Review: Juice Organics Brightening Moisturizer

I've had a mental block with this moisturizer. I've been meaning to review it for days, if not weeks. And yet, I haven't been able to come up with anything insightful to say so I kept putting it off thinking I would be inspired by something - but perhaps that's the real problem with this moisturizer. It is just kind of blah.

I picked this up from Target for $14.99 at the same time as I picked up the Juice Organics Brightening Cleanser. I've been using it on and off ever since, but it is not inspiring me at all. It has the consistency of a lotion, which is fine for daytime (if it had an SPF in it, that is, which it doesn't) but for nighttime, I tend to want more of a cream. I want to at least believe that my nighttime moisturizer is doing something special, even if it isn't really. This is too thin for me to believe that. It is in a pump container, which is a good thing as keeping the air out means potentially having to use fewer preservatives and anti-bacterials. But one pump leaves me wanting more moisturizing (especially around my eyes), and two pumps leaves me feeling like I'm drowning in the stuff. The scent is nothing to write home about, slightly orangey/appley but it's the type of smell you get if you've left the juice sitting around just a tad too long, so there's something mildly unsettling about it. There's a hint of stickiness once it's on your face, which isn't necessarily what I want either.

It's not bad, but it's not special either. Two and a half stars. It might work more on someone with oilier skin than mine, who just needs a light dose of moisturizing at night.

Review: Pacifica Tibetan Mountain Temple soap

Oh, I wanted to love the Tibetan Mountain Temple soap from Pacifica so much. The perfume is my current favorite of their range. It has notes of vetiver, patchouli, ginger and orange, but on my skin the orange comes through loud and clear, tempered by just a hint of ginger and incense. I find it lovely and refreshing on a hot summer day when you want something that will cut through heat and humidity - there's something so uplifting and head-clearing about a good citrus scent.

So when my trusty French Lilac soap ran out, I was very keen to try the Tibetan Mountain Temple soap. Unfortunately, it isn't wowing me. The soap bar itself is more of a translucent glycerin soap, whereas the French Lilac is a creamy, opaque soap. The Tibetan Mountain Temple doesn't lather nearly as well as the French Lilac, and it doesn't feel like my skin is as moisturized. That could all be completely in my head, of course, as it's not like I've had to add a moisturizer on top so it's clearly not drying my skin out. But it's not feeling quite so luxurious either. I have a feeling that this soap may be a bit longer lasting than the French Lilac, just because not so much of it is lathering up each time I use it. The scent is also not quite as good as the perfume, to my nose at least. I keep detecting a hint of coal tar soap, even though there probably isn't any in there, but one of the notes has turned slightly astringent in the soap. I suppose it seems a bit more manly than the perfume, which I regard as a soft unisex scent. I would love to smell both on a man to see how they compare.

3 stars

Synthetic Ingredients to avoid

I have a great little booklet called "Natural Ingredients Dictionary" by Aubrey Hamilton of Aubrey Organics.  You can look up a bunch of ingredients that are present in food, cosmetics and personal care products and find out about them.  At the back it also has a very handy little reference guide called "Ten Synthetic Cosmetic Ingredients to Avoid" which I'm going to paraphrase from because I find it useful.

1. Parabens - Methylparaben, propylparaben, butylparaben and ethylparaben

These are preservatives which extend product shelf lives and inhibit microbial growth.  They are hormone disruptors and many people can have allergic skin reactions to them. Not to mention that they are known to be toxic.

2. Diethanolamine (DEA), Triethanolamine (TEA)

These are emulsifiers and/or foaming agents. They can cause allergic reactions, eye irritations and dryness, and can also be toxic. 

3. Diazolidinyl urea, Imidazolidinyl urea

More preservatives. These have been shown to be a primary cause of contact dermatitis and can release formaldehyde, which is toxic.

4. Sodium lauryl sulfate, Sodium laureth sulfate

A cheap, harsh detergent used for its cleansing and foam-building properties.  Can cause skin irritations and allergic reactions.

