Nürish Organic Rejuven-EIGHT Day Cream* [Review]
This day cream's impressive ingredient list features manuka honey, raspberry seed oil, blueberry seed oil, cranberry seed oil, pomegranate extract, and broccoli seed oil - to name just a few. It's a soothing, lightweight moisturizer that's great for reducing redness. I did find it left my skin a little shinier than usual when used in the morning, but I had no problem using it at night, so I enjoyed it that way.
Repurchase? Probably not. I'm really much more into face oils these days.
Kinky Curly Spiral Spritz
There's a full review forthcoming on this product, so I won't go into too many details here. I've been searching for a less expensive replacement for my much loved Intelligent Nutrients Styling Gel, and the Spiral Spritz is my favorite so far. It's a light, aloe-based hair gel that works really well for scrunching curls. It gives a light hold and doesn't leave hair feeling crunchy or sticky.
Repurchase? Yes, I already have.
South of France Lemon Mint Liquid Soap [Review]
This is my second bottle of this castile soap, which I mainly used as a body wash. When I bought it, Lemon Mint was the only scent that was made with only essential oils, but it's since been discontinued. I'm not sure if the newly overhauled South of France line has any products without fragrance.
Repurchase? No longer available.
Deep Steep Tangerine Melon Body Lotion
Tangerine Melon is my favorite Deep Steep scent, but even so, I found this lotion a little too heavily scented for me. Compared to the body butter, the lotion is lighter and rubs into the skin a lot easier, but it also has retinyl palmitate (retinyl palmitate + sun exposure has been linked to cancer.)
Repurchase? The body lotion? No. This scent in other products? Very likely.
Deep Steep Lavender Chamomile Hand Cream
This was a extra tester I was given at work (points to you if you noticed the 'try me' sticker in the photo.) I liked the hand cream, but it feels very similar to Deep Steep's body butters, so I'm not convinced it's worth spending roughly the same amount for a tube 1/3 of the size. If you want something small to carry with you, go for it, but otherwise, I'd recommend just buying the body butter.
Repurchase? Probably not.
Now Foods Vanilla Lip Balm [Review]
I was pretty unimpressed with this balm initially, but I pulled it out again recently in my quest to finish up all my started lip balms and it was decent. It's on the waxier side - the first ingredient is beeswax - but once you warm it up a little, it's pretty nice. It's definitely not a one-swipe balm, but if you don't mind taking an extra minute or two, it does a pretty good job.
Repurchase? Probably not. There are other lip balms I like more.
Kynk Shea Moi
Shea Moi is a raw, whipped shea butter, enriched with rice bran oil and scented with lemongrass and geranium. I think I got a funny batch, as this smelled burnt and I know from selling Kynk at work that they don't all smell that way. The burnt + lemongrass combo reminded me of a barbecue, so it got delegated to my feet, where I wouldn't smell it as much. The actual product worked well, but the smell totally turned me off.
Repurchase? No.
Kynk In the Raw
In the Raw is pure, raw shea butter that's been whipped to a lighter consistency. This had a little of that burnt smell too, although much less than the Shea Moi. Looking at Kynk's website just now, they do say that "shea butter has a slightly smokey and nutty aroma acquired from traditional extraction methods," so I guess that's what I'm smelling in these, although I've not experienced that with any other shea butter products.
Repurchase? Probably not. I think I'll try whipping shea butter myself though, as the lighter texture was really nice.
Boo Bamboo Makeup Remover Wipes* [Review]
As face wipes go, I think Boo Bamboo's are the cream of the crop. They remove every speck of makeup - even mascara and eyeliner - without a struggle and have never bothered my skin in the slightest. I prefer not to use wipes on an everyday basis, but if I was buying them for a special occasion or travel, these would be the ones I'd buy.
Repurchase? Very likely.
Kaia Juicy Bamboo Bamboo Cleansing Cloths
After the Boo Bamboo, I was on a bit of a wipes kick and dug these out of my sample box to try. They do an okay job removing makeup, but they also left my face feeling a little dry and irritated.
Repurchase? No.
Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Castile Soap (samples)
An old favorite and something I always keep on hand. I used these two samples to clean my makeup brushes, but there really are a million and one uses for Dr. Bronner's.
Repurchase? Maybe. The unscented is still my favorite.
Priti NYC Soy Nail Polish Remover Wipes [Review]
I've been consistently impressed with these wipes, so it was a sad day when I found a polish that this wipe could not beat. We all know glitter polishes are terrible for removing, and Priti's wipe could not budge Color Club's Apollo Star. I'm not sure if it was just a question of needing more actual product than the wipe holds or just a horrible polish to remove, but I ended up doing a two step process with Suncoat's Gel Remover, followed by Sante's remover on top of the Priti wipe, and it still was a struggle to get off!
Repurchase? Possibly. I still have several wipes left, but I think I want to try the liquid remover next time.
Silk Naturals Sleep in a Jar in Light Peach [Review]
I'm not sure if this is my second or third jar of Sleep in a Jar, but needless to say, I'm a fan. I used to use it on its own, but these days I prefer using it to set another, cream concealer. It doesn't give a ton of coverage, but it's excellent at brightening up the under eye area.
Repurchase? Yes, I already have.
Silk Naturals Perfecting Powder (sample)
I generally use powder foundations, but I like using a finishing powder on top of certain parts of my face. The Perfecting Powder was fine - did the job - but it didn't stand out much either.
Repurchase? Not sure. I have a few samples of other finishing powders I want to try first.
Urban Minerals Foundation in Missus Multicultural (sample)* [Review]
Urban Minerals is a local-to-me mineral makeup line with a focus on accommodating all skin tones. What's unique about the foundation - beyond the extensive color range - is that it includes a whole host of skin-friendly ingredients like nettle, aloe, chamomile, calendula, marshmallow, sea buckthorn, and white willow bark. When I first wrote my review, I thought Missus Multicultural was my best match, but I may need to revisit that, as coming out of this long winter, I think it was a little too dark for me.
Repurchase? Not right away. I have several other mineral foundations I want to work through.
Cee Cee & Bee Café Mocha Soap
I was lucky enough to win four travel size Cee Cee & Bee soaps in a giveaway from Natural Kath and of the lot, Café Mocha is the one I gravitated to first. It's palm oil free, and produces a rich, creamy lather that smells like a yummy mix of coffee and chocolate. Coffee grounds also provide a light exfoliation. Just a personal preference, but as someone who generally only uses bar soap on my hands, I've realized I much prefer smooth soaps, without any exfoliating particles, so I found myself wishing it didn't have the coffee grounds.
Repurchase? Probably not this specific one, but there are a couple others Cee Cee & Bee soaps I've got my eye on.
Nuka Lime Spearmint Green Tea Soap
Nuka is an Ontario company whose palm oil free soaps are sold in bulk at my Whole Foods. I bought this way back in December and used half the bar then, before deciding it was too drying on my hands. Now that the weather's warmed up, it's been quite lovely and I haven't found it drying at all. The blend of lime, spearmint, and green tea also smells fantastic.
Repurchase? Very likely, but only in the warmer months.
* Denotes press sample.
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