May 2017 Natural And Organic Eco Empties

Hi Lovelies,




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

Natural, organic and eco empties

Lemon Essential Oil

I use this in my diffuser, cleaning, to remove sticky labels - that's the little tip for you if you didn't know that already - lemon essential oil is excellent at removing those pesky labels off shoes, jars, etc. I actually used half of it to purify/deodorise house following the fire story in one go, otherwise one bottle lasts me for months.

A repurchase? Not this brand, but I will repurchase lemon EO as long as I will live.

TerraNova multivitamin

Really good multivitamin formula, and I will surely will repurchase come fall and winter. For summer I tend not to take vitamins, only superfoods like baobab powder. With all the fresh fruit & veg available, you kind of don't need to? I know I take breaks in summer from the supplements, but we each are different. I find this brand great, really natural ingredients, and it is one of the very few supplement brands I take. Find it in LoveLula.com I am certainly going th review this in the near future.

Nap In The Meadow

Really gorgeous anti inflammatory serum, containing both turmeric and blue tansy, my two favourite ingredients. Not repurchasing for now, because I have two other serum waiting, Blissoma one and Isun Sapphire and Emerald Sun Hydrosol. But this is on my “to repurchase” list. See review of this and other Earthwise Beauty products here.

Red Apple Lipstick lipstick in Twist ‘N’ Pout

Really sad to let this go, because I really love this colour on me, my perfect nude, not too pale, not too brown. Not repurchasing due to extremely high shipping and custom costs, but if RAL will ever get EU distributor, I will be one of the first to buy it. As for now, their postage costs to EU are 50$ (?!) and if I were to get just this lipstick and one eye shadow, that would set me back 130€. Is it worth it? And I am not even kidding you or making stuff up, see it all listed in screen shots in my review here.

Btw, if you know a natural dupe of this colour that would be available from within EU, please let me know and you will forever have my gratitude!

Nyr Bee Lovely Hand Cream

Even though I am technically a Nyr consultant, I tend to get these hand creams as freebies with magazines. What? It is way cheaper this way, and that is pretty much the only times I buy glossy magazines, so I don't feel bad about it at all! As hand cream it is good, sinks in quickly, so I tend to use it in the daytime and leave my more rich creams like Flying Wild ones for the night time.

Will repurchase for sure. At the moment I have Wild Rose one, but I like the scent of this better, so will come back to it once Wild Rose runs out.

Child Farm Shampoo

One of the very few natural products you can get in Boots, gone way before I could photograph it or write a review. Err, thanks fam? Just joking, as it is a constant purchase in our house, I will get to the review eventually!

Mayan Magic Balm by Lavigneorganics

If you have eczema, or dermatitis, you need this! Truly magical stuff for soothing irritated skin and calming down that insane itching! Really natural ingredients and I am way overdue to review it. It was one of the very few products that helped me when I was battling dermatitis. See post here. I am way overdue for update.

Lotus Wei Inner Peace serum

I am proud of myself for finishing this up,  as I had to be conscious to use this up! I found this wasn't really working for me, I mean serum format, but I do really enjoy Lotus Wei products in other forms, I currently have Infinite Love in anointing oil and mist and Joy Juice in elixir. Find review post here.

ISUN Ormus Myst

It was a sad day in the house when I ran out of this, I even did Insta Story about it. See the review here. And what can I say? Love affair with ISUN continues, I am currently testing more products as we speak. Psst, there might be a giveaway coming up soon! 

Pacifica Coconut Nectar Colour Quench lip tint

This I really enjoyed for a really long time, and I am decluttering it because it is over two years old. No changes in the formula though, it didn't go bad or anything, it is just I am over brown color on my lips. This is nice as a product, it is a tinted lip balm that can be layered to your desired intensity, and I find it stays on. Will get it in the different colour for sure. If you are not a lipstick person but want some colour on your lips, this might be your perfect product? Available from LoveLula.com That's where I got mine from. You can also find some Pacifica products in your local health stores, but I don't think you'd find those, as they tend to focus on sets or more expensive items from the brand. 

Coconut body and face oil by Ann-Marie Gianni

Smells gorgeous, sinks in quickly, gorgeous organic and fair trade ingredients! I am currently testing more products from the line and will review them shortly, so stay tuned!

Balance Me Pure Skin Face Wash

I didn't use it, so sadly I can't give you my two cents on it. I gave it to my daughter, as I've too many facial cleansers I am willing to admit to, and higher end too. My teen wasn't super happy with it, and asked to get her another cleanser, so I gave her Laidback Skincare Diy one that just came in May Love Lula Beauty box. Perfect timing.