5. Petrolatum

Also known as petroleum jelly. This is a cheap mineral oil that is supposed to be moisturizing but it can interfere with the body's own natural moisturizing mechanism leading to more of the problem it is supposed to help with.

6. Polyethylene glycol (PEG), Polypropylene glycol (PPG)

These are synthetic petrochemicals used as humectants (moisturizers). They have been known to cause skin irritations. They are somewhat similar to propylene glycol which actually may be OK if it is formed from a vegetable glycerin mixed with grain alcohol - so check to make sure you are getting a product from natural ingredients if propylene glycol is listed, otherwise avoid it to be safe.

7. PVP/PVA Copolymer

An oil- derived chemical used in hairsprays, styling aids and other cosmetics which is toxic when inhaled.

8. Stearalkonium Chloride

Originally developed as a cheap fabric softener, this is now used in hair conditioning formulas. It can cause allergic reactions and is toxic.

9. Synthetic Colors

These may be labeled FD&C or D&C followed by a color then a number. Many synthetic colors can be carcinogenic.

10. Synthetic Fragrances

Some of the fragrances can contain over 200 chemicals and there is no way of knowing what is in them because it will simply list "fragrance". Problems caused include headaches, dizziness, rash, hyperpigmentation, vomiting, skin irritation, etc.

Personally, I don't worry so much about synthetic fragrances. Some of my favorite products, such as Pacifica soaps and perfumes, contain synthetic fragrances. I just hope that by using a company that is reputable, they will have taken care to ensure that the bad guys are left out.  I guess we'll see if I'm just a fool or not.

I'd also add to the list:

11. Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone

These are preservatives that are cropping up in products I strongly suspect are greenwashing us just so they can advertise "no parabens". They seem to be implicated in neurotoxicity and allergic reactions.

Review: JASON Vitamin E with A & C Shampoo & Conditioner

By Stephanie

After the Frugalista’s review of the Desert Essences Organics shampoo (which I also tried and hated) I wanted to review a product that has really worked for me.

I was nervous to invest any money in something else. Standing in front of the shampoos and conditioners at Whole Foods, I was totally overwhelmed. Sometimes, they say “paraben free” or “sulfate free”. That I understand. But, some of them were saying “grapefruit extract free” or “gluten free”. Since when are grapefruits evil? And, being gluten sensitive, I still wonder if shampooing my hair with it would matter in the least. Maybe I’m just missing something.

So, then I saw Jason. The bottles aren’t flashy or even particularly inviting. But, when I flipped the bottle, I saw great ingredients. Also, this particular formula of their shampoo gives a nod to the idea that hair that needs body still needs moisture. As a fine haired girl who is totally chemically dependant for my haircolor, I appreciate this.

So, I bring it home and use it the first time. Instead of getting that “dry shampoo” feeling that I get from a lot of natural shampoos, it actually lathers! And, it makes my scalp and hair feel clean without feeling stripped. The scent is clean and green- not like anything in particular. The conditioner is thick without being too thick and oily and rinses nice and clean as well.

My hair feels "bodified" from the active ingredients (which are vitamins and proteins) but, not weighed down from any natural oils they put in the product.

For about $8.00 a bottle it’s a good deal ($6.59 online). I can’t give it 5 stars because that would be for a perfect product. For me, a perfect product would have an amazing smell, too. This one doesn’t. I guess it’s too much to ask for this product to be infused with the great scent of the Desert Essences Organics line. Ah well, 4 stars it is.

Taking steps to make your home more energy efficient

I just spent a very nice hour with some energy efficiency guys that came over to discuss what next steps I should be taking to make my home more energy efficient and treehugger-y. It was quite an enlightening experience!

But first things first. They said that absolutely the first steps you should take are:

1. Buy CFL (or LED) bulbs and replace your incandescent bulbs.
2. Buy power strips and put your electronics on the power strip and turn it off when you are not using it. Or, you know, unplug them. No more "standby" mode sucking power constantly.

