Cellar Door Soap Co. Soaps {review}

I discovered the Cellar Door Soap Co. after reading about it on Soap Obsessions. And I just couldn't resist all the wonderful minty soap options they offered. Because if you don't know this already, I love me some minty soap. And the soaps from Cellar Door Soap Co. have been known to take me to far off heavenly minty places...

{the soap}

But let's start off with talking about the soapy bits first. I love the description on the Cellar Door Soap Co. gives about their soap:

We make soap. Damn good soap.

And let me tell you, they definitely make some pretty damn good soap. The bar lathers up beautifully in the shower with  soft and gentle lather. It has that sort of creamy goodness that makes you want to lather up forever. I feel rather comfortable in the shower with Cellar Door Soap Co. bars. I love it when soap does that.

And with all that lovely, creamy lather, the soaps leave my skin feeling soft and moisturized. I also use these soaps a lot to wash my face and I feel little need to use any moisturizer afterwards. I've also used a few times to wash my hair and it was better than a lot of shampoo bars I've tried!

The soap is just pretty damn amazing.

{scents + ingredients}

I just had to order these bars of minty goodness...

Eucalyptus Spearmint - I'm reminded of spearmint gum at first, but once the water hits the bar the eucalyptus emerges and it's almost a bit medicinal, but soothing.

Peppermint & Tea Tree - I can smell the tree. I'm reminded of the dampness of the forest and I feel like I'm standing with my nose right up to a tree after the rain. This one is particularly fantastic on the face as well - it leaves my face super smooth!

Rosemary Mint - It is the mints of all mints. It is minty goodness at its best. It comes alive in the shower with an explosion of minty aromas that is so blissfully refreshing.

Ingredients include olive oil, coconut oil, distilled water, sustainable palm oil, sodium hydroxide, castor oil, shea butter, essential oil, sugar, titanium dioxide, bamboo charcoal (Peppermint & Tea Tree) and spearmint leaves (Rosemary Mint).

{conclusion}

I will tell you how much I love these Cellar Door Soap Co. soaps. When they are gone, I am going to repurchase them. All of them. I have never repurchased any specific bar of soap from anywhere. But I can't imagine being without these soaps. That is love. And I think you should go find yourself some Cellar Door Soap Co. love.

Honey Bee Holistics {review} part II

And so continues my review of Honey Bee Holistics (read previous review here)! And up next for review are… lotions!

Let me tell you all how I feel about lotions. Putting on lotion - it's not my favorite thing to do. They can smell pretty freakin' delightful and make my skin feel amazing, but I often neglect to use 'em. Call it laziness if you want, but… ah well, yeah let's just stick with that.

But that doesn't stop me from buying lotions. I always purchase with good intentions… mostly for my nose. And product junkie that I am,  I don't even want to tell you how many lotions that I have (like I even know how many). Let's just say there's a good amount from a lot of different places. And most of them don't get opened very often. Umm… oops!

HOWEVER, I use Honey Bee Holistics lotions every single day! They are the lotions of all lotions. They are everything I want in a lotion. Let's start with the best part: THEY SINK RIGHT IN! Oh yeah, you know what I'm talking about. I don't have to rub and rub and rub the lotion in. I don't feel greasy or slimy afterwards. They are light and moisturizing and completely fabulous.

L-R: Lemon Creme, Sugar Cookie, White Chocolate

Oh wait, that's not the only best part. Can all of the parts be the best? But yes, another thing I love about Honey Bee Holistics lotions are their versatility! The lotions are extremely gentle for there's no fragrance oils or preservatives. I use them for everything I would use a cream for - body lotion, hand cream, eye cream, daily moisturizer, and nighttime moisturizer. I use these lotions daily and I have them everywhere! There's some on my nightstand, in my desk at work, in my purse, and in my gym bag!

And now, let's delve into greater detail on the individual lotions…

{Organic Calendula Lotion}

The Calendula Lotion is probably one of the thicker lotions offered at Honey Bee Holistics. It has a nice creamy texture without feeling too heavy. With the calendula, the lotion feels very soothing and I love using after shaving my legs! My mom also really loved the Calendula Lotion! She has eczema on her hands and her hands get very dry, red, and itchy. After one use, she claimed that her hands already felt better and she had to order her own!

