Natural & Organic Empties April 2018

Hi Lovelies,


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

Natural & Organic Beauty & Wellness Empties April 2018

I think we all know what these posts are all about - what I used, loved, hated, will buy, won't buy again, blah blah blah..
Please excuse moi, I don't mean to come across all rude and standoffish, it's just I am going through some health issues and a new job at the moment behind the scenes, so have no energy for anything else lately. Add that to the crappy weather and a month long head cold, and that's me in a nutshell lately. Plus these empties posts feel like a pain-in-the-you-know-what lately, so I will keep it short. And honest. No changes there then :)

In no particular order here's what I finished in April:

Natural & Organic Empties

Benecos Apricot Body Peeling
Budget option of body scrub, but I didn't enjoy it much, too little of scrubbing action. Probably won't get it again.


Westlab Epsom & Magnesium Salts
A must have of the last few years. I knew about them for years but never got why I need to use them, well, until I tried it for myself. If you are a tired, go and lie in magnesium salt bath for 20-40 minutes and you will rise a totally different person. You can thank me later :)


Theraneem Naturals Neem Mouthwash
Really natural ingredients, tastes a bit sweet, which I am not used to, but I'd get it again. Have had a few products by this company and I liked them. Will repurchase.


Dudu Osun Classic Black Soap
Another staple in our house, bar of soap with paper packaging. I have a review on it if You want to have a look at my two cents on it? Repurchase? Yes! And yes again :)


Sukin Purifying Shampoo & Nourishing Conditioner
Both came in Love Lula March Box (post here) and I really loved both of them. Will get full sizes eventually. Good price point too.


Organii Organic Cotton Patches
I have a review of the whole line here, and let me just tell you upfront these cotton patches will forever remain in my kit, they hold up so much better than any patches from the chemists, and I feel good about using less plastic. A score. Organic score :)


Organic honey & theyme cough syrup from NYR
One of the very few things that truly work for coughs, and it is always the thing I stock up on when I make my own NYR order. Love the fact it is organic too.


Manuka Honey 12+
This is also something I always want to have on hand. So I do.  


Propolis Throat Spray
Another thing that tames the cough beast!
 

Better You Turmeric Oral Spray
This I bought for my 5yr old who was going through allergies and sickness season in a bid to help her boost her immune system..


Living Libations Wintergreen & Clean Toothpaste
I am due a review for it, so keep your eyes peeled for it - and to sum it up, here's what I have to say: expensive, but worth it!

 

Natural & Organic Empties

Meadows Rejuvenating Face Cream
I have reviewed it, so hit that search box if You are interested? Good basic cream that rates a 2 on EWG (not to be found there, I made my own report). so it might be an option of You are looking for a new face cream or want to try something from an Irish brand. Not repurchasing due to having too many face creams in my stash. Plus loving Bella Aura more.


I Love Skin Face Oil Scent Free
Packed full of nourishing oils, and essential oil free, but sad to say I didn't like it very much because it still reacted with my dermatitis patch (not a downfall of a products, 95% of the face oils do that) and it was oily and not the best smelling either. Sorry! Not bashing a product, it's just my sensitive skin found home in Bella Aura products and I kind of don't want to use anything else.



Alverde Brow Gel in Blonde
Great budget option, repurchased already. Worked great with matching Alverde brow powder and it matched my ash toned brows well.


Honua Skincare Aloha Youth Serum
Another good natural product I am not repurchasing due to loving Bella Aura (I seriously sound like a broken record here, but please put yourself into my shoes - I was having such a hard time finding products to suit my uber sensitive skin, and then dermatitis happened.. On my face, no less - which reacted to a lot of skincare products I was using, and it still rebels if I start testing new products. So when my skin found home with Bella Aura, I don't want to use anything else.). Nothing bad to say about this product, and I still have and love this brand's Beauty Water as well.
 

Nude By Nature Highlight Stick In Bronze
I also have a review on this brand, which happens to be stocked in Debenhams - yay or what? This bronzey highlight didn't suit my face as a highlight, so I used it as a glowy bronzer, and it worked quite well that way. Now it is over a year old and it changed smell, meaning it is time to chuck it. Not too sure if I am going for this colour, but I want to get it in another colour for sure. As well as to explore the brand more.