Living Libations Seabuckthorn Shampoo

This 30ml bottle cost me 8€ and I don't even care, because it is one of the best shampoos I have ever used! I wish it weren't so damn expensive for full size, I would get it on a constant basis. I am currently testing other shampoos including Rahua, but this will stay at the back of my mind for sure.

Living Libations Spirulina Shampoo

Another outrageously expensive sample and another gorgeous shampoo! If I ever will come into money, this is what I will be getting for sure.

Natura Siberica We Love Lithuania Shampoo

Natura Siberica is only half-natural brand in my opinion, but they keep getting one green beauty award after another, and that's why they are intriguing me. If you want my opinion on it, it would be one of my fave shampoos if it didn't had dreaded SLS in it!! It makes your hair look and feel nice, but I am not repurchasing it due to SLS. I planned to do a separate review on it, but I lost the picture along with other pictures when my phone died. Kids, don't repeat my mistakes and back up your photos regularly!

Duru Osun Black African Soap (not pictured)

This is my third bar of it, and I think I am due a review on it, but for some reason it is still in my 70 drafts on my blogger’s dashboard. Yes, really! I am impressed and I think everyone should try it.

Iswari Certified Organic Matcha

I'll have some organic matcha, yes please! Whether in the morning instead of coffee or in the skincare regime as a mask, I love me some matcha. If I were loaded I'd have this on a daily basis, but at this moment in time it is too pricy habit for me to keep, so I rotate this with regular green tea, esp as I find I go through a packet really quickly. But it's a love affair with me and matcha. Don't tell me hubby!

A.Vogel Echinacea Toothpaste

In my search of carageenan and glycerine free toothpaste I tried this, and I hated it with passion. It is rarely I throw things away half used, but this is one of those cases. Tastes like swamp with very strong aftertaste (is that echinacea?) and I didn't find it did a good job of cleaning my teeth either, after one hour or so, my teeth had that nasty coating on them again, so this was a fail on all counts. Not a repurchase. I do understand that "coating" on the teeth has a lot to do with my gut flora but I feel as far as products go, they have to be natural AND work too, and this wasn't working for me at all.

Organic Surge Daily Care Hand And Body Wash

This is EcoCert certified product, price point is brilliant and I enjoyed it indeed. Used primarily as a hand wash, this is something I used time and time again. Not sure if I want to review a hand wash, but I suggest you try this brand if you are looking for natural replacement. Easily accessible and you can get it from LoveLula too.

A few make up brushes

Part of the attempt of decluttering my stash is waving goodbye to the brushes I don't use. These are all used very little if at all, so I will pass them onto my friends. These include Bare Minerals Flawless face brush (I hate the feeling of natural bristles on my face. I was agast to learn these are the real hair bristles after I bought a BM set a good few years ago. I hung onto it in the hopes of using it in some way after all, maybe for dry shampoo or something. Never happened. BM didn't work out for me either, I am passing on it all together). Next is toothbrush looking foundation brush I'd gotten from Penneys, really soft and works nice too, the trouble with this was it was the odd one out, all my other brushes are all Ecotools or Real Techniques, and this one didn't fit in, so despite it working well, I am saying goodbye to it. RT Expert Face Brush works the same, and I've two of those, that is enough for one person. And speaking of RT, I am giving away two of their brushes, despite them being my fave brand, and I never thought I'll say this, or declutter their brushes, but the stippling brush does the total oposite of what I want, as in it gives sheer coverage and I am looking for full coverage if I wear make up. Lots of people use it for cream blushes, but I don't have any, and if I use it for powder blushes, I find it scratches off too much of a product and messes it up. Next is their flat foundation brush - way too small to do a decent job, it feels like I am painting canvas or something, and it leaves streaky finish no matter how much I try to work it in, I have to finish blending with my fingers each and every time. Goodbye then. I was about to declutter flat Ecottols foundation brush too, but I decided to keep it for masking, as it is a bit bigger.

Nude By Nature Mascara

This was an unexpected favourite product from the collaboration I did with Debenhams (see the review here) - I didn't expect much from it as I was looking forward to trying other products, but this blew me away for one simple reason - IT DOES NOT flake! I feel like we should take a moment to let this sink in - IT DOES NOT FLAKE!! I think I will repurchase it and do a separate review on it, I am that impressed. A first for me.

Jack N Jill Toothpaste

This is what my 4yr old uses, and we are on the 10th tube or something. It works great, is flouride free and I plan to use it continuosly in the future. Already repurchased.

