Natural beauty product review x 4

It’s about freakin’ time. I’ve held off on this post for quite some time because I wanted to wait until I reviewed all four types of soaps I’d bought since summertime. So here we go:

1) FOREUE Soap

Foreue is a natural skincare brand I learned about via EthicalDeal. For half off + $10 in shipping, I got 12 bars of soap valued at about $48 CDN. I chose four scented bars and now I know what the difference is between soap soap and the handmade soap all the hippies go to LUSH for.

(clockwise from left)
Lavender Fields – I don’t know what possessed me to get this one, since I always associate lavender with products you smell in the bathrooms of old people. But this one is pleasantly nice. Subtle, but not overpowering of flowers. I really don’t dig the scent of flowers. Nice lather on it too.
Infinite Almond – I found this a good scent for a bathroom shared by a couple – almond has a good ‘manly’ scent to it. Also quite subtle.
Rosemary Peppermint – This is the oddest of colours, and kind of stained the others a bit during shipping, but it doesn’t have a strong smell of mint. Almost a salty smell, but the afterscent has a really nice aroma.
Lemongrass with herbs: My favourite scent of the bunch (I guess I like citrus and vanillas the best) and this baby exfoliates skin like crazy. When they said herbs, they meant it – because as the soap dissipates, you can see the herbs washing down the sink. My hands ended up a bit drier than the others because of the exfoliation factor, but there was still a moisturizing element to all of them.

I probably wouldn’t buy these again just because they shipped from the USA and I always promote buying local products. But if you’re in the USA and are looking for a trusty, natural skincare line, FOREUE isn’t a bad choice.

2) Josie Maran Instant Natural Volume Argan Mascara

I learned about Josie Maran’s natural makeup line from Donna Bishop of Greenbeauty.ca. I was perfectly content on tarte cosmetics‘ waterproof mascara, but wasn’t 100% sure if it was non-toxic. While tarte’s cost $28 for .24oz, Josie Maran’s was only $26 for .34oz. You do the math. I did a toxin check before I purchased it at SEPHORA, and the box said that for every mascara purchased, Josie Maran’s Get One Give One Campaign donates to a City of Hope cancer patient or survivor. So how can you go wrong with that?

While tarte’s mascara really pumped up the volume, it was waterproof, which tends to stay on at night, especially if you use a mild cleanser like I am. While Josie Maran’s consistency is much thinner, I really like the fact that it doesn’t clump. The brush is fat, but there really isn’t a lot on the brush when you take it out of the tube – and less is best when applying, because you can always add more. In fact, I learned a new skill as a result of this mascara: how to apply while squinting, because I found that I was getting some of it on my contact lens, which can really make your day suck. Try squinting next time in front of the mirror!

3) AVEDA Pure Comfort Eye Makeup Remover

So after having switched to a milder natural cleanser, I had to get a makeup remover to take my eye makeup off before going to bed. AVEDA is never my first choice because I know the products aren’t made locally, but this product passed the toxin check and I have no complaints about it. No stinging, really nice scent; a little expensive at $23, so I’d appreciate suggestions on any other natural alternatives or brands.

4) AVEDA Pure Abundance Volumizing Hair Spray

Forever on the search for the perfect natural hair spray, I went this this one at $28. Like the others I’ve tried, this one is liquid. The scent is great, but because it’s hard to get perfect spray coverage, my curls will still come out after about 1.5-2 hours. AVEDA has a different aerosol spray – which I’ll probably go for next and will be the only one that works in the end – but it is more expensive at $34. What I DO love about this particular hair spray I bought, is the bottle. The spout never gets clogged because you need only twist the top cap to unlock and lock it. Nice job, AVEDA!

Next up: MuLondon Foaming Face Wash. It’s coming in the mail, so once I try her out, the review will come.

Triple natural beauty product review

Heeeere we go!

CONSONANT ORGANIC FACE WASH

The search for my new cleanser was an interesting one. I swear by the Belmondo Organics line made by Daniela Belmondo right here in Vancity, but when I tried her face cleanser “The Rain” I went through it like *that* and also had to buy tons of cotton pads to apply it. It’s more of a cleanser that wipes away surface stuff rather than a facewash where you wash your face with water. I understand that water contains impurities, but I just couldn’t do with only using The Rain to take off the junk that I put on my face daily, so I went on a search for another facewash.