Inika Long Lash Mascara (not pictured)
Absolutely loving this mascara, this is all I used for the last seven or nine months (not the same one, three of them) - and I am also due a Inika review - can somebody come over and kick my butt so I would finally get round to it? I have around eight items to review, and it is collosal work, so I don't even want to start it, it will take days to do! Any blogger would know how much of hard work comes into it. Coming back to this mascara, I would totally recommend it and will repurchase it at some point, it is just that after using just one mascara for so long, I want to try something new - and I have my eyes firmly on Fitglow Good Lash Mascara and I hear only good things about new(ish) Burts Bees one, so I am kind of adding it to my list too. I am not loyal to my mascaras, ok? :)

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Lots of Love,
Renata.

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Shopping My Stash #4

Hi Lovelies,


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

Shopping My Green Beauty Stash #4

How are you all doing? I hope all is well? It sort of is in my house, although the recent reports of 35 people dying from the Aussie flu in Ireland so far scare the sh*t out of me. 15 of them are children, and my heart bleeds at the thought of this!
Although my heart goes out to the families of those affected, I know you are all here to see what I am using, so let's dive into it, shall we? Sorry to start this post on the sad note.

*Please note Blogger & Google are using cookies, and I am obliged to let you know about this.

I have started this series inspired by Sandra by Beauty Balm, she is on the impressive 96th one compared to my 4th. It is proving to be popular with you too, so I think it might touch a chord with you lot, that maybe we should all dig around our stash to see if we have products we forgot we had, or is there something that needs to be used up because it is approaching it's expiration date? 
If you want to see what I am using lately, you can find all my Shop My Stash posts to date linked at the end of this post. In this one I reached for a couple of products that were sent to me a few months earlier and I didn't get around to them much because I was using other products at a time. Speaking of using up products, after much of mulling over it, I have decided to skip my November and December Empties posts, because in the December there seemed no good time to fit in Empties posts when all of us were doing all sorts of festive and fun stuff in the run up to Christmas; so talking about my rubbish, seemed well, rubbish! Then the January went by like a blur, and now I find myself with January empties to talk about, and too much of a hassle to catch up on those two missed months. So I have decided to wipe the slate clean and start again with January and leave the last year's rubbish in the last year. I hope you won't mind? It's not that I am obliged to talk of them, it's probably just me putting unnecessary pressure on myself. I am in the habit of putting those kinds of posts out by now, and every time I think of typing 3k+ words for something I'd finished ages ago, seemed like a chore I kept putting off like forever. So let's make a deal, I will put a pictures at the end of my January Empties post, and if there will be a product you will want my feedback on, you will ask about it ok? I always answer questions about products on my social media anyways. And I have decided to stop talking about samples, especially sachet samples - it is too much of typing for uncertain reasons. I wouldn't mind if I had extra time on my hands, but I don't, so something has to give. I am very glad my blog keeps growing and growing at a steady pace (steady, because I don't buy followers and never will) but it also means it is becoming more like a full time job without the pay. I am most likely to be checking emails at 7am and answering people's requests for recommending products via DMs at 11pm. I think I need to manage my time better.

Ok, U-turn Renata, getting back to the stuff I use now. In no particular order here's what I am using right now:


Honua Skincare Hawaiian Beauty Water and Aloha Beauty Serum

This was an unexpected win via Instagram, where two people were supposed to win their Beauty Water, so I tagged my Instagram buddy 1988Bori, and I was so surprised to find out we've won! When I received the package, I was floored and delighted to see they have included the Aloha beauty serum as well. Big thank You Honua Skincare! Havaiian Beauty Water is a liquid exfoliant with amazing ingredients, like hibiscus, coconut water, papaya enzymes and more. I use it once or twice a week, and I can really see the difference after I use it. Highly recommend it and I know I will be back. Aloha is a beautiful water and aloe based serum packed with beautiful hydrosols, super oils, vitamin C coming from noni, and more. The ingredients of everything in the line seem very clean and I am keen to try more, starting from the cleansing cream called Pa'akai. 



ULIV Golden Chai Facial Souffle

This is also an amazing natural product, targeted for dermatitis and eczema prone skin, and let me tell you, the ingredients are amazing! Packed full of healing oils, butters and king of spices turmeric, which we all know is a fantastic antiinflammatory agent with more than 10k of scientific studies backing up the claims. I don't reach for this as my daily moisturiser, as it takes ages to sink in, and blocked my pores somewhat when I used it twice daily in the past, probably due to the mango butter in it, but let me stress that was a long time ago, and it was since reformulated. I am on my second jar of it, and I reach for it every time my skin is red and blotchy and it helps with inflammation so much. Well worth the price point in my mind, as I have tried many products targeting dermatitis, and some of them just don't work, while some others burned my skin! This is amazing, caused me no hassle, only the benefits. Sadly it came straight from US and I don't know any EU stockists for it. If you do, please do us all a favor and shout about it!