Oil of Oregano in capsule form

This is a last minute replacement for liquid Oreganol P73 I always get, I got this because Nourish health food shop were having trouble getting what I want, and because they took 6 weeks, and I was already ill be then, I got what I could find without waiting much further. Oregano extract (of the wild variety) is my not so secret weapon natural antibiotic, and I talk more about it in my Top Three Natural Products post (see it here) where you can see more info on it. Already repurchased. Not this, my regular beloved liquid one. They work the same, but I find I get more bang for my buck with liquid, plus I can also use it externally if needed. 

My own balm DIY
See the recipe for it here. As well as recipe for RMS Master Mixer dupe DIY too.


Phew, this makes me tired! I planned to do this post at 7am before the kids woke up, but guess what? One of them got sick and stayed home, so I was trying to work all day in the contant "mama mama maaamaaaaa" background! At three pm and 2300 words later I am almost finished. The sun isn't cooperating with me either, and it shows in the picture. Sorry about that. It is one of those days, but as I am good at keeping my word, here is my blog post. On Monday, as it should be :) 

Thanks for reading in advance! If you have any questions about any products, please feel free to ask and I'll be happy to answer. 

What have you finished these days?


Lots of Love,
Renata.

Related posts:

Natural, organic and eco empties Spring 2017

Natural, organic and eco empties Winter 2017

Natural, organic and eco empties Autumn 2016

Natural, organic and eco empties Summer 2016

Natural, organic and eco empties Spring 2016

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Spring 2017 Natural Beauty and Lifestyle Favourites

Hi Lovelies,

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

With summer right around the corner, it is about time I posted my spring favourite things, don't you think? At first I didn't think I would have any favourites, because this year so far has been the most difficult in my life, and until very recently I was crying non stop - it was one bad thing after another, and I do hope to God that will be the end of my bad luck. But as I am slowly getting back to normal life as we know it, I noticed there are a few things I enjoy, so let's get into this post and see what they are, shall we? In no particular order:

💕 Crystals

I have to admit I don't know much about them or their powers, but I recently started collecting them, and here's my current collection:

💕 Walden perfume in A Different Drummer

A rather recent addition to my collection, but I can't put it down ever since. I don't know about you, but perfume is highly personal for me, and I am so picky when it comes to it, I can easily reject 95 out of 100. I don't like "girly" smells, anything floral, citrusy or powdery is a definite no from me, and this is none of those things, it has sandalwood, amber, and pepper with cedarwood. I have a review of it here if you want to see?

Walden natural perfume in A Different Drummer

💕 Lotus Wei Infinite Love mist and anointing oil and Joy Juice elixir

Lots to do with healing, I do enjoy using those little rituals, if I can remember them, that's it. You are supposed to use them five times a day, and I don't know about you, but I constantly forget about them. That probably means I don't experience their healing abilities to the full potential, but what I can do about it, set an alarm clock 5x daily? I do what I can with these. If you want to see my review on them, you can click here.

Lotus Wei Infinite Love

💕 Nude By Nature mascara

This mascara was a surprise favourite from the bunch of Nude by Nature goodies I got, and for one simple reason - it does not FLAKE!! A first for green beauty mascara for me. I am on a last leg of it, and will definitely repurchase, and once I do, I will probably do a separate post of it, as my tube somehow got a dent in it, and it wouldn't look good in the pictures. For the most part I don't wear mascara on my lower lashes, but for testing purposes I did, and I had no problems with flaking or smudging. Flaking is a big pet peeve of mine, and this one does not, it did not flake from the beginning, and it still does not do that now, 3-4months later. Admittedly it is drying up and getting a bit clumpy now, but still, no flaking! Impressed! (find review of Nude by Nature here).

Natural make up by Nude by Nature, Axiology and Eco Minerals

💕 Bolder and brighter lipsticks

If you know me for any length of time, you know I am not a lipstick person at all, but this spring I wanted a few bolder/ brighter lip products for some reason, and that's exactly what I got. I haven't shared it on my social media much if at all, I did a Insta Story, but they disappear quickly, and I think I forgot to post them anywhere else? Whoops! But here you go, my new fave lip products!

My new "fashion" sunglasses and pink & red lipsticks

💕 New "fashion" sunglasses

I don't know about you, but my new purchases are always my favourite purchases, and I tend to wear things to death once I get them, until the novelty wears off and they become "normal things". Mr Anti Social Media Green Life In Dublin dislikes them with passion, but hey, what do men know about fashion, right? Nothing like new things for a new look (I also cut off about half of my hair recently) to make woman feel well..like a new woman.

💕 Fresh flowers

I always deemed fresh flowers an expensive habit, but you can get roses and gerberas for as little as 2€ and 4€ in Aldi, so I started having them on a weekly basis, and they do bring joy to my heart. Simple pleasures in life, you know?

