Last Winter 2016 Empties

 

Hi guys and gals, l am coming at you with my trash again, oh, sorry, empties post ☺ I don't know what about you, but l feel if I finished the product to the last bit of it, it means I can give proper review of it, you know what I mean? For years I used not to finish anything at all, it rather expired on me, because I liked to “have” lots of beautiful things on my shelves, rather than “use” stuff. Now I changed my way of thinking and applied “one in one out” rule, in order to minimize the amount of things I own. It is nowhere near as minimalistic as I aspire to be, but I am trying to hone things to my perfect capsule collection.

So without further ado, let’s jump right in, shall we?

100%Pure Pink Grapefruit body lotion, samples x3

This came with my recent order from the company, I used all three packs at once and was short for full body application. What can l say? Nice smell, great ingredients apart Japanese Honeysuckle, sinks in really fast. I probably won't be repurchasing this or any other body creams for one reason- it ships from US (yes, all the orders from 100% Pure ship from US no matter if you order from EU, UK or other sites) so not only I risk getting charged extra because of the customs (it really sucks!) but also l don't want my products clocking up so many air miles. We as consumers should be thinking about things like these. But if 100% Pure were local to me and had a store in Dublin, I would totally get all their products. In fact, I would move in there ☺

100% Pure French Lavender Hand Buttercream - sample x1

See above, nice ingredients, not buying for the reasons l just listed.

100% Pure Coconut Nourishing body cream - sample x1

Not buying, same reason, see above, plus I don't like the smell, sickly sweet! I have a huge tub of scrub in this scent, not going as fast as l would like to, purely because of the smell again.

100% Pure Coffee Bean Eye Cream 

I had three samples of it, used up just one, and even halfway and binning the rest - this did zero things to my undereyes, zilch. Nada. Did not do anything to my dark undereye circles, nothing for the fine lines, it might have moisturised the skin, but not to the point that I would noticed. What it did give me was milia (I forgot about that problem since I switched to oils) and now it's back, and that is exactly the reason I am binning it. I had two more packets of it and gave it away to other blogger in a swap, hopefully she will get more benefits from it? From what I have read about it, people seem to be 50/50 about it, many love it, but many don't see any benefits from it, including me. One thing I have to give it - it lasts for absolutely ages! My 2ml sample lasted for more than 2 months and there's still plenty of it left, so if you will get it in full size, go for travel size, because the full size will expire on you before you will be able to finish it. 

100% Pure Caffeine Sheet Mask
All I can say is AMAZING!! Working on a review on it! All natural ingredients, and this mask truly does amazing things to the skin. This is something I will always want to have, 2015 was the year I got into masks, and not one compares to this, to me it is the best!

My own DIY whipped body butter

This lasted me about a year, totally making more of it, because not only I know what went into it to the last ingredient, but I saved a ton of money by DIY-ing it. You can find the recipe here.

Cold Pressed Oils pure shea butter 

This is hands down the best quality shea butter I have used, it helped me so much with my dermatitis! I am really due a review about it and the small family owned business, but at the moment I am testing another product of theirs, so l want to give myself some time to properly use the second oil I got from them and then put together a blog post.

Repurchase? Already have!

Jason 84% aloe vera conditioner

This is more than a year old and I am tossing it as it didn't work for me in the slightest and also has ingredients in it I no longer use. I left it in the most visible/accessible place in the bathroom hoping that my family members might use it, but those little devils keep using my good stuff instead and do not touch it either.

Repurchase? No.

Burts Bees shampoo x3

It is a staple in my house, l talked a million times about it before, so if you want, please feel free to peruse my older posts. This is what my hubby and princesses use, I don't, so that's why it's three empties in one post and none in the next - it's because we have several half empty bottles at any given moment. It drives me nuts, but that's how my hubby rolls. #familylife

Repurchase? Yes.

Madara Micellar Water - samples x3

I collected three samples via Naturisimo orders, and as l was excited to try it (heard many bloggers rave about it) I wasn't impressed, it is not that good at removing make up plus it dried out my skin! my trusty old rose water or orange flower water does way better job, not to mention it is many times more cheaper.

