Salubritas All-Natural Deodorant Balm

SalubritasTM All-Natural Deodorant Balm

Hopefully we’ve all heard by now the warnings about using an antiperspirant/deodorant with aluminum in it, as it may be connected to breast cancer and also might be a potential contributor to Alzheimer’s.   It also apparently can be dangerous for people who don’t have fully functioning kidneys.   And there are also other ingredients that antiperspirants/deodorants commonly contain, including parabens, propylene glycol, triclosan, and/or artificial fragrances that you probably shouldn’t really be slathering on your body on a regular basis.  It gets into your body and does who knows what to your internal system.  While we can’t really be sure for now what the long-term dangers may be, why not just eliminate the issue with a natural deodorant?   If you have been wary of taking the plunge, worry no more, I’ve found your solution:  Salúbritas All-Natural Deodorant Balm. 

Honestly, I’ve been using aluminum-free deodorant for about three years now.  I was very wary of switching, as I am generally a pretty sweaty beast, and I had found a pretty good regular deodorant that definitely kept the smell off and also kept my pits pretty dry.  If only it was reasonable to slather it all over my body.  But when I started hearing about the possible health repercussions, I figured it was time for a change.

So I sucked it up and switched to a more natural deodorant about 3 years ago and it was…okay.  I found that when I stopped using anti-perspirant and just used a deodorant, my body got used to it and I don’t sweat as much as I used to.  So don’t be worried about that part.  You sweat all over anyway.  I know pit sweat can be embarrassing, but I find that it now usually only really happens when I work out, and since that’s a normal occurrence during exercise, I should hope that won’t deter someone from making a healthier choice.  The problem was that if I did something heavy-duty, I would end up reeking afterwards, and I would have to immediately apply more, wash or shower.  That was pretty inconvenient. 

But I continued to use it, because it wasn’t that bad, and it was a healthier choice.  I tried a bunch of different kinds, but got stuck on Salúbritas Deodorant Balm.  No matter what I do during my day, I always smell perfectly pleasant.  During my testing phase, I would constantly check to make sure I smelled alright, and I was never and have never since been disappointed with this one.  That’s my most important factor in choosing a deodorant.   Well, besides the health factor of the ingredients.  Lol.  It also contains arrowroot powder to help absorb some moisture naturally, which is a bonus.

Salúbritas Deodorant Balm is not applied like a regular deodorant.  Essentially, it’s a lotion balm that you scrape out of a tin with a finger/nail and rub into your armpit like you would rub in a lotion, if rubbing lotion into your armpit was normal.  That can take a little getting used to, and you may be tempted to use way more than necessary, but eventually you’ll realize you don’t need as much as you may be tempted to slather on.  It is soooo worth it.    

It comes in several different scents, and an unscented that I recommend if anyone finds they have armpit sensitivities.  (Sensitivity can still happen sometimes with natural deodorants because essential oils, often used for scenting, are strong and may cause bumps or itching in such a sensitive area, even if they are fine for use in products used elsewhere on the body.) 

Right now I think the only way us Connecticut/New England/the rest of the world besides Utah people can get it is online, but it’s definitely worth the extra effort.  Natural Joy Beauty carries the regular size and sample sizes, so you can buy samples of it to try all the scents or plunge in and buy a full size in a scent you usually like.  If you hurry, you can still use the code (INCH) from my last post to get 15% off through Saturday, August 11, 2012!  You can try all the scents and pick which one works for you.  Hope you like it as much as I do!  Feel good about your choice, and smell good too!  Enjoy!

Natural Joy Beauty and a Special Offer!

I know I said I would review and recommend individual beauty products, and I promise I will soon.  In the meantime I wanted to touch on a great resource to tide you over until a specific product you might be looking for comes to light.  I discovered Natural Joy Beauty when I received a ColourFusion Lip Glaze sample from the website in my Conscious Box.  (I’ll go into Conscious Box at another time.) 