💕 Teas

Speaking of simple pleasures, here's one more - I love having a few cups of tea a day! I choose green tea or matcha when I can afford it for the mornings, but as I am really sensitive to caffeine, I can't have any caffeinated beverages (I am talking about teas here, I gave up coffee a while ago, and "sports" drinks or sodas I waved goodbye to long time ago) past 2pm, so I started looking for my next favourite caffeine free tea - Pukka is one of my faves now, especially three tulsi one, and I still really enjoy red bush tea (post here) with ginger, lemon and honey, to which I started adding fresh turmeric now, it brings another depth of flavour, not to mention healing turmeric properties. Camomile tea is a firm fave for years, but I do get bored with it rather quickly, so I always rotate my teas. Mint tea is also something I really like (and it is good for digestion) but only from my mother's garden - if you ever had fresh mint tea, you will get me - it is next level tasty, and nothing found in the shops compares to it. I always ask my mom to grow and dry LOADS for me, and every year without fail she hands me two handfuls of mint. And always surprised expression when I ask for more next year. Err, thanks mum?

💕 Mists and toners

After ignoring them for the last hundred of years, I now have to have every single one there is in green beauty, and I am constantly on the lookout for more. I was pretty upset when Ormus Myst from ISUN Skincare ran out (review here btw) and Josh Rosebrook Hydrating Accelerator, I am coming for you!

💕 Wooden shelfie for my skincare 

I have a confession to make - I looove TKMaxx! Some people hate it, some love it - I happen to love it, as I love hunting for my treasures. I go in with an open (but a strict budget, mind you) and recently I find trading the clothes for homewares and the like. I found this awesome handmade two tiered shelf with metail details for mere 22€ and I couldn't be chuffed with it more. Skincare pots found home.

💕 Reading

 I always enjoyed reading, but leading a busy lifestyle (that's like all of us!) I am way past my 10 books per month I used to have, it is more like 1 per month these days, but I still want/need to read. I find myself reading more and more non fiction these days as I constantly want to educate myself on one topic or another. See my current reading list here, and I also added three more to the list too. Oh, and I am in the middle of Keith Richards autobiography too - for some reason bad boys of rock fascinate me. Some of them I find even more cool/alluring after reading their bios (step forward Slash) and some lose their idol crowns in my eyes (Anthony Kiedis). I want to read all rock and roll autobiographies there is, so if you have a copy you no longer want, send them my way! Just kidding! Not really :)

My current reading list

 💕 Marie from And The Color Green

Last but not least, it's this awesome fellow green beauty blogger and Youtuber, and I have to say I love her Youtube videos more and more! Her natural sense of humor shows through in every single videos of hers, and even though she talks serious stuff most of the time, I can guarantee I will be in better mood by the end of her video, and I have to love her for it. Don't get me wrong, I don't watch her videos for comedy value, far from it - she does green beauty videos, exact stuff that I like to watch, reviews, hauls, Mask It Mondays and more - I find a lot of value in her videos on specific ingredients, because it is clear she puts a lot of work into them - when was the last time you read a scientific study about ingredients? Yeah, I know! I will leave a link to her Instagram and Youtube below, and if you don't follow her already, you know what to do. 

Marie from And The Color Green

Marie's Instagram

Marie's Youtube

So that's it for today. What have you enjoyed recently? Please share, I would love to know!

Lots of Love,

Renata.

Love Lula Beauty Box May 2017

Hi Lovelies,



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

Love Lula May 2017 Beauty Box

Today I am excited to share with you my first Love Lula beauty box from the same online green beauty store. They ship worldwide, and the price is 13.95£ monthly recurring for UK and for us international gals there are two options of three months (52.50£) or a year (210£) including post and packaging. Green beauty boxes are a great way to discover new items you might have missed otherwise, and I love that anything coming from LoveLula is cruelty free and guaranteed not to have any toxic ingredients - they have very strict criteria for any product they accept, and that is taking the guesswork off your shoulders.
I am yet to try any of these products (or most brands for that matter), although I already have PHB lipliner and the detangler, unused still.



So, let's see what's in this month's beauty box?




💕 Ogario London Styling Mist For Natural Hold And Volume RRP £16 for 60ml

Created by independent London hair salon, the products are packed with organic plant extracts and essential oils, helping to condition hair and make it strong and shiny. This full-size pre-styling treatment is designed to boost volume and help to make hair more manageable. The complex MICROKERA, made up of hydrolysed keratin (protein usually found in hair) and argan oil, helps to repair damaged hair. Among other ingredients, you can find lemon zest which boosts shine (and smells amazing), soothing oats and nourishing pro-vitamin B5.