Another thing I love about this particular lotion is that it is basically unscented. It is great to use when I want to use a body mist/perfume and don't want to have my lotion competing with the scents.

{Organic Coconut Lotion}

I love the scent of the Coconut Lotion! It is a very sweet, light coconut scent that is completely amazing. To me, the lotion feels a bit more smoothing than the others. Until I ran out, this is all that I would use on my face. Now, I've moved onto other Honey Bee Holistics lotions/creams!

{Organic Lemon Creme Lotion}

The Lemon Creme Lotion smells like lemon cake! It is sooo yummy! The Lemon Creme lotion was my first Honey Bee Holistics love. I would say it is probably the lightest of the lotions, even if minutely so. It has more of that "watery" consistency which I personally enjoy because I know it will sink right in! Don't doubt it's moisturizing abilities though!

I also love that I can use this as a lemon cake scented moisturizer without worrying about fragrance oils irritating my face! :)

{Organic Sugar Cookie Lotion}

In the jar the Sugar Cookie Lotion smells like vanilla ice cream - I like to just sit there and inhale the scent on occasion! The scent changes when I put it on to a light, creamy vanilla with a bit of a chocolate scent, which is a bit odd since there is no cocoa butter used. Still a delightful mild scent!

The lotion has a kind of powdery finish, which I really enjoy. It makes my face feel sooo smooth!

{Organic White Chocolate Body Mousse}

Oh, this is all sorts of chocolatey goodness! It smells so delicious I actually took a little bite of it once! Seriously! And, it didn't taste too bad either…

The White Chocolate Body Mousse is different than the all of the lotions I've been talking about, but I figured I'd include it in this review anyway. It is super thick and is the kind that needs to be warmed up a bit before rubbing it. It's very creamy and decadent.

It doesn't sink in right away, but once it does it's extremely moisturizing. I like to apply to my hands before bed when I need not worry about having lotion all over my hands. It's also great as a nighttime eye cream!

{ingredients}

Ingredients include mountain spring water, local beeswax, vegetable glycerin, organic witch hazel, and may also contain organic olive oil, organic calendula infused olive oil, organic coconut oil, organic coconut extract, tahitian vanilla bean, organic lemon essential oil, organic vanilla essence, organic sweet almond oil, and organic unrefined cocoa butter.

{conclusion}

Honey Bee Holistics lotions are simply amazing. They're light (excluding the body mousse, of course) and moisturizing and always versatile. There's just so many uses! And you know what else? You can get a lot of use out of the small containers at a GREAT price! I have yet to buy a bigger size and I use these lotions daily! Definitely worth a shot, yeah? Get outta here and go check out Honey Bee Holistics!

Stay tuned for the continuation of my Honey Bee Holistics reviews! Yes, there IS more!

Winner Winner Winner!

Who's going to win the most Epically Epic lip balm?! Let's do a drawing, shall we?

And the winner is...

Yay for Deb over at It's Always Something...! Thank you to all who participated - I loved reading the comments about your favorite lip balms! I'm always on the hunt for new lip balms to try... ;)

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Oh silly me!

Just a little fun post... a blurb really!

I got this product lately that is a dupe of Lush's Honey I Washed the Kids. I have no idea what the real thing smells like. Living in Alaska, I've never come across any Lush shop so I really can't compare.

BUT, I used this product for the first time tonight and kept thinking that I smelled like I had just taken a bath with baby soap and shampoo.

And then I had to laugh at myself, because well...

DUH! It's a dupe of HONEY I WASHED THE KIDS!

So yes, I actually do smell like a newly washed and squeakly clean kid. I kinda like it. And feeling kind of dumb for paying no attention to the name and failing to make the connection until it was laughingly obvious.

And really... how silly of me! What was I expecting?! HAHA! :)

A wee giveaway for your LIPS! {ended}

I'm doing a giveaway! Woo!

