Review- Deodomom Cream Deodorant

image: 30SomeWeeks.com

The Breakdown: (Product Description via 30SomeWeeks.com)

We specialize in a toxin-free and hypoallergenic deodorant for individuals with very sensitive skin regardless of age and gender. The deodorant is particularly suitable for pregnant women and young adolescents who are typically more vulnerable to toxins and skin irritants. The product, made weekly and in small batches, contains ZERO% Aluminum, Alcohol, Fragrance/Scent, Colorants/Dyes, and Parabens. It is also 100% vegan – no animal testing or animal byproducts. But unlike most “natural” deodorants it WORKS! 24+ hours of protection with only one application.

 

The High Points:

○ It really works! Really well!

○ No irritation… Even after shaving!

○ IT WORKS!!!

 

The Low Points:

○The very basic name/packaging might be a bit of a put off for those of us who really appreciate the details.

○ Can leave a white residue if not applied correctly.

○If you’re a dude (or a hairy mama),  the roller ball applicator can pull long under-arm hair (ouch!).

 

The End Point:

Let me be upfront that this is more of a rave than a review. We all know that finding a good deodorant is one of the most challenging parts of cleaning up your beauty routine, and so, I’ve spent the last few years of my life battling  funk. That’s embarrassing to admit but totally true. And while I have come across a few products that worked better than most, I never found anything that could even compare to my dirty antiperspirants…that is until I found Deodomom.

I was hesitant to try this product for quite a while for some pretty superficial reasons. I’ll be the first to admit that beautiful packaging really does win me over, so this deodorant with a funny name and very basic white packaging  just didn’t do it for me. But I suppose one day I just had enough of smelling like a funky hippy… I swallowed my pride and placed my order. And let me tell you, I didn’t regret it.

This deodorant comes in 2 different formulas, a liquid with a roll-on applicator and a cream that you apply with your fingers. While I do love that the roll-on applies similar to conventional deodorant products, my preference is actually for the cream since I find that you really need to rub this product in with your fingers to keep it from sitting on top of the skin and leaving a white residue. Also, my husband finds that the roll-on applicator pulls his underarm hair. The product is completely odorless, and I’ve experienced absolutely no irritation from this deodorant, even if I apply it right after shaving which is awesome!  But let me get to the point here… I love this product because it really works for me! I’m not sure about the 24+ hours claim, but I can definitely make it through my day stink-free without having to reapply. This is huge! Really, really huge!

And so, after 5 years of trying to find an effective, clean deodorant, I can finally say that I have fought the war on funk and won! And I’m pretty excited about it!

 

Review- Vapour Organic Beauty Aura Blush in Spark

photo credit: vapourbeauty.com

The Breakdown: (Product Description from Vapourbeauty.com)

Aura Multi-Use Blush—Classic gives a natural flush of color. These universally-flattering core colors work on all skin tones and all ages. Give the Vapour glow to cheeks, lips and eyes with one convenient stick. Aura blends like a dream for a polished look in seconds. No wonder Aura is the darling of top beauty editors everywhere!

Vapour Aura Multi-Use Blush is made with 70% Certified Organic ingredients and 30% mineral pigments & vitamins. Nourishes with Vapour’s face specific infusion of anti-inflammatory Frankincense, antioxidant Tulsi and moisturizing & calming Lotus Flowers.

All the performance with none of the chemicals!

The High Points:

• Beautiful color!
• Super creamy and blendable.
• Awesome ingredient list!

The Low Points:

• Lasting power could be better.
• Drying on lips.

The Break Down:  Firstly, Spark is just a gorgeous blush color. Vapour describes it as a sheer pinky-peach, and that’s right on… a beautiful peach with a touch of pink… no shimmer here, by the way. I think this could be flattering on a variety of skin tones.

This blush stick is extremely creamy and blends like a dream. I like to apply it straight from the stick, but I think it would apply very nicely with a brush as well. It leaves a lovely, dewy finish that looks really natural.

The lasting power is fine, but doesn’t hold a candle to the stain from the same line. Reapplication mid-day is necessary… I don’t mind that though. The stick makes it super portable.

