Natural empties - winter 2015

Hello my lovelies :)

As we are nearing the end of the year (can you believe it?) I want to blog about my most loved natural items of 2015, but I thought I would get this post - natural empties out of the way first, so let's get into it, shall we?

(from the top left)

 Meswak toothpaste by Dabur - this I get at my local Asian shop for 1.5€ a pop and I am perfectly happy with it, apart from SLS in the ingredients list - why?? The ingredients are great (again, apart SLS) and way healthier than you would find in your average health shop toothpaste, and I love the price point. It works great and it is a constant repurchase in my household.

Neem toothpaste by Theraneem Organix - this mini cost me €2.50 if I remember correctly - and I wanted to test if this is any better than my regular neem toothpaste that I get at the Asian shop - and although it does not have SLS, it has Sodium Lauroyl Glutamate instead of it, plus it contains glycerine - something that I don't want in my toothpaste as it coats the teeth and stops them from remineralising themselves. It also didn't work any better than my regular neem toothpaste, and the full size price isn't what I'd like it to be, so it a nay, not a repurchase for me.

My Earth Kiss Miracle Clay Facial Bamboo Sheet Mask - I was sent a bunch of these for a review, and this a first one I've tried. Unfortunately it did react with my facial dermatitis and made it way more red, so too bad for that, I won't be able to use them myself. These are all natural masks that have different ingredients for different purposes. Some are sheet ones, some are not. They cost only £1.99 per pack and are available on their website. If your skin isn't damaged like mine, please be my guest, I think they are awesome, way better for you than your average single use masks from Boots or other stores. A repurchase? Not sure, I might try them again once I will be fully healed from dermatitis, but not for now.

Manuka & Propolis Toothpaste with manuka oil by Manuka Health - this costs €10 (!!) (don't ask what I was thinking) and despite having all the manuka goodness in it, it didn't perform any better than regular paste, it didn't take away my teeth sensitivity, didn't whiten my teeth (I would say the opposite s true, they became a bit more yellow) and at this price it is way too expensive for me to buy it on a day to day basis.

Pure Olive Oil Soap with vanilla - one of the things I'd brought from my hols in Greece, it was great while it lasted. I love soaps with natural ingredients :) Would I buy it again? Yes, if I will come across it in the shops or markets somewhere. Would I buy it online? No, because I don't like my items to be clocking too many air miles (I have a problem with that, although I know I can buy anything under the sun online these days, but we as a consumers have to think about consequences of doing so. And besides, it is just a soap, isn't it?)

MooGoo Irritable Skin Balm - I was using this in combination with other things while my dermatitis was at it's worst and at the time I thought it was helping me (and I even recommended it on my Instagram page) - but later I found out it made my face and under eyes swell - it was actually horrible! I was using it together with Dermalex and wasn't sure which one was helping as I'd used them both together (trust me, when your skin itches that much, you would use anything, esp it it seems to be helping). Long story short I used it alone when I got the odd dermatitis flare up later on, and within one hour my under eyes were puffing up! Needless to say this goes to the bin, never to be purchased again.

Neal's Yard Remedies Geranium & Orange Hand Wash - let's just say that this lasted me four months - using it a few times daily every single day! When I got this I deemed the price too steep (€17.50 for 200ml) but having witnessed the lasting power first hand I should say that I will buy it again, maybe when it's on some kind of deal or sale? What? I am the ultimate bargain hunter, what can I say? :) It is also very gentle and non drying at all and it's 93% organic, certified by Soil Association, they have the strictest criteria for organic certification, so you know it is a good product!

Burt's Bees Baby Bee Shampoo and Wash x2 - it's a constant repurchase in my house, check out my previous posts if you want more info, but let's just say that my hubby wouldn't trade it for anything - and that is rich coming from him! All the dandruff, sensitive scalp and backne problems vanished since he switched to natural shampoo. I find it a bit too pricey as it runs out quickly and it's very thin, but it's a constant repurchase in my house. A holy grail item if you will, will feature in the yearly faves for sure!

Naked Care Neroli & Oatmeal Mild Shampoo - this is a 97% natural product that I got in Boots, but truth to be told it's not a good product, and I won't be repurchasing it. Yes it will wash your hair, but only that, your hair won't be moisturised (the opposite is true, tangly mess anyone?) and it won't be shiny! I am done with their shampoos but I will try their shower gels, as my family refuses to wash themselves with soaps, demanding shower gels back. Spoiled much?