A purchase? No. I’ll stick to my rosewater, thank you very much!

Neal's Yard Remedies Thyme and Honey Cough Syrup

This is a miracle product and I am stocking up like a mad woman next time I am doing NYR order! Let me explain - not only it is the gentlest and pleasant tasting syrup ever, but it also works like a charm too, completely eliminating any type of a coughs in just a couple of days! I hope they never discontinue this, l promise to be a faithful buyer! and did l mention it's organic? It is a smidge more expensive than your regular cough syrup at the drugstore, but it pays over a million times, as cheap as l am, l am prepared to pay up where it pays to do so, esp when it comes to organic products! Whereas the regular cough syrups never work, you are bombarded with a million options, they have side effects and ingredients l don't want to use, last time l bought children's Sootha cough syrup in a rush (aren’t we always in a rush when your child is sick) without checking the ingredients (mainly because l used different product from that brand before) and was horrified to see parabens in the ingredient list!! I mean are you kidding me, parabens in babies medicine? Ugh!

Anyways, let’s get back to NYR one - it has good ingredients, reminds me of the cough syrup that l used when l myself was a child, it is organic AND it works brilliantly! Guess where l am going with this?

A repurchase? Yes a million times over!

Melvita argan oil samples x2

Has good ingredients, worked fine to tame my frizz. One little tip, always double check the ingredients list and if you find a long list of ingredients, put it back and back away! This usually happens with cheaper stuff, so don't be fooled by “argan oil” on the front of the bottle - you want pure oil, not all those fillers and silicones.

Am l purchasing full size of it? Not sure, l still have more than a half bottle of raw argan oil from other brand, and by the time l will be finished with it, l may be swayed by something else? Us bloggers are finicky bunch, haha!

Himalayan salt (not pictured here) but you can see it in my IG post here.

This is food grade salt that l used for a detox bath along with some essential oils (lavender, roman camomile and carrot seed if you want to know). This cost me less than a euro, and l don't think l will ever splash out on a fancy jar of detox salts, l am yet to be convinced they work any better. If you want to drop a pretty penny please be my guest and by all means treat yourself, but this is one area where l tend to save and DIY instead and spend my hard earned cash elsewhere.

A repurchase? Yes.

Deep steep hand wash in Sugar Plum

I got it in TKMaxx for a fiver, which is a good deal considering you get almost half a litre of product. Ingredients are pretty clean and Deep Steep is a good and affordable natural brand. This lasted me two months, and the only thing l didn't like about it is the pump, it dispenses way too much product and you spend ages rinsing it off. I think it's done on purpose so you would run out and be back for more pretty soon? But it is miles better than your regular liquid soap in the stores, and l will be picking it up once l will come across it in TKMaxx again. I haven't seen it in any other stored in Dublin, if you happen to know where these are sold, let me know! Oh, did l mention that the Sugar Plum scent is amazing?

A repurchase? Yes.

Dermalex

This is by all means not a natural product (but leaning toward it, the marking is blue, which is miles better than black) and it contains natural extract!!!!

Anyways, this l used to treat my dermatitis, it is sort of new treatment that does not contain any steroids. I personally can vouch for it’s effectiveness, it truly works at healing and calming the inflamed skin and it somewhat soothes the itchiness too. I recommended this along with other products in my dermatitis post, you can check it out here.

A repurchase? Already have.

English Mineral Makeup Company foundation in light neutral & warm light, samples x2

This l own in full size and have reviewed already (check it out here). Truly clean and effective make up that l really enjoy using and will be sad when it's finished. Pricy though, so l hope Santa will see this and will take hints ☺

A repurchase? Not sure or should l say not straight away! I am working my way though the samples of other brands, so l might find a cheaper alternative, and l really am dying to try Alima Pure foundation.

100% Pure Maracuja mascara (Not pictured as I forgot to include it, doh!)

