Evande Facial Care – A Product Review

For the month of January, I have been using a whole new set of skin care products.  It’s the Evande Skin Care Set.  This set was sent to me free of charge.  In return, I’ve been using it religiously so that I could provide you all with my personal review of the set.

Scent

The scent of any skin care product is really important to me.  I have to like it or I simply won’t use it.

The scent of the Evande set reminds me of a light baby powder.  It’s a very feminine and delicate scent.  I love the way it smells when I put it on.  I also love that I catch a whiff of it every once in a while throughout the day.

Each of the products in the set has the same scent, so they work really well together.

Evande Cleanser and Make-Up Remover

The soap-free cleanser is light and creamy all at the same time.  It works well as a makeup remover.  The hardest makeup I had to remove was some lipstick that had lasted beyond its best before date.  It was very sticky on my lips and felt horrible.  A dab of the cleanser/makeup remover allowed me to wipe it off in one swipe.  So yes, it works as a makeup remover.

As a cleanser, it is gentle on my skin.  After I’m done using it, my skin feels clean without that dreaded squeaky clean feeling.  My skin doesn’t feel dry afterwards, either.

Evande Cleanser

Evande Alcohol-Free Pore Minimizing Toner

This is the only toner I’ve ever been able to use without breaking out.  In fact, I had all but given up on toners until I received this set to try.  I figured I had to give it a try in order to do a complete review.  To my surprise, my skin didn’t react poorly at all.  I love spraying this toner on my face and neck after cleansing.  It seems like such a lovely way to ensure my skin stays moist.  I am totally hooked.

Evande Face and Neck Moisturizer

The moisturizer is light.  I just need a little bit for my face and neck, especially after the toner.  It leaves my skin well-balanced and hydrated, but not greasy or feeling heavy.

Evande Face and Neck Moisturizer

Effectiveness

This skin care set has served me well for a whole month.  It’s been cold and dry for most of the month and my skin has been well hydrated throughout.  The cleanser is gentle and the moisturizer is nourishing.  It’s exactly the right combination I need to keep my skin clean and moisturized.

Packaging

The packaging is simple.  The pumps for the cleanser and moisturizer and the spray nozzle for the toner make each product really easy to dispense.  I personally like the clean look of the white bottles and the touch of gold classes it up a little bit.

Ingredients

The Evande brand uses the tag line, “Feel the Natural Elegance”.  Evande prides itself on creating products that are great for your skin without using harsh unnecessary chemicals.  On their website, they have listed the chemicals that are prohibited from use in their product line:

•    DEA (Diethanolamine)
•     Dyes
•     Mineral Oil
•     PABA
•     Parabens
•     Paraffin
•     phthlates
•     Sulfates

I love that Evande uses more natural substances to create their products.  They also clearly list all their ingredients right on the back of each bottle.  I’ve also reproduced the ingredient list below, in case you’re interested.

Evande Ingredient Listings

Cleanser and Make-Up Remover:

Water, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Cetyl Alcohol, Glycerin, Stearic Acid, Cocomidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Vaccinium Myrtillus (Bilberry) Fruit Extract, Saccharum Officinarum (Sugar Cane) Extract, Acer Saccharum (Sugar Maple) Extract, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Fruit Extract, Citrus Limonum (Lemon) Fruit Extract, Aloe Barbedensis Leaf Juice, passiflora Edulis (Passion Fruit) Extract, Phyllanthus Emblica (Amla) Fruit Extract, Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract, Ethylhexylglycerin, Phenoxyethanol, Glycol Distearate, Carbomer, Sodium Hydroxide, Xanthan Gum, Disodium EDTA, Fragrance

