Talk About It - Green People

I can’t even try to tell you how excited I was when I checked my e-mail one morning and found a message from the Social Media Executive for Green People. I’ve heard a lot about the brand from friends and bloggers from across the pond, and even received several questions about the brand from some of you, but had never tried their products myself.

As I was browsing their website I became even more excited about Green People when I discovered they have an entire range of Neutral Scent Free products for people who, like me, are super sensitive to any type of fragrance. Don’t worry if you do like your products to smell, though, because they have so many different lines! They have so many products I know that each and every one of you could find something, or many things, to fall head over heels for.

Green People is a natural and organic skin care company based in the UK. The brand has been around since 1997 but launched last year in the states. Green People was born out of a Mother’s need to protect her sensitive baby’s skin and grew from there. Their products are vegan and vegetarian friendly as well as cruelty-free. You’ll never spot anything toxic, harsh or artificial on any of their products’ ingredients lists.

I picked out several of their products to try out and I’m so thrilled to be able to share my thoughts with you all. Of course, everything I picked comes from the Neutral Scent-Free line but I feel really good about recommending the brand as a whole.



Let’s first talk about the Neutral Scent Free Shampoo and Conditioner, which I was probably the most eager to try since I’m always on the lookout for gentle hair products that will clean my hair while nourishing my finicky scalp. This duo does just that and also leaves my long, fine strands looking smooth and feeling soft but strong. You need only a small amount of the shampoo and you get a ton of silky, rich lather. The conditioner is on the thinner side but does a great job of hydrating without weighing my hair down. I can even use it on my scalp without any irritation or build-up, which doesn’t always happen with conditioner. Oh, and my tresses look totally shiny and sleek after using this power pair!



Another product I’m always on the hunt for is a mild hand wash that won’t upset the eczema I have on my hands and cause it to flare up and Green People created one that cleanses without drying or causing any irritation. I’ve been exclusively using their Neutral Scent Free Hand Wash and absolutely loving it. It has zero smell and doesn’t bother the skin on my hands at all. I love the packaging, too. All Green People products are packaged simply yet elegantly. I love leaving this soap out on my counter!



I’ve also been testing out the Neutral Scent Free Hand and Body Cream which is ultra rich and beneficial for dry skin. The formula is so rich and wonderful but this isn’t my favorite product of the line. For some reason, this product reacts with my pH in a weird way and ends up smelling odd on me, even though it has no scent. I really like to use this on my feet, though! Slathering some of this on and then putting on a thick pair of socks right out of the shower has been a wonderful treat for my dry feet. I also happen to love the airless pump bottle. It makes getting the right amount of product really easy!



The final Neutral Scent Free product I’ve been using is the Eye Cream. This soothing cream comes in a little lip balm style tube that is easy to use and the formula inside is so smooth and lightweight. It’s hydrating but not heavy! It can be used night or day for smoother, softer skin under your eyes.



And finally, if you’re already thinking about what gifts you want to wrap and put under your tree or stuff in some stockings this Christmas (or anytime, really!) you should check out their limited edition gift sets, like this SOOTHE Facial Trio Set. They have many different sets but this one features three scent free facial products (cleanser, serum, and moisturizer) in a travel-friendly and testable 30ml size.



They also have a range of makeup, which doesn’t seem to be available in the US but I really hope these products do make it stateside one day because they look incredible!

You can learn more about Green People and their product offerings by visiting either their US website or UK website, depending on where you are located. You can also find them on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

(FTC: These products were sent to me for free for review consideration. I am not being compensated for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.) 

Fall Applesauce Hand Scrub

My hands are really dry right now, with the changing of the seasons, so I thought a hand scrub recipe would be appropriate for today's post! By the way, Happy first week of fall! This scrub stars applesauce, which is a natural exfoliant that contains calcium, iron, and vitamin A. Apples are hard workers when it comes to fighting bacteria, being an antioxidant and an astringent. It also makes a wonderful and nutritious snack for children of all ages.

What you need:
3 tablespoons of natural applesauce
(you can buy some or make your own)
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
1 tablespoon of olive oil

Once you have all of the ingredients together, put them into a small bowl or container and mix thoroughly. Massage into your dry hands in the fashion of washing your hands, before rinsing off with warm water. Your hands will look and feel like they have been pampered by a professional. Oh, this scrub also smells incredibly delicious. You'll love it! It's one of my favorite beauty recipes. Enjoy!

Back to School Sanitizer

It's that time of year again, time to head back to school, and we all know that germs love to lurk in the hallways, linger on desks, and get passed from kid to kid. Thinking about germs can make anyone a little nervous but reaching for the commercial hand sanitizer is not the wisest choice. They are typically full of yucky stuff and smell like pure alcohol… yuck! Step away from the Purell and try making your own sanitizing spray with this easy recipe.



