September Empties! Tom's of Maine Soap and Neutrogena Face Wash Reviews

Hi Sweeties!

Can you believe we're nearing the end of September? Me either! As a way to to say goodbye to September and hello to October (whoo hoo, Halloween!), I wanted to post on my "empties," the products that I have used up and am ready to throw in the recycle bin. This month, I used up Tom's of Maine's Natural Beauty Bar in the "Relaxing" fragrance and Neutrogena Natural’s Fresh Cleansing + Makeup Remover.

Now, I've already reviewed Neutrogena's face wash and its ingredients, which you can read about here, but I haven't done a review on Tom's of Maine's soap, which, let's face it, is an essential part of our basic hygiene and is therefore super important! So let's get to it!

My first impression of the soap is that it definitely does the job. It has an extremely pleasant scent, is cleansing, and makes a really nice lather. If I could make one tiny change to it, I would make it even more moisturizing because I definitely miss the moisturizing elements of some of the more common but toxic-laden soaps.

Now let's get down and dirty (and yes, the pun is intended)! The Environmental Working Group Skin Deep Database didn't have their own review on this particular bar of soap, so I researched each ingredient individually (as I always do) and posted them below. I'm really happy with the ratings. The use of "natural fragrance" is a little ambiguous, but they provide a link for more information which tells you at length how they use 100% natural sources. Personally, I would like to know exactly what fragrance they are using, but they offer a phone number to speak to their customer service if you have concerns about a certain ingredient. Tom's of Maine also offers a fragrance free version of their soap, but I have yet to try it out. I will definitely buy this product again. I found it at my local Target, it was relatively inexpensive, and in addition to it doing its job, it just spells good! Anyone have any other recommendations? Drop me a line and have a sweet rest of the month!

Ingredient	EWG’s Rating
Sodium Palmate	0 (no data available)
Sodium Cocoate	0 (no data available)
Sodium Palm Kernelate	0 (no data available)
Purified Water	0
Glycerin	0
Sodium Chloride (salt)	0
Natural Fragrance	See the link Tom’s of Maine has provided about its sources of fragrance
Sodium Ggluconate	0
Olea Europaea Fruit Oil	0
Jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis) Seed Oil	0
Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E Acetate)	3

Finally! The best concealer yet!

Hi sweeties!

Happy Monday! This blog post is dedicated to all you ladies who had way too much fun this weekend and need just a little bit of extra makeup magic to perfect that ideal “Monday” face. So, to make your Monday even brighter, I have great news! I finally found the Holy Grail of makeup – a concealer that actually WORKS and isn’t chockfull of nasty toxins! How exciting, right?!  I’ve posted before on my quest to find the perfect toxin-free concealer that will hide under eye-circles and blemishes and have come up with so-so results in the past. But finally, after many trips to the store and lots of online orders that simply got sent back because of their lackluster results, I finally found a great product in Tarte’s Maracuja Creaseless Concealer. It’s truly amazing! I’ve tried it out in all types of settings: office, late nights in the humidity, beach, working out, etc. You name it, it’s been there and guess what, it remained on my face, didn’t slide off, crease, or fade away. Plus, it’s waterproof and for someone who lives in Florida, having a concealer that is waterproof is essential so I was thrilled to put its waterproof feature to the test and have it pass with flying colors! I know, I did a happy dance too! 

I actually found it at my local Ulta store and tried out the different colors they had on display. I ended up with the second to lightest shade in “Light.” I usually go with the lightest shades as a rule, but the “Fair” shade was actually too light for me. The consistency is very thick. You really have to squeeze the tube hard for it to come out, but don’t let that scare you. I squeeze a tiny bit, and I do mean tiny, on my finger, lightly pat my fingers together and dab on under my eyes. It has a thick, creamy texture which makes it stay when you put it on. It does have a shine to it once it’s applied so make sure you set it with some pressed powder when you’re done. The concealer was $24, which is a bit on the high side, but given that you use such a small amount, I’m happy with the bang for your buck.

Now, let’s get down and dirty. What’s in this concealer that I can’t stop raving about? You know I won’t put something on my face, much less recommend that you do so, without putting this baby under the proverbial microscope. So here she is in all her glory:

Ingredient	EWG Skin Deep Rating
Phenoxyethanol	4
Tocopheryl Acetate	3
Titanium Dioxide	1
Iron Oxides	2
CI 77491	1
CI 77499	2
Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride	1
Cetyl Alcohol	1
Microcrystalline Wax	1
Ascorbyl Palmitate (Vitamin C Palmitate)	1
BIS-Diglycerlyl Polyacyladipate-2	0 (no data available)
VP/H0065adecene Copolymer	0
Silica Dimethyl Silylate	0 (no data available)
Passiflora Edulis (Passion Fruit) Seed Oil	0
Caprylyl Glycol	0

EWG gave it an overall rating of “2.” 