I considered AVEDA’s cleansers and also discovered Juice Beauty’s Green Apple Cleansing Gel from Murale at Oakridge ($26  for 4oz.). But I remembered GreenBeauty.ca from Twitter (thank god for Twitter!) and checked out the selection there. It was here that I found Consonant’s Organic Foaming Face Wash ($18 for 125 ml). At this price – and without a trace of toxins – I couldn’t resist.

The shipping cost ($18) would have taken me to a $36 purchase so I was going to just leave it altogether. Because I was already in contact with the CEO Donna Bishop due to tech issues in purchasing, she let me pay without the shipping – then hand delivered the product to me when she was in Vancouver for Eco Fashion Week! (Greenbeauty.ca is based in Toronto.)

The cleanser is mild: LOVE. Unscented: LOVE. The only things I might mention are that it’s a bit on the drying side. So I find my face oily in T-zone area in the afternoon. But I still experienced this with my other cleansers. It’s also not strong enough to take off my eye makeup, so I had to get a makeup remover to do the job (which will be in another post).

Other than that, Consonant is great. I hear the UK-based line just opened a store in Toronto. Now to find a local supplier…

HATHOR APHRODISIA LUBRICANT PURE
Continue reading…

Guest Post by Katja: LUSH’s Little Green Bag

Editor’s note: I have personally never tried LUSH’s products so when Katja offered to do a guest post I jumped for joy. Enjoy!

What struck me most about Hillary Rodham Clinton’s extensive autobiography was one personal detail: a life-long struggle with her hair. This element made the bigger-than-life politician suddenly look more like a real woman. Like Hillary (presumably), I used to be a natural and am now a dyed blonde, with medium-thick hair of straw-like consistence. In spite of  20+ years of ongoing search, I have been unsuccessful in finding a shampoo that will make my hair smooth and shiny. Therefore, I was curious to try LUSH’s Little Green Bag, inspired by Jen Rustemeyer’s positive comments about a sustainable, solid shampoo bar in her film The Clean Bin Project.

Little Green Bag (rewrapped)

The Little Green Bag consists of five solid soap, shampoo, conditioner, body scrub and massage bars, as well as a reusable tin, all wrapped in a beautiful white-and-green Furoshiki scarf, a traditional way for Japanese people to wrap and carry their toiletries. Though an international enterprise based in the UK, all of LUSH’s products are purportedly made from primarily organic, vegetarian ingredients.

 Little Green Bag unwrapped

I first tested the solid Squeaky Green Shampoo Bar, and lo and behold! The bar lathered perfectly, scenting healthily of rosemary, one of the main ingredients. I didn’t mind the little leaves and twigs molten in the bar, as it enhances the illusion of a natural product. Unfortunately, I followed the producer’s advice and put my shampoo bar into the tin after usage. Now it’s stuck to the tin and won’t come out!

Next, I applied the Jungle Solid Conditioner Bar. You’re supposed to smooth it lightly onto wet hair after shampooing, and then rinse it out. The only thing that landed on my hair though, were lumps of green slime, so I checked if I took the right bar. Alas, I did, and even though I could rinse the slime easily, it had no conditioning effect. Luckily, my kids’ Pantene conditioner finished the job.

Body scrub: A luxury I rarely use, and this product didn’t turn me into a fan. The moment I sprinkled some water on the nice little ball of Sugar Scrub, the entire scrub dissolved in my hands and I swiftly rubbed the remains onto my skin. I think I managed to treat one leg! That leg smelled nice, remotely reminiscent of lemon, but that’s as far as I got.

All is well with the Sea Vegetable Soap, which smells a wee bit too masculine for my taste, but is smooth and looks beautiful in its soap dish.

The Each Peach Massage Bar looks like a piece of soap with a fine flower print and melts nicely when applied on warm skin, leaving a lemony scent.

The result: While the shampoo, soap and massage bars passed the test – I advise the manufacturers to donate it to Hillary– the other products would benefit from improvements. A huge plus is the company’s policy to reduce packaging and waste to near zero within this year.

List of products:

LUSH can be found in 4 locations in Metro Vancouver.

About Katja De Bock: Katja was born and bread in Flanders and chose Canada as her third home after working in Germany for almost two decades. She loves nice goodies for the kitchen and bathroom and is forever curious about environmental products that actually work!

Thanks for the post, Katja!