Naturalla Beauty

I can't believe how long it's been since I've updated this blog.  I got overwhelmed with other life stuff, but I'm back now with a long backlist of posts I want to get up, so hoping to keep up with posting more regularly again!

First up, I wanted to bring you some more swatches of Honeybee Gardens lipstick.  In the past I've ordered these from iherb, where they sell for a couple dollars cheaper than on the Honeybee Gardens website, but this time around, I ordered some samples directly from Honeybee Gardens so I could try out more colours.  I really like these lipsticks, but the swatches on the Honeybee Gardens website are a bit lacking and I haven't seen many blogger swatches floating around either, so samples seemed like a safer bet.   

You can find my initial review here for more information and hopefully this will help anyone who might have been considering these, but unsure about colours!

Sample Size

Samples are small slices of lipstick in baggies.  They're a little awkward to apply, but you do get enough for several applications.  Definitely worth the $0.50 cost!

Valentine

 Honeybee Gardens describes Valentine as a medium matte pink.  It's basically a deeper version of Soft Kiss (which you can see in my original review.)  Soft Kiss is a great baby pink, but I sometimes have a hard time wearing it.  Valentine is still a fairly light pink, but for me, the slightly darker shade is often easier to pull off.

Burlesque

Burlesque is described as a fuchsia sparkle.  Looking at the sample, I can see sparkles, but on the lips, they really weren't noticeable.  This might just be how it shows up on me, but I found it leaned more towards coral than fuchsia.  One of my favourites of the bunch, nonetheless.

Risque

Risque is described as a medium berry matte.  Sorry for the messy swatch of this one...not sure how I didn't notice that until I was editing the photo!  To me, Risque isn't so much a berry colour as a blue toned, somewhat pinkish red.  I did also get some feathering with this colour, so I'd recommend wearing a lip pencil underneath it. 

Tuscany

Tuscany is my other favourite of the bunch.  It's decribed as a red grape sparkle, though on me, it seems like a very natural, mauve-ish, my lips but better shade.  Again, I didn't find the sparkle very noticeable on the lips.

Paradise

Paradise is described as a cool neutral pink rose.  It's a pretty colour, but not a shade I'd personally wear.  It leans a little brown and I don't find lip colours with any brown in them to be especially flattering on me.

Camelot

Camelot is described as a ruby plum red sparkle.  From the description and swatch on the Honeybee Gardens website, I was expecting the colour to be a lot deeper and more vivid.  I guess it's a sheer plummy red colour, but not really what I was hoping for when I chose it.

The Bottom Line

I really like the formula of these lipsticks and there are definitely some gorgeous colours in the line, but I do think Honeybee Gardens could improve their website with more accurate swatches (and descriptions for some colours too.)  For that reason, I'd recommend swatching them in store (if possible) or ordering samples before investing in full sizes.

  

First off, I have news!  After a couple people had asked about it, I finally made a facebook page for Naturalla Beauty.  So, if you're someone who likes to follow blogs on facebook, now you can follow me there.  Head on over and like the page!  I've also added a like button to the sidebar.   

Now, onto the review -

Zosimos Botanicals is a natural company with a pretty broad product line.  They make everything from makeup to skincare, haircare, and even candles.  The company seems very concerned with the environment and using high quality,  natural ingredients and everything is made fresh to order in their 100% wind powered studio.  After eying their products for a few months, I decided to place a small order for a few trial sized items.  I ordered fuchsia minigloss, raspberry ministick lipstick, and daylily cream shadow minipot.

Raspberry Ministick Lipstick

The ministick lipsticks come in a mini slide up tube.   I like this a lot, as unlike a sample in a pot, it allows you to get the same feel for applying the lipstick as from a full size tube.  Raspberry is described as a "luscious berry red," but it's a little less berry and a little more coppery than I was expecting from the descriptions and photos.  It's still a pretty colour, just not quite as described.  It's a little sheer, but you can build it up to full opacity with a few passes over your lips.  The finish and colour payoff actually reminds me a lot of Burts Bees lip shimmers, just in lipstick form.  The full size retails for $20.

Fuchsia Minigloss

The minigloss is packaged in a tiny lip gloss tube with a mini doe foot applicator.  Fuschia is described as a "vivid iridescent pink with a purple undertone."  I'd say it's more of a medium/light pink with a slight blue iridescence.  It's a gorgeous colour!  I really like the formula too.  It feels nourishing and moisturizing and I've actually noticed my lips are in better shape after wearing this gloss.  The colour is pretty sheer.  Fuchsia gives a pretty, glowy iridescence, without a lot of colour.  It also has a light raspberry scent, which is noticeable, but not overpowering.  Full size glosses sell for $16.

