Face wash!

Hello beautifuls!  I hope you’re not facing the insufferable humidity that I currently am.  Straightening my hair today would be futile, given the fact that it would double quadruple in size within five minutes of me stepping outside.

As a quick update, I’ve added a new page that discusses the toxic ingredients that appear in many of our body products.  Right now, there are 25 ingredients listed; I will try to get the full 100-ingredient list up and running as soon as possible.

Anyway, today I’d like to discuss my recent experience with a new-to-me face wash.

I usually use Origins Checks and Balances face wash.  For some reason it works perfectly with my combination skin and I haven’t found anything else I like as much, but I spotted samples of Jurlique‘s Balancing Foaming Cleanser and grabbed a few from the spokesperson.

I was impressed by what’s in this cleanser!  It has a ton of plant ingredients and the fragrance is naturally derived (read a brief article about the dangers of fragrances in products here!) Since this product was not listed on the Cosmetics Database, I checked unfamiliar ingredients individually.  The first four ingredients (after water) are mostly low hazard, except for one – - which was medium hazard.  Other ingredients that I checked were all low hazard.

Ingredients: Aqua (Water); Decyl Polyglucoside; Cocamidopropyl Betaine; Sodium Cocoyl Sarcosinate; Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate; Glycerin; Chamomilla recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract; Calendula officinalis Flower Extract; Althaea officinalis (Marshmallow) Root Extract; Vitis vinifera (Grape Seed) Seed Extract; Camellia sinensis (Green Tea) Leaf Extract; Hamamelis virginiana (Witch Hazel) Extract; Rosa gallica Flower Extract; Bellis perennis (Daisy) Flower Extract; Prunella vulgaris (Self Heal) Flower Extract; Viola odorata (Violet) Extract; Curcuma longa (Turmeric) Root Extract; Spilanthes acmella Flower Extract; Honey; Lactic Acid; Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein; Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride; Fragrance (Parfum)*; Aloe barbadensis Leaf Extract; Alcohol; Sodium Chloride; Totarol; Citral*; Limonene*.
* From Natural Essential Oil (Grapefruit – Citrus grandis; Lemon – Citrus medica limonum; Lemon Myrtle – Backhousia citriodora; Peppermint – Mentha piperita)

What I thought: I LOVED it!  The product was liquidy but quickly foamed when I rubbed my hands together.  It was a thick, rich and bubbly foam that literally felt velvety when I put it on my face.  Also, I adored the smell.  It was bright, fresh and citrusy, tangy and sweet, and among the most delicious-smelling things I’ve ever put on my face.

Freshly squeezed...

Foamy!

When I got out of the shower, I felt like my skin had a radiant glow.  The oil was gone, but it didn’t feel dry.  Several hours later there was still no sign of oil, which is the real test (any product can get rid of oil for 5 minutes).  Imperfections on the skin seemed toned down.

The Bottom Line: A delicious, fabulous, foamy face wash!  I absolutely give it five out of five stars.  Only drawback: the $40 price tag.

What’s your favorite face wash?  Have you tried any Jurlique products?  How important are ingredients to you?

Ciao!

Girl brushes teeth, provides feedback

This morning, I woke up early, thinking to myself, I really, really have to study for my chemistry exam. So what did I do?

Tested toothpaste, of course!

A few weeks ago, I picked up this sample of Kiss My Face’s whitening toothpaste with organic aloe vera gel.  I attempted to take a picture of the ingredients, but it came out blurry, so here they are:

Sorbitol, glycerin, hydrated silica, aqua, xylitol, aloe barbadensis leaf extract [organic], cetraria islandica (Iceland moss) extract, olea europaea (olive) leaf extract, melaleuca alternifolia (tea tree) leaf oil, stevia rebaudina extract, flavor, mentha piperita (peppermint) oil, methol, ammonium glycyrrhizate (licorice), xanthan gum, sodium methyl cocoyl taurate, sodium lauroyl sarcosinate, chlorophyllin-copper comples, potassium sorbate.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t know what the hell some of that is, so I visited Skin Deep: Cosmetic Safety Reviews for enlightenment.

What Kiss My Face says: “This product contains no SLS, artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, or animal ingredients and was not tested on animals.”

What Skin Deep says: NOTHING! The Cosmetics Database had an assessment of the old formula only, but I thought it might be useful anyway since the old formula had a lot of the same ingredients.  The old formula version of this toothpaste scored a 2 hazard level – out of 10, with only 7% of tooth whiteners having lower concerns.  Not bad, Kiss My Face!

