#natural beauty

Vacation Home Natural Beauty Products

Vacation Natural Beauty Must Haves

Published by Barbara Sandell

Vacation Home Natural Beauty Products

Vacation Natural Beauty Must Haves

As I packed for our week vacation at our vacation home, I had to think seriously about what skincare and makeup products to bring along. I had some recent purchases I wanted to use, some products I’m trying to use up and some products already at the vacation home.

“Green” Products Currently at Vacation Home

Avalon Organics Vitamin C Renewal Balancing Toner – I like this toner a lot. I’ve had this product for awhile, though, so I need to replace it with a fresh product soon.

EO Essential Oil Products Shampoo and Conditioner with Keratin Coconut and Hibiscus (mentioned in my June Favorites.)

Jurlique Rose Moisture Plus Moisturizing Cleanser – I enjoy this product when I’m here on vacation. I’ve had it awhile so I need to use it up.

Tom’s of Main Deodorant in Clean Confidence – I’m interested in exploring other brands of natural deodorants but this product works just fine for me when I’m down here.

Tom’s of Main Antiplaque and Whitening Toothpaste – This product is a fine staple. Tom’s toothpaste, along with deodorant were the first green products I stashed in our vacation home more than 4 years ago.

Products I Can’t Live Without or I’m Trying to Use Up

Caudalie Vinoperfect Serum – My #1 beauty issue is hyper pigmentation. I’ve been using this product twice a day for about 2 weeks and plan to continue for at least one more month. I have 2 dark spots on my face I’m tracking to see if this product will lighten them up so we’ll see…

Dr. Bronner’s Organic Pure Castile Soap in Almond – I picked up a smaller bottle of this product during my first trip to the local Sprout’s market. I love it so much, I needed some for the vacation home so I took another trip to Sprouts before we headed out of town (also to get some self tanner). I got the version with Almond Oil to try it as a makeup brush cleaner. This product suds well and has a pleasant almond scent. I filled hand soap dispensers with this product. It’s fantastic as a hand or body wash.

Jurlique Purely Sun-Defying Face Cream – Mentioned in my June 2014 Favorites, this is a face cream with SPF that I’m trying to use up because I have new products I’m excited to try.

Mineral Fusion Concealer Duo in Warm – I love this product! One of the first must have natural cosmetics finds was under eye corrector to erase my ever persistent dark under eye circles. I’m still on the hunt for the perfect peach corrector but I think this one is going to be hard to beat.

Nature’s Baby Organics Face & Body Moisturizer – Mentioned this in my First iHerb Haul, this lotion is perfect: effective, unscented and reasonably priced.

Naturelle D’Argan Day and Night Youth Cream – Also mentioned in my June 2014 Favorites, I like this product and I’m trying to use it up because I have new products to try.

Pai Camelia & Rose Gentle Hydrating Cleanser – I can’t seem to live without this cleanser for end of day makeup removal (see my review here). I see that Pai now has travel sets now so I may need to pick one up.

Skyn Icelandic Relief Eye Cream – This is a lightweight, refreshing eye cream. It works well for daytime use as it’s not greasy and doesn’t make my eye makeup smear throughout the day. The product doesn’t really stick to your finger so you have to dig in a bit with your nail to get a substantial amount on your finger to apply which is a little bit of a pain.

Suntegrity Natural Moisturizing Face Sunscreen and Primer  – This is a great product in theory; a moisturizer, primer and SPF. I find the product leaves somewhat of a white cast on my face. I’m trying to use it up and will start using it on my neck and arms instead of my face.

Zuzu Lipgloss in Mischief – I’ve been carrying this gloss in my purse for a month or so and I like it a lot. It’s a great summer product with just enough color and shine for everyday use.

Zuzu Oil-Free Liquid Foundation in L-11– I love this foundation and it’s super easy to apply (I usually use my fingers). The color is perfect for me. When I dust finishing powder over this foundation, it lasts all day which is great.

New Products I Wanted to Try on Vacation

Benecos

  • Eye Primer
  • Lip Balm
  • Lipstick in Peach
  • Mascara in Black
  • Natural Mineral Powder in Sand

John Masters

  • Linden Blossom Cream Face Cleaner
  • SFP 30 Natural Mineral Sunscreen

Lily Lolo

  • Eyebrow Duo in Light
  • Eye Primer
  • Finishing Powder in Flawless Silk (sample)
  • Lipstick in Rose Gold
  • Natural Eye Pencil in Brown
  • Pressed Blush in Ticked Pink
  • Pressed Eyeshadow in Goldfish

Tarte

  • Amazonian Clay Full Coverage Airbrush Foundation in Light-Medium Neutral
  • Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Waterproof Concealer
  • Airbuki Bamboo Powder Foundation Brush

