Baroque Solid Perfume {review}

I'll admit it… some days I don't take a shower. I wasn't able to take a shower the night before, I wake up late, yada yada yada. (Or sometimes I am just plain lazy). Those are the kinds of days that I like to wear perfumes and the like and make myself feel like I actually put some effort into getting ready to greet the world! One of my favorite products for such days are the "clean & fresh" solid perfumes from Baroque.

{the scents}

I'll start off with the scents for this one, both from the "Clean & Fresh" line:

Clean Cotton: This is definitely a clean scent! It kind of reminds me of fabric softener sheets. It also kind of reminds me of the way towels smell when they're dried by the sun and ocean breezes. I believe it is one of Baroque's most popular scents - which doesn't surprise me! It's wonderfully clean and airy and I totally dig it.

Fresh Laundry: I am completely in love with this one! In fact, I have never loved a perfume as much as I love this one. And I've never been a huge perfume fan. But this perfume smells EXACTLY like fresh laundry! It's amazing! And fresh laundry just so happens to be one of my favorite scents in the whole world! I never thought I'd be able to wear the scent as a perfume and I am in total bliss! It's just so wonderfully fresh and clean and oh-so-amazing.

{the perfume + ingredients}

The solid perfumes come in .07oz tubes and are also available .5oz tubes, called "Stallion Sticks". I have the small tubes, but they have been lasting me forever. The perfume is filled past the brim, so I haven't even had to twist-up the Clean Cotton one yet!

One thing that helps with making them last longer is that there is no need to constantly be reapplying the perfume. I can put it on in the morning and still be able to smell the fragrance late at night. Maybe not quite as "fresh", but definitely still clean! These perfumes have the longest lasting wear of any solid perfumes I've tried… and some regular perfumes too!

And being solid perfumes, the scents aren't too overpowering. I don't like it when people bathe in perfume and leave 20ft perfume trails behind them. I wear perfume for me and I don't want the whole world to know what I smell like. I like solid perfumes because they keep the fragrances close to me, so I can smell and appreciate them. And if someone gets close enough to appreciate it too, that's all well and good. Just as long as the person on the other side of the building doesn't have that chance!

Ingredients are coconut oil, beeswax, and fragrance.

{conclusion}

I would definitely recommend to anyone that they check out Baroque. The solid perfumes are the best of the best, as far as solid perfumes go. The fragrances are long lasting without being over-the-top. And in my opinion, they have the BEST perfume scent! Of course, you may not like "Clean & Fresh" fragrances as much as I do. But with the wide variety of fragrances available at Baroque, I'm sure you'd be able to find something you love just as much!

sunday shower...

I didn't mean to post two "sunday shower" posts back to back... guess I was a bit slacking on reviews this week! Ah, well. Soon to come, I promise! Anyway, here is what I lathered up with today:

Shampoo: Nature's Gate Shampoo in "Tea Tree"

Conditioner: Get Lathered Solid Hair Conditioner Bar in "Lemon Curd"

Body Soap: Cellar Door Soap Co. "Rosemary Mint" Soap

Shaving Soap: Mad City Soap "Fresh Snow" Parfait Soap and then switched to Sudsy Soap Scents "Banana Pudding" Cream Soap

Face Soap: Product Body "Fat Boy" Soap

Cleanser: Sweet Creek Herbal Care Facial Butter Bar in "Unscented" 


Did all this result in a satisfying shower?

In general, I did enjoy this shower. I was all stinky from working out this morning! I recently joined the gym... which is why I'm always having to shave my legs now. Bah. But anyway, I was super looking forward to the cleanliness a shower would provide. 

And in my testings of good shaving products (without actually having to buy a shaving soap), I thought I'd try cream soaps today. I had a Mad City Soap cream soap sitting around in Creme Vanille that I've been waiting to use, and today was the day! But alas, I accidentally grabbed the one that I was going to give away. I didn't particularly care for the scent, but I had already opened it in the shower so I thought I'd give it a chance. The Fresh Snow scent was not at all to my liking and that is why I switched over to using my sis-in-law's Sudsy Soap Scents cream soap. The banana pudding scent was very real and pleasant.

Another note, the Mad City Soap turned out not to be a good shaving soap anyway. That leg was left itchy. Bah. So the search continues through my crap load of products for a good shaving soap. The rest of my shower was fairly pleasant. I got to get all lather-happy with minty minty soap.

Working on some reviews for this next week! Hopefully I'll actually be able to get them up this time - grad school is time consuming! Ah, life.

Hope you all had pleasant showers (or baths)!

sunday shower...

