punched in the face (?!) - clearly wrong shade for me and l never touched this again. The eye shadows were terrible and lasted for 1 hr maximum. So imagine my state when l spent the last money I scrimped in this crappy lot! Even now, a few years later I still remember my bitter tears over this. And it made me scared of trying anything else from etsy beauty section for a long time.

Pure Anada Mascara

This is really nice natural mascara, that has a really good price point as well, review here. Sadly it didn’t rock my world as I found it hard to apply, not much goes onto the brush, so you have to take time to apply multiple layers to get the desired effect. If you are after “natural look” mascara, this is perfect for you, but with my invisible lashes I need way more drama just to get my lashes to the “normal” look. I found myself reaching for it on the weekends only, because I just didn’t have the time on weekdays to stand there and build it up for ten minutes. It also started smelling after just two three weeks of use, so I was able to get …. weeks out of it. For those two reasons I am not getting this mascara again. But their mineral powder foundation is my Holy Grail foundation!

Inika Foundation Samples in Cream and Beige

I got these about a year ago, so it is time to let it go! At the time of getting them I found the Cream too light and too yellow, and Beige too dark, but now that it is summer time and my face has got some color to it, I like the Beige! It is so lightweight, it feels like nothing on your skin, and with 76% organic ingredients, it is a hero product in my eyes! It is light to medium coverage.

A repurchase? I have a full size, yes.

Burt’s Bees Shampoo and Child's Farm shampoo 
I am grouping them together because these are staples in my house, I blogged times a hundred about them, and I am pretty sure you will see them again.

Real Techniques Beauty Sponge
This is a great product, but it is time to get a replacement already.

NYR Geranium and Orange Shower Gel
I am really impressed with NYR shower gels, even these minis take months to finish, they are that good! I am not getting it in this scent again, none of my family liked the scent to be honest, and that's why I was left to finish it off on my own, haha! But I am definitely getting their shower gels, currently have their Ginger and Vanilla one. 

Liz Earle Superskin Bust and Neck Treatment
This was sent to me three years ago, and I am yet to review it, whoops.. In short, it works. I forgot to include it in the pic, doh! Please excuse me.

 I will list some supplements as well, these will go into my vitamin/supplement routine post in the near future, so stay tuned. I will repurchase all of these, except from Holland & Barrett one, this brand uses many fillers in their products, so it's time to move on from it and find a better alternative.

Optima Acai Superfood Juice

Liquid VitD by Solgar

Vitamin D and Zinc by Holland and Barrett

Vitamin B complex by Solgar



And the products mentioned in my disappointing products post:

Ruka’s place shea butter and rosehip oil

Josh Rosebrook Balance Shampoo and Conditioner

Shea Moisture Raw Shea Butter Shampoo

Fushi Eczmaid

DrOrganic products, whole lot of them

Neal's Yard Remedies products, several of them (I have many faves from this brand, it's just not everything I've tried worked for me)

Sukin facial moisturisers, two of them

100%Pure, also a few products (Same like with NYR, I have many faves from this brand, it's just not everything has worked for me)




What have you finished lately? Please share, I would love to know!



Lots of love,
Renata.
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Related posts:
Spring 2016 Natural Empties
Winter 2016 Natural Empties
Second part of Winter 2016 Empties
Winter 2015 Natural Empties

Disappointing products / Green Beauty Stuff That Didn't Work For Me

Hi Lovelies,


I was debating with myself whether or not I should post those types of posts here on my blog, as I think of it as "negative", and I don't feel good trashing products at all. I was thinking to myself of doing only those products posts that I enjoy, and those that didn't work for me just let it slip and not mention them at all, but then again, done right way, as in "constructive criticism" way, it can actually be helpful to some people and help them avoid expensive mistakes? If I list the reasons why exactly I didn't like the product, those might be the exact reasons someone will love the product, you just never know? We are all different and we might expect different things from products? Before we start, let's just say that I have dry and sensitive skin and my hair is not coloured, fine, but there's lots of it, and it's mid-back length.My skin is normal to dry, but very sensitive and reactive and prone to dermatitis. I am on the wrong side of 30's, so I can as well class myself as "mature" I guess? I also won't be listing ingredients of everything (something I like to do) because I don't want this post to be two miles long. After long talk with myself I decided to sort of split this post into two parts, firstly I will talk about about truly terrible (in my opinion) products, and the second part will list the products that didn't work on my skin type/tone but it might work for someone else?

