Love Lula Beauty Box July 2018

Hi Lovelies,


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Love Lula Beauty Box July 2018

How are all of you, I hope you are well?
Today I wanted to share the contents of the latest Love Lula beauty box - and it is exciting one! I really wanted to try Chobs sheet mask and the Infuse My Colour range, and I already know I love Balm Balm and Ooh! products - the latter released their new Hemp face oil in this beauty box, so I am super stoked to try it. But let's not get ahead of the game and let's talk about the products individually, shall we?


My Haircare Infuse My Colour Treat Conditioner (Silicone Free) 18£

I must confess at first I thought this is one of their shampoos - I am eyeing them for a little while now. I am not big on conditioners, but of course I will try this and will get back to you. I really hope this won't weigh down my fine hair like most conditioners tend to do. The ingredients sound good, apart from the phenoxyethanol and parfum, so I am excited!
What's more, it is cruelty free (like all products from Love Lula) and gluten free - can we get a hallelujah??
This is a first of three four full sized products in this box.

Ingredients:
AQUA/WATER/EAU, CETEARYL ALCOHOL, CARTHAMUS TINCTORIUS (SAFFLOWER) OLEOSOMES, GLYCERIN, HYDROXYPROPYL STARCH PHOSPHATE, BEHENTRIMONIUM CHLORIDE, CETRIMONIUM CHLORIDE, PHENOXYETHANOL, PARFUM, HELIANTHUS ANNUUS SEED EXTRACT, CITRUS AURANTIUM (NEROLI) OIL, PRUNUS AMYGDALUS DULCIS (SWEET ALMOND) OIL,CITRUS TANGERINA (TANGERINE) PEEL OIL, HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL, SODIUM PHYTATE, LINALOOL, LIMONENE, ALPHA-ISOMETHYL IONONE


Balm Balm Organic Tea Tree Face Balm £8.95 for 30ml 

Second full sized product in this box, and I was quite happy to see this is tea tree oil version instead of a plain one for a change - I seem to have accumulated quite a collection of balms and I am quite slow at going through them - insert shy face emoji here! I am a big fan of tea tree essential oil - I talk about it as one of my Top Three Natural Products in one of my old posts here, and i still stand by it - so any product containing it is welcome by me! I currently am experiencing an unwelcome perioral dermatitis outbreak due to accidentally glutenining myself - so my neck and the top of my back are itching like crazy. I tried this balm immediately and it did seem to offer relief. Fingers crossed!

Ingredients (the list is short and sweet):
Butyrospermum parkii (shea butter), Helianthus annuus (sunflower oil), Cera alba (beeswax), Calendula officinalis (calendula oil), Simmondsia chinensis (jojoba oil), Tea tree essential oil. Limonene* (naturally occurring component of tea tree oil)


Ooh Organic Balancing Hemp Oil

I love love love hemp oil, and I have been known to buy food grade hemp oil to use as my face and body moisturiser in my (broke) past - and getting this oil triggered those memories immediately. The oil is very good for your skin, mind you! I am not sure if I want to open this immediately and test or leave it unopened for when the autumn rolls around? You see, I have been die hard oil lover and user - that was all I used for my facial moisturizer for the last five years prior to getting my dermatitis, and I soon learned that facial dermatitis hates oils - I didn't want to listen or admit this fact to myself, but it is true my dears, and I had to give them up as a sole thing to take care of my face - with a very heavy heart, mind you! Now all I use are Bella Aura products (review with 15% discount code here) and I will allow only selected face oils in winter, when my face needs that extra step to face the elements. I might give this to someone who would appreciate it more than I do or add this to the body lotions, not sure yet. I love pampering routines, but I also love sharing the green beauty love with people around me, you know?
This is a third full sized product in the box, and theres no need to list the ingredients - there's only one, organic Cannabis Sativa oil.