Tonight I took a loooong shower! Here is what I used:

Shampoo: Nature's Gate Shampoo in "Tea Tree"

Conditioner: Mad City Soap Deep Conditioner in "Mexican Vanilla"

Body Soap: Cellar Door Soap Co. "Eucalyptus Spearmint" Soap

Shaving Soap: Product Body "Fat Boy" Soap

Face Soap: Product Body "Fat Boy" Soap

Cleanser: Sweet Creek Herbal Care Facial Butter Bar in "Unscented"


Did all of this result in a satisfying shower?

To be perfectly honest, I did not quite enjoy my shower tonight. Sure, I had some fairly new and perfectly delightful goodies in the shower with me, but I also had to shave my legs. Ugh ugh ugh. (And you're probably laughing now...). I absolutely hate shaving my legs and it's been an embarrassingly long time since I last shaved and now was the time to bite the bullet. The Fat Boy soap was decent enough for shaving, although my legs were a bit itchy afterwards.

And to whine just a bit more, I am dissatisfied with my shampoo options. I've been switching out between two and my hair is just not liking either of them. I have a great conditioner, but it can only take me so far. Hopefully the deep conditioning I did tonight will help. Bah. BUT, my new minty soap helped cheer me up a bit - it's so refreshing! And I am in love with the facial butter bar! Expect a review within a few days for that!

And because I can't think of any other conclusion at the moment, in the words of my 4 year old nephew, "Happy Trails!"

Cellar Door Soap Co. {haul}

Hey, I'm on a roll with these haul posts! I just happened to receive another package in the mail today! And oh, what a gloriously minty package! Just soooo very minty! Mmmm...

Yes, anyway, I ordered three soaps from the Cellar Door Soap Co. thanks to the review and recommendations I found at the wonderful Soap Obsessions blog! I was originally only going to order two, since I don't usually order so many soaps from a shop I've never tried before. But I trusted the reviews and I couldn't resist all of their minty soaps!

I ordered:

- Eucalyptus Spearmint

- Peppermint Tea Tree

- Rosemary Mint

And I also received 3 samples in:

- Green Tea Lemongrass

- Oatmeal Milk & Honey

- Sex Panther

Everything smells wonderful! I am seriously in heaven now! Complete BLISS! I will save discussion of individual scents for the review, but I will say I am having a hard time deciding which to use first for my nightly shower!
 

I will talk about ordering, shipping, and customer service though, which is something I never really go into detail on. But I figured since I have started doing haul posts, it can be a place where I go into more depth on my experience. 

Cellar Door Soap Co. also has an Etsy shop, but I decided to shop through their own site. It had a minor, although a bit frustrating glitch, but I decided to stick with it even though I knew Etsy would be faster and easier (not having to set up an account and all). I like to support indie shops as much as possible! The glitch was that I was not able to change my shipping address - both my billing and shipping address kept resetting any time I changed one of them. This probably won't be an issue for most of you, but I tend to move a lot so my shipping address is always changing!

There was a note section though, so I just asked if they could ship to my current address since I was unable to change it. The next day I got a little note from them apologizing and confirming they could honor my shipping request. 

Right after that, I also got an email saying that my soaps had shipped! I ordered late at night 2/13 and my package was shipped out 2/14 with a tracking number. I received my package today 2/17 only THREE days later! And I think I should point out that the company is based in Michigan and I live in Alaska. Just awesome awesome shipping times! 

Overall, customer service with Cellar Door Soap Co. was fantastic. My concerns were quickly addressed, and my order was put together in record time. I didn't even have time to start thinking about when my soap would get here before it was waiting in my mailbox. AND, samples were included, which are always welcomed! 

I am anxiously awaiting my shower tonight - I have a feeling I am going to be amazed! :)

My First Ever {haul} Post!

I thought it might be fun to do a little haul post of all the stuff I bought and received today... :)

Today was a pleasant day, a nice change from the usual routine. I went to work as usual, but afterwards my favoritest cousin in the whole wide world (who just started a blog!) picked me up and we went out to lunch at the best place for lunch EVER! And then we wandered from store to store, browsing mostly, and buying a few delightful goodies. 

Here is what I bought today:

First up are my thrift store finds! I spent a whole one dollar on these two items: the cute cup and the fabric it was photographed atop! I absolutely love floral patterns and I have quite the collection of cups with different floral designs on them. It will be amazing when I have my own home and can bring out my eclectic, sometimes tacky (I have a great love for tacky things - I even own a duck lamp!), collection of household items! As for the fabric, I think I'm going to give to my mom for the quilt she's been promising to make for me for the past... 5 years! One day, one day... 

