Naturalla Beauty

As a green blogger and, more specifically, after judging the CertClean awards last year, I literally have a shelf of deodorants that I rotate amongst, so it's a wonder I finished up any at all! These are two of my very favorites: the Ursa Major Hoppin’ Fresh Deodorant, which is the only natural deodorant I’ve used that actually mimics the feel and consistency of mainstream deodorants, and the Mabrook & Co. Clean Deodorant, a more ubiquitous coconut oil/baking soda formula, but one that's executed extremely well.  Both are ones I’ll happily continue to use!

Are you a body oil convert?  Personally, I switch back and forth between lotions and oils, but I've been having a moment with body oils recently, and two in particular: the Wellbeing Body Oil from Sukin, and the Detoxing Body Oil* from Flora Remedia*. 

General body oil gospel is to apply oils onto wet skin before toweling off, but my first priority post-shower is always my hair.  As fellow curlies can attest, letting curly hair dry too much before styling only results in unnecessary frizz and struggles, so my routine is always hair, then face, then body.  As a result, I prefer more lightweight body oils that don't require soaking wet skin to absorb properly.  I still want my oils to pack a moisturizing punch, but they also need to allow for some versatility in application.

Both of today's picks are just fine to apply onto mostly dry skin, and that's how I usually use them.  If I'm feeling fancy, I might mist myself with some kind of hydrosol or aloe spray before going in with the oil, but more often than not, I just slap them on and go.  Neither one leaves me feeling greasy or requires any significant wait time before pulling clothes on.


I really like Sukin products and the Wellbeing Body Oil has been on my mental wishlist for years, but it wasn't until I spotted it severely discounted at Winners that I finally took the plunge.  Now that my bottle is on its last legs, I'm kicking myself for waiting so long to finally get my hands on it!

The Wellbeing Body Oil has Sukin's signature vanilla-orange scent.  Citrus and vanilla is a fairly common scent pairing, but I think Sukin's version is one of the best.  It's sweet and pleasantly reminiscent of creamsicles, but also elegant and not overly young or sugary.  To draw a couple comparisons, I'd say Sukin's aroma is lighter and more citrusy than the Rachel's Plan Bee products and much less sweet than Andalou Naturals' candy-like mandarin vanilla line.  For me, it's a very wearable scent.  I enjoy the smell when I use the oil and I can smell it on my skin for close to a day, but it doesn't overwhelm the senses or cause me any problems.

The oil itself is a nourishing blend of sunflower, jojoba, rosehip, marula, evening primrose, avocado, sweet almond, wheatgerm, and soybean oils that's further enhanced with soothing calendula extract and vitamin E.  I could do without the soy oil -- it's just generally not an ingredient I love -- but the product as a whole is beautiful.  It's a medium weight oil, but one that sinks in very nicely, even on dry skin.  It does a fantastic job moisturizing and leaves skin feeling extra soft and silky.


Flora Remedia uniquely blends together plant based ingredients, essential oils, and flower essences to create products intended to help you feel your best -- mind, body, and soul.  Along those lines, the Detoxing Body Oil promises to do more than just moisturize the skin.  The act of massaging in any oil helps stimulate the lymphatic system, which in turn contributes to normal and healthy detox processes and Flora Remedia has formulated their oil with thoughtful ingredients to maximize these benefits.  The product description specifically talks about reduced cellulite and water retention, but since I don't deal with a lot of either one, I'm not comfortable judging it on those criteria.  Whether or not you observe any clear detox perks, the oil makes a fantastic body moisturizer!

I think the liquoricey scent will be a little more polarizing than the Sukin, but I, for one, like it a lot.  With essential oils chosen for their detoxifying benefits as well as their fragrances, the oil contains a distinctive mix of grapefruit, fennel, rosemary, lemon, and juniper, but the predominant scent, to my nose at least, is without a doubt the fennel.  It's sweet, fresh, and liquoricey.  I don't find the fragrance lasts on the skin beyond a few hours, but liquorice and fennel are such love-it-or-hate-it tastes, so I think a lot will come down to that preference.

The oil has a lightweight base of sunflower and safflower oils that, again, absorbs very well into the skin.  I think the Detoxing Body Oil would be a great choice for someone newer to moisturizing with oils or for anyone who usually finds oils too heavy, as it has a lovely light and nongreasy feel on the skin.  The oil also contains crab apple, impatiens, and larch flower essences, which offer extra feel good benefits.
  