Pore-Minimizing Toner

Extracts of (Marigold, Chamomile, Rosemary, Cucumber, Elder, Arnica, Linden, Cornflower, Matricaria, St. John’s Wort, Hops, Horsetail, Pine Cone, Mallow, Ivy, Pellitory, Burdock, Sage and Soapwort) in Water, Hamamelis Virginiana (Witch Hazel), Glycerin, Propylene Officinarum (Sugar Cane) Extract, Acer Saccharum (Sugar Maple) Extract, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Fruit Extract, Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon) Fruit Extract, Aloe Barbedensis Leaf Juice, Laureth-23, Ethylhexylglycerin, Phenoxyethanol, Tetrasodium EDTA, Fragrance

Face and Neck Moisturizer

Water, Glycerin, Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Cetyl Alcohol, Petrolatum, Dimethicone, Cyclopentasiloxane, Glyceryl Stearate, PEG-100 Stearate, Aloe Barbedensis Leaf Juice, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Almond Butter), Silk Amino Acid, Ficus Carica (Fig) Extract, Kigelia Africana Extract, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Curcuma Longa (Turmeric) Root Extract, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Niacinamide, Ginkgo Biloba Leaf Extract, Retinyl Palmitate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Glycol Distearate, Coco-Glucoside, Glyceryl Oleate, Propylene Glycol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Phenoxyethanol,  Carbomer, Sodium Hydroxide, Tetrasodium EDTA, Fragrance

I looked up this brand on the Good Guide and on Skin Deep.  Unfortunately, it was not listed on either site, most likely because it’s such a new brand.  I’d love to know how these products rate on either of those sites.

Affordability

Is this magic skin care set affordable?  In short, YES!

Each bottle contains 200 mL of product.  My best guess is that, after one month, at most, I’ve used about one-quarter of each bottle.

You can buy the whole set of three for $24.99!

Honestly, I didn’t even look at the price until it was time to write my review.  I was floored when I saw how well priced the set is.

Would I Recommend Evande?

Yes – I most definitely would.  I’ve had a great experience using this set for the past month.  My skin feels great and I’ve finally found a toner that works for my skin!  I also love the clean packaging and the great price.

Two Tone Soap

Last year, just in time for Christmas, I started experimenting with using colours in my melt and pour soap.  I made a few striped soaps and was quite pleased with the result.

That is, until the colours started to bleed and blend with each other.  After that, I stayed away from the stripes for a while.  What’s the point of stripes if they just blend together?

Two-Toned Soap

This year, as the Christmas Soap Making spirit caught me, I decided to try a two-tone soap using a non-bleed colour.

Two Tone Soap

Here it is!  This photo was taken quite some time after I had made the soap and as you can see, there is no bleeding!  The colours have stayed separate!

It may seem like a small victory to some, but it’s huge in my little world.  I’m so pleased with the result.

Blue and White Two Tone Soap

Gift Box of Goodies

A few weeks ago, we spent a long weekend visiting some friends.  We don’t get to see them very often, so it was a very special weekend.

I wanted to give them some treats as a gift.  I decided to make a bunch of different skin care products and then let them divide them up among themselves.

Their gift box included:

• 1 jar of peppermint foot cream
• 2 bottles of lotion
• 3 jars of hand balm
• 6 tubes of lip lube
• And a whole bunch of soap!

I had so much fun putting everything together.  Here are some photos of the final product.

Gift Box!

Gift Box of Goodies

Skin Care Treats!

Lip Lube and Hand Balm

Hans Solo Soap

Fish Soap

As you can see, I made some specialty soaps for this gift box.  The blue and purple fish and starfish soaps were specially made for our friends’ daughter.  Her favorite colours are blue and purple, so I thought these would be perfect.   And one of our friends is a Star Wars fan.  I thought he might appreciate the Hans Solo soap!

Soap and Smoothing Serum Gift Boxes

With the arrival of our son, we’ve been busy visiting a lot of family.  One of our trips was to Argentina.  We saw lots of family and friends while there.  Even though they all said it was a treat enough to meet our son, I also wanted to bring a little something for them to enjoy.

I put together some gift boxes that had a bar of soap and some Smoothing Serum.