Okay, I might be more excited about this than you will be. It's not the biggest giveaway ever, or big in any way, but it's a good one! And just to note, this is sort of my "get out of jail free" blog post for the week! I'm super busy with finals and whatnot, but will try to start posting more reviews soon - and on a more regular basis! But yes, the wee giveaway...

For your winning pleasure, I am offering up a lip balm from my favorites stash...

Epically Epic Soap Co. Lip Balm in Vanilla Bean! 

Allison over at Epically Epic Soap Co. makes some of the best lip balms in the whole entire world! They are smooth and super creamy and just all around delightful. I think I have about 20 of them... heh.

And Vanilla Bean just happens to be one of my favorite Epically Epic lip balms. It is the best vanilla balm I have tried yet. It's a straight up sweet and creamy vanilla without being buttery. I LOVE IT!

And I happen to have an extra Vanilla Bean lip balm that is waiting to be used, sooo... I thought I'd share the love with you guys! :)

To enter, leave a comment telling me what your favorite lip balm is! And don't forget to leave your email address, otherwise I won't have a way to contact you if you win! You have until Friday, April 27th to enter!

Honey Bee Holistics {review} part I

I am so excited to review Honey Bee Holistics, it is going to come in several parts (how many parts still to be determined)! And I've got to be honest, I've been holding out on you for awhile because I use Honey Bee Holistics products daily so these reviews are long overdue!

And on another note, the Marshmallow Honey Face Cream was sent to me by the seller to test. I volunteered when the seller, Melissa Carr, was asking for product testers on her Facebook page. I was asked to provide the seller with my feedback by answering a list of questions. However, posting a review to my own personal blog was NOT a requirement. Please note that I will be reviewing this product because I WANT to, not because I was asked to.

Now that everything has been explained, let's get on to the reviews! The first part will be… face creams!

Oh wait, before we get to the reviews I suppose I should explain my face (what an odd thing to say…). But yes, I fall between the normal and dry skin types. Most of my face tends to be normal with few blemishes, oiliness, or dryness. However, my eyes and along my lower right jaw tend to get quite dry to the point of flakiness. Sexy, no?

AND NOW...

{Organic Wrinkle Away Face Cream}

During the winter months, I was on the hunt for an ultra moisturizing face cream to help with those dry areas on my face. I wanted something with carrot seed oil since it seems to really work with my face. I also wanted something that didn't smell of roses, because I really detest roses, and it's strangely difficult to find carrot oil moisturizes without rosey scents. And so, I was super excited to discover that Honey Bee Holistics carried such a face cream, because by then I was already in love with the shop!

The Wrinkle Away Face Cream is thick and luxurious and quite lovely for slathering on when those dry face days roll around. It is also surprisingly light for being a thick cream. When applied, it sinks into the skin quickly and leaves behind a silky, powdery finish. I found the cream to be best applied before bed with just a little touch up in the morning. It left my skin feeling soft!

And, I completely adore the scent. It's so bright and fresh with a little green in there. But please note, Melissa never uses fragrance oils in any of her products! (LOVE that!)

Ingredients include almond oil, jojoba oil, beeswax containing bee propolis, evening primrose oil, mountain spring water, vegetable glycerin, vitamin e oil, witch hazel extract, and carrot seed essential oil.

{Organic Marshmallow Honey Face Cream}

This is a sample of the cream. When ordered, container will be different.

One of the great things about Honey Bee Holistics is the versatility of the products. For the Marshmallow Honey Face Cream, I discovered that it is an excellent night cream, a daily eye cream, a hand cream, and a moisturizer for those extra dry days. The more I use this cream, the more I love it. I mean, what other face cream can you find so many uses for?!

And here is what makes it so gosh-darn useful: It is ultra moisturizing and super gentle for sensitive skin. And when I say ultra moisturizing, I mean it. I would even go as far to say that this is the most moisturizing face creams I have ever tried. Well, the most moisturizing that doesn't leave my face greasy or sticky or suffocating under a just-won't-sink-in layer of product.