Daylily Cream Shadow Minipot

Daylily is a metallic orangey copper colour.  It gives a pretty, subtle shimmer to your lids and is great for those days when you just need to swipe something on and be out the door.  It doesn't crease, but I do notice it gradually fading away throughout the day.  It works as a base under eye shadows too, although it won't do anything to stop them from creasing.  I wish it lasted a little better, but as long as you're not using it and expecting 18 hours of perfect wear, you should be fine.  The full size sells for $20, but since you really only use a small amount, I think it's unlikely I'd ever need more than a minipot size.

The Bottom Line

I had a good experience ordering from Zosimos Botanicals.  To me, their full size prices seem a little steep, but not any more so than a lot of other companies.  The lipstick was not a big enough hit that I would repurchase it, but I liked both the cream shadow and the lip gloss.  Another neat thing about Zosimos is that they offer the same colour across many of their makeup products.  For instance, fuchsia was a big hit for me, but in some ways I wished it was a bit more pigmented.  Next time, I could try it as either a lip pencil or lip and cheek color, since those are probably less sheer than the gloss.

Zosimos can also be found on Facebook and I recommend checking out their page, since they regularly offer sales and discounts there.

 

If my lips get dry, I have an awful habit of gnawing on them, so I try to prevent that from ever happening by obsessively carrying lipbalm with me everywhere I go.  I've tried a number of new lip balms over the last few months, some of which I've loved, some I've liked, and some I haven't been too crazy about.  I didn't think any of these really needed their own posts, but I wanted to do mini reviews and some kind of compilation post to tell you guys what I thought of these.  I hope you'll find this helpful if or when you're in the market for a new lip balm!

Basic Lip Balms

Crazy Rumors Cola Lip Balm

 

 I've wanted to try Crazy Rumors every since I first heard of their lip balms.  Their packaging and flavour selection reminds me of Bonne Belle Lip Smackers, and as someone who collected Lip Smackers as a preteen, this got me pretty excited.  After much deliberation, I eventually opted for Cola, from their Soda Pop collection.  I'm going to be honest and say that the smell did not turn out to be a favourite.  I don't completely get cola from it - it's more like something else with an undertone of cola, which is a bit disappointing.  I do like the actual lip balm formula though.  It's vegan and beeswax-free, and contains shea butter, which I've been loving recently in lip products and moisturizers in general.  It has a nice texture and goes on smoothly, but doesn't make your lips feel waxy or overly coated.  I'm interested in trying more flavours, but next time I think I'll go for a more traditional one like limeade or peppermint.

Now Foods Vanilla Completely Kissable Lip Balm

 

Now Foods is a brand I usually turn to more for raw ingredients than actual beauty products, but when I saw this available as a freebie on iHerb, I decided to give it a try.  It's a decent lip balm, but it doesn't really stand out to me either.  The vanilla smell is nice and it does a fine job of keeping my lips hydrated, but I really don't have a lot else to say about it.  I guess for whatever reason, I'm just not crazy in love with it.

Young Living Lavender Lip Balm

Not to be too overly dramatic, but this is my favourite lip balm ever...or at least to date.  I'm sure I've literally gone through a dozen or more tubes of this in the last few years.  It's very smooth and creamy on your lips and it really lasts on my lips, which is great.  This is the lip balm I reach for most at work, since I won't be able to reapply very often and I know it will stay on through my shift.  I also really like to be able to feel lip balm on my lips throughout the day, as opposed to having lips that are more dry to the touch.  This doesn't soak into my lips super fast, so I can still feel it a few hours after application.  With a heavier application, it also gives a slightly glossy look to my lips, which I really like.  Young Living also makes grapefruit and cinnamint lip balms and I like those too, but I find the lavender is just a little bit more moisturizing than the other two flavours.

Tinted Lip Balms

Just Pure Minerals Coral Tinted Lip Balm

These were a new product Just Pure Minerals was starting to make, but I can't find this specific one on their website, so I'm not sure if the collection ever got officially released.  As you'll be able to see in the swatch picture towards the bottom of this post, this is a very tinted balm.  This does a good job keeping my lips hydrated, but I don't reach for it a lot, as I'm not a big fan of the smell of JPM lip products.  I have no issues with peppermint in general, but to me, theirs always smells like a wonky peppermint or peppermint and something else, and I just don't love it.  This must have a substantial amount of peppermint in it also, as it makes my lips tingle quite a lot for a good half hour after application.  The colour is a bright coral-red and very pretty, but I don't find myself reaching for it very often.