By now this become my favourite mascara, even to the point of me moving it to Holy Grail category! At first l wasn't sure about the steep price point, but now I justify it by getting good deals or by going without something else I want but not necessarily need. This mascara has amazing ingredients and it doubles up as a lash treatment conditioning your lashes, so it's money well spent l would say. It gives you length and volume and you can really build it up, which you can't do with their original Black Tea mascara (that one did nothing for my lashes) and did l mention it is gluten free? It also made my lashes grow, and l know it's this, because l am not using any lash serums or castor oil, nuffink! Oh gosh, l sound like a sales person, don't I? Well, at least you will know how much l love it ☺

A repurchase? Already have. Btw, follow me on Instagram, l will alert you about their deals, because otherwise their prices are steep!

Avalon Organics Baby Shampoo & Body Wash 

Despite good ingredients I am not repurchasing, purely because it didn't work for us, as a shampoo it is too drying and not that good that I would want to go out and repurchase, there are way better products at that price point, and to use it as a body wash it is simply not economical, there are better products at the cheaper price point too. But it might be your perfect product, you never know?

Solgar Liquid Vitamin D3 2500iu 

This played a crucial role in my healing from dermatitis, as l was (and most of us are) deficient in this vitamin - please do your own research and test yourself if you think you are deficient, but l highly suggest that do you so, it is not just babies who need to supplement with it - we don't make nowhere near enough from the sun as we are lead to believe.

So that is it for now, I know this is rather plain stuff that I used up, I promise my next empties post will be way more exciting with plenty of make up 😊

What did you guys used up? See any favourites here? Please let me know.

That is all, ta ta for now!

Lots of Love,

Renata.

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.

How To Have Healthy Hair Again The Natural Way

Welcome back :)

I was posting a hair and scalp mask DIY picture on Instagram and suddenly the idea hit me, I ought to make a blog post about healthy hair, or rather how to have healthy hair again. Rather I should explain I lost 50% of my hair once i stopped breastfeeding, and my doctor brushed it off as "it will grow back".. So as the months passed and it didn't grow back, I decided to take matters into my own hands and do it natural way.
By the way, are you following me on Instagram? If not, you should :) here's the link :)

 https://instagram.com/green_life_in_dublin/

Back to business! Do you have frizzy hair and endless dandruff that is not going away no matter what you do or what expensive medical shampoo you buy? Guess what? You weren't born that way honey! It is the products you use that is the source of your problems. Yes, you read that right, your eyes aren't deceiving you. It took me a long time time to realise this and get to where I am today, so if you want to make a shortcut and save yourself ten years or experimenting and research and just jump straight to the good stuff and my two cents on it, aka advice :)

Switch to natural shampoos (no sls)

That is non negotiable! Let me tell you what conditions cured themselves almost overnight what i ditched sls (aka sodium laureth sulfate or sodium lauryl sulfate) - frizzy hair, dandruff, itchy and sensitive scalp AND backne! If that doesn't convince you, just go on and check the ingredients label on your dish washing soap or washing powder. Yes, there is a method to my madness - these products AND your shampoo have the same ingredients in them, yes, you guessed that right, SLS. What is it? Cheap harsh detergent that washes everything right off, so you are left with scalp that is squeaky clean, with no natural oils left on it. Yes, you will have clean hair, but at what cost? And especially if you do that every day? You can't expect your hair and scalp to be in their best condition if you take away all the natural oils that are there for a reason, can you? And what's worse, your scalp is one of the most absorbent places of your skin, so all the "lovely" bunch of chemicals get absorbed into your head every day.

Cut down on heat
It damages the hair big time, and gives you brittle hair and split ends! If you can't give up it all together, please just promise me don't do it two days in the row, as the second time you do it, the moisture is pulled out of your hair and it will become straw like. Nobody wants that, right? also I recently learned from Whitney or Eco-Vegan Gal from youtube (check out her youtube channel and a video on haircare) that the hair dryers and styling products emit the same high level of radio active waves as the microwave, so basically we ladies are successfully microwaving our heads every day! How scary is that?