Whether you're a longtime body oil convert or a newbie, you can't go wrong with either of these!  Both smell great, moisturize well, and absorb easily into the skin.  As an added bonus, the Flora Remedia Detoxing Oil also offers potential detox and mood boosting benefits.

Have you used either of these oils?  What are your favorite body oils?

It's been a long time since I've done one of these posts - apparently June 2013 was my last one - so I figured it was past time I wrote about some of the products that have not been making the cut in my beauty cabinet.  I want to preface this by saying that none of these are bad products - well, with the exception of one that kinda, maybe is - but they're items that haven't worked for me.



Nubian Heritage Repair & Extend Shine Gel
If you saw my recent Best of Curly Girl Hair Products, you'll know that this gel did not make it onto that list.  I've heard a lot of good things about Nubian Heritage, but this gel was my first time trying anything from the brand.  I've ended up only using it a couple times due to how strong and perfumey it smells.  Super disappointing because it's one of the few Nubian Heritage products that's made without either Japanese honeysuckle extract or palm oil.  It also did seem to work really well, with a good hold that was neither overly crunchy or sticky.  The smell - courtesy of a "proprietary essential oil blend" - is pretty overpowering though, and it tends to hang around all day, so I'm not sure it's worth it.

Sukin Aloe Vera Gel
The thing that I said was maybe just a bad product?  That would be this one here.  Aside from the company's fondness for phenoxyethanol, I really like Sukin products, so when I was given a spare tester from the health food store I was working in at the time, I expected good things.  It's hard to find aloe gels without a ton of fillers, and although Sukin's has only three ingredients - aloe leaf juice, alcohol, and hydroxyethylcellulose - it's awful.  Using alcohol as a preservative requires a moderately large amount, and with so few other ingredients to buffer it, the aloe gel is left smelling like straight up rubbing alcohol.  The alcohol also seems to negate any of the moisturizing properties inherent in the aloe, making the gel pretty useless.  I'm really not sure what anyone was thinking when they made this product.

Pure Anada Fresh Mandarin Pressed Mineral Cheek Color
I featured this Pure Anada blush in a roundup of new blush favorites early in the fall, but since then, it's mostly fallen out of my good books.  Pure Anada's pressed products have a weird, plastic or putty-like scent that the company attributes to the raw, unrefined jojoba oil they use to bind them, and whether or not that's what the smell is, I'm just not a fan.  I like the experience of putting makeup on to be enjoyable, and even luxurious at times, so something that makes me feel like I need to hold my breath while applying it, just isn't what I'm looking for.  It's a shame too, because the color is really pretty.  

Schmidt's Lavender-Sage Deodorant
I already let the cat out of the bag on this one when I wrote about how I transformed my Schmidt's into a deodorant that didn't sting or irritate my armpits, but I thought I'd stick it in here too, in case you missed that post.  The deodorant, in its original state, kept me stink-free, but it completely tore up my armpits.  And apparently I'm far from alone on this, as a lot of you described similar experiences with Schmidt's, both in the comments on that post and on Instagram and Twitter.  

EOS Sweet Mint Lip Balm
As one of the few all natural lip balms that's easily accessible in stores here, I'd wanted to try EOS for years, but I only actually got around to it last month when my mom bought me this one.  The ingredients are good, the egg shape is cute, and I love the Sweet Mint flavour/scent, but the balm itself is just not as hydrating as I would like.  I even sometimes feel like it has the opposite effect and actually dries out my lips.  

[EOS Fans: Do the balms vary by scent?  I also have an unopened strawberry one, but I may end up passing it on if it's going to be equally lackluster in terms of moisture.]

The All Natural Face Midas Cream Concealer 
I'm always looking for products that will conceal my dark circles, and the yellow-toned Midas has garnered a lot of positive attention.  Sadly, it doesn't work for me.  The concealer is illuminating, but it gives hardly any coverage, so instead of achieving the bright and awake under eye look I'm going for, I end up with a layer of shine that may even make my dark circles look more prominent.    Needless to say I'm not a fan.

Have you used any of these?  Are there other underwhelming products that have left you disappointed recently?