Fall Musings

Fall Musings

Friday, August 17, 2012

Burt's Bee's Sensitive Skin Cleanser and Daily Moisturizing Cream


As a part of BzzAgent, I was given the ability to sign up for the Burt's Bees Sensitive Solutions Campaign. I was very excited by this as I have sensitive skin that is very red all the time. When my Buzz Kit arrived I was pleasantly surprised by the full size products they sent for me to try. In the package I received:
A full-size Natural Skin Solutions for Sensitive Skin Daily Moisturizer
A full-size Natural Skin Solutions for Sensitive Skin Facial Cleanser
Samples and coupons to pass along!
Skin Daily Moisturizer: This moisturizer is clinically proven to moisturize sensitive skin all day without causing redness or irritation. This day cream is formulated with Cotton Extract to minimize the effects of irritants and to replenish the outer layer of skin to keep it supple. Rice Extract moisturizes and Aloe soothes your skin. This daily moisturizer is perfect for daily usage.
I have been using this for awhile now and it has cut back my bright red face I get throughout the day. I also have dry patches on my forehead yet oily patches on my cheeks and nose. In addition I get cystic acne on my chin with oil. This cream has brought all those problems into check in about a week of daily morning usage. IT seems to me that no matter what skin problems you have this cream will work for you. It is very creamy and goes on smooth and absorbs quickly. You do not need much for your face. I use half of what I use of my gel moisturizer.

Natural Skin Solutions for Sensitive Skin Facial Cleanser: This is a soap-free cleaner that is clinically proven to moisturize skin while cleaning away dirt, oil and makeup without over drying or causing redness or irritation. It is formulated with softening Cotton Extract to minimize the effects of irritants and to replenish the outer layer of skin to keep it supple. Rice Extract moisturizes and Aloe soothes your skin. This cleanser is gentle enough for daily usage on the most sensitive skin.
I used this a few times and felt that this cleanser would not wash off my face and did not get it clean. As it was specifically formulated for sensitive skin that is dry, my skin does not fit the bill. I imagine if you do not have oily skin this cleanser would do wonders for you. I really wanted to like it as it is very gentle.
My over all thoughts on this product line: I will continue to use the cream until it becomes to hot out and need to go back to my light weight gel moisturizer in the next couple of months. I will repurchase the cream in October when it becomes chilly and windy out again. The cleanser is not for me but I have oilies so that does not mean it is a bad product. You need to find what works for your skin and its needs. The night cream would be great for dry skin and needs a deep moisturizing at night.

Sweet Pine Soaps Order Review


I finally got around to purchasing Cold Pressed (CP) soap off Etsy.  I ordered from Sweet Pine Soaps.  TAT was very fast.  I was searching Etsy for unscented organic soap and came across this nice store.  I ordered 3 soaps to try homemade soaps before making a bigger order in case I didn't like them.

It's official!  I will no longer buy store bought soaps, other than the Dove Sensitive Skin soap bars for my husband.  The lather and fragrance is amazing!  I got unscented, Triple Lemon and Orange Grapefruit Clove.  These are all cold pressed.  She also included a small slice of Primrose Orange soap.

The Triple Lemon has three different lemon essential oils in it.  I cut the bar into thirds.  I used it in the shower and it has fantastic lather.  It smells fantastic.  I also used part of the bar as hand soap.

First sniff of Orange Grapefruit Clove is very strong of citrus and spice.

I cut the unscented bar into thirds as well and used it also in the shower on my sensitive skin on my upper arms.  It moisturized my skin greatly and has a very organic scent to it.

Unscented soap ingredients: saponified oils of olive, *coconut, *palm, (sustainably harvested) & *castor; filtered water.
*denotes organic ingredient


Note: 'saponified' is a term to indicate sodium hydroxide (lye) has been used to turn the oils into soap, none left in the finished bar. 

For the triple lemon, the base ingredients are the same, organic turmeric to color it and scent it with lemon, lemongrass & litsea cubeba essential oils.

For the pink grapefruit, the base ingredients are the same, rose clay to color it and scent it with orange, pink grapefruit and clove essential oils.