The green frugalista has already done both of those. The TV/DVD and the wireless internet thingie are both hooked up to power strips that go off when not in use. Most of the bulbs are already CFL, although I have some recessed lighting in the kitchen that I had not switched because I didn't see any similar bulbs for sale. The energy guys assured me that I would be able to find them if I looked, so that is my next mission.

Both of these are cheap steps, so if you haven't done anything because you are paralyzed with indecision or think that things will be expensive, that's where you should concentrate your first efforts. There are also "usage" steps where you don't need to buy anything, you just need to use things less/more efficiently - like using cold water to do laundry, not using the dryer on a sunny day but instead hanging your clothes to dry, turning the thermostat up (or down, depending on the season) a degree or two. I also try to do as many of these as possible.

The next step up has been stumping me for a long time, though. Being frugal, I want bang for my buck. I don't want to spend a lot of money on a solar power system only to have it not save me much in terms of electricity usage. So I was never sure whether to replace the windows, put more insulation in the attic, have a solar or tankless hot water heater, have the a/c unit upgraded or what.

And what I found out was that the answer of what the next step should be depends completely on your home type, your household and where you live (as in, do you live in a hot or cold climate and need more cooling than heating or vice versa). No wonder I was confused, as I kept coming across seemingly contradictory advice because the advice varies so much. So the answer is...the next step is to:

3. Get some energy guys in, and have them check out and audit your home and your energy usage. You can either get your power company to come and do an audit, or a separate green energy consultancy/contractor. Get out your old power bills, and sit down and talk with them about your usage. It is either free or quite low cost to have someone come out.

Surprisingly, my next steps as recommended by my energy guys are not what I thought they would be. I am already frugal on the hot water front (cold water is now my laundry friend) so a solar water heater or tankless heater would not bring me large savings. It would be different if I had a larger family with hot showers being constantly taken and a bazillion loads of laundry being done a week. Similarly, my windows are fairly new and would cost far more to upgrade than I would save. However, because I live in a hot part of the world, my biggest costs and energy usage goes to air conditioning, so that's where we need to focus our effort, mainly in insulation and duct work improvements.

So my next steps (remember - your mileage may vary) involve:
4. Installing a UV-blocking film on one or two of the windows that need it and don't already have it. The energy guys recommended doing this myself, using a kit I can pick up from Home Depot or somewhere similar. I'd already done the south facing windows but they said to do west facing windows too.
5. Having the power company come and check for a/c duct work and window leaks. Have the leaks sealed. The power company will come and do this check for a mere $35. Window leaks can be sealed by the homeowner cheaply, using a sealant you can pick up at most hardware/DIY stores. For the ductwork I'll need to get an a/c company in and it might cost a few hundred dollars.
6. After the ductwork is nicely sealed, install more insulation, on the underside of the roof (I already have it on the floor of the attic, but as the a/c ducts run above that insulation, the energy guys recommended having insulation added above the duct work so that the ducts aren't sitting in a hot attic). They recommended Icynene which will be a few thousand but hopefully will have a quick payback in terms of lower cooling costs.
7. Think about solar power. Eek! This may be more than the green frugalista's budget can stand, but the energy guys are going to look into costs and financing. In fact, they said they could work out an entire 10-year plan for me on what I should be thinking about doing, and when, based on the age of the a/c system and windows and all that jazz. So I told them to knock themselves out with a plan and we'll go from there - hey, I figure even just having a plan is going to be valuable, either for myself or for the next owner.

I hope this helps someone out there. I'm pretty pleased I had these guys come out, as now I am not left flopping about with indecision. Get some energy guys! I found mine by Googling.

Review: Desert Essence Organics Italian Red Grape Shampoo

I've wondered since starting this blog how fair it will be to do reviews of products that I really don't like. After all, just because I don't like something doesn't mean that you won't. For your hair, or skin, or body, or whatever, a product may be perfect even though it isn't for my hair, or skin, or body. But then I thought I should bite the bullet because maybe it'll help you save money. Or at least you can buy it knowing that the product might be a bit iffy.