Hurraw!  Tinted Cinnamon Lip Balm

Hurraw! is another brand I've heard good things about for a long time, so I was excited to try this lip balm.  They make a whole bunch of flavours and two tinted ones - cinnamon and black cherry.  The cinnamon smells just like Red Hots or Valentine's cinnamon hearts.  It's a pretty light feeling lip balm that goes on fairly thinly and feels like it's melting into your lips as you apply it.  Usually my preference leans towards waxier/firmer balms that you can build up a little better, but I do really like the Hurraw! balm.  It seems like it sinks into your lips fairly quickly, but it does an good job moisturizing while it's there.  The colour comes from alkanet root, as opposed to minerals like most natural tinted balms I've seen, and it's very subtle.  It gives the look of a slight popsicle mouth but is really soft, which means I can smear it on without having to worry about having a mirror around!

Shiro Cosmetics Longcat Intertube

 A lot of you might already know that Shiro Cosmetics is one of my favourite indie makeup brands.  Basically, intertubes are Shiro's answer to tinted lip balms.  I have Longcat, which is described as a colourless base with silver sparkles.  It's gorgous and really densely packed with sparkles.  If you're someone who likes to really pack on your lip balm, it might have a slight lightening or whitening effect, but I actually kind of like it for this time of year.  To me, it gives your lips a kind of sparkly, snow fairy look.  It also works well over lipsticks if you want to add some sparkle.  The formula is fabulous too, full of shea butter and super moisturizing.  Because of how dense the sparkles are, it can feel a tiny bit gritty when you first apply it, but that feeling goes away within a minute or two of application.  My only real complaint is that all but two of Shiro's intertubes contain FD&C colours, so there aren't a lot of colours to choose from if you're someone, like me, who steers clear of such things.

 

The Bottom Line

There are tons of natural lip balms out there.  My favourites of this batch, and the ones I've been reaching for most, are the Young Living lip balm and the Hurraw! and Shiro tinted balms, but with so many lip balms out there, I'm sure there'll be a part two of this one day.  I've also been experimenting with making my own tinted lip balms lately, so if that's something you're interested in hearing about, let me know!

And since I'm always curious to hear your thoughts...what do you look for in a lip balm?  What are some of your favourites?

  

Today's post is something a little bit different.  Basically, I'm looking for your input on healthier products that can be found at Sephora.  Usually Sephora is one of those stores I steer clear of, both because of the cloud of artificial fragrance that surrounds it and the general lack of products that I would consider clean enough to use.  They're also notorious (in my mind anyways) for greenwashing and trying to pass toxic products off as safe and natural.  Not to mention just how pricey everything is!  

That said, over the summer, I was gifted a bath set from Sephora that I ended up returning, and now, after five months of sitting on the store credit, I've decided it's about time I spent it.  The thing is, after a couple quick looks at their website, I'm not seeing a lot of things I want to use it on!

Here's what I've been considering...

Alternately, I could put the money towards a bigger splurge like a new flat iron (which I do need, but probably wouldn't buy as expensive a one otherwise) or a Clarisonic (which I've been curious about for a while now, but probably do not actually need.)

What do you think of Sephora?  Do you shop there?  What do you think I should spend my store credit on?

It's taken me a bit longer to get to this than I originally intended, but what else is new?  I was tagged by Hayley of The Flaxen Owl, so here goes!

Rules:
1. Post these rules.
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself.
3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post. 
4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
5. Go to their blog and tell them that you’ve tagged them.
6. No stuff in the tagging section about ‘you are tagged if you are reading this.’ blah blah blah, you legitimately have to tag 11 people!

11 Random Things About Me:

1.  I love to cook and bake.  I like reading cookbooks for ideas, but I take them more as a guideline - I hardly ever follow recipes exactly as they're written.

2. I'm an insufferable romantic.  For books and movies and the like, I love romance and all things mushy, happy, and sappy.  Interestingly enough, in reality, I'm a lot more down to earth.  I can be a bit of a cynic, so what works for me in entertainment, doesn't necessarily work for me in real life.

3. I like to exercise.  Especially at home, where I can decide what to do myself and there's no one around to watch or get in the way, like at the gym.