Borne 07 COsmetics- whole range of products (from etsy)
Imagine situation - you just had a baby, and a few weeks later you are told the job you had no longer exists, so you are jobless and penniless, because all the savings went into preparing for the baby. Your husband also loses his job two weeks later. So you spend a year without any treats for yourself, and when your Bday comes around, you decide to treat yourself to a new make up. I got it via etsy beauty - l was looking for a clean ingredients and a good price, so after days of research l chose this company and l got full sizes of mineral foundation, concealer, blush and three or four eyeshadows. What a disappointment! Nothing from these products worked for me, the powder had no coverage, yet it looked terrible cakey (yes, that is possible!), the concealer creased like crazy and was way too light for me, when l wore the blush, l was asked if l got punched in the face (?!) - clearly wrong shade for me and l never touched this again. The eye shadows were terrible and lasted for 1 hr maximum. So imagine my state when l spent the last money I scrimped in this crappy lot! Even now, a few years later I still remember my bitter tears over this. And it made me scared of trying anything else from etsy beauty section for a long time. This is the biggest disappointment I’ve had when it comes to make up!


Josh Rosebrook Balance Shampoo and Conditioner

I got it in a green beauty swap with Cleanshelf from Instagram, and I jumped for joy since his products were exactly the ones I wanted to try for ages, I afraid they are out of my price point (and I have a back up of my fave shampoo) so the swap was the perfect opportunity for me to try it without spending much money. So I used it one, two three times and was disappointed each time! My freshly washed hair looked like 5th day unwashed hair, and that happened every single time I used the products. Even worse when I used shampoo alone, tangled mess, anyone? So not good! My hair is waaay past the switch from conventional to natural shampoos, if I were in the transitional phase, that would explain why this shampoo and conditioner didn't work, I would expect something like this if my hair would still be in the "detox" from conventional shampoos phase, but no, I am clean with my haircare for 4+ years. And I don't use any styling products in my hair, so it wasn't gunk from the leftover styling products either. So despite great ingredients, I have to classify this product as "disappointing" and believe me I don't do this lightly. Maybe some other shampoo from his line would work better on my hair type, but at this price point I am not willing to try. I am feeling self conscious posting this, because when I posted my Dermorganics shampoo review and only mentioned that I am trying Josh Rosebrook and 100%Pure shampoos next and will be posting reviews of them soon, Josh himself came to my IG page and started having a go at me for liking less than perfect ingredients shampoo (Dermorganics has fragrance in the ingredients list) and was acting all defensive in the comments, which I find odd as he is supposed to be the "sweetheart" of the green beauty world. I am half expecting this again once I will publish my post. Look for apt IG photo if you want to see it for yourself. I tested this shampoo on two members of my family as well as my friend, all came back with similar experience.

Tabitha James Kraan Hair Cleanser
I got a deluxe sample size of this with some other products in Naturisimo discovery box a while ago, (photo here) as this was the thing I wanted to try for aaages but the high price tag stopped me from getting it sooner, so I jumped at the chance to try it this way, but this was a big disappointment. They recommend to use 15 pumps of it to clean the hair and warn this is not like shampoo you are used to, well, what they don't tell you is that is does not work! Full stop. Tried it once, with a matching conditioner hair left like a tangled mess. Tried it twice minus conditioner, doubling the amount of product, even worse! Tried it third time, upping the pumps to 60, hair still tangled unwashed looking mess. Went back to my beloved Dermorganics shampoo = perfect looking hair. When I mentioned my less than successful experience on someone's IG page, the brand acted all defensive too, telling me it is my own fault it is not working and they have many happy customers. Well, I am happy that you have many customers, but for me, this was the worst product I have ever used on my hair, and what's 15 pumps which is half a teaspoon to my really long (past the elbows) hair anyway? That's not even enough to spread on your scalp. Anyways, let's move on!

Ruka's Place Raw And Organic Shea Butter
Now, I am not novice with shea butter, I have used it for many years, and I constantly rave about other brand's shea butter in my other posts, but this didn't agree with me. Every time I used this my skin would tingle, and I found it a bit odd. I once used it to soothe my freshly shaved legs, and it gave me bumps and red rashes plus irritating feeling, you know, exactly the sort of thing when you get once stinging nettle touches your skin, where the hair follicles would swell up, be red and all itchy? Yes, exactly like that. My hubby looked scared and told me he thought I got dermatitis all over my legs once he saw this, so I immediately washed it off and my skin calmed down soon after. (And no, it is nothing to so with the razor or shaving. I always use the same type of razor, fresh every time, and if I use coconut oil to soothe the skin, I am alright). I haven't touched it ever since. Time to find a new owner for it?