So, Desert Essence Organics - they do some great stuff. I quite like one of their facial cleansers. But this shampoo is horrible. It barely, barely lathers. And I know that that's a good thing with natural products, as there's really no need to have a profusion of bubbles, nor for the chemicals that produce that much froth. But this one lathers so little I can't even spread the product around my hair. I find that I have one little patch of shampoo on my head and I can't seem to get it to the rest of my hair. So I end up working it around for a long time, just getting frustrated. And it's not a thick shampoo by any means - it's quite runny, in fact, so you'd think it would be easy to spread around.

It doesn't leave my hair feeling nice. In fact, on days when I used this and the matching conditioner at the same time, I was left with basically straw on my head. Now, I do need a lot of moisturizing on my hair, so perhaps this was not the best product to pick up as it doesn't really promise to be very moisturizing. But still.

I have had this shampoo for forever. I am not one to throw away products that don't work for me, as that seems like a waste. Instead, I will keep them in rotation but only use them once a week or so. This one was so horrible that I had to force myself to use it once every few weeks. And it still never grew on me. I hated to look at it sitting in the bathroom because I knew I'd have to keep using it and that made me shudder. I finally finished the bottle today, and lo, there was great rejoicing in the house that I will never have to use it again.

I'll give it one star for being organic and not super expensive - that's about the best I can say of it. It's about $8.99 a bottle.

I'm interested if anyone out there does love it, though. So if you use it and like it, please comment!

Review: Alba Fragrance Free Mineral Sunscreen

I have tried a lot of non-chemically based mineral sunscreens. A lot. And most of them leave something to be desired, quite frankly. They feel greasy, or they don't rub in, or they separate in the tube into a sludge-y portion and a greasy portion. Not terribly pleasant.

The reason I was trying all these sunscreens is that first of all it freaks me out a bit to put a chemical sunscreen on my skin. A review of the Skin Deep investigation into sunscreens is posted here. I need some sun protection because I'm pasty, freckly and live in a sunny place, so it's something I use every day - either just on my face or on my arms as well. And I treated myself to a facial the other year and the facialist told me that chemical sunscreens were clogging my pores and causing breakouts. So I set myself a mission to find a good non-chemical sunscreen. I didn't realize how long of a mission it was going to be. Some things that are reviewed as being safe I just can't find in my local stores. Some are expensive, although I've tried some of those too. Some just don't perform well.

And then came Alba Botanica's mineral sunscreen. I've read one review of this which was not positive. The user claimed it dried her skin out and was hard to rub in. Well, yes, it's hard to rub in. It's a mineral sunscreen - they're all hard to rub in. Maybe having come from a year of testing out absolutely awful mineral sunscreens, I feel differently about things. But you have to come to this expecting that it's going to take a while to rub in - the point of a mineral sunscreen is that it contains particles that block the sun from getting to your skin. So you've got to spread those particles around and it's going to take a little while for you not to have a thick white coating on you. But at least it does all disappear after a short time. Think of a surfer dude with his nose completely covered in brightly colored sunblock and thank your lucky stars that you won't look like that. That's where I'm coming from, not from the point of view that it should be an instant sinking in like it's some super-expensive facial moisturizer.

The Alba sunscreen sinks in well, after some rubbing but not too much rubbing. It doesn't smell much of anything - it's fragrance free, after all, although there is a slight metallic tang to it. It hasn't separated in the tube, and I've had mine quite some months now. It doesn't feel greasy on the skin or in any way nasty. Your skin has a slightly powdery sheen to it after you first put it on - I guess that's the sun reflecting off the particles of titanium dioxide. But it feels soft, so it's quite pleasant. And, importantly, it works. I was initially hesitant to buy this, as it's only SPF 18, and normally I try to get SPF 30 or higher. But I haven't burned yet while I've been out gardening or doing whatever in the hot Florida sun while I have this sunscreen on - OK, so I haven't been laying out on the beach for hours at a time, but for general usage it hasn't let me down yet. And that's more than can be said for some sunscreens which sport a higher SPF on the label.

I will definitely buy this one again. It retails for about $7.99-$9.99. Four stars.