Chobs Aloe Sheet Face mask

When Chobs appeared in Love Lula, they captured my attention immediately! I have purchased a few of their sheet masks and Healing Hello Barumi Soothing Essence roll on thingy (I talk about it in "Products For My Five Year Old Princess// And Yours" post here) and although I am yet to try the Aloe mask, I have tried their Collagen mask, which I really loved, so I am excited to try more of them. Company's customer service deserves another top notch mention - when I got my sheet masks I was kind of confused at the stamped date on them, one said December 2017, and the rest January 2018. Not too sure whether that's the date they have been made or use-by date, I contacted the brand via DM on Instagram and they have responded within two minutes, despite it being midnight in their country!! How's that for an excellent customer service?  (they are from South Korea, and I didn't even think of the time difference, sorry! Now I begin to understand my own DMs at 2am asking for a cleanser or whatnot recommendations).
Chobs is a brand I will review in a few coming weeks, I have been lucky enough to get generous PR package from them, so needless to say I am hard at work testing everything behind the scenes. By the way, if you want to know what new products I get/buy, I always do Instastories on what's coming through my door, so make sure to follow me to see them. Let's look at the ingredients, shall we? Oh, by the way, they claim to put generous 25ml of essence in every packet of sheet masks, so I think you might benefit from reading my post "How To Make Any Sheet Mask Last Longer" here - in it I reveal my tricks on how I make the masks work harder, and no, I am not suggesting you use the same mask over and over again :)

Ingredients:
Aqua, *Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Scutellaria Baicalensis Root Extract, Paeonia Suffruticosa Root Extract, **Glycerin, Xanthan Gum, Propanediol, Limonene, *Citrus Aurantium Bergamia Fruit Oil, *Citrus Limon Peel Oil, *Rosmarinus Officinalis Extract, *Pelargonium Graveolens Oil, Angelica Gigas Extract, Hordeum Vulgare Seed Extract, Linalool, Lycium Chinense Fruit Extract, *Chamomilla Recutita Flower Water, *Rose Extract, Citronellol, *Lavandula Angustifolia Oil, Geraniol, Lilium Tigrinum Extract, Pulsatilla Koreana Extract, Usnea Barbata Extract, Zanthoxylum Piperitum Fruit Extract, Citral * : Organic Ingredients / ** : Made using organic ingredients, 100% natural origin of total (by COSMOS-standard)

And now for a few sample sizes the box contains:

🗹 Apples & Bears Bergamot & Green Tea Hair & Body Wash (deluxe sample)
Apples & Bears are on my list to try, and I was thinking of purchasing a few minis, so this is appreciated and I will be trying it in the shower later tonight. What's a bit funny, the package says "hair & body wash" but when I looked on the website I could only find body washes, so not too sure if they are rebranding existing products or is this a preview of some new products to come?

🗹 D’Alchemy Age-Cancellation Booster
Not too sure if I want to try this sachet on my very sensitive skin - I find they are never enough to get the real feel of the product, and my skin really rebels if I try too many things. This looks like it is aimed for oily skin anyway, so I might pass this on, especially as the product was never on my radar anyway. Sorry Love Lula! As much as I love discovering new things, I want to keep my skin happy too. Especially now, with active dermatitis outbreak :/

🗹 John Masters Organics Rosemary & Arnica Body Wash
I have to be honest, I stopped supporting this brand when they sold out and changed the formulations for the worse without telling their customers soon after - they lost all my respect then and I have to say it is very hard to go back from that. I am not a big fan of paying big bucks for a body wash, so I am not getting a full size of it. Skincare with active ingredients suitable for my skin, yes, I am happy to part with my hard earned cash. Body wash? No, I am happy to go budget here - and we all know there are budget brands who do fabulous products with clean ingredients for way less. Sorry, if you think otherwise - it's just my honest thoughts and we can agree to disagree.  

If you want to see many other posts on Love Lula beauty boxes as well as product reviews, they all live in this Green Life In Dublin Facebook page album here. I used to list them down at the end of each post, but I soon found the list is nearly as long as the post itself, so this is way easier. Nearing forty posts people :) And have you seen my Natural Beauty interview with Love Lula CEO Sonia White? I still can't believed she said yes to it :)

So, all in all I am happy with this month's box - this provided us with four full size products, so you are more than tripling your money here - this box is worth whopping 53£ and it is often more than that, up to 70£ value! Even if I can't use one of the products myself here and there, I'll take that - it is so fun discovering new green beauty products I would have missed otherwise. Let's not forget there is always 20% off coupon for the brands featured that month, so that gives you substantial additional savings too. 

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. I know I still 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?   