Ruka's Place Rosehip Oil
Rosehip oil is my favourite facial oil, it is amazing and I am singing praises for it for a long time, it is so good for the skin, right? Not this sadly. This company says their products are all natural, but this left my skin irritated and red for some reason, and it never happened to me with rosehip oil before. I was careful not to use it on my dermatitis patch, my skin reacted in a wild protest when I tried to used it there. Don't know why this is or why this didn't suit me, but I can't use it.

Before and after after three weeks of constant usage. Minimal changes if any?

Fushi Eczmaid
I am not comfortable saying this as this was sent by Fushi for a review, but it didn't do anything for me. What I didn't tell you guys is that I got dermatitis outbreak two months ago, and that's exactly why I chose this product over their suggested hair oil, as I was hoping this stuff would work, but it didn't, at least for me. There are many types of dermatitis, and if it didn't work for me, it doesn't mean it won't work for you, so go ahead and try it if you want to, it might be just the thing for you, who knows? It has 99.5% organic grown herbs, so it is a good stuff, just sadly it wasn't for me.
Photo on the left shows outbreak when it was fresh, photo on the right shows it after a month of consistent use. Yes, there is a slight difference, but it that might be just the natural healing? If you are curious, after that month of not-so-much healing it dawned on me that I finished some supplements and vitamins and after I repurchased and started taking those again, my skin healed in less than a week! I am religious about taking those since to keep my skin in tip top condition.

DrOrganic Rose Otto Face Mask
I only had it on my face for a minute when I felt it burning, and true enough, when I swiftly washed it off, it was left red and raw as if it was scalded! haven't touched it with a bargepole since, and no one in my house wants it since then.

DrOrganic Rose Otto Facial Scrub
Since the mask had such an effect on me, I haven't touched it and asked my daughter to try it first. She said it was like rubbing face with a sandpaper and hasn't touched it since then too. Time to give or throw it away I guess?

DrOrganic Rose Otto Facial Serum
I wanted to try it for ages and was so excited when I saw it on sale at Holland and Barrett, and bought it straight away. And guess what? Instead of the gorgeous results it promises, all it did was irritate my skin. Notice a pattern here? Never again.

DrOrganic Rose Otto Eye Serum
Didn't do a thing for undereyes apart from giving me millia. It looks well used, and only because I used it as a handcream.

 

DrOrganic Argan Oil Shampoo & Conditioner
I am putting them together, because they are equally bad, didn't work at all, greasy, tangly mess that is all I got instead of gorgeous shiny locks. It also gave me instant dandruff and smell is horrible!
Never again. DrOrganic is a brand I am about to give up on, from all the products I've tried, 99% were a fail, I only like Manuka conditioner. It is also a greenwashing brand in my opinion, they are not certified organic, so the name is misleading, and the ingredients are not as clean as you want them to be. Apart from what you see here I have tried shower gels, face creams, lip balms, body butters, deodorants and toothpastes, as well as mouthwashes, and I didn't like any of them for different reasons. I feel I tried enough of the products and gave many chances to the brand, but when you are not fully satisfied, you should move on to a different brand. I recently got interested in their snail gel after another blogger raved about it, but after perusing ingredients I decided to break up with the DrOrganic there and then for good - the ingredients are not pure, it is aloe based and it contains phenoxyethanol.