Ingredients: aqua, panthenol*, argania spinosa kernel oil*, hydrolyzed keratin*, tocopherol*, beta-glucan*, hydroxypropyltrimonium honey*, saccharum officinarum extract*, citrus limon peel extract*,coco-glucoside*, pantolactone*, polysorbate 20*, parfum***, chitosan*, lactic acid*, algin*, gellan gum*, maltodextrin*, malic acid*, polyquaternium-10*, phenoxyethanol, benzyl alcohol, potassium sorbate, benzoic acid, sorbic acid*, dehydroacetic acid, ethylhexylglycerin*, limonene**, linalool**, citronellol**, geraniol**, citric acid**, eugenol**, citral**
*naturally derived ingredient
**naturally occurring in essential oils
***100% natural essential oil blend
Vegetarian (contains beeswax), organic, UK brand




💕 Laidbare DIY! Two in One Cleanser And Toner RRP £6.99 for 125ml

Laidbare is the brand I've yet to try, but from my research I can tell it is renowned for their affordability yet still delivering the natural ingredient list. This full size two-in-one product promises to remove all traces of makeup, even eye makeup. The front of the tube proudly says there are no petrochemicals, sulfates, parabens etc. in Laidbare products. However, the ingredients label lists sodium coco sulfate as the second ingredient, which is somewhat misleading. Sodium coco sulfate is derived from coconut alcohol and it is low hazard ingredient (rated 1 on EWG). We all know my skin is uber sensitive, so we will see how I will fare with this. It might go to my teen daughter who's battling acne. This is one of the two full size products in this box, and it might be the one for you if you have non reactive skin and looking for a natural and affordable cleanser?

Ingredients: Aqua(water), sodium coco-sulfate(coconut), cocamidopropyl betaine(coconut), decyl glucoside(coconut), sodium chloride(sea salt), glycerin(coconut), benzyl alcohol(naturally derived preservative), coco-glucoside(coconut), linomene (essential oils), citrus medica limonum(lemon)peel oil, sodium lauryl glucose carboxylate, citrus aurantifolia(lime) oil, parfum, sucrose laurate, lauryl glucoside(coconut), dehydroacetic acid, tocopherol(vitamin E), citric acid, alcohol(coconut), aloe barbadensis(aloe vera) leaf juice, ), citral (essential oils), sodium benzoate(naturally derived preservative, pumica granatum (pomegranate)seed extract, camellia sinensis(green tea) leaf extract, glycyrrhiza glabra root extract, bertholletia excelsa(brazil nut) seed extract, purus malus(apple)fruit extractcitric extract(citrus fruits), potassium sorbate(naturally derived preservative).
Vegan, UK brand



💕 PHB Ethical Beauty Gentle Moisturiser With Shea Butter and Apricot RRP £16.95 for 50ml

This brand is on my radar for quite some time, so I am really stoked to get this! Another full sized product, it is aimed specifically at people with sensitive skin with simple yet effective ingredients like aloe vera and sunflower oil to calm, soothe and moisturise the skin prone to irritation. The formulation is scent-free to prevent upsetting the fussiest of the skins. Right up my alley then! Unfortunately this will have to wait it's turn, as at the moment I am using another moisturiser, and I decided to keep only one product open at a time (in each category), but I am really curious! Review will be up in a couple of months, pinky swear! I also own a lipliner from this brand, and by the time I will put a review up, I think I will pick up more products. 

Ingredients: Aqua, Aloe barbadensis** (Organic Aloe) leaf extract, Helianthus annuus** (Organic sunflower), Butyrospermum parkii** (Organic Shea Butter), Cetearyl alcohol, Stearic acid, Cetyl alcohol, Veg Glycerin**, Prunus Armeniaca** (Oranic Apricot) Kernel Oil, Phenethyl alcohol, Caprylyl glycol, Glyceryl stearate, Coco glucoside, Tocopherol, Phytic acid, Benzyl alcohol, Sodium Bicarbonate. **Ingredients from Organic Farming
Vegan, organic, the UK brand


💕 John Masters Organics Lavender Rosemary Shampoo for Normal Hair and Citrus and Neroli Detangler RRP £5.50 for 60ml each

Another brand I am really interested at the moment, so I am happy to see not one but two mini products from it. These two travel-sized bottles are an excellent way to try before you splurge on full sized bottles (which are quite expensive) or just toss into the gym or a weekend bag. JMO have a high proportion of organic and high-quality ingredients. My only complaint? Although the brand uses many fabulous natural ingedients, they also use Japanese Honeysuckle extract which is present in many of their products. This ingredient has a questionable reputation of being a "natural paraben", hence I try to avoid it and I do not use products containing it on a regular basis. (100%Pure also use this ingredient in almost every product of theirs). I wish companies didn't use it, as I don't want to use anything that would throw my endocrine system out of whack. I mean, I already battled dermatitis, I have to be really careful now. We will see.