But yes, onto the next item!

As funny as they may seem, Turbie Twists are amazing! My Gram would always give me some of these because she loved them so much she was always well stocked up. I remember she would use these all the time, even just to put her hair up while she was in the kitchen. My Gram was amazing! And now I love to use Turbie Twists myself, although just after a shower! This one was on sale and I bought with a rebate card - no money spent! SCORE!

And my final purchase for the day...

SOAP! Could I do a haul post and not talk about soap?! We ended up going to the shop that carries Homesteaders Cache soaps (read my review here) and we both bought a sampler soap stack. This one has a ton of mini soap slices! This one had the list of all the soaps it contained, and I got: Grandma's Garden, Plain & Simple, Little House Lemon, Oatmeal Milk & Honey, and Honey Almond. They are all classic and simple soapy scents! Ahhh... such lovely soap! 

And finally, here is what I received in the mail today:

I placed a small order with Sweet Creek Herbal Care recently and ordered a facial butter bar and two lip balms. Kathleen has a special going on this month - spend $10 in her shop and you can request a lip tint, a new item she's added to the line. I requested the Cherry Red with maraschino cherry flavoring and it's a very lovely shade of red. 

I also had to buy another maraschino cherry lip balm since I completely used up my last one! I have previously reviewed Sweet Creek lip balms (read here) - the formula for the maraschino cherry (and I believe the formula varies for different flavors) is smooth, glossy, and buttery. And I just looove the scent which always reminds me of cherry Fun Dip! I also ordered the Acai Honey which has an interesting scent, sweet and mild with a lightly floral background. It has a different formula, but it's still smooth and creamy. I feel I am going to get a fair bit of enjoyment out of this balm!

But I mainly placed this order because I was curious about the facial butter bar. It has three ingredients: cocoa butter, emu oil, and castor oil. I thought it might be similar to the oil cleansing method, which is another thing I've been curious about. Also, I love shopping with Sweet Creek Herbal Care - this order is my ninth! So, I thought I'd give it a shot! I'll let you all know how it goes, so be expecting a review!

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this haul post and hopefully I'll be able to post a few more soon!

the love affair

Happy Valentines Day!

For a little Valentines treat, I am going to tell you about my love affair… with lip balm!  :)

That is how this all started - my lip balm addiction. And by "all", I mean my love for handmade natural products and this here blog. A few years ago I got my lip pierced. It's a vertical labret and I love it! But having a lip piercing, I absolutely CANNOT stand to have dry lips. It just makes it even more unbearable. I used to use Melaleuca Sun Shades lip balm exclusively. That was until I was talking with a friend one day and she was telling me about her small collection of lip balms. And so, an idea popped into my head. Why not look for lip balm on Etsy?

I already had a bit of an Etsy addiction at the time. I loved to look at all of the beautiful handmade earrings! And so, that very night I started browsing Etsy for lip balms. I was completely clueless, overwhelmed, and had no idea what I was getting myself into.

I spent hours and hours browsing through all of the lip balms. And then I started searching for reviews. And then I started ordering. It quickly turned into a hardcore gotta-have-em-in-every-flavor addiction. AND THEN, my lip balm addiction expanded to include soaps, lotions, scrubs, and eventually even perfumes!

I began to realize how much better handmade products made with natural ingredients are for my body. And my body realized it to. Since I started using all natural products, I can't go back. Commercial lip balm brands now make my lips very irritated, itchy red bumps and all. Commercial body washes and shampoos give me headaches all day long because of their potent chemical scents. And I am so glad to have gotten away from all of those harsh products - I shouldn't have to build up resistance for what I put on my body!

It feels good to use good-for-you products. I am forever in love! And it is all thanks to lip balm!

And so, I think I will leave you with a list of my favorite shops to buy lip balm from!

{Epically Epic Soap Co.}

{Beautiful Twists by Ella Dean}

{Sweet Creek Herbal Care}

{Candle Lynn}

All of these lip balms are completely amazing and leave behind soft and kissable lips! Happy Valentines Day! ;)

Beautiful Twists Body Mists {review}

I looove Ella Dean! Love! Ella is always so sweet and offers amazing products! I first fell in love with her lip conditioners (read the review here), and have since tried a few of her other products. And I have discovered that Ella's body mists are equally amazing! LOVE!

{the mist}

I've never been one to really care for body mists and perfumes and all that. Of course, I still have to get the idea out of my head that all body mists are going to be as horrible as commercial brands. Silly me. But because Ella was offering them on her site, I was willing to try. And I have discovered they are some sort of amazing!