Shea Moisture Shampoos
They arrived at Boots about a year ago, and I got them as soon as I saw them there, doing a happy dance at the thought of natural products coming to masses, but let's just say this purchase of mine was a 49€ worth of fail. The shampoos are not moisturizing at all, it made my hair coarse and dry 😕 it is not the worst I've tried, but it didn't blew me away in the way I hoped! It added shine, but that's about it for positives for it. I got way too many flyaways than I usually do, plus they made my hair way too tangly and gave me dandruff. At the time Boots was stocking only six products from the wast Shea Moisture range, now they have twenty three. The leave in conditioner is better than the shampoos, but I sort of wasted it, I decanted it into a small bottle to use is as a detangler, and only used that, the rest was sitting on the bathroom shelf, and I found it frothed up next time I went to use it a few months later. I blame myself for it, maybe it shouldn't be kept in the bathroom? I would repurchase it if it was sold in a smaller quantity, so I would be sure to use it up, but it is sold in giant tub for 18€, which is expensive especially if you know you won't be able to use it all up. I am not sure if I will try any more products from them to be honest with you, as I am half expecting that their shampoos won't work for me, I don't need any conditioner while I am using my Dermorganic shampoo (review here if you are interested) and we don't use any styling products in my house, apart from my hubby's styling gel. Also one more thing, when I posted my haul on my IG page, Norvegian blogger ordered some products soon after and she sent me message saying that these products are heavily diluted compared to those she had from US, so she was very disappointed. I haven't tried these products before so I can't comment for myself, but shame on Boots and Shea Moisture if they diluted the products for the EU market. These are normal shampoo consistency, and I was told they should be so thick they are hard to squeeze out of the bottle. Please let me know if you have tried US products and if they are different from the ones here?

Now let's talk about the products that didn't suit my dry and sensitive skin, but might suit some of you if your skin is different. I will clearly state why I didn't like it.

Neal's Yard Remedies Orange Flower Facial Oil
Despite loads of nice and nourishing oils in it, my sensitive skin didn't like it and was irritated every single time I used it, and it was making my dermatitis patch much redder and worse looking, so that is exactly the reason I had to stop using it. In order for my money spent not to go to waste, I use it as my body lotion (rather expensive) booster. I don't like products go to waste, and none of my girlfriends wanted it.

Neal's Yard Remedies Frankincense Facial Cream
Same story as with orange flower facial oil, just instead of using it on my body I gave it away to one of my girlfriends with much less sensitive skin than mine when it was 70% full and she seems to enjoy it.

Neal's Yard Remedies Rehydrating Rose Toner
This has alcohols in the ingredients list, and I knew straight away it won't suit me, and true enough, it dried out my skin like crazy the few times I tried to use it. I tried to pass it onto my daughter, and she reported the same, even though her skin is normal. So I found a girlfriend with oily skin and she happily used it up.

Neal's Yard Remedies Beauty Sleep Body Lotion
It has good ingredients, but it is scented with lavender, something none in our family enjoys, so it went into the swap with already mentioned Cleanshelf, and I think she was happy enough with it, since she used it all up.
*A little note about all these NYR products, they are all great products with great ingredients, high organic percentage too, so please don't think they are bad just because they didn't suit me. This experience has taught me to go straight to "sensitive skin" section in new brands, instead of ordering whatever product description I like the most. And just as I said I will be ordering stuff from their sensitive skin range next time.

Sukin Super Greens Nourishing Chia Oil
I have been lusting over chia oil for ages (there's nothing more to create the "want" as reading countless great reviews on something you want) so the second I saved a bit of money, I had to spend it on this beauty, esp as this was the latest brand launched at Naturisimo, my fave online store. And you know what, this didn't do anything for me. At all. My skin didn't look in any way different or better to when it was before, nor it was moisturised or nourished. So despite my best efforts using this for two weeks, I had to give it up and I packed it for Cleanshelf too. Ingredients are great in this, you would think you are reading salad ingredients list, not facial oil. It is aimed at all skin types and promises great things, but for me it didn't deliver.
*P.s. I also tried Sukin Facial Moisturiser and Hydrating Rosehip Oil Facial Cream and none of those things have worked for me, probably due to the alcohols in them, something I learned to strictly avoid in my skincare. So I am a bit puzzled whether to try or not to try the brand further, when three out of three things ended up being waste of money. Part of me says to leave a brand in general, but I know Sukin is great affordable Aussie brand that is available to me locally (a miracle, no less, usually nothing I want is avail where I live), so I might miss out on some great products by refusing to try it further? I don't know, what do you guys think? What are your favourite Sukin products, please let me know?

Sukin Face Moisturiser (in a pump bottle) and Sukin rosehip face cream
Sukin is a great affordable AU brand, and you can find their products in Holland & Barrett or TKMaxx here, but I haven't had much luck with them as the oil didn't make any difference in my skin, and the both moisturisers did, but not in a good way, they irritated the crap out of my skin. That is sad and I am not sure whether to get more product to try or to move on from the brand all together?
(Photos can be find in my Instagram feed, scroll way back).