The cream goes on suuuper smooth and a little bit goes a long way. The cream is a bit on the heavy side and takes a little longer to sink in completely. But once it does, my face is soft and smooth and I can just feel the hydration!

I don't use the cream as a daily moisturizer, but I do use it as a daily eye cream. The area around my eyes tends to get very dry and this cream has done wonders. It's also great to use as a moisturizer when my face is generally feeling pretty dry, like after a little soak in the chlorine filled hot-tub that I just can't avoid. And slathering on some before bed results in some amazingly soft cheeks in the morning.

AND, the Marshmallow Honey Face Cream is a pretty outstanding hand cream. My finger tips can sometimes get really dry and this is the product I now turn to. My mom, who gets really bad eczema on her hands, really loved using this cream on her hands also. She was surprised by how moisturizing and soothing the cream was!

Personally, I think everyone needs some of this cream. At some point, we all need some ultra moisturizing lovin' and this cream can bring it. It's moisturizing abilities are deeply penetrating and soothing. It is just so much more than a face cream.

Ingredients include jojoba oil, beeswax containing bee propolis, evening primrose oil, mountain spring water, vegetable glycerin, vitamin e oil, witch hazel extract, marshmallow root infusion, and calendula.

{conclusion}

I am simply in love. Honey Bee Holistics makes some fantastic face creams. And I have found a face cream product that I don't ever want to be without! What else can I say? I use nothing else but Honey Bee Holistics products on my face. But that's not limited to just the face creams…

Stay tuned for part II of the Honey Bee Holistics reviews!

Bubs & Scrubs Soap {review}

You ever find a shop that you just so desperately want to try but continuously talk yourself out of it because you simply do not need [insert name of whatever floats your boat here]. But it sure as heck feels like it is needed! That is how I felt when I first found Bubs & Scrubs. And I finally caved and bought some soaps when they had a sale going on… how could I resist that?! Here's what I thought…

{the soap}

First off, I love the simple beauty of these soaps. They have that "I-am-a-wonderfully-natural-good-for-you" kind of look about them. And I could just see the creaminess. I kept going back to Bubs & Scrubs again and again because the soaps just looked amazing.

And when I finally ordered some soap, I fell in love with the scents. I ordered Creamy Peppermint and Calendula & Honey. The Creamy Peppermint (which I believe is not currently being offered) is amazingly minty! You know how much I love peppermint, and this one is up there on my list of favorite peppermint soap scents. Probably because the mint is so strong. It is still a bit on the sweet side though - it reminds me of candy canes!

And the aroma of the Calendula & Honey is equally amazing! Another note, I think the soap formula for this soap has been changed and is now called Calendula Bubs. But I think the scent should be the same - and I hope it is! Because ohhh-my-gaawd what a wonderful scent! When I first got the soap, it had a mildly sweet scent that I was expecting to disappear in the shower. But it came alive in the shower! Every time I use it, it reminds me of early summer when the salmonberry bushes are starting to blossom. What a wonderfully sweet floral scent! Never would I have thought that I would find something that smells like salmonberry blossoms!

As for the soap itself, I would have to say I wish it was as wonderful as the aroma. The lather is great - it's very gentle and on the creamy side. And it rinses off well enough, with no tightness. However, I have found that the soaps are not as moisturizing as I would like them to be. It's not a huge issue for me, because I often use body scrubs after soaping up and those are ultra moisturizing. But sometimes, I don't have the time to follow with a scrub and the soap just doesn't cut it in the moisture department.

{conclusion}

Would I buy again from Bubs & Scrubs? I'm a bit torn on this one. I love the scents, but I found the soap formulas to be a bit lacking. I might be willing to give the soaps another chance, especially if the formulas have been redeveloped. Also, there's quite a few new soaps being introduced that I haven't tried yet. Knowing me, I probably will eventually buy some more soaps from Bubs & Scrubs. It'll probably be one of those "I-really-want-to-buy-some-but-I-shouldn't-but-maybe-I-will-anyway-but-I-really-shouldn't" kinda deals. You know how these things go. :)