What you need:
2 ½ tablespoons of lemon witch hazel (Thayers is my favorite!)
1 tablespoon of tea tree oil
25 drops of lavender, lemon, or peppermint essential oils

 Put all of the ingredients into a little plastic spray bottle (that you can find at almost any drugstore/grocery store/beauty supply/dollar store) and you can throw it in your purse, keep it on your desk, or use it anywhere you feel the need to disinfect. You will need to shake it before each use since the ingredients have a tendency to separate. Spray it a few times directly into your hands and rub them together to de-germ. This spray should help stave off those yucky germs that cause illness and it's perfect for back to school time!

Hydrated Hands and Feet

Bananas are a healthy and nutritious treat eaten by people all over the world. They make a fantastic snack but also have skin beneficial vitamins, minerals, and potassium. Since bananas are so good for the insides and outsides of our bodies there are many different ways in which you can use banana to pamper yourself and today I'll be sharing one simple recipe featuring the delicious, yellow fruit. This recipe is an easy to make hand and foot treatment for use when your skin could use a little TLC.
 


What you need:
1/2 of a ripe banana
1/2 teaspoon of honey
2 teaspoons of unsalted butter 

Mash the banana and combine with the honey and butter, mix until smooth and creamy. Spread over your hands and feet then cover with socks and gloves. If you can handle it, leave on over night. When you wake up in the morning your hands and feet will be unbelievably soft and smooth!

Berry Body Scrub

Let's continue with the strawberry trend from the other day with a recipe for a strawberry body scrub that is delectable and perfect for pampering yourself or a loved one with. It's so simple and easy to make and use.

What you need:
10 big, ripe strawberries
2 tablespoons of your favorite skin friendly oil (I really like olive and grape seed for body scrubs)
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1 teaspoon of brown sugar



Blend the strawberries and oil together to make a liquid but keep in mind that it's okay if there are still some chunks of berry left. It doesn't need to be totally liquefied. Pour into a bowl and add the sea salt and brown sugar. I really love to use both sea salt and brown sugar when making a scrub because the different sized granules are really effective at sloughing off dead skin cells.

I always use scrubs on damp skin, but everyone is different. I especially love this one for my hands and feet but it works great on arms and legs too. If you have any of your mixture left you can store it in an airtight container for about a week.

Have a great weekend!

Talk About It - (seed) Body Care

I'm so lucky to have found the perfect winter hand treatment and now I'm here to share it with you. Before the company so kindly sent me these products to try, my hands were looking more like old, cracked, dried out leather than healthy looking 24 year old mitts. I live in a very cold and harsh climate during the winter and my hands are always the ones who pay the price.

(seed) body care was started by a husband and wife team who discovered the dangers lurking in everyday products while trying to start a family. Detoxing their household and personal care routines meant getting rid of anything with questionable chemicals listed in the ingredients. As many of you know, the road to a greener and healthier life can often times be confusing, so they embarked on a journey to find new brands, some of which they liked and others they did not. Using his love for wine they started developing a line of products made with natural byproducts of the winemaking process. (seed) was born after a microbiologist confirmed the benefits of grape seeds.

(seed) Therapeutic Hand Scrub and Healthy Hand Cream have made a huge difference in the health of my hands and they are 100% natural and highly effective. In fact, I've never found a better scrub or cream for my skin. Their products are all paraben, gluten, dairy, phthalate, and cruelty free. They also never use artificial colors or fragrance, which means their products are completely safe and healthy.

 
Their Therapeutic Hand Scrub is a superb gentle exfoliator that helps get rid of dead skin cells while prepping the skin for hydration. Since the scrub has Grape seed oil and Shea butter it also helps condition the skin. It also contains coconut oil, apricot seed powder, grape seed powder, safflower oil, aloe vera, soybean oil, and pink grapefruit. The grapefruit gives it a very light, inoffensive citrus scent. You can use this scrub on wet or dry skin, but I prefer to use it on damp hands. It leaves hands feeling softer and smoother while looking brighter right away. It never irritates skin and is the perfect first step in maintaining healthy hands. I use this twice a week.

(seed) Healthy Hand Cream has an amazing ingredient list featuring Grape seed oil, vitamin E, Sunflower seed oil, Jojoba oil, Shea butter, coconut oil and other natural ingredients. They are high in essential fatty acids and antioxidants. I'm very picky when it comes to lotions and creams and this cream intensely moisturizes without feeling greasy, it's truly wonderful. My skin drinks it in almost instantly and lasts for hours and hours. I especially love to put it on at bedtime because I wake up with soft, younger looking hands. It's very soothing and makes my hands feel instantaneously better and keeps them nourished all day. I have the Simply Fragrance Free version but they also offer this formula in Invigorating Citrus and Relaxing Lavender. A small amount of this hand cream goes a very long way.

(seed) products can be found at Whole Foods, Harris Teeter, Wegmans, Hannaford, Drugstore.com, Kinney Drugs and http://seed.alice.com. You can learn more online at http://seedbodycare.com.

(FTC: These products were so generously provided to me for review consideration by the company. I am not being compensated to write this review. All thought and opinions, as always, are my own and honest.)