100% Pure Green Tea SPF30 Facial Cream - (not pictured)

Great ingredients, super bad product! It is supper runny - like a yogurt consistency, don't even think about opening the bottle if it's facing down or you will lose half of it's contents on the floor. After a few months it separated on me, plus the application is a nightmare on itself, I usually wear a facial oil underneath, and even with the oil it is hard to spread, plus I would advise you to work in small areas because if you will dot it all over your face and start blending it, by the time you will do half of your face, the rest will be dried up, and it is super hard to spread those dried up circles. Plus it will leave you white as a ghost, I find I have to wear a foundation that's too dark to even it out, if I wear my regular shade I look ghost pale, not ideal!

100%Pure Lip and Cheek Tint in Pink Grapefruit
I had one more of it I can't remember the name of it and it is not on their website either, which makes me think it has been discontinued. It was berry-pinkish shade ,but more on the dark side, so I knew that wouldn't work for me, so I swapped it ages ago, but the Pink Grapefruit I did cling onto, maybe more for sentimental reasons, it was exactly the thing I was lusting over and wanted to try once I have discovered 100%Pure brand (at that time I had a newborn on my hands, had zero money and was just recently told I lost my job as a result of the recession) And you all know 100%Pure aren't exactly cheap, so I wanted to make it work for me badly, not wanting to look the facts in the eye that blue based pink blushes don't suit me at all, I wore it regardless, but one too many questions "has your dermatitis returned" questions I had to let it go and included it in the swap with BalancedbeautyinBristol who loved it, and I am so happy that she liked it! Btw, check out her IG page, the girl is so funny!

100%Pure Healthy Skin Foundation (in a pump bottle)
I am so sad to include it in my disappointing products post, as I really really really wanted to like this foundation, and I was hoping this would be my Holy Grail foundation, but sadly it didn't work out that way. Firstly of all I ill matched myself by choosing a colour online (we all know how hard it is and it's in no way their fault, only mine), but the formula didn't amaze me either, and all the countless glowing reviews I have read prior to purchasing this product didn't help either. It is like a high end foundation they said! Performs as good if not better Channel they said! Gives good coverage and lasts all day they said! Let me explain - it does not give you full coverage (just a little more than a medium I would say), it does not last all day on it's own, it clings to any dry patches on your skin, even the ones you didn't know you had, it collects in your fine lines and pores, so you will look like shit in just a couple of hours, it highlights rather than hides all your wrinkles and dry spots on your face, and you need a ton of product if you need to build coverage, so it runs out very fast. I actually needed to apply six pumps to my face to cover all the dermatitis scars, and it was unheard of for me to use more than two pumps of anything. A primer somewhat fixes all these problems, but then again, not really. I am using this product to use it up, but I don't think I will repurchase, at least not for now. I am testing loads of green foundations at the moment, and none of them floats my boat, they fall short in some ways in my opinion, if it's not the coverage, then it's staying power or something else. What can I say, the search continues.
By the way, this foundation has a couple of great points too, so it is not all bad, it looks really natural, didn't irritate my skin in the slightest and if you are young and have great skin and not a lot to cover, this might be your perfect foundation! If you are like me, on the wrong side of 30's or older, I say save your money!

100%Pure Powder Foundation.
Great ingredients, zero coverage! Not even light coverage, zero coverage. I am using as a setting powder (not that I use setting powders, as a dry skin girl) and I feel it should definitely be marketed as a setting powder, because as a foundation it sucks. Definitely not repurchasing.

Eos lip balms
I got two ever since they came out in Ireland, but I found them not moisturising, just sitting on the lips and doing nothing. I posted a shot of them on my IG page (photo here) and they got more nay than yay. My daughter loves them however.

My Earth Kiss Mud Masks
Too harsh on my sensitive skin, but might be perfect for you if you have oily or normal skin? Can be found in Holland & Barrett.