Soap

I made the soap with Goat’s Milk Melt and Pour and Extra Fine French Red Clay.  I scented it with the essential oils of vanilla and grapefruit.  The bars turned out a dark red colour.

Smoothing Serum

I also made some Smoothing Serum.  I put it into 10 mL bottles with a dropper cap, so it’s easy to dispense a drop or two at a time.  I like to dab this under my eyes before bed at night.

Labelling

Whenever I give a product to someone else, I ensure that it has a complete label.  That way, it’s really clear what ingredients I chose to use when making it.

Packaging

I packed each gift in a clear top gift box.  I bound each box with a silver elastic.  Here’s the finished product.  What do you think?

Pink Grapefruit Soaps

A few weeks ago, I got a call from a dear friend with a special request.  She was planning on throwing a baby shower, complete with baby shower games, for a friend of hers and  needed some prizes to give to her guests. She thought of me and asked if I could help her out.

We chatted for a bit and then decided on some easy bars of soap for the prizes.

Pink Grapefruit

I chose to make some more of my Pink Grapefruit bars.  They are made with Goat’s Milk and pink clay.  I scented these bars with essential oils of vanilla and grapefruit.  They are perfect for the spring time.

To complement the pink bars, I also made some white bars of soap, with Goat’s Milk and White Kaolin Clay.  For consistency, I also gave these a grapefruit scent.  Unfortunately, I don’t have a cute name in mind for these soaps yet.  Any ideas?

Final Product

Here’s the final product.  I wrapped each soap in plastic to ensure that they don’t dry out.  I then labelled each soap so that all of the ingredients are clearly listed.  Finally, I tied each pair of soap bars together with a silver elastic band.

Perricone Products Review – Part I

A few years ago, I discovered Dr. Perricone and his line of beauty products.  I started using them and fell in love instantly.

Then, I started making my own skincare products and set the Dr. Perricone stash aside for a bit.  I found my stash a couple of weeks ago and realized that I still have some great products to use up!  Woo hoo!

Here’s what I have left:

Gentle Cleanser
Face Finishing Moisturizer
More than Moisture SPF 30
Advanced Face Firming Activator
Neuropeptide Deep Wrinkle Serum
Advanced Eye Area Therapy

My Perricone Stash

First Steps

I started back into this line with the Gentle Cleanser.  It’s a nice thick cleansing liquid and it’s light green in colour.  It feels pretty smooth on my skin.  I use about half a pump each morning and each night.  Even though I don’t use a lot at a time, I find that I have to work at rinsing it off my skin.  It’s got some sticking power!  A bit of rinsing and rubbing on my face will usually do the trick.

After using it for a few weeks, I’ve found it is strong enough to clean my skin, but not so overpowering that it strips my skin of all of its natural oils.  I don’t like the “squeaky clean” feeling on my face that some soaps and cleanser can give you.

I have always loved the packaging of the Perricone line.  I love the dark glass bottles.  The cleanser comes with a bottle cap and a pump, so that it’s both easy to travel with and to use every day.

Dr. Perricone Gentle Cleanser

How do Dr. Perricone products rate?

The first thing that I love about Dr. Perricone products is that they are paraben free.  Each package is clearly marked that the product does not contain any parabens.  I also looked up Dr. Perricone products on both the Good Guide and the Skin Deep sites. Please note that on both sites, the ratings are based on a limited amount of information for this brand!

Good Guide Ratings

On average, Dr. Perricone products have a received a 5.1/10 Health rating from the Good Guide.   However, when I looked up these specific products, I found that most of them received a rating of 7 or 8 for Health.  The one outlier that I found was the Face Finishing Moisturizer.  It received a 5.0 on Health, listing ingredients that cause a low level of concern.  Thankfully, the other products with the lowest ratings that pull the average Health rating down are not ones in my cupboard!

