St. Ives 24-Hour Deep Restoring Body Lotion

St. Ives 24-Hour Deep Restoring
Body Lotion

So I have finally found a moisturiser that I love! It is St. Ives 24-Hour Deep Restoring Body Lotion with almond oil - it actually leaves my skin feeling silky soft and smelling gorgeous.

No, it's not a totally natural product but it uses natural moisturisers like shea butter and almond oil, and doesn't contain phthalates OR parabens! I have ridiculously dry, sensitive skin so it's nice to finally find a lotion I don't react to but still moisturises my skin.

Not everyone is a fan of the scent, so if you're not an almond oil person take a look at the other body lotions by St. Ives - a lot of them are labelled as being "formulated without parabens and phthalates" so read the back of the bottle.

Bourjois

Bourjois Little Round Pot
Turquoise

So I have had alot of people asking me about make-up and which brands are good to use, first of all for lipstick I would take a look at the Lead in Your Lipstick post, but for eye shadow and mascara I recommend Bourjois.

Make-up is not an area that I have done much research in but I have been using Bourjois eye shadows and mascara for a couple of years and really like them. Unfortunately the ingredients are not listed on the packaging but so far all the products that I have seen are labelled as being paraben free including: mascara, eye shadow and lip gloss.

I love these little round pots of eyeshadow, they come in a range of fabulous colours and are just as bright and bold on your eyelids as they look in the pot - they look awesome!

Lead in Your Lipstick

I've read a couple of articles recently about the chemicals in lipsticks, and one ingredient that keeps coming up is lead. Lead is a known neurotoxin, used in lipsticks to give red dyes their hue. Last year the FDA did a survey and reported levels as high as 7 ppm (parts per million) in a number of lipstick brands, and what is the legal limit for candy? 0.1 ppm!

Here are the top 20 lead-containing lipsticks from the FDA 2012 study:

Yes, I'm sad to see that there is a Burt's Bees lip shimmer in there. Unfortunately lead won't be listed on the ingredients label but if you go to safecosmetics.org/ you can see the lead levels from the FDA report. For those who aren't ready to give up their lipstick Wet n' Wild, Bobbi Brown and Shiseido had lead levels less than 1 ppm.

Fatal Attraction

Just found this fabulous infographic about chemicals to watch out for in your cosmetics. Worth a read, there are some chemicals here I wasn't aware of but now will definitely be looking out for!

Created by: CosmetologySchool.org

Alba Botanica

Alba Botanica is a brand that I am loving at the moment. I have recently tried two products in their Natural Hawaiian collection: their 3-in-1 Clean Towelettes and Revitalizing Sea Salt Body Scrub.

The 3-in-1 Towelettes act as:

Alba Botanica
3-in-1 Clean Towelettes

1.  Makeup remover
2. Cleanser
3. Toner

So they leave my face feeling clean, but are also very gentle and don't cause my skin to sting or burn. I'm not a huge fan of the pineapple scent, but that's just personal preference and something I'm willing to compromise on for a product that treats my skin well.

I also tried the Revitalizing Sea Salt Body Scrub. I'm always a little wary of scrubs because sometimes they can leave my already dry sensitive skin feeling more dry and sore, but this left my skin feeling soft and hydrated - perfect!

Alba Botanica  products do not contain: artificial colours, parabens, phthalates, sodium lauryl/laureth sulphates, or sodium methyl sulphates. They also do not test any of their products on animals - this is a brand I would definitely look into. 

In case you want to check out the other products available: www.albabotanica.com/

Burt's Bees Deep Cleansing Cream

Burt's Bees Soap Bark and Chamomile
Deep Cleansing Cream

Burt's Bees impress me every time, I've just started using this cleanser and already love it. As I have mentioned, numerous times, I have very sensitive skin so most face washes and facial wipes cause my face to sting, and even burn. This cleanser makes my skin tingle but this is due to the menthol so it's more of a cooling than a burn. It took a little getting used to but it was nice to know that it wasn't a sting from the chemicals - this cleanser is 100% natural.

This is a product I would definitely recommend!