Dafna's Personal Skincare Active Mist  

A gift from Dafna herself, along with her Nutrition face cream for the night, which I really appreciated! The mist is gorgeous and it is going really fast, as I got into the habit of misting my face throughout the day. Again, the brand with really clean ingredients, you can understand everything when reading through the ingredient list. It's a Spanish brand, so therefore widely available in Europe, and for those of you my green beauty lovers outside EU, you can get it from Love Lula.



Studio78Paris We Evade 03 Rose Sand Bronzer

I surprised myself reaching for this more and more lately - see, like most of us I associate bronzer with summer and tanned skin, and I never reached for them in winters, when I am at my all time palest. I wasn't even a bronzer girl until I hit mid 30s. I know many of you will gasp reading this, but I had no interest in bronzers whatsoever for the longest time, but I am warming up to them (pun intended). This is the most gorgeous bronzer on earth, and the fact that it is not orangy makes it worth every penny in my opinion. I have no desire to look for more bronzers, as I have all that I need in this product. As you can see, it has a few colours swirled into it, as well as some gorgeous shimmer that does not translates into glitter when on the face. Pigmented, so I need to have a light hand with this. This is French brand that I would be keen to explore more, but for the last few years I am witnessing it disappearing from more and more online places I've seen carrying it before. I am not sure what's up with it, at first I was worried the brand is going out of business, but they are active on Instagram, which makes me feel better. I have this nagging thought in my head that I need to get a back up of it, even though I realize it makes no logical sense. This is not the only bronzer I have, but this is the only one I use. I might sell the other one I have and get rid of samples, as my search for the perfect bronzer is well and truly over.


Hynt Beauty Satin Nude lip gloss

Aren't your newest thing always your favourite things? It certainly is the case with me! This gorgeous lip gloss came from Eminessences, and I also purchased my beloved Hynt Beauty Duet Perfecting Concealer (review here and here) this time in Medium, which is ever so slightly too dark for me at the moment. I was out of this concealer for a year or so, and although I am happy to have it back in my life, I noticed a texture change, and maybe slightly less coverage than it had before? It underwent a packaging change twice if not three times, and I am not sure if the formulation changed with it or not, but now it is almost solid waxy consistency, that you have to swirl your finger in to get the product out, while before it was liquid, and more pigmented too, imo. I don't know, I still need to play with it more to form my final opinion on it. Still a good product, but I miss the old formula back from the day when it used to be Christopher Drummond in a pump bottle, seen in my second review. Hynt Beauty, if you are reading this, I love you, but please, bring the old formula back?


Inika Long Lash Mascara

My favourite for the last 6 months or so. Nearly as good as my previously loved 100% Pure Maracuja one (I've been ignoring them since they decided to raise the shipping price to 25€, but then I learned that the new price already includes all the custom fees you might get, so I am thawing and starting to watch their deals like a hawk again). Anyways, back to the Inika - while I was out of 100%Pure mascara, I needed a good alternative, so I tried Inika Long Lash Mascara, and I knew I was in love with it after a couple of days. It performs like a conventional mascara would, gives good length, not as much volume as I'd like to (it is lengthening, not a volumising mascara) but what I like the most about it, it does not smudge or flake on me! Big pet peeves of mine, and sooo many of clean beauty mascaras fail on this front, so I am so happy to have found my new favourite. Already have a back up.


So, that's all for this post I am using right now, but that's not all of the products in my current rotation if you know what I mean - some products like DrHauschka Rose Day Cream (review) and Hurraw Moon Balm are such a firm All-The-Time favourites, that I am even forgetting to mention them. They are part of the furniture, and these Shop My Stash posts highlight what I am using in the moment. 

What are you using at the moment? Do you shop your stash too and possibly do Project Pan type of thing? Please let me know in the comments!

See my previous posts:

Shopping My Stash #3

Shopping My Stash #2

Shopping My Stash #1

All my green beauty reviews can be found here and on the new blog here.

All Love Lula related posts live in my FB album here.

Many thanks for reading! P.s. Please make my day and follow my blog or other social media and share this or any of my blog posts on social media. Thank You! 

Find me on my new blog Greenlifeindublin.com Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook and YouTube.

Lots of Love,

Renata.

green beauty blog Green Life In Dublin

Enjoy my content? Any contribution to my PayPal Tip Jar -  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 :)