So I pretty much never wear anything besides chapstick or occasionally lip stain or gloss, but when I tried the sample (it was textured like a lipstick) I really liked the way it looked, the texture, the color and the scent.  I was intrigued.  The sample came with a little card that listed the ingredients, the Natural Joy Beauty web address and a discount code.  The ingredients were all recognizable and totally reasonable, so I decided that as long as the price was reasonable as well, I would probably buy it!  I went to the website to take a look.

The main page has this note that immediately made me glad I had come:

“Don't be fooled by all of the products claiming to be "NATURAL" or "ORGANIC" these days. Many products labeled as Natural or Organic, even those sold in health food stores, still contain questionable ingredients.”

I definitely agreed with that statement, and reading further, I got excited:

“The only way to really know is to READ the ingredient label. We read the labels and do the research for you!  Discover "Freedom from Artificiality" Today! Here's a list of what you won't find in the products we carry...”

·         NO Phenoxyethanol (a.k.a. Optiphen)

·         NO Parabens, Germall or Germaben

·         NO Japanese Honeysuckle (preservative form)

·         NO FD&C Colorants or Synthetic Fragrance

·         NO Toulene, Formaldehyde or Phthalates

·         NO Propylene Glycol, Dimethicone or Diazolidinyl Urea

·         NO Talc, Nano-Particles or Aluminum

·         NO Bismuth Oxychloride, Titanium Dioxide (loose form)

·         NO Petroleum, Mineral Oil or Paraffin

·         NO Triclosan or Sodium Lauryl/Laureth Sulfates

·         NO Animal Testing

Doesn’t that immediately sound like a good idea?  Most websites that purport to do the work for you mention just two or three ingredients that their products do not contain and call it a day, all proud of themselves.  Natural Joy Beauty definitely does their homework on a way more in-depth scale.  It sounded excellent.  Some of the list of things the products wouldn’t contain were things that I had never even been aware that I should be avoiding!  Upon further exploration of the website, I was not disappointed.  The selection was extensive and the prices reasonable.  All ingredients are listed with every product, so you can be ultra-sure that what you’re getting is a healthy product.

My favorite part is that the site offers for purchase samples of almost any product!  I LOVE samples, as I’m sure most beauty-junkies do.  At first paying for samples might seem a bit out of the ordinary, since most of the time we don’t end up paying for them, but then again we rarely get to choose what samples we receive either.  If you stop to think about the fact that you get to choose what you want to sample (from almost anything on the site!), the value of the amount of product you receive and the convenience of trying a product before committing to full-size (and full price!) the small fee for a sample is not a big deal.  In fact, it’s a great deal!  My first order included the full-sized ColourFusion Lip Glaze, a couple other full-sized items and probably like 20 samples.   I quickly ended up purchasing several of the items that I had received as samples, or plan to do so in the future.  You also always get free samples in addition to any purchased samples with any order, and samples are always exciting.  Yay!

Since my initial purchase, I have made several more and always been happy with the results.  Shipping costs are totally reasonable, and there is free shipping with orders over $100 (which is pretty easy to do with beauty products, let’s be realistic) and service was fast and efficient.  There are also various other items on the site like jewelry, home cleaning products, supplements, candles and more which are just as rigorously screened for ingredients as well.  I love it. 

I actually ended up being contacted by to owner, Joy, about my first order (I had ordered something that came in different patterns figuring they’d just pick one and it’d probably be fine) and I mentioned my blog and she was very supportive of my idea.  She added a vegan section to the site at my suggestion, and she even offered you - my readers- a special offer!  How awesome is she?!    

Now through Saturday, August 11, 2012 use promo code INCH to can Save 15% off storewide at www.naturaljoybeauty.com!  Go have some fun without feeling guilty!  Enjoy! J

 

An Alternative to Oreos – Back to Nature Classic Crème Cookies

An Alternative to Oreos – Back to Nature Classic Crème Cookies

Eating junk food pretty much always makes you feel kind of crappy, am I right? Or at least guilty.  Before becoming vegan, I had a terrible habit of eating random junk, in bulk.  Now I try not to eat nearly as much processed sugar and it definitely helps with that issue.  Adding richness in other ways to desserts helps as well.   But sometimes you just want an Oreo.