The mist sprays out with a very fine mist. I honestly didn't expect it to be so fine and misty and it took me by surprise. I guess it shouldn't have being called a "mist" and all, but I've found other mists to be a bit thick to the point where you have to rub it into your skin. It's nice to just be able to spray it on and get good coverage. Plus, it feels really nice to walk around in the misty cloud!

The scents are extremely long lasting! I can spray it on in the morning and still be smelling good late at night. And I find that the scents fade lightly into ultra soft and sweet scents. Another awesome discovery: when I'm in the shower after a long day of wearing Ella Dean's body mists, the scent is revived by the hot water and the shower is filled with all of those beautiful fragrances for a few minutes. Makes for an extra good shower!

{scents + ingredients}

Just to note, I am not the greatest at describing scents, but I'll do my best! 

Icelle's Frost Kisses: This starts out cool and refreshing, like sweet minty gum. As the day wears on, it becomes a soft and powdery sweet, almost fruity, scent. I am in love with the peppermint in this one!

Pistachio's (Sweet P) Pistachio Pudding: This one is my favorite! It is hard to find a good, nutty scent and I am always on the look out for nutty scented products (is that strange?). It does remind me of pistachio pudding; it's very sweet with a good amount of nuttiness in the background. It slowly merges into a milky sweet scent. 

Snowla's Lovely Snowwoman: I find this to be a very girly fragrance - it reminds me of my middle school days when I was "oh so cool" with the fruity body sprays. Except this one is better. It is fruity sweet, but not overly so, with a background of refreshing florals. 

Winter's Snowflake Kisses: You know, I think this may tie with the Pistachio Pudding as another favorite. I think this reminds me more of spring than winter, but I feel it's a great year-round every day scent. It starts off with green florals with a cool background and just a hint of sweetness and ends with a powdery finish. It's a very clean and refreshing scent that I love wearing!

Another note, when I was talking with Ella, she told me that her room sprays can also be used as body mists! Good to know for when I buy a room spray!

Ingredients include pure floral water from a daisy patch (how cool is that?!), spring water, natural preservative, essential oils, fragrance oils, and isopropyl alcohol.

{conclusion}

These are my favorite body mists ever! I am definitely going to buy more (and more and more) from Ella Dean! I am simply in love with Ella Dean's shop - she has the BEST customer service and her products are always amazing. The mists are quite misty with long lasting and delightful scents. I honestly can't wait to try more, especially since Ella always has fun and exciting fragrances! Do you shop with Ella Dean? If not, you should! And tell me about it! :)

in the shower...

... or "Sunday Shower", if you will. I think I'm going to be calling this little series that from now on and doing it every Sunday (obviously!).

For my shower tonight, I used:

Shampoo: Nature's Gate Shampoo in "Tea Tree"

Conditioner: Get Lathered Solid Hair Conditioner Bar in "Lemon Curd"

Face Soap: Product Body "Fat Boy" Soap

Body Soap: Aunt Nancy's "Eucalyptus Mint" Soap

Body Scrub: Avani Natural Mineral Body Scrub in "Citrus Vanilla"

Did all this result in a satisfying shower?
To be honest, I wasn't too excited going into the shower. I have a lot of lovely soaps, but tonight I was just craving something completely new. Such is the life of the addict, I suppose! But I ended up coming out of the shower completely and surprisingly satisfied. First of all, the Get Lathered conditioner bar reeeaaally works with my hair and it's been awhile since I've found such a conditioner. And second of all, my skin was left feeling suuuuper soft thanks to my INSANELY expensive salt scrub (I may do a review on it). I haven't used the scrub in forever and I forgot how amazing it truly is. So, right now I'm content and clean and watching Meet the Robinsons with my nephew! Hope you all had pleasant showers! Good night! :)

Homesteaders Cache Soap & Lotion {review}

You know, I was born and raised in Southeast Alaska. Tis home and I could never live anywhere else! Currently, I am living in Juneau, Alaska (the state capital). And I bet right now you are wondering why I am bringing this up when I'm supposed to be doing a review, huh? Well, the goodies I am going to be reviewing here were purchased locally!  A few months ago I purchased some soap from Homesteaders Cache at an arts & crafts fair, because I can just never resist a table full of soap. Can you? And then I convinced my mommy to give me one of the solid lotions she bought. :)

{the soap}

As you can see, I bought a sampler pack of soap. I couldn't decide which one I wanted to get and the slivers of soap just looked so pretty together! And once I got home and started playing with my new soaps, I realized something curious about myself. Not knowing which soaps were which, I found myself liking all of the scents. I find this curious because when I was at the table smelling all of the different soaps, there were some I didn't care for. It's like my idea of what things smell like affect how I perceive the soap. But in the absence of labels on these samplers, my nose was free to make its own assessment.

