Giveaway! Anita's La La Land Lip Butters

Everyone ready for a giveaway? This time around I am giving away two lip butters from Anita's La La Land in Chocolate Candy and Key Lime. Both balms are unopened and shrink-wrapped. These are some of my favorite balms (read review here) and I am excited to share the love! 

TO ENTER you must be a follower of this blog. Just leave a comment with your email address. For an additional entry, you can tweet about this giveaway. Leave an additional comment telling me your twitter username.

Giveaway ends at 11:59pm PST on February 28th. Only open to U.S. residents. Winner will be announced March 1st.

Good luck! :)

Anita's La La Land Lip Butters {review}

When I stumbled upon Anita's La La Land, I was drawn in by the pictures. The balms looked like perfection. And with free shipping offered for sets, how could I resist?

{the balm}

The balms are just as good as they look. They are indeed proper "lip butters". The balm goes on all creamy and buttery. The texture is a marvelous silkiness that I'm quite addicted to. My lips are left soft and moisturized and with a gentle gloss. This may be one of my favorite lip balm formulas.

My only small complaint about the balm would be the labels. I like the clear balm tubes - that makes it easy to see how much of a balm you've used up. But the labels have a weird texture and easily get sticky. They're easy to peel off though - you just have to remember which balm it is!

{flavors + ingredients}

All of the flavors are made using natural flavorings instead of flavor oils. There's also a bit of sweetener added to all of the flavors. That bit of sweetness makes these great kissing balms! ;)

Chocolate Candy - Super chocolatey goodness! My favorite!
Iced Peppermint - Lightly minty without being overpowering. Slight tingly, but not irritatingly so!
Key Lime - This one is lightly scented. I smell the citrus right away but it takes a bit longer to pick up the distinct lime scent.
Sunshine Orange - Smells just like orange peels! I wasn't sure if I'd like this one (not too into orange scents) but it's quite lovely!
Vitamin E - Unscented! And if you're looking for a good unscented balm where you can't pick up too much of the natural scent of oils and butters, this one's great. And it's still sweetened.

Ingredients include shea butter, soya butter, olive oil, coconut oil, beeswax, stevia leaf extract, vitamin e, and essential oils.

{conclusion}

I truly love these balms from Anita's La La Land. They are creamy goodness with sweet and natural flavorings. I don't usually buy repeats of balms, but I am well stocked up on these balms. That is how much I love them! I highly recommend the lip butters from Anita's La La Land!

Long Winter Farm Lip Balms {review}

I'm sure you have all heard of Long Winter Farm. The shop is quite popular, especially in the lip balm world! Amanda, the owner, has even started a bit of a fart craze! Want to know more? Read on…

{the balm}

These lip balms have excellent consistency. They are nice and firm but still glide on smoothly with no tug. There is a lovely creaminess about them too. The kind of creamy that you just can't get enough of and might end up applying frequently and smacking your lips a little too often.

The balms leave a gentle and natural looking gloss on the lips. The wear is about two hours and it leaves my lips feeling soft and moisturized, as any good balm does. I am really in love with how these balms feel. To say it again, they really do have the perfect consistency!

{flavors + ingredients}

Here's the list of flavors I've tried out (so far!):

Black Currant Walnut - This is a good combo of nutty with fruity and sweet. It's a unique balm flavor that kind of reminds me of cookies with dried fruit in them.

Chai - I can't really detect the chai in this balm. It smells like almond and cocoa to me. Still pleasant though!

Cherry Almond - I love this one! You know those cherry chip box cake mixes? This smells like cherry chip cake! So yummy!

Pistachio Chip - This one is sweet and nutty with a hint of cocoa. The milky sweetness is the strongest scent note. I kind of want to eat it!

Rosemary Litsea - This one has an herbal lemony scent. It's very soothing as it has essential oils rather than flavor oils.

Unicorn Farts - Ah, the ever popular Unicorn Farts! The scent is a combination of spearmint and cotton candy. It's kind of like an ultra sweet version of mint chip ice cream.

Ingredients include natural beeswax, sweet almond oil, grapeseed oil, jojoba oil, unrefined cocoa butter, unrefined shea butter, vitamin e, flavor and/or essential oils.

{conclusion}

Long Winter Farm makes some pretty darn fantastic lip balms which I see myself purchasing many more in the future! The creaminess of the balms is among the best in the balmy world. The flavors are unique and delicious. And you know, they're popular for a reason. Go check out Long Winter Farm!