Bottom line? I couldn’t be happier with this concealer and am thrilled to finally throw out my toxin-filled department store brand that used to be my lifeline. Into the trash you go! Anyone else want to join me in trashing our nasty ingredient-filled products and saying hello to natural, healthy beauty? 

As always, feel free to leave a comment about your experience or tell me about the products you love! Stay sweet!

The best organic lollipops I've ever had!

Hi Sweeties! Oh. My. Goodness. I had the BEST lollipop I've ever eaten. I'm serious. I was so blown away by how yummy it was I HAD to write a post about it! How did I stumble upon such a tasty treat? By spending a lovely lunch hour shopping at TJ Maxx! I spotted this bag of lollipops near the checkout and totally impulse-purchased these not expecting a whole lot. I mean, ORGANIC lollipops? Surely they must taste terrible, right? WRONG. I was so so wrong! I know I'm waxing poetically about candy, but you guys, they are amazing! The flavors are incredible! I know you may be rolling yours eyes and thinking that it's just a lollipop, but I promise you these are so much more! They are made by YumEarth Organics and are USDA Organic, gluten-free, and contain no artificial dyes or flavors. What??? How is that possible, right? Well, here it is, in all of its glory:

Look at that! They use non-GMO products, real fruit extracts and 100% natural flavors. And you get 100% of your Vitamin C intake as well. But here's the best part- they are free from those awful red dyes. Happy Dance!

So after it had passed my ingredient inspection with flying colors I ripped the bag open and grabbed one at random. With eight different flavors you can't go wrong. "Strawberry Smash" and "Wet-face Watermelon" are my absolute favorites, but you can't go wrong with "Very Very Cherry," "Too Berry Blueberry," "Sour Apple Tart," "Pomegranate Pucker," "Razzmatazz Berry," or "Mango Tango." They're almost as much fun to read as they are to eat!

I'm so thrilled that this company recognizes the need for pure foods. The fact that they make pure, FUN, and TASTY candy is just a huge bonus for me. I can only imagine how excited my readers with children are going to be when they try these out for themselves. Artificial colors, especially those nasty reds, can really cause a lot of unpleasantness in children and I know the struggle in can be to find pure foods, especially sweets. If you can't find them in your local store, you can always order online. So get to shopping, sweeties and stash a few in your purse for a sweet treat. Just make sure you save some for the kiddos!

Finally, a great eyeshadow and liner that's all-natural!

Hi sweeties! I’m super excited about this post for a number of reasons. 1) It’s about an awesome makeup product that I ordered and 2) It’s Amazing!!! Seriously, I have high standards, as you know, and when I finally put this bad boy to the test, it shined! So what is this amazing product? It’s 100% Pure’s Dual-Ended Creamstick in Chocolate/Champagne. I’ve been on the hunt to replace my old Clinique eye shadow primer (touch tint for eyes). And when I say “old,” I mean old. As in, I’ve been doing the makeup no-no of using a product for over (cough, eight, cough, years). Yikes. That’s even more embarrassing when I reread it. :)

I did a major order of 100% Pure’s makeup two months ago and have been putting their products to the test. I am so glad that their creamstick passed! First, the quality of the product. It’s beautiful and a lot bigger than I thought it would be. Secondly, I love the colors. They are just gorgeous. 

Photo credit: 100% Pure

The champagne is a nice light color that I like to use on my whole eyelid and the chocolate color makes a nice liner above your upper lash line. It also has great staying power which surprised me given that the ingredients are all-natural, which brings me to my favorite part: the makeup of the makeup! As always, I’ve outlined the ingredients below and their corresponding score with the Environmental WorkingGroup: Skin Deep Database, but let me give you the quick and dirty details.

• It’s 100% Natural (check out the ingredients, it really is)
• It’s 100% Vegetarian
• It’s Gluten free

Amazing, right? I’m so happy with this product and can’t wait to try out the other colors. It was $18 for the liner, which is a lot more than I’m used to paying for a liner/shadow, but I’m so happy with the product that I’m okay with saving up my pennies to buy such a great makeup tool. What do you think? Have you tried any great products lately? Drop me a line and stay sweet!

Ingredient	EWG Skin Deep Rating
Jojoba Oil	0
Silica	0-2 (depends on if its aerosolized)
Meadowfoam Seed Oil	0
Mango Seed Oil	0
Candelilla Wax	0
Shea Butter	0
Macadamia Seed Oil	0
Carnauba Wax	0
Kelp	0
Agar Agar	0
Spirulina	0
a-tocopherol (Vitamin E)	0
ascorbyl palmitate (Vitamin C)	1
Rice Starch	1 (may have contamination concerns, depending on where they get their rice starch)
Black Tea Powder	0
Acai Berry	0
Pomegranate	0
Cranberry	0
Goji Berry	0
Blackberry	0
Mica	2
Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride	1