Unlike the stain which works wonderfully on both the face and lips, as a multi-purpose product, this one falls a little short. I find it a bit drying and it doesn’t offer much in terms of longevity on the lips. It works in a pinch, but for my lips, it’s just not my favorite.

Overall, I really love this product! The color is gorgeous and the consistency is great. The staying power could be a bit better, but with the lovely flush of color this leaves on the skin, I don’t mind reapplying one bit!

Review: Ila Spa Body Wash For Toning Skin

photo credit: ila-spa.com

The Breakdown: (Product Description from ila-spa.com)

Body Wash for Toning Skin is made with the purest natural oils of apricot and vetivert as well as quillaja – an ancient natural cleanser also known as the soapbark tree – to cleanse, tighten, moisturise and revitalise all skin types.

The High Points:

• The Packaging is GORGEOUS!
• Thorough cleansing without being drying.

The Low Points:

• Scent may take some getting used to.
• A little pricey.

The End Point:

The packaging is what drew me to this product. The slender bottle is so chic and the color just makes me happy. I love seeing this little bottle in my shower.

Now, I have to say that when I first opened the bottle and took a sniff, I was a little… apprehensive. I picked up on the subtle citrus scent I was expecting, but there was something else… a bitterness that I wasn’t certain I liked. Vetivert was the only oil that I was not at all familiar with, so I decided to google it. I saw it described as an green, musty smell… like the damp forest floor. Yeah, that was the scent I was picking up on, and I was pretty sure I didn’t like it. Once applied to the body though, the scent just… I don’t know… blooms? The citrus takes over and the vetivert just becomes this nice, earthy backnote. It is so lovely! (I wish it came in a perfume!) The scent does linger on the skin a bit, but it’s very, very subtle.

The product has a moderate lather… no foamy suds like a traditional shower gel, but really not bad. It leaves my skin feeling thoroughly cleansed, but not parched the way many cleansers/soaps do. I wouldn’t say that it is overly moisturizing, but it’s not drying at all.

At $24 for 10oz, this isn’t the cheapest body wash out there, but a little really does go a long way. I’ve had mine for a few months and am about half-way through the bottle.

I am so glad that I bought this product! It makes me happy every time I use it, and I’m eager to try some of the other products in this line!

 

This Month- February

image credit: wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunger_Games

I finished up my bottle of  Acure Organic’s Argan Oil. Review to come.

I tried out this local/organic delivery service.

I read the entire Hunger Games series. Yes, I did. And I liked it too.

I’m still working my way through the book, 7. (Does it say something bad about my priorities that I read the Hunger Games Series but couldn’t finish a tiny Christian book?) Oops.

I was a big failure with my 40 Days of  Water challenge (insert me hanging my head in shame here), but I’m still supporting the cause.

I discovered the Goat Rodeo Sessions! Amazing!

My family also discovered Keifer! Yummy!

And I started the Couch to 5k program and registered for The Graffiti Run in April (got some new running shoes, a second-hand double jogging stroller, and an injured ankle too!)

What were you up to this month?

Review: Vapour Organic Beauty Aura Multi-Use Blush- Stain (Impulse 209)

Image credit: vapourbeauty.com

The Breakdown: Product Description from www.vapourbeauty.com

A makeup artist’s dream, Aura Stain gives rich and long-lasting color to cheeks, lips and eyes. Aura Stain offers buildable coverage that takes you from sheer to bold with a few strokes. Find out for yourself why Allure says, “we can’t get enough of them!”

The High Points:

• Super pigmented. A little goes a LONG way!
• Lasts all day as a cheek stain and several hours on the lips!
• Crazy clean ingredient list!

The Low Points:

• While the staying power is incredible as a cheek stain, the color sometimes fades unevenly on the lips.
• At $34, this stuff ain’t cheap.

The End Point: Vapour describes the color, Impulse, as a cool, clear red. When worn as a cheek stain, I would say that description is spot on. While the color is intense, when applied with a gentle hand, Impulse leaves my cheeks with a perfect flush of color that matches my natural flush almost exactly. As a lip stain, the color reads more pink on me. Again, the color is very buildable. When applied with a light hand, it gives the lips a subtle pink wash. Use a heavier hand or layer it up and you’ve got a bright, pinky red worthy of a night out.