4. I'm a night owl, but I'm not very good at sleeping in.  By this I mean, I'll stay up until 5 or 6am and then not be able to sleep in past 10 or so, which creates a bit of a dilemma in life.  Then I'm tired and cranky the rest of the day, which is no fun at all.

5. I'm terrified of needles.

6. I like doing crossword puzzles...but only relatively easy ones.  Obviously certain newspapers publish easier/harder ones and the only one I do consistently is the easy one that I can usually finish.  I'll struggle with the harder ones sometimes, but it's so much more satisfying to be able to finish the whole thing!

7. Caitie is technically a nickname.  My full name is Catherine, but no one calls me that, except my uncle, who refuses to use Caitie, even though I changed it when I was 3 or 4.

8. I'm pretty shy when you first meet me.  I sometimes get mistaken as standoff-ish, but really I just don't know what to say sometimes.  I wish I was someone who was open and vivacious right from the start, but it takes me a bit to get comfortable and warm up to people and then I'm a lot more fun to be around.

9. My favourite food is cheese.  There are just so many yummy things you can make with it!

10. My room looks like it's been taken over by books.  I was very into book swapping for a while and accumulated far too many books.  Now I have bookshelves and piles of books that I really need to something about.

 11. I played the violin for 12+ years.

11 Questions I Had to Answer

1. What is your dream job?

I've actually been sitting here struggling with this question for a bit now.  I'm done with school for the time being, which didn't lead to any big job or epic life plans, and lately I've been stuck trying to figure out what to do next.  To be completely honest, I'm not really sure what my dream job is at the moment.

2. One of your favourite things from your childhood?  Could be a friend, game, memory, etc.

My family dog had this thing he did where he'd run full force at you and veer off at the very last second before running into you.  I remember when we first brought him home, I was about 5, and he was bigger than me and he started doing this.  Until we realized it was just a game he liked to play, it was a little alarming!

3. Where would you love to travel?

Greece.  I don't really have a cohesive reason, but I love the water and Greece always looks so beautiful in photos.  I'd love to travel there one day. 

4. Who is your favourite character from a TV show/movie?  Why?

I love Charlotte from Sex and the City (the TV show though, not so much the movies!) There's just something about how sweet, silly, naive, romantic, and always hopeful she is that I find really appealing.

5. What prompted you to start your blog?

I'd been reading beauty blogs for a while, but I hadn't found very many that focused specifically natural and non-toxic products.  Since starting the blog, I've happily found a bunch more with similar focuses, which is awesome!

6. What is one thing you always have to have with you?

Lip balm.  If my lips get at all dry, I have a tendency to chew on them or start flaking the skin off, often without even noticing what I'm doing.  Having something on my lips stops me from doing this, so I always carry at least one lip balm with me.

7. Are you more of an indoor or outdoor type?

Probably indoors.  Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of things I love to do outdoors, but I generally spend a lot more time indoors than out.

8. What is one bad habit you have?

Procrastinating.  With school work especially, I was always the queen of the last minute essay or exam prep.  In other areas I do it a lot less, but I've still been known to put off things I really don't want to do.

9. One person you would love to meet and why?  This can be anyone in the world, past or present.

I'm drawing a complete blank on this one right now. 

10. Do you have a guilty pleasure?  If so, what?

Cake!  Which I guess isn't that guilty a pleasure by itself, but I am a big fan of dessert for breakfast :)

11. If you could have any animal as a pet, what would it be?

I've always wanted a pig.  Realistically, I'd never get one unless I had an appropriate living situation, which is unlikely to ever happen, since I kind of love the city, but ever since I was a kid, I've wanted a pet pig. 


11 Questions for the People I Tag
1. What's your favorite thing to cook?
2. Do you prefer your hair up or down?
3. What was the last good book you read?
4. Describe yourself in five words or less.
5. If you could only use two makeup products, what would you choose?
6. Do you like talking on the phone?
7. What's one thing most people would be surprised to know about you?
8. Do you exfoliate your skin?  How often?  What do you use?
9. Do you like to stay in or go out?
10. What's your favorite/least favorite non-physical thing about yourself?  Why?
11. What do you do to de-stress?

11 People I Tag
1. Turby and John
2. Vulcan Butterfly
3. Going Green Glamorously
4. Green Beauty
5. Power Femme
6. What Leira Yann Loves
7. Vintage Makeup
8. Hues N Blues
9. The Snarky Princess
10. Ma Belle Amie
11. The Green Beauty Bunny

And there you have it...I hope you've learned a little more about me!  Thanks Hayley for tagging me:)  If you end up doing this, feel free to leave a link to your post below.