What soap brands do you prefer? What scents do you like? Leave your answers in the comment section below.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

What is Etsy all about?

Have you ever wonder what Etsy is? You have heard about it but not sure what it really is. Etsy is a mall like website. There are many shops all in one place. What do all the shops have in common? They only sell handmade or vintage items.
Jewelry, lotion, soap, makeup, toys, quilts, beading, art, frames, home decor, candles, fragrance oils, essential oils, clothing, hats, scrap-booking materials, paper items, wedding items, laundry soap
I first heard of Etsy.com on makeupalley.com on the wedding board. They were discussing their headpieces, wedding jewelry and hair clips. I had looked at some links to various etsy.com shops to give opinions for the posters. Being married myself, I didn't really need to browse for myself. I didn't spend much time on the site thinking they only sold items for weddings.
A few months back I started to develop severely sensitive skin and was directed to Etsy on MUA for homemade bath products, soap and shampoo. I searched a bunch of different stores and found that most of them had cute soaps and packaging and fairly decent shipping to Canada. Some places have $15 for the first item and $5 for each additional item which is very high. I would not be willing to pay that amount as there is many many other shops with more reasonable shipping rates. I know that it's more work to ship internationally.
The good thing about Etsy when it comes to bath and body products is that SLSs aren't used and everything is gentle on your skin. Ingredients are either listed or you can ask for them. My skin problems have gone away for the most part since using homemade products.
The jewelry is beautiful and you can see the time and care put into the pieces when you receive them. Many items are one-of-a-kinds or there are very few out there. You know you will have unique pieces.
You are able to contact the seller and do special orders with most sellers. The TAT may be a bit longer if they are having to make it for you specially but you get what you want.
I love to browse and purchase on Etsy.com. There is so much variety and the customer service is fantastic. Take a look yourself. Have fun!

Pogo.com Review


I get easily bored and prefer to play games online where I can collect tokens or stars or something. I found Pogo.com when my husband and I were looking for a new place to play Euchre and Cribbage after we had an issue with Yahoo games. We searched for a free site that offered card games for multiple people.
Want to play free onine games? www.pogo.com is a great site to join. I have been a member of this site for over 6 years. The website has added new games that add to the excitment to this already wonderful free gaming website. Not only can you play games on the website and interact with others, you can also download games as well.
Pogo.com has card games that are both single player and multiplayer. There are many different versions of solitaire. They offer word games and puzzle games. Pogo.com also has Bejeweled and Monopoly and Clue. You can even play Bingo and casino games. You can play multi player games of Euchre, canasta and cribbage. Bingo is an interactive games with others online. You can invite your friends and play all games in game rooms with them and be able to chat while you play.
My favourite games to play are Spider Solitaire, Mahjong Safari and Lottso! Express. Lottso! Express is a game where you get a board and at the top you get balls that have numbers on them. On the board you have numbers and you want to fill the board with corresponding balls. The more you fill the more points you get. The 6x6 gameboard is divided into 6 different 3x2 cards, which some players also call trays. If you fill up one of these 3x2 cards with 6 balls, you will earn a scratcher. Scratchers earn you extra points when you scratch them. You can increase the value of a scratcher by placing balls in the multiplier area next to the scratcher. The scratcher could be increased by placing an 8 and/or a 2 in the multiplier area.The 6x6 gameboard is divided into 6 different 3x2 cards, which some players also call trays. If you fill up one of these 3x2 cards with 6 balls, you will earn a scratcher. Scratchers earn you extra points when you scratch them. You can increase the value of a scratcher by placing balls in the multiplier area next to the scratcher. The scratcher could be increased by placing an 8 and/or a 2 in the multiplier area.
Players score points by placing balls and completing bingos (row, column or diagonal and using all 6 balls in the rack
The 6x6 gameboard is divided into 6 different 3x2 cards, which some players also call trays. If you fill up one of these 3x2 cards with 6 balls, you will earn a scratcher. Scratchers earn you extra points when you scratch them. You can increase the value of a scratcher by placing balls in the multiplier area next to the scratcher. The scratcher could be increased by placing an 8 and/or a 2 in the multiplier area
.
Google+