Love Lula Beauty Box

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                                    Or shop LoveLula website here.

  
Are You subscribed to Love Lula Beauty Box too? What is your favourite product from Love Lula? Please share with me, I would love to know! 

(you can see mine here by the way 😊)

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That is all for today. Prepare for the onslaught of posts and reviews in the near future - the blogger in me is bursting at the seams, the only issue is finding the time to do it. Am I the only one finding it a bit difficult juggling all these life/work/kids/balance balls with kids at home in summer?


Lots of Love,
Renata.

Enjoy my content? I would appreciate any  tip into my PayPal Tip Jar - any donation will get You my eternal gratitude and more awesome green beauty reviews Your way. I weed out all the greenwashing products so You won't have to.

*the box is part of LLABP - I am very thankful to be a part of their blogger family xo

Natural & Organic Products For My Little Princess - And Yours!

Hello Lovelies,


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

Natural Products for my little princess

Before we start, please be mindful that Google uses cookies and collects data while You are browsing my blog, and I am obliged to let you know.

So, to be honest the idea for this post never crossed my mind until a few days ago, when I got my blogger package from Love Lula (love You guys) and my little princess squirreled away a product to her school bag quicker than I could take a decent photo of it :) She used her eagle vision to spot some colorful packaging in between my products, even though I never told her I ordered a product specifically for her. Next thing I knew some little hands were in my package and off she went to put it away. The product I am talking about is Hello Barumi Soothing Essence from Chobs, a Korean brand new(ish) to Love Lula. She inquired what is it, compared it to the sweet she has had ages ago (it is in a rollerball format, like a deodorant) and was quick to tell me all about her bruises, and put it on them. Next she announced "I am going to put it into my school bag!" and was quite displeased when I told her I need to photograph it first (blogger's problems, much?). Unlike her sister, she is interested in my products, and I have had to give her some products to keep her off my stash (more of it later) - otherwise she was taking a great pleasure in "testing" aka destroying my products. It was the best decision I ever made, because we are like this now - "Do you want this lip gloss?" "Nah, I have my own!". My stash is finally safe! :)

Now, about her stash, shall we see what products she uses? It is not much, mind you, and that's exactly why the idea for this kind of blog post never crossed my mind. Up until now, that's it.

I have to say it won't be a post on products specifically designed for kids, once we moved out of the toddler-hood phase, I never bothered to get her kids everything, because one, I didn't see the need, and secondly we never used kids or baby lotions for example, coconut oil can replace a thousand and one product in this case.  Besides, the products I use myself are safe, so I am confident in using them on her. 

I am not sure where to start, so let's start with the products we would use in the bath, shall we? I use any shampoo I am using myself on her, and at the moment it happens to be Tabitha James Kraan Golden Citrus one, because I am testing the line for upcoming review, if you want my two cents on it, here it is - the shampoo is gorgeous, and I'll want more when I'll run out. It might seem extravagant to use pricy shampoo on your kid, but oh well, the products are meant to be used, right? Calia line is a firm favourite, and we have used Earth Friendly Baby, Child's Farm or Burt's Bees Baby Shampoo & Wash for years - you can find all of them at Boots. The last one is Mr Green Life In Dublin approved, you can find the products he uses here. Just like myself, I don't use conditioner on her, just leave in conditioner by Acure Organics and hair oils for me. I have bought her a kiddies leave in conditioner by Child's Farm for her, but she didn't like it, and in order not to have too many products I gave it away. To be honest, I kind of understand where she was coming from - while the shampoos smell of strawberries and some things equally nice, the leave in conditioner is scented with grapefruit and tea tree oil! I mean, what? Why?? And why no other scents than this horrible one? Oh well, let's just leave it. For washing, all of us use Dudu Osun African Black Soap (review) and I am happy to report I get no more moaning about not having bottles of shower gel at all times. Odd time she has a bubble bath, I use Neal's Yard Remedies Aromatic Foaming Bath. We use no products once out of the shower, no oils, lotions etc. 
Some other product that's part of her daily routine is Living Libations Everybody Loves Sunshine with Zinc Beach Balm (SPF balm stick, review) & Kimberly Sayer Ultra Light Organic Facial Moisturiser SPF30 - that's what I use too, for the last three years, actually. This is fine for the city SPF, if we are ever on sun holidays (it's been years since we could afford one), I make sure to protect her with Green People Organic Children Sun Cream.  I also got her EQ EVOA lip stick SPF30 so she would have it in her school bag, with the plans to get their purple stick next, but seeing how white it goes on (think chalk white), I quickly changed my mind and went on to get Coola Sports Stick - this came only yesterday, I have say the first impressions of it aren't too great - not only it is three times smaller than I expected it to be, but it is hard to use too - it crumbled rather than glided on once we tried it on the back of our hands. So we will see. I would appreciate your recommendations for kids SPF product! Oh, I forgot, last year we used 100%Pure SPF, the one in the spray can, and although the formula was good, the spray pump broke on me after a couple of days of use. 