Shampoo - Ingredients: Aloe barbadensis (aloe vera leaf juice) gel,* aqua (water), decyl glucoside, sodium lauroamphoacetate, sodium cocoyl sulfoacetate, babassuamidopropyl betaine, panthenol (vitamin B5), lavandula angustifolia (lavender) oil,* rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) leaf oil,* hydrolyzed soy protein, wheat amino acids, sorbitol, symphytum officinale (comfrey) leaf extract,* chamomilla recutica (chamomile) flower extract,* lavandula angustifolia (lavender) flower/leaf/stem extract,* urtica dioica (nettle) root extract,* equisetum hiemale (horsetail) leaf/stem extract,* achillea millefolium (yarrow) extract,* camellia sinensis (white tea) extract,* salix alba (willow) bark extract,* lonicera caprifolium (honeysuckle) flower extract, potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate, guar hydroxypropyl trimonium chloride, linum usitatissimum (flaxseed) seed oil,* borago officinalis (borage) seed oil,* helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil,* simmondsia chinensis (jojoba) seed oil,* tocopherol, sulfur, glycerin * Certified Organic

Detangler - Ingredients: Aloe barbadensis (aloe vera leaf juice) gel,* aqua (water), behentrimonium methosulfate, cetearyl alcohol, panthenol (vitamin B5), hydrolyzed soy protein, wheat amino acids, sorbitol, simmondsia chinensis (jojoba) seed oil,* cocos nucifera (coconut) oil,* helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil,* lecithin, tocopherol, glycerin, citric acid, citrus grandis (grapefruit) peel oil,* citrus medica limonum (lemon) peel oil,* citrus aurantium dulcis (neroli) flower oil,* canarium luzonicum (elemi) gum nonvolatiles,* cymbopogon shoenanthus (lemongrass) oil,* sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate, arnica montana (arnica) flower extract,* camellia sinensis (white tea) leaf extract,* chamomilla recutica (chamomile) flower extract,* calendula officinalis (calendula) flower extract,* equisetum hiemale (horsetail) leaf/stem extract,* foeniculum vulgare (fennel) seed extract,* lonicera caprifolium (honeysuckle) flower extract, linum usitatissimum (flaxseed) seed oil,* borago officinalis (borage) seed oil,* sodium hyaluronate (hyaluronic acid), sulfur *Certified Organic by EcoCert / QAI

Vegan, organic







I think this is a great way to switch your products to clean products without spending a fortune if you are only starting out your green beauty journey, and if you are advanced in it, it is always fun to discover something new, isn't it? This box total value is £45! I know I love getting new products, nearly ten years in into my green beauty journey I still get excited getting boxes in the mail. What about you?

If you are interested, you can sign up here.
Or even better, get yours for FREE when you spend 60£ or more at LoveLula. Limited time offer, while supplies last. Enter code "FREEBOX" at the checkout.




What is your best product discovered via green beauty boxes?




That's it for today, see you in my next post!




Lots of Love,

Renata.







*Box provided as a part of as part of the LoveLula Accredited Blogger Programme.

Celebrate The Soil Association Organic Beauty Week and enjoy 15%off organic brands

Hi Lovelies,



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


So there is that wonderful time of the year where The Soil Association Organic Beauty and Wellbeing Week is happening on 15 - 21st May and I am so excited because it is happening!
If you happen to be in London, you can attend fabulous events and pop up shops in at Protein Studios, New Yard Inn, Shoreditch, London and meet the makers and movers and shakers or the organic beauty week, as well as panel discussions, workshops and talks from some of the very best in the organic beauty & wellbeing businesses. click here for more info. I must say I envy you if you can make it there. I want and must attend some myself some day! So curious and interested, you have no idea! While lots and lots of things are happening in the UK, here in Ireland I feel like a lone soldier in a field.