So what do I say?

It looked exactly like aloe vera gel.  I liked that it tasted good and left my teeth feeling polished and looking white even though I’d just finished a cup of coffee.

However, it didn’t foam much – at all, and so when I finished brushing my teeth my whole mouth didn’t feel minty, which I think is important.

Where's the foam???

I wouldn’t switch from my current toothpaste, but it wasn’t bad.  Three out of five.  I’ll update you on the whitening after I brush a few more times with it.

So anyway, the below, NOT fake tanning, is the REAL reason for my skin’s slightly orange tint:Yellow, red, and orange bell peppers, a sweet potato, an orange, and edamame.Charming! [Yes, I painted my nails between these pictures.]

What’s your favorite natural toothpaste?

GoRaw Bar, Go Spain!

Okay.  First of all, Spain just beat Portugal in soccer, and I’m SOOOOOO happy! Although I’ll miss Cristiano Renaldo’s pretty face, Spain is my absolute favorite team (I’m Spanish).  What a great way to boost my mood before three and a half hours of chemistry!

Anyway, on to food.

Last night, I tried my second Go Raw, the first being their raw granola bar (which was delicious). I like that these bars have roughly five ingredients each – in this case, it was sprouted organic flax seeds, organic apricot, organic raisins, organic date, and organic lime juice.  I also like the crunch of the raw granola bar, so I was expecting to enjoy the texture of this one as well, despite it feeling more chewy through the wrapper.

Unfortunately, “more chewy” is an understatement.  I felt like I was eating leather.  I break my bars rather than bite into them, and I don’t like having to strain to do so.  It was kind of like ripping through a deck of cards, which everybody knows is impossible unless you’re David Blaine.  Also, I was expecting a bit more sweetness, considering it has 21 grams of sugar, although although granted it all comes from the fruit rather than added sweetener.

Conclusion: Live Granola Bar = delicious; Real Live Flax Bar = not so much – although if you enjoy super-chewy foods, give it a try.  You can slightly taste the apricot, though nowhere near as much as in the apricot Clif bars (one of my favorites, which I recommend if you haven’t tried it already).

Fortunately, my evening snack also included this:

Never-fail steel-cut oats made with soymilk, blackberries, and a glob of Trader Joe’s unsalted creamy peanut butter.  A delicious way to end the day.

Anyway, if you’re a Spain fan and/or of Spanish descent, go out and celebrate, and to everyone, have a beautiful day!

Hello!

Hello!  Welcome to my blog…I guess introductions are in order.

My name is Kati – it’s the same as Katie but back in the day (7th grade) it seemed more avant-garde without the -e.  I’m a 20-year-old student at Loyola University in Chicago, and I recently transferred into the nursing program, which I’ll be starting as a sophomore (although technically I should be a junior…c’est la vie, what’s another $40,000?) (Just kidding…it’s a lot) in the fall.  Loyola is the THIRD college that I’ve attended, and I absolutely love it.

My intention in creating this blog is to share my experiences with natural foods and beauty products with the rest of the blogging community, as well as with anyone else who happens to stumble across it.  I am VERY passionate about all things natural and try to live a lifestyle that is healthful both for myself and for the earth.  I will share my thoughts on new foods and beauty products, as well as old favorites (basically means there were no free samples at Whole Foods on my last visit).  I don’t plan to write about exclusively natural products, although that will be the majority of what you see here – but you will NEVER see a beauty product on my blog that is not cruelty-free.  I am strongly against animal testing and refuse to support companies that endorse or conduct it.

So anyway.  That’s the overall story of what’s to come with the blog – hence the name Beauty and a Feast.  Obviously the “beauty” portion pertains to the beauty products and the “feast” portion pertains to food.  I’ll warn you ahead of time that I am a lot more adventurous about what goes ON my body than I am about what goes in it…but expect to see a lot of each type of post.  I’ll also warn you, however, that I am taking both organic chem AND biology – in summer, no less – and my posts will probably not have any sort of regularity at all, nor will they be as abundant as I would like.  Fortunately, classes will be over mid-August!

I’m super-excited that you’ve visited my blog, and I hope you’ll be back!!

-Kati

PS. Ignore my totally irrelevant background.  I have no idea what I’m doing when it comes to anything on a computer.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.