ANYWAY, yes I found that they all smell delightful in their own way. In my sampler bag, I got several pieces of the Alaskan Rainforest bar (did you know I live in a rainforest?!). This is one of the few I can tell which one it is. I am a bit in love with the scent - it's very clean and refreshing. I would say it's a bit of a "manly" scented soap, but heck, I still dig it. The other soaps all have a bit of that clean soapy scent mixed with a bit of nature, if you get my drift.

Lathering up with the soap, I discovered that the lather is quite enjoyable. It gets nice and thick and creamy. I was surprised by how creamy it was. It really foamed up and reminded me of shaving cream. I bet it would be wonderful for shaving your legs - I'll have to try it someday (in a few months when it's warm out… ha!). I'm pretty sure I played with the lather for about 10 minutes before I rinsed it all off, which yes, made me a bit sad! But it rinsed off well and left my skin feeling a lot softer. And the scent lingered lightly and pleasantly for awhile reminding me of all of the delightfulness of the soap.

{the lotion}

My mommy bought a bunch of these solid lotions to give as Christmas gifts and I convinced her to give me one right then and there! I guess I can be a bit impatient…

I picked the Berry Patch scent and it's wonderful. It doesn't quite remind me of a berry patch, for when I'm in a berry patch I am surrounded by all sorts of other green and earthy scents. This lotion smells nothing like that, it's just a sweet berry-ish scent with a hint of something floral. 

 There used to be a pretty design on the bar... kinda got rubbed off with use!

And as far as solid lotions go, this one is simply fantastic! It goes on well and doesn’t leave my hands feeling greasy for an hour afterwards. I find that's a problem with a lot of solid lotions - you really have to work them in before all of the greasiness goes away. That's not the case with Homesteaders Cache lotions! I can rub some on my hands and be ready to go in less than a minute! Although, when I have the time, I do enjoy putting extra on so I can rub my fingers together and feel the silkiness of it. But no matter the amount I put on, the lotion always leaves my hands very soft, even in the cold winter weather when my hands are prone to dryness.

{conclusion}

I have truly been enjoying the soaps and solid lotion from Homesteaders Cache. The soaps have some of the best lathering power I have ever experienced and the solid lotion is surprisingly non-greasy and pleasantly silky. I am definitely going to wander over sometime and buy some more Homesteaders Cache products!

And if you're ever in Juneau (and it's a wonderful place to visit!), you should stop by the Homespun Mercantile shop where they carry Homesteaders Cache products. Alternatively, you can go to their online shop and order some goodies. And I believe they offer free shipping! Sounds like a pretty good deal, eh?

What's your favorite local soap shop? :)

just wondering...

You know, I think my scent preferences for bath products have changed drastically these last few months. I've been shying away from the fragrance oil soaps and always grabbing the minty or unscented (but smelling mildly of honey) soaps. But especially the minty. There's just something about a soap made with peppermint essential oil. It comes alive in the shower and just plain out makes me feel good. It's energizing and relaxing at the same time. And now I never want to use anything else.

I tried using something else the other day just because I have so much other soaps that I need to use. It was not satisfying. I felt like I smelled like an air freshener the rest of the night. I'm even reluctant to use sugar scrubs because all of the ones I have at the moment smell like desserts and are too sweet for the mood I've been in lately. And you know, once you start using sugar scrubs you can't go long without 'em!

And I'm *trying* not to buy too much new stuff because I already have a lot to use up! And, I really can't justify buying more when I can use the money for something more useful since it's not something I really NEED.

So I've been thinking... I might host a blog sale. I've never done one of these and I've never purchased anything from anyone's. But if people are interested, it just might be worth doing. I know I don't have too many readers, but if any of you are interested at all, please let me know! It would include soap bars, cream soaps, sugar scrubs, and possibly lotions and perfumes.

Alternatively, if anyone is interested in setting up an exchange, I would be willing to do that to! I just thought I'd throw this all out there in case there was any interest. Because I truly have a lot that I may never use and it would be nice if they could find some good homes! And just to note - the products don't smell bad! My tastes have simply changed and although I still like the scents, I don't love them as much as I used to.

If you're interested, comment here or you can email me at:

alyr3 {at} hotmail {dot} com.

Hope to hear from you!

<3 Alyssa

P.S. I have a few reviews lined up for when I finish the ginormous paper that's been ruining my life lately!