Alchemic Muse Foaming Body Scrubs {review}

It is a shame that I am just *now* reviewing an Alchemic Muse product on this blog. I have had a love affair going on with this shop for well over a year now. I know, I know… bad me. My excuse (because I always have an excuse) is that I am so in love with Alchemic Muse products, I have a hard time taking photos of them before I want to hop in the shower with them. Sorry it's taken me so long to calm down a bit!

(And even more of a shame that I wrote most of this review, including the above paragraph, months ago… *hangs head*)

Shall we continue? Up for review here are the foaming body scrubs. Please note, you might have to wait patiently for reviews on other products from this wonderful shop...

{the scrub}

This happens to be one of all-time favorite Alchemic Muse products. I love me a good body scrub and the foaming body scrubs deliver.  I hate the scrubs that are so dry they crumble away before you get it to your body. Or the kind that is to hard it forms into a ball when you try to rub it on your skin and rolls away before you get to scrub anything. 

This scrub is nothing like those. It has the perfect consistency that is soft enough to scoop out and apply but still offers a good and gentle scrub. As it is a foaming body scrub, there is some bubbles that offer a gentle and soothing lathering. And after all is scrubbed and lathered, it rinses off easily and doesn't make the tub messy or slippery.

After I get out of the shower, my skin is wonderfully soft and moisturized. And fragrant! The beautiful fragrances lightly linger for hours and make me feel happy and clean. Yes, the foaming body scrubs offer quite the experience.

{scents + ingredients}

Alchemic Muse offers seasonal fragrances. The ones pictured are from the summer line, and are my favorites from the summer line. The Caribbean Coconut and Waikiki are sweet and tropical and perfect summer scents.

Other scents I've enjoyed from Alchemic Muse have been Pumpkin Honey, Cocoa Bee, and Silhouette. Pumpkin Honey from the fall line is the perfect pumpkin scent! It has that spicy pumpkin pie scent with the sweetness from the honey so it's not overwhelmingly spicy. Cocoa Bee from the Valentines line (available now!) is sweet and spicy and simply intoxicating. Silhouette which was a limited edition vanilla release (which hopefully comes around again!) is the perfect vanilla scent! It's a sexy and sophisticated and airy vanilla which I can't get enough of!

I know, these are poor scent descriptions. I find Alchemic Muse fragrances to be a bit complex, more sophisticated than what I can accurately describe! But they're all amazing and there's always something for everyone!

Ingredients in the foaming scrubs include... Organic Cane Sugar, Distilled Water, Vegetable Glycerin, Sorbitol, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Disodium Lauryl Sulfosuccinate, Sodium Chloride (Salt), Mangifera Indica (Mango) Seed Butter, Macadamia Ternifolia (Macadamia) Oil, Cucurbita Pepo (Pumpkin) Oil, Prunus Avium (Cherry) Kernel Oil, Vitis Vinifera (Grapeseed) Oil, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Oil, Fragrance, Phenoxyethanol, and Tetrasodium EDTA.

{conclusion}

I simply love Alchemic Muse products. And although I've been moving away a bit from products scented with fragrance oils, I don't think I'll ever stop purchasing from Alchemic Muse. Everything is phenomenal, especially the perfectly exfoliating body scrubs. The scents are beautiful and unique and hard to resist even for someone who's been leaning more towards unscented/essential oil products! If you haven't given Alchemic Muse a try, you should probably do so. Try the scrubs! Or anything, really! :)

Sweet Creek Facial Butter Bar {review}

Sweet Creek HerbalCare just happens to be one of my favorite shops on Etsy. I have found many delights in the many different products offered in the shop, and still have much to explore! Up for review here today is the Facial Butter Bar!

{ingredients}

Let's start off with the ingredients, since it is what lead me to my purchase!

Ingredients include prime pressed cocoa butter, emu oil, castor oil.

{the product}

"This is a face wash without soap. Facial butter bars can be used conveniently to wash your face without soap or detergents in the shower, at the sink, even on the go with a few tissues about. Oils and butters are a great cleanser but are not water soluble. In the shower or at the sink, just rinse off the excess with warm water. It leaves your facial skin so soft and gently cleansed. Or, on the go, wipe off the excess with a couple of tissues. Your skin will glow and make you look and feel refreshed no matter how tired you are."

After finding this butter bar cleanser, I was very curious. I thought that it might be similar to the Oil Cleansing Method, which has been something I've been wondering about. But not wanting to buy a bunch of oils and doing my own mixings, I was glad that one of my favorite shops had a way I could get a bit of a sample of this cleansing method.

