Naturalla Beauty

A Year of Empties {Part #3: Body Care}

Body care is a big one -- apparently I use a lot of soap! Keep reading for the nitty gritty -- pun intended -- on all the body products I finished up over the course of the last year...

BODY WASH

The Lavera Refreshing Lime & Verbena Body Wash was a good, basic shower gel -- it smelled good and did the job.  I adore the Nourish Organic Moisturizing Cream Body Washes, especially the now discontinued Wild Berries scent.  I have one more hoarded bottle in my shower and then I'll have to reconsider the other scents. I also enjoyed the Honest Co. Sweet Orange Vanilla Shampoo + Body Wash, although I probably won't buy anymore Honest due to all the hoopla surrounding the brand. The Apricot Kiss version also smelled terrible -- like gross, fake honey.  I used it up as laundry detergent -- since there was no way it was getting near my person -- and thankfully the scent did not linger.  I also used a bottle of the BR Naturals Lavender Body Wash, and while the lavender wasn't my favorite, the wash itself was nice, as was the DivaWash Cleanser, a multi-use product that I finished off as a body wash when my Diva Cup ended up sitting mostly unused in a drawer.  

HAND WASH

The Nourish Organic Moisturizing Hand Wash has also been discontinued, but I'm fairly certain it was identical to the body washes, packaging aside.  Both make a great non-drying drying hand soap and the fig scent is a good fruity go-to.  The Everyday Shea Hand Soaps have become my absolute favorite -- dare I say holy grail?  My hands dry out easily, especially in kitchen situations where I'm washing them countless times in a short period of time, and these are the best.  I haven't strayed to another hand wash since discovering them mid-2017.  The Mandarin Mango is my top pick of all the scents I've tried, and while the Lemon Verbena wasn't bad, it mostly smelled like lemongrass to me and isn't one I'm rushing to buy again.

BAR SOAP

I use bar soap in the shower, as a hand soap, and also as an ingredient in my homemade laundry detergent, which explains how I went through so very much of it!!  I’ll continue to purchase longtime favorites like the Green Beaver Castile Sunflower Soap, Rocky Mountain Soap, and Mamma Oceania, all three of which are lovely and palm oil free, but I likely would not buy the BR Naturals Exfoliating Peppermint Leaf or Dr. Jacobs Luscious Lavender Loofah Exfoliating Castile Soap, both because of their palm oil content and the exfoliating bits -- I generally prefer a smooth bar of soap.

CASTILE SOAP

A Dr. Jacobs product that I do love is the Liquid Castile Soap, used here in the Peppermint and Citrus scents.  Dr. Jacobs uses a mix of saponified plant oils -- like traditional castile soap -- and coco-glucoside, a mild surfactant, to create a hybrid soap that's the best of both worlds.  It's ultra-gentle, thick, and foamy. These are great for sorts of uses -- body wash, deep cleaning makeup brushes, laundry, and household cleaning.  

DEODORANT

As a green blogger and, more specifically, after judging the CertClean awards last year, I literally have a shelf of deodorants that I rotate amongst, so it's a wonder I finished up any at all! These are two of my very favorites: the Ursa Major Hoppin’ Fresh Deodorant, which is the only natural deodorant I’ve used that actually mimics the feel and consistency of mainstream deodorants, and the Mabrook & Co. Clean Deodorant, a more ubiquitous coconut oil/baking soda formula, but one that's executed extremely well.  Both are ones I’ll happily continue to use!

BODY MOISTURIZERS

I finished up one body oil, the Sukin Wellbeing Body Oil, which smelled incredible -- Sukin’s signature citrus-vanilla - and moisturizes like a dream, as well as several body butters.  The Duckish Natural Skin Care Unscented Shea Lotion Stick is my favorite for dry, scaly legs in the winter, and I also loved the Nourish Organic Pure Unscented Body Butter, also a victim of Nourish’s mass discontinuations.  The Rocky Mountain Soap Lemongrass Body Butter was nice too, although I definitely prefer the consistency of the Duckish.  Rocky Mountain’s body butters are equally moisturizing, but they're a little heavier on the beeswax and don’t melt into the skin quite as elegantly.  

I stayed loyal to my two favorite hand creams: the Trilogy Ultra Hydrating Hand Cream and the Rocky Mountain Soap Vanilla Mint Hand Cream.  I have another tube of the Trilogy on the go now and although you can’t buy this exact version of the Rocky Mountain anymore, I am curious to try the reformulation that just launched.  I also used up samples of the Gabriel Organics White Seaweed Hand & Body Lotion and the John Masters Organics Lemon & Ginger Hand Cream, both of which were fine, if not standouts.  

OTHER/MISCELLANEOUS

A shaving cream I always come back to is the Kiss My Face Key Lime Moisture Shave.  It’s inexpensive, works great, and a bottle lasts ages.  If I’m not shaving with an otherwise unloved conditioner or other re-purposed product, the Moisture Shave is likely what’s in my shower.  I also really loved the Perk Citrus Mistress Body Scrub.  I'm not sure if Perk is around anymore, but Citrus Mistress was top notch.  Lastly, while I'm not a big user of hand sanitizer, I always keep a bottle of Young Living Thieves Waterless Hand Purifier in my purse for times when I can’t get to a sink.  It does the trick and, although it’s, of course, full of alcohol, it doesn’t seem as drying as many other hand sanitizers.  

That was a long one!  Makeup is still to come over the weekend and more regular content will resume next week.

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