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!

Nature's Edge Bathworks Soap {review}

You know, I ordered so many fall-inspired soaps this last fall that I'm still working my way through them. It's all good though - fall soaps are some of the best! I love the warm and comforting scents, which are still welcome in this cold winter we're in the midst of. But anyway, I tried a new soap tonight from my fall shopping spree. And it was kind of magical.

{the soap}

The soap I am going to tell you about is called "Haunted House" by Nature's Edge Bathworks. Here's the intriguing description given for this soap:

Creaking doors, cobwebs and old, burnt fireplaces. The scent of fallen apples in a grey garden waft through a broken window. Long hallways and damp, musty rooms around every turn. The unknown lurking in every shadowy nook. An unforgiving wind howls through the air in the dark, dark night....

When I read that, I just had to have it. It sounded so mysterious and wonderful. And, I think it has turned out to be one of the best fall scents I've ever had the pleasure to sniff. But that may just be my post-fall senses talking. It is indeed a warm and comforting scent, as a fall soap should be. But it is not so intense on the spicy-cinnamony warmth. The soap is mildly sweet, almost fruity, with a hint of cinnamon in the background. What I'm really digging about it is the mildness of it. It makes you think about what you're really smelling - it really is rather mysterious. 

The soap formula is quite fantastic as well. It has a nice creamy, almost foamy lather. And it is quite moisturizing. In fact, I was quite surprised by how soft my skin felt afterwards. It feels as if the soap left behind a bit of residue, for my skin feels slightly powdery. However, it's not an unpleasant feeling. Rather, it makes my skin feel all the more moisturized and silky soft.

Surprising and mysterious. That's what this soap is. And I greatly enjoyed it.

(ingredients}

Palm oil, coconut oil, olive oil, palm kernel oil, castor oil, safflower oil, grapeseed oil, apricot oil, cocoa butter, shea butter, coconut milk, clay, essential oils, and fragrance.

{conclusion}

The soap from Nature's Edge Bathworks was a true pleasure. I am definitely going to buy another bar or two. Probably tonight! In fact, I strongly urge you to do so also while you still have the chance! The shop will close soon and the soaps are priced to sell! Also, there's an additional coupon code for 15% off (NEF15). AND, the Haunted House soap is on clearance, being a Halloween/fall scent and all. If you're interested in trying out a great bar of soap for less than $3, go check out Nature's Edge Bathworks. I think I'm gonna try their peppermint soap next! :)

In the shower...

In attempt to do some posts that are not just reviews, I thought I'd introduce this new feature to the blog. I'm gonna tell you about what I lathered up with today! 

Shampoo: Nature's Gate Shampoo in Tea Tree

Conditioner: Pink Bow Bath Boutique Lovely Leave-In Conditioner in Vanilla Bean Noel

Face Soap: Rocky Top Soap Shop Pumpkin Soap

Body Soap: Bubs & Scrubs Creamy Peppermint Soap

Body Scrub: Mad City Soap Whipped Sugar Body Scrub in Italian Cream Cake

Did all this result in a satisfying shower? For the most part, it did. I felt clean and moisturized afterwards, and my hair wasn't a rough and tangled mess (as it has been of late). BUT, I was feeling especially icky today (due to an encounter with some insects) and I wished I could feel ultra-clean instead of just plain ol' clean. I think that when I need that level of clean feeling, I don't find foodie scents to be very helpful. I need a good minty scrub for those extra dirty days! Any suggestions? :)

UPDATE: New Blog Title!

I've been a bit neglectful of my blogging duties as of late. I apologize. Life has been hectic and school keeps me busy.

But to start off the new year, I thought I'd make a big change I've been wanting to do for awhile now. I have changed the name of this blog from "etsy balmer" to "soapy days". I feel it's more fitting for what I want to blog about. I will still review lip balms and other non-soap bath products. I just feel it's a bit more logical to blog about bath & body products under a title pertaining to soap than it is to lip balm. Basically, it's not as weird!

For this change, I have also changed the blog address to soapydays.blogspot.com. I hope this isn't TOO inconvenient for people. Also, I hope you all agree that this blog was in need of a title change and that the new one is more fitting!

Look forward to more soapy (and non-soapy) reviews soon! And hey, happy beginnings in this new year! :)

<3 Alyssa