If you also happen to be not in London, fear not, we can also join in the fun in a way, I suggest signing a Soil Association petition to #comecleanaboutbeauty to stop greenwashing from happening, and also enjoy the discounts some brands or webshops will be offering. You can also follow SoilAssociationBeauty Instagram page here. Let's talk about these things separately and then I'll give you my two cents on how to spot truly natural product in between of misleading ones, ok?

photo credit @soilassociation

First of all I wanted to ask you to sign the Soil Association petition to stop greenwashing here (if you haven't already) - I feel it is about time things changed, because as we all know greenwashing is rife and unfortunately there is currently no legal check that products which say they are organic  or contain organic ingredients. This means that products can claim to be organic when they may only contain one or two organic ingredients. A product may claim to be natural with only a few natural ingredients in it, or even just a drop of essential oil. Worse still, they may contain ingredients which wouldn’t be permitted in a genuinely certified natural or organic product. Packaging can trick us by using words like “organic”, “eco”, “botanic”, “pure” and “natural”, whilst containing near to no ingredients to back up that claim. -loophole allows companies use anything under the sun, add less than 1% of organic ingredient and make big claims on the bottle. And the way the system works, these harmful ingredients have to be proven to be unsafe to be take off, and even then it is not the end off the story. The companies are not told but rather suggested to take harmful ingredients off, and even if they decide to do so, they have two year window to do so (can you believe this?!) so that is why you still see harmful and proven carcinogenic ingredients around. So I always say that before you even read the big claims on the front of the bottle, flip it and read the ingredients list. Soon you will be able to tell the difference. Look for ingredients you can understand (and pronounce) and whether they are first ingredients in the list (meaning they make the bulk or the base of the product) or are they waaay down the list, and the base is actually bunch of chemicals you can't recognize? Guess what? If you can't understand the ingredient, your body won't either.
We have all been mislead at one point or another, I know I've been there too - at the start of my green beauty journey I though TimoteiNaturals and Johnsons&Johnsons Natural were the real deal and those big chains finally started taking care about people's health. Oh boy how wrong I was! That was 8 or 10yrs ago, before I discovered The Soil Association and EWG, way way before ThinkDirty or any of those apps happened. So I had to educate myself the hard way, researching all the chemicals one by one, and let me tell you my head was spinning - you almost need doctor's degree to understand all this and my friends started joking that it is like a full time job for me. In a way it was, but thankfully we have come a long way since, and there's no need to go head first, there are plenty resources for you to choose from. Don't forget my blog among them - insert blushing emoji here!

So here are my two cents to avoid greenwashing:

💕 Look for the logo
Soil Association Organic is my most trusted body, as they have the most strictest criteria of them all, but there are many different ones, familiarize yourself with them. You may see "made with certified organic ingredients" written on a lot of products, but this is exactly the grey or greenwashing area i was talking about. Yes, the product may have certified organic ingredients indeed, but how much of it? That is why I love companies like Neals Yard Remedies, who clearly state a percentage of organic ingredients, and majority of them tend to be 75% and up, and yes, I will take that! 100%organic? Happy days, even better!

💕 Check ingredients, look for natural ingredients you can understand

💕 Get Think Dirty or similar app

💕 Check your products on EWG Skin Deep Database
But do take it with a grain of salt, the website is outdated by a couple of years at least, it does not have ratings for any of the new products, plus it tends to tar synthetic and natural ingredients with the same brush (fragrance for example, there's a huge difference in conventional "fragrance" which is up to 200 of synthetic chemicals and fragrance coming from natural essential oil, and yet EWG treats it the same. You can also make your own report by registering as a user and putting in the ingredients of the products you want to check - your search won't be visible to the masses, but you will get a peace of mind.

💕 And don't fret too much if you are just starting out, replace products one by one
(I remember being super stressed and overwhelmed and plain confused at the time of my own switch, and the way I did it, I went minimal with my body care, basically just DrBronner's soap and coconut oil for moisturising, and stopped using make up for a few years (partly because I was still in my twenties and sort of got away with it, partly because it was super hard to find and non appealing, try fifty shades of beige with terracotta mixed in. Thankfully now we have abundance of clean products to choose from, check out my post on where I shop and where I am on the green beauty spectrum here. Also, one more suggestion which you might find useful if you are just starting out (and surely will know about this if you are more or less advanced in the green beauty) - go to Instagram and search #greenbeauty and #greenbeautycommunity - I promise you, you will be in for a treat and might fall in into a rabbit hole of a green beauty everything for hours on end).

photo credit @LoveLula

And now the good news - let's talk about some discounts, shall we? I know I love discounts, and who doesn't, right? To celebrate the Organic Beauty week, Love Lula offers 15% off Soil Association certified organic products from 15th to 21st of May - you can find the list here - enter the code SA15. Enjoy!
If I will happen to know more fabulous discounts, I will make sure to to let you know, and for now, happy shopping!