Aurelia Probiotic Cell Revitalise Rose Mask
This is a beautiful product that didn't suit me sadly, and with a heavy heart I gave it away to my friend, who loves it, so I am happy for her. I won this is a surprise Youtube giveaway for the new subscribers (when the brand was new to Youtube) while I still had my dermatitis at it's worst, so at first I couldn't use it at all, and tried to use it as soon as my skin healed a bit, but the very few times I used it, it irritated my dermatitis patches a lot, so I had to lay it off for a while. Once my skin healed completely I tried it again, but left it for too long (my own fault really, I should have checked the instructions again, instead of sitting down to watch 20 min Youtube video) the skin showed no signs of irritation while I had it on, no stinging, nothing, but as soon as I took off, I had beet red skin, I looked like I scalded my face. and it was very hard to get it to normal. This is in no way to bash the product (or any of the products mentioned here, really), because I also remember that it made my skin (the side less affected by dermatitis) very smooth, nourished and brightened. If your skin is not troubled, this is the mask to use before the big event or party, it will make your skin gorgeous! Just please take from my experience, aka don't be an idiot and don't leave it for too long. That's exactly I said to my friend, and she is so happy with it, she constantly thanks me for it. I might get it again at some point and I want to try more products form this range too.

Fushi Sea Buckthorn Apricot Certified Organic Moisturiser for dry to normal skin
I went back to this three times before I purchased it in TKMaxx, had very high hopes for it, but it didn't deliver. It did nothing to moisturise my skin, all I got was tightness and tingling, that's all. I tried to mix it with my beloved Pai oil, but my skin was still irritated my by it, so why distress it further? If you have oily skin you might love it, it is very thin in consistency and not emolient at all.

Phew, I think that's it? As you can see, my skin is uber sensitive, because "irritated" featured a lot in this post. If your skin is different, you might like all these products I mentioned here, we have to understand that we are all different and what suits me, might not suit you, and vice versa, my "fails" might be your perfect products, you never know unless you try it for yourself. Thankfully I found some great products in many categories, so I should have less disappointments along the way! Please God. (Our lucky US sisters can return any product they didn't like, us Europeans aren't so lucky. Too bad if the product didn't suit you, you are stuck with it anyway).



Please share what are your disappointing green beauty products, I am very curious?


That is all for now. I will have one more blog post this week, so please stay tuned.

Lots of love,
Renata.

"Monsters Be Gone" DIY Spray

Hello Lovelies,

Today I am coming at you with a bit different post than usual, it is not green beauty related, but it is natural living related, and I hope this will help out a fellow mom(s) with small children. The thing is that my second kid inherited my childhood fears of dark and "monsters". She won't go into corridor on her own and also has trouble falling asleep, and was constantly telling me she is afraid of the "monsters". Now, I know she will grow out of them in a few years as it always happens with children, but still I wanted to help her out at this time too, not to brush it away. So one day I remembered a pin I'd pinned a few years ago onto my Pinterest board - that post was about putting a DIY "No Monsters" label on a room freshener spray, a conventional Febreze one. I obviously use none of those, so I made my own concoction of rosewater, lavender and camomile essential oils. And you know what, it did the trick! Excuse my wonky drawing (a 6yr old would do better!) but you get the idea, we just put the label on the spray bottle and we use every time she feels necessary, we spray it in the dark corners of the house and onto her bedding before she goes to sleep. Lavender and camomile essential oils are here for a reason, they both have calming effect and I think they help her fall asleep peacefully. It worked! It is our third week of having this "No Monsters" spray, and we use it less and less, we put it in the drawer under her fish tank, so she always knows it is there if she feels she needs it, but I definitely have witnessed changes in her in the last couple of weeks, she is more calm, less afraid, more daring to do things (read more cheeky if I am honest).

If anybody wants a recipe, it is short and sweet, just fill a 100ml spray bottle with a rosewater and add ten drops of each lavender and camomile essential oils. One of those would do too, if you don't want to purchase two, one of them would work just as well. If you don't like the smell of any of those, you can use any other essential oil you like, just make sure it has calming qualities, so do your little research first.
I purchase rose water from my local Asian shop for less than 2€, and you can get essential oils in any health shop, plus selected pharmacies. Just please make sure to use real essential oils, not "fragrance" oils, those are synthetic and harmful to you, stay clear of them. Even though essential oils are a bit of investment initially, it is totally worth it, because you can use them so many different ways and they will last you years as they are so concentrated.

So there you have it, my short and sweet post, if it helps at least one mom out there, I would be a happy girl! (Join the discussion here).


Lots of Love,
Renata.
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Disclaimer: I can not be responsible for what you will do with this information, nor the outcome of it, I am simply sharing what worked for me. Please be very careful using essential oils and make sure none of the family members are allergic to any of those first. I purchased all items with my own money for those of you who want to know. Disclaimer over.