Other Products

  • Alba Botanical Very Emollient Sunless Tanner
  • Avene High Protection Tinted Compact SPT 50 in Honey
  • Dickinson’s Witch Hazel Towelettes
  • Pai Echium & Macadamia Replenishing Day Cream
  • Sigma F80 Flat Top Kabuki Brush
  • Vapour Siren Lipstick in Hint

What are your must have products to take on vacation? What new products are you taking on vacation this summer?

iHerb Haul

First iHerb Haul

Published by Barbara Sandell

First iHerb Haul

iHerb Blog First Impressions

First iHerb Haul

Check out what I got in my first iHerb haul! I ordered a number of products including 2 protein powders, liquid soap, body lotion, 2 deodorants and a toner. I hadn’t heard of iHerb until I started watching Ecoholic Beauty – thanks, Jess! This is one of my first green beauty hauls and I’m so excited! I got my order in 3 days which is amazing and I feel like to got a lot for what I spent ($74). I’ve been using the products for a little under a week and wanted to share my first impressions.

iHerb Haul First Impressions
I wanted some basic castile soap to clean makeup brushes and for an all purpose cleanser for the shower and the various sinks in our home. I was specifically looking for Dr. Bronner’s Almond Castile Liquid Soap. I didn’t see it so I took a chance on the Dr. Woods Pure Tea Tree Castile Soap with Organic Shea Butter. This is good quality product. I’m not a huge tea tree fan (a little on the antiseptic side for me) but the scent is mild enough and the product does the job. This soap was around $.30 per ounce which is about on par with Dr. Bronner’s. I’d say there’s about a 50/50 chance I will buy this product again. If I really need soap and I’m buying from iHerb, I may repurchase.

I have a protein powder fruit smoothie for breakfast 5 to 6 days a week. I find smoothies to be a great way to get nourishment into my system first thing in the morning and they’re oh so portable! Eating something healthy in the morning is an important part of keeping my daily eating in check and maintaining a stable weight.

It isn’t easy to find a protein powder that doesn’t contain stevia. Although stevia is supposed to be a more natural sweetener, things with stevia always seem too sweet to me and extra sweet things don’t help me keep my sweet tooth in check! I’ve used Jarrow’s Brown Rice Protein Powder in Vanilla in the past so when I saw that iHerb carries this product, it was a no-brainer to add it to my order. This protein powder is great! I don’t have a problem with the texture, it is not overly sweet (it’s stevia-free), it’s reasonably priced (about $.80 per ounce), has great ingredients, etc.. I also ordered MLO Natural, Brown Rice Protein Powder because I was curious about this product and wanted to try something new. At about $.63 per ounce, this protein powder is a good value and it seems to work just fine so there’s a good chance I’ll repurchase.

Here is my current smoothie recipe:
Mix all of this in a blender: 1 scoop of protein powder with 1/2 banana, 6 to 8 ounces of orange juice, 1/3 cup nonfat yogurt, 1/3 to 1/2 cup of fruit (my favorites are strawberries, blueberries and fresh pineapple) and 1/4 cup crushed ice. Whirl this in the blender for a good 3 minutes to make sure there aren’t any fruit lumps. Pour it into a shaker jar and enjoy!

I’m currently using Zion Health Adama Minerals Clay Dry Deodorant and I ordered another one since I’ll be out soon. I still love this deodorant the best out of the numerous natural deodorants I’ve tried. It isn’t sticky, doesn’t require you to wait to get dressed, keeps me dry throughout the day, doesn’t have a strong scent and is reasonably priced. I decided to try Alvera Aloe Almond Roll On Deodorant on a whim. I tried using this once. It has a strong smell I don’t really care for. so I don’t think I’ll be using this deodorant again unless. It wasn’t expensive (less than $4) so I may just toss it. You may ask why I bothered to try another deodorant if what I currently have works so well. Well…….you beauty product junkies out there can probably understand the compulsion to “hunt” for the next best product because “you never know” when you’ll discover a new favorite, right???  Whose with me on this one???

So far, I really like the Nature’s Baby Organics Face and Body Lotion. I hesitated getting a baby lotion but when I read the rave reviews, I couldn’t resist trying it out. This product is very emollient and I really feel like it’s nourishing my skin. It’s unscented and has a pretty attractive price point (around $1.10 per ounce).

I was completely out of facial toner so had to include some on this order. I struggled to decide which product to buy and ended up with Thayers Rose Petal Witch Hazel with Aloe Vera Formula Alcohol Free Toner. This is a no frills alcohol-free toner and I’m pretty pleased with it. It has a fairly mild rose scent, seems to do the job just fine and has a good price point (around $.70 per ounce).

What did get on your first iHerb haul? What products do you like to buy from iHerb? Do you have any yummy smoothie recipes to share?

-Barbara