But to be honest, I haven't experimented with it as my sole method of cleansing my face. I will still use one of my lovely bars of soaps and then use the butter bar, as more of a moisturizer I suppose. After washing my face, I will rub the bar all over my hands and then massage the butter and oils onto my face. I then go about my other shower business and go back to it a bit later and massage some more and gently wipe the excess off with a warm washcloth.

When I get out of the shower, my face feels amazingly soft! The first time I used it, I was completely shocked by how completely moisturized my face was and everything was just so smooth and happy. Since I started using this bar, I've not had to use as much moisturizer. Some days I don't even have to use any!

I do not use this everyday. I use the butter bar around 2-3 times a week. And the bar has been lasting quite awhile now - I've had it for 4 months and have only used half of it so far!

{conclusion}

The Facial Butter Bar from Sweet Creek HerbalCare is fabulous all around. It offers unbeatable moisturization in an extremely long lasting bar. My face is happy and never feels greasy. For me, this is one of those Holy Grail items. Obviously, I would recommend that you try it!

More Epically Epic Lip Balms!

(I know, I said I was going to post a review by now... but I have the BEST reason for my further delay! It was sunny and HOT here for 3 days straight! I live in a temperate rainforest, so it's pretty much rainy here all the time. But it has been especially rainy here these past few months - something like 60 days of rain out of the past 65 days. So, when the clouds went away and the sun showed its pretty face, I took full advantage! Swimming, boat rides, kiddie pools, and smoothies. Ah, summah time!)

But yes, now that I'm back to the world of rain and mist, I can get back to my goal of keeping up with my blogging duties! And today, I am going to be talking about Epically Epic lip balm flavors. I'm not going to review the balms, as I've already done so here. However, I do feel that I need to update the list of balm flavors I have because the balms are just so amazing they need some more recognition on this blog! :)

Here are the flavors I've added to my collection (I have tried more, but will only be discussing flavors that are still being sold by Epically Epic Soap Co.):

Chocolate Malt: This is a deliciously creamy, mild chocolate-y scent. To be honest, I have no idea what a malt smells/tastes like, but I can tell that this is not just a plain ol' chocolate scent. It has a sweetness to it. It's kind of like a dessert for your lips!

Mango Lassi: The scent is a mixture of mango and cardamom. I find it to be fruity and surprisingly refreshing. It kind of reminds me of a cough drop. It's not my favorite, but still pleasant enough.

Mango Lychee: This one is a boldly fruity scent that is heavy on the mango. I like to wear it on rainy days when I need some cheering up from the dreary weather.

Peanut Butter & Jelly: Peanut butter is oddly enough one of my favorite scents and I was thrilled when this lip balm came out! It smells almost just like a peanut butter & jelly sandwich. I say almost because the jelly is blueberry-acai jelly - not my regular jelly! But I greatly enjoy the extra fruity twist it gives the balm. Definitely a successful peanut butter balm.

P.O.G (Passionfruit Orange Guava): I was a little hesitant about this one - feedback said it was floral. And I don't like floral. And it does smell a bit floral, but only in the tube. Once it's on my lips, it turns into a true tropical scent, being delightfully fruity without being over the top. It's perfect for summer!

Sleepy Time: This balm is meant to help you relax with the scents of spearmint and chamomile. I can't speak to the effects of that since I have a hard time falling asleep no matter what! But I love to use it after brushing my teeth - it's fitting with the flavor of my toothpaste. It's mildly minty, in a soft and sweet sort of way. Totally not overpowering at all, which I can appreciate in a minty balm.

Vanilla Bean: I've spoken of this one before, but should mention again! This happens to be one of my favorite EE balm flavors! It's a fantastic vanilla scent, which you may know can be hard to find. It's a straight-up vanilla that is perfectly creamy and sweet. And delicious!

Vanilla Coke: This balm is another one of my favorites! It smells just like a sweet cola. I love to use it when I have the flavor of food in my mouth and using some fruity balm just doesn't seem fitting. Is that odd?

I am hoping to add more flavors to my collection. I am patiently awaiting the day when new summer balm flavors are released! What flavors have you tried? Or want to try?

it's been awhile...

Hello all!

I'm sorry I've not been posting lately. Things have been hectic around here for the past few weeks. I finished up my first year in grad school, took on more hours at work, and just got back from a long trip for a conference and mini (very mini) vacation.

So now, it's time for me to settle into a new routine. And then, hopefully I'll be able to start working on this blog again! Be on the look out for at least one review by the end of the week!

Hope you all are doing well and enjoying warm weather activities! I'm still waiting for a warm sunny day here in Southeast Alaska. The rain just loves us up here...