Archive for the 'Beauty Products' Category

Recently, I wrote about  natural beauty products…and about my love for one particular little company that makes the most delicious of bodily confections. And you are going to be so excited at what I am about to tell you

We’re doing a Prairieland Herbs giveaway! Weeeeeeeee!

You can see the yummy giveaway goodness in the photo above:

• Lavender Vanilla Soap: their soap is AMAZING. I would tell you all my favorite “flavors, but it’s pretty much all of them. If you’ve been looking for an alternative to traditional shampoo…they have fantastic shampoo bars. Basically, if you’re a handmade soap lover, you just can’t go wrong.
• Summerberry Lotion Bar: have you ever been jumping out of the shower in the morning and wished that you had a really quick way to put on lotion without getting your hands greasy?! I used to wish that…and then I found these lotion bars. Just grab it, swipe it on, and go!). I love the summerberry, but they’re all great.
• Lavender and Vanilla solid perfume: most perfumes have all kinds of nastiness in them…I love that these are full of goodness. Their patchouli solid perfume is delightful as well!
• Berry Cheek Gloss: This is one of my long-time favorites…because it can be used for both cheek color and lip color. Anytime I can combine one product for two uses…I’m for it! Good stuff.

Prairieland Herbs is a mother-daughter team, Donna Julseth and Maggie Julseth Howe. Here is a little more about their fantastic company…in their own words:

We started Prairieland Herbs as an official, full-time business in September, 1998. In July, 1999 we moved into the renovated shop you see here. We did all the renovations ourselves, except for the electrical work, drywall and pouring the concrete. We figure it’s one of the few buildings in central Iowa built almost entirely by female labor??

We have almost 2 acres of land, which is filled by Donna’s house, various outbuildings, and gardens everywhere. We grow a wide variety of perennial and annual herbs and flowers, and spend our summers planting, mulching, harvesting, and drying herbs and flowers for use in our herbally infused oils and other herbal preparations, as well as dried flowers bouquets and wreaths.

We create, bottle, label, package and ship your orders entirely by hand, ourselves. All our herbal products are made in small batches, using fresh, natural, food-grade ingredients (except the fragrance oils). Our kitchen is filled with bags of herbs, bottles of oils, jars of honey, buckets of oatmeal, salts, sugars, and much more – simple raw ingredients that are recognizable and understandable – no scary synthetics, preservatives, or petroleum by-products.When you place an order with us, chances are we will make up your product on the very day we ship it. Freshness, quality, and customer service are what sets us apart from the rest.

Seriously…how cool is it that they will “make up your product on the day they ship it”?! Yum. And even better…right now (through the end of August), they are running a $5 flat rate shipping special. AND…if you mention my blog, they will include extra samples of their other products in your order. So take advantage of that too! They also have natural baby products and pet products as well…so be sure to browse around their site and check it all out.

I’ve been using their products for 5 years and I LOVE it all. I’m so excited to be able to spread the love. I have personally been to their adorable little farm and store IN PERSON…and it’s wonderful Donna and Maggie are just as fabulous as their products.

To enter your name into the drawing…simply leave a comment below and answer one (or both) of the following questions:

1. What was your favorite movie of the summer?
2. What was your favorite book of the summer?

I always love hearing what other people are watching/reading…so this should be fun I will randomly choose the winner on September 4, so you have until midnight on September 3 to enter.

Your skin is an organ. It sucks up every little bit of lotion and lather you put on it…and it goes straight into your blood stream. For those of you who haven’t made the change to “healthy” soaps, lotions, lip balms, etc…please re-think your choice. I just cannot urge you enough to make these changes! It might be hard to switch out an item you’ve been using since Jr. High…but you just can’t afford to continue using these products. Why? The U.S. has a beauty industry that is largely unregulated. Don’t believe it? Check out “Not Just a Pretty Face” by Stacy Malkan. Here is a snippet from the book:

Lead in lipstick? 1,4 dioxane in baby soap? Coal tar in shampoo? How is this possible?Simple. The $35 billion cosmetics industry is so powerful that they’ve kept themselves unregulated for decades.Not one cosmetic product has to be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration before hitting the market. Incredible? Consider this:

• The European Union has banned more than 1,100 chemicals from cosmetics. The United States has banned just 10.
• Only 11% of chemicals used in cosmetics in the US have been assessed for health and safety – leaving a staggering 89% with unknown or undisclosed effects.
• More than 70% of all personal care products may contain phthalates, which are linked to birth defects and infertility.
• Many baby soaps are contaminated with the cancer-causing chemical 1,4 dioxane.

Go to Skin Deep before you purchase anything. Don’t assume that just because it’s on the shelf at the Target and it has a really cool “organic looking” package that it’s good for you and your children. Packaging is meant to be mesmerizing…they want you to buy their products. But don’t be fooled. Be a label reader! Look past the pretty bottle and really examine what you are buying.

I was looking for something tonight on the site and came across a few of these “favorites”. They might not be your favorites after you read on…

Bath and Body Works Cucumber Melon Anti-Bacterial Soap

Suave Men’s Shampoo

Blixtex Lip Balm

Johnson & Johnson Baby Shampoo

Do your research and choose items that have very few ingredients and that you can pronounce. That will narrow it down to just a few lines of products…so now your choices are much easier! Go for Aubrey Organics, or a line of locally homemade items (one of my favorites is Prairieland Herbs…check out their Cheek Gloss!). Better yet…learn how to make your own products and you’ll save money too!

Photo credit: Auntie P/Flickr Creative Commons