Swell Ultimate Volume Masque - I only tried it once and I hated it with passion! It made my freshly washed hair like 5th day unwashed hair, zero volume, zero shine, just limp, flat and stringy hair. Very disappointing for a product that costs £10 for 50ml - say what?

Rahua Shampoo & Conditioner - these samples came via Naturisimo discovery box (as well as Swell mask) and what can I say? I am in love! These products work amazingly well - probably the best shampoo and conditioner I have ever used in my life!  used both of them separately (that's how I test shampoos at first to see if they are any good on their own, without the help of conditioner) - and they both performed extremely well, passing my 4 days test with gusto. Ingredients are amazing, company's ethos - amazing! The only thing that stops me from getting the full size of it is the price - it's 27£ and 28£ for 275ml! Just imagine the cost for a litre of it? Will I get it? Not right now, but when I will come into money I sure will :) 

Korres Wild Rose 24H Moisturising Brightening Cream - this still has 1/3rd of the product left and while I hate throwing away products, this has to go as it's a year old and my dermatitis seems to react to it (my skin has become very fickle of it, reacting to the ingredients it loved previously, like rosehip oil and rosewater). There is nothing wrong  with the cream itself and I may repurchase it sometime, but not right now, because of the dermatitis and because I have plenty of new products to play with. If you are interested in ingredients, Korres is not 100% natural brand, but they are trying and I like them.

Kjaer Weis foundation in Silken (sample) - this turned out an amazing product and I had to eat my words, as I always claimed I would never spend that much on a foundation, esp as it's only 7.5 grams of product for that amount of cash! Who knew it will turn out the perfect product for me? Two samples in I own a full size of it, stay tuned for a review :) And did I mention that is certified organic?

W3ll People Narcissist Foundation in Nr3 (sample) - again, one sample in, I am hooked :) I proudly own the full size of it and again, stay tuned for a review a few weeks down the line!

Ilia Vivid Foundation in F3 Santorini (sample) - I really wanted to like it because of the clean ingredients, chios mastic intrigued me in particular - but it turned out not the best thing for me - it made my skin itch and I did not like the matte finish, it made my face look flat and tired. So glad I tried a sample first and didn't jump in with both feet like I tend to do.

100% Pure French Lavender Hand Buttercream (sample) - I love this company, give or take I enjoyed all the products I tried from them and I esp love the fact that you can understand every single thing on the ingredients list without needing the chemist's degree :) So what about this product? I do not enjoy the scent of lavender, but I do own this in blood orange flavour (scent? flavour?) so yes, it is a repurchase. We will see. 

The Organic Pharmacy Double Rose Rejuvenating Face Cream for radiant glowing skin - I got this is a sample size last summer and took it on hols with me - and it impressed me so much that I did bring it back! Yes I know, who brings back samples, right? It is light, creamy, leaves skin radiant and bright and happy looking! It didn't react with my dermatitis in the slightest, which is very important factor for me these days. Because it's The Organic Pharmacy, you can trust it will have amazing ingredients, and I will definitely will be getting full size of it eventually, the only reason I haven't done it yet is that I have products coming out of my ears at the moment, and I want to finish them up before buying anything new. I am not one of those bloggers that keeps buying loads of stuff in the year and does the huge purge around the end of the year. I actually use what I have. Case rested.

The Organic Pharmacy Antioxidant Lip Balm - even though it's The Organic Pharmacy brand, I will tell you upfront that I won't be getting full size of this product - first of all it didn't impressed me much, and I find it overpriced for what it is - there are better products than that in the balm category. I didn't like the squeezy tube packaging - it seems half empty and it's very hard to get the product out, I didn't find it moisturising and it separated on me in the second week of using it, so not very impressed in over all.

So that is all my empties for now - did you try any of them and what do you think? Let me know, let's share our thoughts?

That is all for now,

Lots of Love,

Renata.