Skin Deep Ratings

On the Skin Deep site, there were three Dr. Perricone products listed that I was able to find.  On a 10 point scale, they received ratings of 3 and 4, which places them in the Moderate category.  Many of the ingredients that cause concern do so because they have associated with allergies and immunotoxicity.

Overall, I’m satisfied that the Perricone products that I have in my cupboard are safe enough to use on my skin.

Moisturizers and Serums

I’m looking forward to delving into the moisturizers and serums.  I’ll be sure to post my reviews once I’ve had a chance to try them each for a few weeks!  Stay tuned!

Skincare Tips for the Spring

Spring is almost here!

A few weeks ago, we started to have double-digit temperatures!  It was such a treat to be given a sneak peek into Spring.  I celebrated by going for a long walk with my son in the baby carrier.  Sadly, the high temps did not last and we’ve had more snow since then.  In fact, as I write this, I’m looking out the window at a snow shower.  Nevertheless, I know that Spring is close and it’s time to get ready for sunshine and outdoor fun!

Spring also means that my skin will have different needs. Here’s how I’m planning on taking care of my skin.

Spring Soap

I just whipped up two small batches of Goat’s Milk Melt and Pour Soap.  I made a few bars of soap using green clay and scented them with Patchouli.  In the past, I’ve sometimes overdone it with the Patchouli scent.  Fortunately, I’ve learned from that and these bars are nicely scented.

I also made some bars of soap with pink clay.  I use these on my face.  They are gentle and are able to clean my skin without removing all of the natural oils. I scented these bars with Grapefruit essential oil.  I like to call these bars Pink Grapefruits!

Light Moisturizers

I’ve been using the Emollient Wheatgerm cream this winter.  It’s been great.  Now that the weather is turning, I’ll be using face oils only.  I love the Suti face oils.  They have a delicious scent and are light on the skin.  I also make my own face oils and have experimented with all kinds of oils.  Once I finish the batch that I have in my cabinet, I’ll be making some more to try!

It’s also time to switch to a light lotion.  I always need to help my skin with moisture.  However, I can get away with a light lotion during the warmer months, rather than a thicker lotion or cream.

Hair Care

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you’ll already know that I’m a big fan of reverse hair washing.  I just love the results and I continue to wash my hair this way.  With the added humidity that comes with Spring, my hair can get a bit frizzy. I find that a weekly hair mask is just what it needs to stay under control.  My favorite mask right now is plain coconut oil.

How do you pamper your skin during the spring months?

This post is part of the GiG Spotlight #5: Spring Fever.  Thanks to Caity of Moi Contre La Vie and Mari of I Love Green Inspiration for hosting this wonderful event.  Are you wondering what GiG is?  It’s the Girls Inspired Group.  Click on the image below to check out their blog and join!

My Secret Soap Project – An Army of R2D2 Soaps

I’ve been working on a secret special project for the past several weeks for a colleague of mine.

She decided a few months ago to throw a family reunion of sorts.  Her guest list included family members and close friends.  It was scheduled for the shortest day of the year (in the Northern hemisphere), December 21st, right smack in the middle of the season of Christmas parties!  To ensure that her guests would remember this party, she picked out a Sci-Fi theme.  It was to be a Sci-Fi Mash Up Family/Friends Reunion.

The Favours

Early on in the planning, I offered to help out with the favour boxes.  My friend was determined NOT to give a gift that would just take up space at her guests’ homes.  She wanted it to be consumable.  I immediately started thinking about all the sci-fi inspired soaps that could be easily made.  I asked her if she minded if I investigated a little bit to see if I could come up with a neat idea.  Of course, the extra added benefit of this approach is that her guests would have a gentle soap that is safer than their regular store-bought soap!

Ice Molds on Double Duty

After a couple of hours searching online, I found a couple of promising options.  Both were ice molds from Star Wars.  One was a mold of Hans Solo and one was an ice mold of R2D2.  I ordered three of each from Think Geek and quickly put together a few samples for my friend to look at.

