hmmm...something I realized today about Lush

Hey there folks, it's Old Favorites Monday again.  Since its the start of the official Christmas season in my house (the roomie loves her some Christmas) I thought it would be appropriate to dig out some Snow Fairy Shower Gel by my friends at Lush. 

I know I have been kind of down on Lush lately and, while I prefer soaps from small hand made soaps, I really do love Lush.  It's the first place to show me that soap went beyond Dove and that things made by people's hands are preferable to things made by machines.  And while I find Lush's continued use of SLS to be disturbing, I suppose SLS is not some evil baby-stealing ingredient that makes you insane.  In fact, many of you reading this may wonder what my problem is and why I keep harping on the evil's of SLS.  For those of you, I encourage you to click here and read a blog post written by Victoria, BC based Rocky Mountain Soap Company for a little more detail on why SLS is not our best friend.  The bottom line is that it just isn't natural and therefore has no real place in a product that touts itself to be handmade and natural.  It's just an opinion, but one that seems many of my sensitive skinned kindreds share.

But moving right along. 

I'll tell you the good first.  I love Snow Fairy.  It's FUN.  It's pink.  It smells like bubble gum.  It sparkles...it calls out to the Debbie Gibson loving tween I was not so terribly long ago.  It foams, it bubbles and the smell sticks around long after the shower, something I also like.

However, while showering I discovered something interesting.  I was perusing the list of ingredients and saw the following:

Water (Aqua), Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Cocoamphoacetate, Lauryl Betaine, Perfume, Sea Salt (Sodium Chloride), Lactic Acid, Synthetic Musk, Cocamide DEA, Titanium Dioxide, Iridescent Glitter (Polyethylene terephthalate and Acrylates copolymer), Benzyl Benzoate, FD&C Red No. 4, D&C Red No. 33, Methylparaben, Propylparaben


Who with the what now?
 
So I get the synthetic musk because real musk is an animal product.  Water I know.  SLS...yuck...
 
But WHAT is the rest of that crap?  Fortunately, Lushopedia answered some of it but seems icky.
 
Is it just me or is nothing in there really that natural sounding.
 
Now, here are the ingredients for Honey, I Washed the Kids:
 

• Honey Water (Mel Aqua),
• Propylene Glycol,
• Rapeseed Oil,
• Sunflower Oil,
• Coconut Oil (Brassica napus; Helianthus annuus; Cocos nucifera),
• Water (Aqua),
• Sodium Lauryl Sulfate,
• Sodium Stearate,
• Sodium Hydroxide,
• Perfume,
• Beeswax (Cera alba),
• Sweet Orange Oil (Citrus dulcis),
• Bergamot Oil (Citrus bergamia),
• Aloe Vera Extract (Aloe barbadensis),
• Sodium Chloride,
• Gardenia Extract (Gardenia jasminoides),
• Titanium Dioxide,
• *Limonene,
• *Linalool,
• *Benzyl Benzoate.

Is it just me or do those seem more recognizable?  I checked out lots of Lush products and Snow Fairy seems the most chemically.  Am I totally off base?

I still love Snow Fairy, though.  It's like being Barbie for a few brief moments.

Happy Monday!

Horror of Horrors

One of the ways in which I am incredibly girlie is that I have always had a go-to perfume.  When I was in my late teens and through my late twenties, it was ALWAYS, ALWAYS Chanel No. 5.  I thought that anything worn by Marilyn Monroe and immortalized by the incredibly amazing Andy Warhol (see below)

had to be the ultimate in femininity.  As time went on, I started to see the draw of jasmine, a middle note of No. 5,  which seems to be my Achilles Heel of scents.

Anyway...

I was at JFK about to board a plane to Germany in the Fall of 2008 when I came upon Bvlgari's Jasmin Noir at the Duty Free shop.  Liking the smell from the bottle, I sprayed a bit on myself and then hopped the flight.  6 hours of being cooped up in the plane later, I could still smell this scent.  It's different from No. 5, warmer and homier somehow and it lingers in a way that's not heavy handed or overwhelming.  Long story short, I had discovered a new signature fragrance.  To this day, I love it, even if I do leave it mainly for night time as it is a slightly naughty fragrance.

I like it so much that I even bought the shower gel.  I've been using it for those special nights out for almost 2 years.  It helps to layer the scent and has a nice, yummy texture.  It's liquid and probably a smidge harsher than my normal soaps but it smells so nice.

I've had two occasions lately that called for the shower gel.  Two Saturdays in a row, as a matter of fact. 

Both times, I have noticed a red rash on my arms, chest and neck.  Could I be allergic to my shower gel?  And why would it happen all of a sudden? Why am I having such a horrible time with soap lately? 

I wonder if I can find a more natural, less chemically soap that smells something like Jasmin Noir?

The Day a Blog Changed My Purchase Plan

One morning in early March, I was cruising my long list of blogs while taking a quick break from working working working. One particular one caught my eye.

It was about small businesses and the economy. It sucks out there, folks. People are really struggling and it infuriates me that some of the soap makers who bring me such joy are worrying every day that they may not be able to pay their bills or feed their children.

And now the MTA in NYC announces that our monthly Metrocard is going to increase in cost from $81 to $103 per month. This is a pretty big chunk of my soap buying money and my mother keeps telling me to tighten my purse strings. But I just feel so torn...I need my soap!

But I digress again, a blog that caught my attention led me to buy some soap. I went on the Hartley Soaps Etsy site and saw so many things I wanted to buy. I picked up a Jasmine Mango Body Butter Bar, a Cinnabun CoCo Butter Body Bar and a Foaming Sugar Scrub. Unfortunately, none of these are currently listed on the site but I am sure that what is currently offered is there. And I will review these soaps later as I use them.

In my box of product from Hartley there was a generous sample of Chocolate Drizzle soap. For some inexplicable reason, this is the one I used first. I was feeling the need for something decadent and so I gave this soap a whirl.

I've used brownie soaps and chocolate cake soaps and the like but this one is in a completely different. I love Philosophy and you can, of course, spend $20 on Classic Fudge Cake or Double Rich Hot Cocoa but you can also pay $5 for Chocolate Drizzle and it's even better. Plus, there are no chemicals or nasty stuff and the person who made it has a name and a face.

I could give you a run down of how amazing it is to shower with a Hartley Soap and I am sure I will with one of the others but the point here is a different one. The point is that the economy sucks. People have no jobs. Everyone is panicked.

But every single one of you has to bathe.

In teasing me about my soap obsession yesterday, one of my frequent companions mentioned his penchant for Dove. Allow me to share with you the ingredients in a bar of Dove White.

Sodium Lauroyl Isethionate, Stearic Acid, Sodium Tallowate, Or Sodium Palmitate, Lauric Acid, Sodium Isethionate, Water, Sodium Stearate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Cocoate or Sodium Palm Kernelate, Fragrance, Sodium Chloride, Tetrasodium EDTA, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891).

Now, allow me to share with you the ingredients in a bar of Hartley Soap Jasmine Mango Body Butter Bar

mango_butter, sweet_almond_oil, coconut_oil, olive_oil, palm_kernal_and_palm_oil, distilled_water, sodium_hydroxide, fragrance_oils, mica_color

I'll let that speak for itself.

So here's my point and then I promise to get down off of my soap box.

You have to bathe, so buy handmade soap. I don't want to read that these amazing Artisans are going out of business.