Oreos actually happen to be vegan (if you ignore the way sugar is processed), so technically I could eat them if I wanted to, but just because I can doesn’t mean I should.   They have a bunch of over-processed addictive crap in them, like most other boxed cookies in the cookie section of your grocery store.  So I suggest next time you want to treat yourself, maybe venture to the natural foods section for your choice instead.

I suggest Back to Nature Classic Crème Cookies.  They are essentially Oreos, but they contain unbleached wheat flour instead of enriched flour which has all this stuff that is stripped out added back into it.  Instead of plain sugar and high fructose corn syrup, they contain evaporated cane syrup, raw sugar, and brown rice syrup.  Granted, the nutritional facts end up being very similar, but you can feel way better about what you’re putting in your body.

 I find that with the Classic Crème Cookies I’m satisfied with a few cookies without feeling the need to reach back into the box for more and more.  For my birthday, I made myself an ice cream cake using store-bought coconut ice creams with Oreos for a crust and a middle layer as a treat.   It was wayyyyy too much sugar.  I could barely eat it, and ended up throwing out at least two thirds of it.  What a waste.   The Classic Crèmes would have made it just enough treat without overwhelming it.   So enjoy some Classic Crèmes without feeling the accompanying guilt of binging on regular junk.

Here’s a special treat for you.  Another thing I’ve craved since becoming vegan is a good cookies-n-cream ice cream.   I finally designed a great recipe a few weeks ago, using the Classic Crèmes.  All you need is a trip to the grocery store (no fancy health food store needed!) and an ice cream maker.   This one’s for my new friend Mallory who requested the recipe.  It’s adapted from a vanilla ice cream recipe taken from http://www.godairyfree.org/.  Its coconut based, but I promise you won’t be thinking about coconut when you try it.

Cookies-n-Cream Ice Cream

Ingredients:

·         4 cups canned coconut milk (full fat, not light, not the boxed type either)

·         3/4 cup raw sugar or maple syrup

·         pinch of salt

·         1 Tbsp vanilla extract

·         A dash of cinnamon

·         A sprinkle of ground ginger (optional)

·         One box Back to Nature Classic Crème Cookies

Shake the cans of coconut milk for 30 seconds each.  This helps incorporate the “water” with the creamy fat in the can.  Open the cans and dump into a large bowl or blender.  Add all other ingredients besides the Classic Crème Cookies.  (Depending on the temperature of your storage area, it may be helpful to blend all the ingredients except for the cookies in a blender to break up the coconut fat.  If you skip this step, you may end up with small chunks of coconut fat in your finish product, which actually seem like small bits of white chocolate in the ice cream and are pretty good, but are virtually undetectable in the cookies-n-cream recipe. It’s really a texture preference.)  Mix or blend together until ingredients are fully incorporated.  Pour into your ice cream maker and freeze according to the directions for your model.  Crush the Classic Crème Cookies with your hands into desired-size chunks.  Add these to the churning ice cream in the last few minutes of processing.  If you add them too early, the chunks may break up into miniscule crumbs.   Once churning is complete, freeze for four or so hours before serving, or eat soft right out of the ice cream maker!  Yum! 

Note:  To make an end-product that hardens softer (if that makes sense; it’ll make it creamier) substitute 1 cup Mimicreme Unsweetened Almond & Cashew cream for 1 cup of the coconut milk.  This can be found in health food stores, usually near the boxed milks or the non-dairy creamers.  But just the coconut milk is fabulous as well.

Note 2:  Remember that freezing liquids makes them expand.  My ice cream maker was not large enough to fit this whole recipe along with the whole box of cookies.  It’s supposed to hold up to 1 ½ quarts.  To make sure you’ll have room for everything, you can either make a half recipe or refrigerate half to use a few days later.  Follow the rules for your machine.  My ice cream maker has a drum that goes in the freezer and has to be frozen for 48 hours before reusing.  It won’t work properly if I emptied half and tried to immediately churn the other half. 

Hope you enjoy!