Another product that's part of her days daily routine is Moisturising Hand Sanitizer by Bentley Organic - affordable, alcohol free and 93% organic - why, yes please! It actually took us a bit of a time to find it, and we are on our first bottle right now. I should probably explain that she didn't want one to begin with, as she, like all her friends, was using a conventional nasty hand sanitizer at school - try to convince a 5yr old to not touch it! Teacher said it is good because it kills germs, she would argue. Long story short I could talk some sense into her once she saw herself how dry her hands have become from using it, to the point of cracking and peeling - and she would not use any hand cream or a balm I offered. Needless to say I searched high and low for a natural option that would suit both of our needs, she finds it very hard to use spray bottles, and I was looking for one that would not have lavender and preferably tea tree in it - most of the ones I could find were with tea tree oil, and although I understand that tea tree oil is very good at killing germs, I didn't want my child to be the odd one out smelling of it at all times - we all know how cruel kids can be. This ticks all the right boxes, so I am very happy we've found it - and it will probably stay for a long haul with us! Fingers crossed the company never stops making it, because it seems to be my life story - once I find something I like, next thing I know it is gone for good. I should also add that we use the same African Black Soap for washing hands too. 

I think that's all for this post, I can't think of any other product she uses, although if you are interested, I can tell you her "make up bag" consists of PHB eye shadow, 100%Pure Chiffon blush and lip caramel - and a few 100%Pure brushes as well. I had no intention of giving her those products or her having make up at this young age, but she was gifted a few of those nasty kids make up kits for Christmas and her Birthday, and I was livid with my friends and family for doing so - they knew full well I use only natural products on her, and yet they went on against my will with this. "It was cheap and a good present" was the excuse I got. Gee, thanks guys! It took me weeks of pleading and bribing to finally get her to part with it, and although I can perfectly understand her, what little princess will want to part with such treasures, especially her first ones? So, yeah, judge me all you want - my kid has a "make up bag" but it is natural and non toxic make up. Plus she never leaves the house with it on! I am doing the best I can with resources I have. Did you see those photos of one little girl burned by girl's make up? And I am sure all of us heard horror stories about Claire's Accessories make up contaminated with asbestos! Please never buy those kits for girls, I am begging you!

The only supplements she is taking on the daily basis are KIKI Health Body Biotics For Children 650mg Chewable Tablets - phew, that's a mouthful! Say that three times fast :) We have tried a few different varieties and this is what we've settled on, they taste like glucose, so she takes them without any objections. She also takes Solgar Vitamin C and multivitamins but only on Sickness Season, aka Fall & Winter, as well as Sambucol from time to time, especially if she seems to be going down with cold or flu. If she does get sick, it is taken care in natural ways, you can check out my old post on my natural ways to treat colds and flu here - the remedies and homeopathic medicine remains the same. Plus the post has delightfully bad pictures for you to look at :) I must do an updated version - here.

Related - see my Kids iHerb list here

Oh my, seven to nine products used daily, it turns out my little princess does use more products that I thought she does - but I am very glad none of them will harm her in the long run. By the way, You probably have noticed I didn't include ingredients of each and every product, or it would have turned into two mile post. If You want me to review any of the products in depth, let me know!

So that's all for today, see you here very shortly. Let me know your kiddos favourite products too, I would love to know!

P.s. Please make my day and follow me on my new blog www.greenlifeindublin.com & share this or any of my blog posts on social media - it helps to get the green beauty word out and for that I Thank You!

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Lots of Love,

Renata.