Supplements
There are lots of unnatural supplements to choose from, but I wanted something natural, so I will tell you what I used and you can pick and choose what you want to try.. I tried amla (same powder as I used for hair masks can be taken internally, since it's food grade.) it's sour-ish powder that you take a teaspoon or so per day, try to bump it up as it's packed full of natural vitamin C. I just mixed it with water and drank quickly but you can add it to your smoothies or yogurt. Next is MSM, I got mine in raw form from Nourish, and it definitely made a difference, just it tastes quite nasty sour and to be honest l never repurchased it after my course. Biotin is a form of vitamin B and it is also fabulous for the hair, makes it grow so fast! One of my recent discoveries is baobab powder, which has more vitamin C than oranges, more iron than red meat and is a source of alkalising minerals including calcium, potassium (gram for gram, five time more bananas) and magnesium. But as I mentioned, it's new to me so l want to give myself time to see if I recommend it or not, in theory it should be good.
And let's not forget, to have healthy hair you need protein, so consume your fair share of proteins, preferably in food form, not those powdered ones. I like to eat nuts and seeds too, as they have lots of proteins (one tablespoon of sunflower seeds will have your daily quota). Eat them as a snack or sprinkle on yogurt or salads.

 Hair masks
 Here is my usual arsenal of hair loving ingredients, and you can pick and choose what do you want to use and off you go to mix your own concoctions ;)
Rosemary (fresh or dried), egg, yogurt, honey, banana, avocado, amla (none other than gooseberry), neem powder, coconut oil, water and milk, castor oil.
There are no specific measurements here, but if you want recipes, l will tell you a couple of one I am using, but to be honest here I am using whatever I do have on hand at the time. 
All these masks should be kept on for at least 20 mins, with oil masks the longer the better!
Coconut water and milk mask. Take some coconut milk from a can - scoop the thick part from the top and mix it with coconut water, and apply to the scalp and the hair. Keep it on for at least 20 mins, the longer the better. You can totally use coconut milk by itself, next time you are making your family curry, save a spoon or two for your mask. I usually have those two ingredients frozen in the ice cubes in my freezer and defrost only the amount I need.
Coconut oil and amla mask. You may want to add a few drop of rosemary essential oil too, as this ingredients is amazing for your hair! For a mask you will need a couple of tablespoons of coconut oil and about a teaspoon of amla (or neem, esp if you are trying to regrow your hair). 
Egg, honey and oil mask. Take an egg, and equal amounts of honey and egg and after mixing everything together apply to your hair. When washing this out, make sure to use lukewarm water if you don't want scrambled eggs in your hair!
Avocado or banana mask. Take a very ripe banana (or avocado), mash it up and apply to the hair. I have to tell you I haven't done these in a while, because these masks are a pain-in-you-know-what to wash out! But your hair will be happy, believe me!!

Scalp masks
 All the mentioned above masks are good for the scalp, so don't forget to rub it into the scalp too! I am a big fan of oiling the scalp and try to do a coconut scalp & hair mask at least once a week. Think of your scalp and hair as a soil and the flowers, to have beautiful flowers you need healthy soil, and for some reason or another we tend to overlook the scalp more often than not.

Herbal Rinses
Nettle is a fabulous hair friend, and it makes a perfect a perfect rinse. Take a handful of dried nettle (a few handfuls if using fresh) and steep in the boiling water for 30 mins. When cooled to the room temperature, use as a final rinse for your hair. You can rinse it out, but I usually don't.
Rosemary or sage rinse. Use the same way as a nettle rinse.
Rosewater rinse or spray. I recently found out that Indian beauties spray rosewater on their hair to make it shiny and beautiful, but i need to research a bit more about it. Inspired by this fact I made this little spray I try to use everyday if I remember  - equal parts of rosewater, rosemary and nettle. I spray it on my scalp and massage it in to lock the goodness in :)

Scalp massage
Let's just agree that is important to give the hair follicle the oxygen, so let's massage the scalp from time to time, or lay on the bed with your head hanging down from the side of your bed for two minutes each day (the flow of blood surely will benefit your hair) or even do like your grandma used to do and "brush your hair 100 times a day" with natural bristles brush. (speaking of brushes, l noticed tremendouss difference in my hair health and shine levels once l swapped my plastic brush to boar bristles brush. Choose wooden brush if you don't want animal products)


*Disclaimer: consult with your doctor before using supplements first. I am only telling you what worked for me and can not be held responsible for what you will do with this information. 

That is all my friends :)

Take care, 

Lots of Love,

Renata.