Talk About It - J.R. Watkins

Hi beautiful! Today's Talk About It is a long overdue review of an awesome, affordable, and accessible company you may or may not be familiar with. J.R. Watkins has been around for over 140 years (the company was founded in 1868) and they create and sell personal and home care products in addition to remedies for common ailments and cooking supplements like spices, oils, seasonings, sauce mixes, and extracts. Everything they produce is made with the highest quality natural ingredients.

J.R. Watkins was the very first natural apothecary and product maker. He pioneered the natural lifestyle that is gaining popularity in America today. The company started when J.R. created his original product, Natural Pain Relieving Liniment, in his kitchen, which he sold door to door in Minnesota. Mr. Watkins was far ahead of his time and extremely innovative. He even offered the very first money back guarantee. Now the company has grown to have a catalogue of around 400 products, all created using the same standards that Watkins strived for.

The company's line of personal care products is made up of natural and eco-friendly ingredients that come from renewable and sustainable sources. You'll never find any of the scary stuff like parabens, sulfates, phthalates or the rest of the bad beauty product additives in their offerings. They are even certified by the Natural Products Association. The packaging of their products is recyclable and they never test their formulations on our furry friends.

I love their spices (I have many in my cupboard) and cleaning solutions but today is all about their personal care products. I was so fortunate to be able to try several things and there is not a single product that I dislike in the bunch. First up is the Sugar and Shea Body Scrub in Coconut Milk and Honey – it smells so delicious! This 100% natural formula leaves my body feeling hydrated, supple, and radiant by buffing all of my dead skin cells off while conditioning the skin. I love using it in the shower. It's gentle yet effective and I just adore it. I feel as though I can't stop touching my arms and legs after exfoliating with this yummy scrub.



After exfoliating I have a compulsion to moisturize to really lock in my new found hydration and their Hand and Body Lotion in Vanilla is just perfect. I use it daily, not just after exfoliating, because it's extraordinarily moisturizing while being neither too thick nor too thin. It's the perfect consistency and it leaves me feeling comfortable in my own skin. The vanilla scent is divine - it smells like a tasty cupcake covered in butter cream!



Speaking of cupcakes they make a wonderful Shea Butter Hand Cream that comes in several scents. I got to try out the Lemon Cream (which smells like a lemon cake!) and Mango. Their hand cream formula is rich and thick! It works hard to moisturize and refresh dry hands. It's also wonderful for the feet. The scents of both are great, but they do linger for hours and are very strong so if you're sensitive to smells you might want to skip these.



Another product that I use (almost) nightly is the Lavender Body Oil. I add a little to my warm, nightly bath and soak. My skin absorbs all of the oil and the scent helps me get ready for bed. Lavender is my signal that it's time to settle down and relax. It's a very simple, straight-forward yet fabulous product. A little goes a very long way! You can use body oil in a multitude of ways but I like using it in the tub.



Last but certainly not least are the lip products I got to try. I received two of their Lip Tints in Strike-A-Rose and Stardust. I like these a lot! They're minty, hydrating, shimmery, and tinted. Strike-A-Rose is a fairly pigmented, cool pink and Stardust is a really pretty champagne/clear shimmer. I've gotten more use out of the rose shade but I like both. They go on smoothly and last a long time on the lips too. They have very finely milled shimmer so it doesn't look like you've piled a bunch of glitter on your pout.


The other lip products I tried came in a set called the Lil' Lip Combo Pack. This set came in a little plastic, zippered pouch stuffed with 4 balms - two Weatherproofing Lip Balms in Raspberry and the Natural Beeswax Lip Balm in both stick and tin form. The Weatherproofing Lip Balm is yummy smelling. It's also perfect for the harsh winter months because it forms a moisturizer barrier against the elements. It's not sticky or too thick. It's a great balm but so is their Natural Beeswax version. The Natural Beeswax Lip Balm is packed full of refreshing peppermint scent and flavor. It's also got tons of beneficial ingredients to keep lips soft, full, and hydrated. It definitely helps chase away the chap.

You can check out and purchase these and other great J.R. Watkins products on their website by clicking here. I know they sell their products at my local Fred Meyer and Rite-Aid so check in stores near you to find out if they're available locally. You can even join their Clear Conscious Club to discover members only benefits like discounts, news, tips and advice, and exclusive updates.

(FTC: These products were so generously provided to me for review consideration by the company. I am not being compensated to write this review. All thoughts and opinions, as always, are my own and honest.)

Lingering nail color? No problem!

I know I've posted a lot about the power of lemons in the past, and today's post is no stranger to the yellow citrus fruit that I love so much! In the Spring and Summer I never go bare – nail wise that is. I always have to have a bright, fun color on my toes and fingers. If you're like me, you may notice that sometimes bright, or even dark nail polishes can stain the surface of the nail and leave a not so pretty mess behind.

Well, lemons are the easy fix for stains. All you have to do is cut a lemon in half and stick your nails in it for 5 minutes. This trick will help brighten your nails instantly, leaving you with a stain free natural nail! Easy, huh? Now you can feel free to experiment with stubborn colors this upcoming season!