The stain lasts all day for me when used as a cheek color which is pretty amazing for a natural product! It has impressive lasting power on the lips too, though it can wear away unevenly (fading away in the middle but leaving a bright line on the edge of my lips) depending on how heavy I’ve applied it. This product is definitely pricey, but one of the things I really appreciate is that while I’ve been using it very regularly, I’ve not made a dent in the stick. I imagine that this will last me a very long time which makes me very excited (I’m cheap like that.) Bottom line is that I love this stain! It’s a real staple in my makeup bag, and I’d absolutely recommend it to anyone!

Review: Bkr Bottle

photo credit: mybkr.com

The Breakdown: Product Description from http://www.mybkr.com/index.asp

IT’S JUST A WATER BOTTLE LIKE YOU’RE JUST A PERSON. Who are you anyway? You’re not just a person who accepts logic like leaching chemicals in your drinking water, awkward shaped mouthpieces during your workouts, an island made of plastic with a 700-year zero-interest lease on development, camping equipment as accessory with your super cool outfits. We are bkr people. Your bkr (“beaker”) bottle is made of glass and is for you to fill. Whatever you want inside. Tap water, bubbly water, orange juice, chocolate milk. Give up your plastic habits. We don’t eat things we can’t pronounce or marinate our water in polyethylene terephthalate. We’ve evolved. It’s a bkr. All clean everything.®

The High Points: 

• Excellent customer service… like seriously excellent!
• So flippin’ pretty!
• Dishwasher safe!
• Narrow mouth means you don’t accidentally dribble water down your chin/neck/shirt every time you take a sip.

The Low Points:

• Fragile… though it’s adorable, don’t count on that silicone sleeve to protect your bottle from a fall.
• Color in photos may not be quite true to color. (The silicone sleeve is much more opaque than it appears in the beautifully lit photos on the website.)
• Let’s be real here.. it’s a $28 water bottle.

The End Point:

I love my bkr… I really do! It makes staying hydrated feel girly and sophisticated, and the narrow mouth was something I didn’t even know I missed from those disposable plastic bottles of old. I also love that it only takes a quick turn to remove the cap and that carrying loop means that I can just hang the cap on my finger while I’m taking a sip. (Hey, I’m a mama… I very rarely have both hands free.)

All of that being said, It may not be the most practical choice for a clumsy mama of littles like myself. I dropped mine on the dining room floor just 2 days after I received it, and it shattered into a million tiny pieces. While the silicone sleeve is gorgeous and does provide some grip,  I wouldn’t say that it provides any extra durability. Thankfully, the folks at bkr have a great 90 day replacement policy if your bottle breaks, and the customer service is seriously amazing! I was a total pain in the butt, and it didn’t phase them one bit. They sent me a new bottle to replace the one that broke and even let me pick a different color since I wasn’t happy with the first color I chose.

Overall, I would buy the bkr again, keeping in mind that it’s an everyday luxury item and deserves to be treated with a little extra care.

Forty Days of Water

image credit: http://www.bloodwatermission.com

Having constant access to clean water is something that I have always taken for granted. In fact, as we speak, my oldest son is upstairs attacking his rubber ducky with power rangers in the bathroom sink. I’ve heard him fill it up with water only to drain it and fill it up again about a million times in the last 20 minutes. He doesn’t know that there are children around the world who don’t have clean water to drink much less to waste while pretending to drown their toys with watery goo. He doesn’t know that 3.4 million people around the world die each year because they don’t have access to clean water. He doesn’t know that $1 could provide someone in Africa with clean water to drink for an entire year.

And I do know it, but I ignore it because it’s uncomfortable to think about.

But not everyone is ignoring this issue. By drilling wells, repairing hand pumps,  and providing water, sanitation and hygiene training, Blood: Water Mission has been able to provide 800,000 people with clean drinking water. 800,000 people! That’s huge!

And I can be a part of it.

I read about Forty Days of Water today over at Nish Happens. I couldn’t possibly explain it as eloquently as she, but the gist of it is this.

Drink only water for 40 days.

Donate the money that you would have spent on your coffee/soda/boozing habit and help provide clean water to those that need it in Uganda.

This is something I can do. It’s not nearly enough, but it’s something.

Join me? http://40days.bloodwatermission.com/uganda/