Showing posts with label natural on a budget. Show all posts

Everyone Hair Styling Products: Style Gel, Tame Cream & Volume Serum

I'm always game to try out new #curlygirl hair products, so when I spotted Everyone's small hair styling line at a local health food store for a super inexpensive $5.99 each, I decided to pick up all three products to test out.  Everyone is a budget-friendly offshoot of EO Products, specifically designed for younger consumers, large families, and others who might have less money to spend on quality, natural products.  The products are made for "every budget" -- something you know really resonates with me -- and contain no GMO's, parabens, sulfates, synthethic fragrances, gluten, or synthetic polymers.  The hair styling products are also phenoxyethanol-free.  

I've been testing this hair trio out since the summer -- keep reading for my thoughts on each product!



The Style Gel is your basic no-frills hair gel.  It has good hold, isn’t sticky, and, just like the bottle says, doesn't flake or crumble throughout the day.  The gel isn't specifically designed for curly hair, but it works well for curl definition nonetheless, and even leaves curls looking pretty great on the second (and sometimes third) day.  

The scent on this one is my favorite of the three.  It’s a mild, sweet blend of citrus, vanilla, and coconut that smells nice as you use it, but isn't noticeable much beyond that.  

The Hair Cream doesn't offer much in the way of hold, but it’s fantastic for defining curls and taming frizz.  It has a creamy consistency and gives hair a bit of moisture too, similar to a lightweight leave-in conditioner. For my hair, this is the best of the bunch for first day curls, but, because its hold is so light, by the second day (and beyond) my curls have fallen considerably.  

Again, the scent is fairly mild -- this time a mix of lavender and coconut -- and I don't notice it in my hair other than when I'm first applying/distributing the product.

Volume Hair Serum
Of the three, the Volume Serum is the one I’d say you can skip.  It has a thin gel consistency and claims to add volume, bounce and body, but I don't find it does much in my hair. On days that I air dry (which, let's be honest, is most of the time), the serum does basically nothing.  When I blow dry instead, I do get more volume, of course, but I'm not convinced it's any more than blow drying without the serum, either with or without a different product.

The scent on this one is lemon and coconut and, again, it's very unobtrusive, although you can initially smell some alcohol -- the third ingredient in this one -- coming through too.

The Bottom Line
I'd pass on the Volume Serum -- I just haven't found a good use for it -- but I really like the Hair Cream and Hair Gel.   Both give light to medium hold, offer good curl definition, and do well at controlling frizz and flyaways. The ingredients are also great and Everyone's inexpensive prices really can't be beat!

$40 Green Makeup Challenge

One of the things I first set out to do with this blog was to show that great healthy products can be found at any price point.  Higher end brands are wonderful and I'd want to say otherwise, but I hear from so many people that they can't switch to natural/non-toxic products because of the financial cost involved, something that I rarely think is actually true.  

Yes, natural products cost more, but they don't have to cost a lot more.  

With that in mind, I decided to do a spin on the $20 Makeup Challenge that used to be so popular on Youtube.  If you aren't familiar with it, it basically involves shopping for a full face of makeup for under $20.  For the green version, I've upped the budget to $40, which I think is reasonable.  It's high enough to make the whole thing possible, but low enough that it's still a challenge staying under budget.  

I also didn't go shopping just for the sake of the challenge and instead opted to use things I already had.  These are tried and true products for the most part, not items I picked up just for the challenge or because of their inexpensive price tag.  



It all came together pretty well as a simple, everyday kind of look.  Not actually all that different from what I'd wear on an average day, pulling from my entire makeup stash. 



And, now for the price breakdown of everything I used.  To make things extra difficult, I limited myself to full and mini sizes - no samples - but those are, of course, another great way to try things on the cheap. 

Honeybee Gardens Pressed Mineral Powder in Geisha $9.34
Alba Fast Fix for Undereye Circles $4.79
ELF Mineral Eye Brightener $1.99
Brija Cosmetics Blush in Regulation Hottie $5.50
Shiro Cosmetics Eye Shadow in Housewife and Homunculus ($3.50 x 2) $7.00
Physician's Formula Organic Wear CC Curl + Care Mascara (after mail-in rebate) $5.99
Silk Naturals Kisser Slicker in Berry Crush $4.50

TOTAL: $39.11

My budget ran out without an eye primer, so I ran a smidge of the Fast Fix for Undereye Circles across my lids instead, which actually worked surprisingly well at keeping everything in place all day.  I slightly missed having an inner corner highlight and some kind of brow product, but I still think it worked out well, all said.  My only other issue was the CC Mascara, which I'm not a fan of, but Physician's Formula has other Organic Wear mascaras that are the same price and much better.  

I've tagged a few people on instagram, but I'd love to see anyone + everyone join in and share the love for affordable green beauty!  If you do participate, make sure to leave a link in the comments so I can check it out.  

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