Organic products I own - Neal's Yard Remedies, Skin & Tonic, Inika, DrAlkaitis, Zatik and more

Whoops, it looks like I might have enjoyed shopping a bit too much, huh? Here you can see the current selection of organic products I have, and that is not all of it, I forgot to include Organic Defence essential oil from NYR and I am sure a couple of more. Expect reviews of everything in the future, and if you have any questions on specific products you see here, feel free to ask away :) Thanks for reading and take care!

*Update: I'll list a few more awesome discounts and giveaways I know of, I found out about them following them on social media, since you know I am not there in person. So go on and enter the giveaways and browse the discounts!

#Better Food are running are running a competition to win a hamper full of organic goodies worth more than £200 on their FB page

#Content Beauty Wellbeing are running a competition too, sadly for UK only, enter via their Instagram page. If you can get to their store in person, you can also book their Pai 60min facial at a discount and also receive Instant Calm Beauty Heroes set. Sight, wish I could do that!

#Botanicals are giving away free "Try Me" pot on all orders placed on their website during this week.

#Nourish London are running a giveaway of 3 full size goodies on their Instagram page


Lots of Love,
Renata.
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Live In The Light Online Store Review

Hi Lovelies,


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

LiveInTheLight.co.uk products

I must be on the roll, third blog post in three days, well done Renata! Umm, what? I needed an intelligent conversation, if only with a mirror. All that joking aside, I wanted to draw your attention to a fabulous online shop based in the UK that I am sure all my fellow green beauty sisters will love. The shop is called Live In The Light and they have the same name on all social media, I will be linking their Instagram page down below, and don't worry, that's not affiliate link nor I am paid to talk about this. Nor I was asked to do a review on them, this is entirely my own doing. Just sharing good stuff. And good stuff it is indeed. When I was asked if I want to try Pure Anada or something else from their store, I checked the website immediately and I was really satisfied with what I saw, they carry my beloved Pure Anada, which I've reviewed before (link here), AnnMarie Gianni line, which I've been dying to try for absolutely ages, Orgaid organic sheet masks, and a few more brands, like Carina Organic and Live In The Light, as well as Vonbros for men in our lives. An that's it - there's something really refreshing not having a ton of brands to choose from, so you are not overwhelmed, and whatever you will choose from this website, it is guaranteed to be truly natural, be cruelty free and more often than not, organic. (The products might even be all organic, I didn't check every single one of them). We all know there's a lot of greenwashing going on, when brands claiming to be natural are still packed with toxic chemicals. Guess what? Not here! The brands were hand selected by the owner Sue, who has a holistic approach and firmly believe that what we do and use in our daily regime has a huge impact on everyone and everything around us. There appears to be many like minded people out there who don’t want to carry on using harmful products but want to use exceptional, beautiful and effective ones while at the same time are helping to preserve and respect our environment. I am so so happy about it, it is time people woke up to what's really in their products! And I applaud Sue for contributing to the better world by bringing all those amazing products to us. As the webshop is based in the UK, it is good news for my fellow European green beauty sisters - it means we can skip those pesky custom charges and pay less in shipping too. Hopefully this won't change post Brexit. I must add that they ship worldwide.
 

Orgaid organic sheet mask

Anyhow, let's get back to the products, shall we? You can choose from make up, skincare, haircare, bodycare, nails, baby products, men's products, candles - they have everything! As you can see in the picture, I got a chance to try a few gorgeous goodies that were new to me, and I got way more than I asked for thanks to generosity of Sue - thank you again, it is very much appreciated! For the last couple of week I've been testing everything and I am almost ready to give my two cents on the products - let's just say they are all amazing. I will publish separate reviews on AnnMarie Gianni products and on Pure Anada ones as well, I simply don't want this post to be too long, but I promise to link those reviews back to this post once they will be live. If I could recommend you some products, my top choices would be AnnMarie Gianni Neroli mist, Grounded perfume and mineral foundation; Cinder brow powder, Marine Minerals hydrating toner and hand cream from Pure Anada - all amazing products, and I want all of them in full sizes.

Pure Anada products

AnnMarie Gianni skincare and perfume samples

AnnMarie Gianni Earth Minerals sample pack

  I think that's it for today, I reserve a bit more time before I will post a reviews on all these items, I mean the make up and the hand cream are easy to test, but I like taking my time with skincare, from 4- 6 weeks, as that time frame is the only way to tell if skincare makes a difference. So please bear with me and I will see you here again shortly with reviews. If you have any pressing questions about any product, you can always ask, either here or on Instagram.

I hope I helped you to discover new fabulous online store with really clean products! Have you tried anything from Live In The Light already? Please share with me :)

Lots of Love,
Renata.