My natural skincare

Good Afternoon my lovely readers, I want to share my minimalistic skincare with you today, any questions, ask away, but i will try to cover all the products here.
So starting from the top left - Sukin facial moisturiser, paraben free, lots of good ingredients in there, I really wanted to like this, and was chuffed to get it in Holland & Barrett, but... it made me break out, and I think that is the alcohol in it, my skin reacts badly to it, so as soon as I saw it in the ingredients list, I knew it will be a problem, and ta-da, the pimple presented itself the next morning.. Still not wanting to give up on it, I tried it a few more times, and the same thing happened. So if you're like me, sensitive skin gurl, proceed with caution as a face cream. i use it as a hands cream just to use it up, and sadly won't be repurchasing. It kinda halted me purchasing anything else from their line, and I know H&B have another face cream and haircare from this company, but I am scared they wouldn't suit me either, and I don't want to waste my money..
(it cost me around 13€ in Holland and Barrett)
Second from the left in the round jar is my own mix of body oil, it's just raw coconut oil and Weleda Stretch Marks body oil (pictured here on the bottom left). It does leave you a bit orange, but I volunteer to be orange, because your skin feels amazing, and with those fabulous natural ingredients the skin will thank you for nourishment. I used to mix coconut oil with Weleda's Sea Buckthorn oil and the smell was divine, but as the price went way up I didn't repurchase it, and looking at the ingredients list I noticed orange essential oil in there, so that was probably why it had smelled so wonderfully, so I should mix in a few drops of orange essential oil too, as I have it as well. (Be careful with citrus essential oils though as they are photosensitive, so do not go out in the sun one hour after applying it). when it comes to body butters, as much as i used to love them, the ingredients in conventional products are horrible to your skin, and even most natural ones have some sort of preservatives in them (you know, so they could keep the stuff on the shop shelves for long time without it going bad). From the natural brands I tried Korres and Pacifica, none were any good, Korres has left white patches on the skin and was very hard to rub into, and Pacifica had long list of ingredients none of which i could understand and had a black marking (meaning it is not natural) and has left my skin drier than before, so I gave it away after a couple of uses. Now, back to my own concoction of body oil - I used good quality coconut oil on my skin for a couple of years now, but from time to time I mix something more luxurious, like my orange mix in this photo, just coconut oil mixed with some other good oil, and you can add essential oils to your liking, I plan to add frankincense since I bought it not too long ago and it's supposed to be superb for the skin, so we will see. The beauty of this recipe is that you can mix and match anything you like, anything you have in the house at that moment. I plan to buy some shea or mango butter and whip it up as I've seen some videos for this on Youtube, so stay tuned :)
The third from the top left is Korres hand cream - amazing! the one I have is with shea butter and organic almond oil, l got it in the set like 2yrs ago, and it is still going strong. Moisturises hands well, not sticky at all, lasts for hours, definitely a favourite and will be for years to come. No other hand cream is coming even close to it.
Now for the bottom row - first is Weleda Stretch Mark Oil which I mentioned already, it does not work on stretch marks, as nothing will make them go away, but it is nice body oil with good ingredients.
Next is Caudalie Divine oil, which is new to my collection, and I don't know how i feel about it yet, I only bought it to try it out of curiosity at a very good price at the sales after Christmas, and I only used it a few times. I read on the beautybible.com that this is natural oil, but with a few non natural ingredients added to make it a dry oil, and you can use it on the face, hair or body. I tried all of it, it does not break out my face, which is good, as for body oil it is nice, but only lasts for a day (in comparison to my coconut oil, which you can feel for days afterwards), so l will probably save this to use as a hair oil to tame flyaways. Smells nice, nothing "divine" as advertised, so l don't know if it will be a repurchase or not, too early to say.
Next is Liz Earle Superskin Bust And Neck Treatment with naturally active ingredients, and let me tell you, this stuff is a miracle in the bottle! Liz Earle know her stuff, and as I was so sceptical about it, my girls are in a bad way after breastfeeding two kids, so l had no hopes when I received this product, but oh my god, it worked! While nothing will lift the bust, it made my skin soft and supple , and by some miracle smoothed the cracks in skin, aka the strech marks! i am so in love with this product, and use it sparingly, as it costs an arm and a leg- but you knew i will say that, right?
And the last product in the dark spray bottle is my cheapy secret wonder product, the orange blossom water, I use it instead of a tonic and to cool down the skin after sunbathing. The best part is, I get it from Asian shop for around €1.5 for 330ml, so takes ages to finish, and it doubles as a make up remover, even for the mascara!

So that is all for now, stay tuned for more skincare and haircare posts very soon :)

Have a nice day!
Renata.