R2D2 and Hans Solo Soaps

We all agreed the grey colour was the best and that the R2D2 soaps were the best for the party.   As much as we liked the Hans Solo soaps, it seemed a little morbid to provide a party favour of someone frozen in ice. So, we agreed to go with the grey R2D2 soaps, scented with Sandalwood.  I used activated charcoal to get the grey colour.

60 “Bars” of Soap Later…

I set out to the task of creating 60 R2D2 soaps.  With only three molds, that meant I had to make 20 successful batches of soap.  It’s true, not every R2D2 came out great.  Sadly, several of them lost their legs in the process.  (Even R2D2 isn’t indestructible!)

An Army of R2D2 Soaps

Packaging

R2D2 fit perfectly in these jewelry boxes with a clear top.  I created a “nest” for each soap with some crinkle paper.  Finally, my friend has a great suggestion of adding a silver stretch look to the box to dress it up a wee bit.  I love the result.

R2D2 Favour Boxes

Favour Boxes

Striped Soap

I’ve been experimenting with soap lately.  My favorite so far is a bar of minty black and white striped soap.  It’s a great way to incorporate charcoal into my soap and also making it look a little more interesting than just a plain bar of black soap.  The minty scent is refreshing in the morning and this soap is gentle on the skin.

Minty Striped Soap

In fact, I recently spoke to a friend who was complaining of dry, itchy skin.  I gave her a bar of this soap to try and she said that she immediately noticed an improvement.  Her skin was less itchy and she needed less moisturizer after her shower.  I was so happy that I was able to help!

The Final Baby Countdown Was Interrupted…by Baby!

I wrote a post about a week ago about the final countdown to my baby’s expected arrival.  You’ll see below that I had made as many preparations as I could and was quite happy about things.

Then, last Friday night, I went into labour!  What??  It was a wee bit early as I was concerned.  Anyway, into labour I went and just over a day later, early on Sunday the 25th, Baby Emir was born.

And yes, as far as I’m concerned, he’s perfect.

Prior to going to hospital, these are the final preparations that I made and wrote about to share with you all.  All I can say is, thank goodness that I made the preparations that I did!  They’ve all be very helpful!

Baby Emir – Just After His First Bath

My Original Post

It’s here, the final few days of pregnancy.  In some ways, it’s been a long 9 months.  In other ways, I can’t believe the time has already passed by!  I’ve been so lucky to have a smooth pregnancy and, aside from a few aches and pains, I’ve loved every minute of it.

I’ve been off work for a couple of weeks now. During that time, I’ve been busy completing the last-minute preparations.

Food

We have a freezer full of food.  There are healthy and wholesome baked goods that will be great snacks at any time of the day.  I’ve also got a few containers of soups and stews.  With any luck, that will last us for the first few days of our new lives with the little one!

Very Blueberry Muffins

The Nursery

The baby’s room has been ready for a long time.   More recently, I got down to the washing and did several loads of laundry to ensure that all the new gifts of clothes that we have received for Baby are washed and ready to go.

Baby  Skin Care

I even had time to put together some gentle and mild soap, some moisturizing balm, and baby powder for Baby.  I don’t know for sure if they’ll all work, but I’ve got my fingers crossed that they’ll be acceptable for his sensitive skin.

Gentle Goat’s Milk Soap for Baby

Unscented Baby Balm

Unscented Baby Powder

The Hospital Bag(s)

They’re packed!  There’s one that’s full of clothes, blankets, diapers, and other goodies for Baby.  There’s also one for me and my hubby so that we’re also comfortable while at the hospital.

The Blog

I’ll do my best to keep posting regularly on my blog.  I’ve got a few posts that are scheduled over  the next few weeks.  However, if I’m slow in replying to comments or I seem to have dropped off the face of the blog completely, it’s probably safe to assume that there’s a little one in my life who is taking up all of my attention.  Please be patient — I’ll be back as soon as I can!