Smells Like Basil?

Being a germophobe and being "less toxic is usually an oxymoron, but thanks to Germs Away Liquid Hand Soap from Healing Scent, I can get rid of the germs and still be non toxic to my family and the planet (it scores a 0 on the EWG site). This product is made with "lavender tea tree, niaouli, orange essential oils which are anti bacterial, anti viral and anti fungal" per the bottle and the website. This product doesn't lather, but it give a nice coating to my hands so I know I'm not missing any one spot while washing them. It's gentle on my hands and somewhat moisturizing, but I have to admit, the scent threw me off a bit. This product smells like a combination of oregano and basil or some kind of cooking seasoning I would use in the kitchen....this isn't bad, just not what I would expect a soap to smell like. All and all I definitely like this product and would absolutely recommend it to anyone who is looking to keep the germs at bay without using triclosan or an actual "anti bacterial" soap which does more harm than good by assisting germs to become resistant. I give this product 4 out of 4 stars for performance and price.
*Healing Scents is a Campaign for Safe Cosmetics signer— of which EWG is a founding member — is a coalition of public health, educational, religious, labor, womens, environmental, and consumer groups working on the ground in communities, in the halls of lawmakers, and directly with cosmetic manufacturers to encourage reformulations and safer ingredients. Over 500 companies have voluntarily signed a pledge called the campaign's "Compact for Safe Cosmetics," a pledge to formulate products that do not use ingredients that are known or suspected to cause certain health harms within three years of signing.
*This product scores a 0 in the EWG database.
*The Healing Scents website is: http://www.healing-scents.com/.
*I paid $7.95 for an 8 oz. bottle.

What's Not to Love?

It's not easy being a gremophobe. Since I wash my hands so many times throughout the day, they usually get really dried out....but not anymore. For the past week or so I have been using Healing Scents Lavender Liquid Hand Soap and I'm lovin it. My hands are super soft thanks to the coconut, olive and palm kernal oils. The label claims this product is "anti bacterial, anti viral and anti fungal"... all this without triclosan, how do you not love that? It even smells delicious...just like fresh lavender. Healing Scents products are "custom formulated toxin- free" and they use "organically- grown ingredients" (please note: this is not the same as the finished product being organic). They do not test on animals, nor do they contain sulfates, DEA's, nitrates, parabens, or glycols. Aside from the their Emu oil formulas, their products do not contain animal by-products. Thanks to their affordable prices, I ordered several more products from them which I've been using and I'm loving them as well. The next several posts will be about the rest of their wonderful products.
I give this product 4 out of 4 stars for performance and value!
*Healing Scents is a Campaign for Safe Cosmetics signer— of which EWG is a founding member — is a coalition of public health, educational, religious, labor, womens, environmental, and consumer groups working on the ground in communities, in the halls of lawmakers, and directly with cosmetic manufacturers to encourage reformulations and safer ingredients. Over 500 companies have voluntarily signed a pledge called the campaign's "Compact for Safe Cosmetics," a pledge to formulate products that do not use ingredients that are known or suspected to cause certain health harms within three years of signing.
*This product scores a 0 in the EWG database.
*The Healing Scents website is: http://www.healing-scents.com/.
*I paid $7.95 for an 8 oz bottle, more than worth it.

No Smell Is Too Strong For Samantharoma Kitchen Soap

I go out for lunch way too much, so for dinner we eat whatever I cook, be it home- made, self mashed salmon patties, a garlicky pasta dish or hand cut onion rings. Needless to say, my hands can get pretty stinky while preparing nightly dinners, so I was pretty excited when I read the Samantharoma catalog and noticed the Samantharoma Kitchen -Just Soap is made with "coffee grounds, orange and peppermint to absorb garlic or fishy smells". In the past 9 days I've had this soap, I have made fish, salmon patties, garlicky onion tomato salad and turkey-salami sandwiches....all pretty odoriferous dishes if I do say so myself, and guess what-The Samantharoma Kitchen Soap not only got rid of each and every smell from my hands on contact, it also softened and exfoliated my hands as well. It has a really mild scent which I can't put my finger on, but it doesn't cover up the scent of these foods, it erases them completely. I now prepare dinner, wash my hands and relax with soft, clean smelling hands. As you see, it matches my kitchen counter perfectly too, Samantha, how did you know? All Samantharoma soaps are "100% natural, biodegradable, SLS & preservative free." And for all animal lovers, "Animal fats are not used" in any of the Samantharoma products.
*Samantharoma is a Compact for Safe Cosmetics signer, which means "The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics — of which EWG is a founding member — is a coalition of public health, educational, religious, labor, womens, environmental, and consumer groups working on the ground in communities, in the halls of lawmakers, and directly with cosmetic manufacturers to encourage reformulations and safer ingredients. Over 500 companies have voluntarily signed a pledge called the campaign's "Compact for Safe Cosmetics," a pledge to formulate products that do not use ingredients that are known or suspected to cause certain health harms within three years of signing.
*This soap was not in the Skin Deep/ EWG scale, however when I added it myself, it scored a 0. *This information has not been verified by the EWG.
*The old formulation of this product is in the EWG/ Skin Deep scale and scores a 1.
*All 33 Samantharoma products which are in the EWG database, score either a 0 or a 1.
*The Samantharoma website is: http://samantharoma.com/home.htm.
*This product is $6 for 4 oz. bar. Well worth it!

Kiss My Face - and My Soft Hands

Being a germophobe and wanting soft hands is a contradiction in it's own right, but so far this winter, I'm winning the war. I wash my hands a lot during the day. Most people wash after using the restroom or before eating...I wash after touching money, especially change,(anything metal grosses me out, especially the smell it leaves on my hands), I wash after touching doorknobs,(which I try to avoid like the plague), and to be honest I pretty much wash my hands after touching pretty much anything else other people may get their hands on. I guess I can be a little obsessive compulsive but who knows where other people's hands have been, and I don't want to find out by getting the flu or some other illness that can be easily avoided by the simple act of washing one's hands. The good news is, for the past few weeks I've been using Kiss My Face Moisture Soap- Peach, and I Love it!! It's thick, soft, smooth and silky. One pump is all you need, because it spreads and lathers really well (Yes, there is Sodium Lauryl Sulfate in it). It smells nice, not too fru fru, you can certainly smell the sweetness of the peach but it's not overwhelming. Prior to starting this soap, my hands had gotten pretty dry and cracked around the knuckles, but within a few days of using this product, my hands became as soft as a baby's bum (thanks to the Olive Oil) and the cracking healed almost immediately (thanks to healing properties of Aloe Vera). The best feature of this soap: the price...$3.99 for a 9 oz bottle and trust me, it lasts and lasts.
*Kiss My face is a Compact for Safe Cosmetics signer — of which EWG is a founding member — is a coalition of public health, educational, religious, labor, womens, environmental, and consumer groups working on the ground in communities, in the halls of lawmakers, and directly with cosmetic manufacturers to encourage reformulations and safer ingredients. Over 500 companies have voluntarily signed a pledge called the campaign's "Compact for Safe Cosmetics," a pledge to formulate products that do not use ingredients that are known or suspected to cause certain health harms within three years of signing.
*This product is a 4 on the EWG/ Skin Deep scale.
*The Kiss My Face Website is: http://www.kissmyface.com/.
*I paid $3.99 for a 9 oz bottle.

You Can Smell It A Mile Away

Per my last post, I told you I was going to share with you, the conversation I had with James Hahn, co-founder of Terressentials. I've now decided not to write about it today and keep you waiting another day...just kidding, I'm just waiting for James to look over my post and correct anything I may have not heard properly. It's difficult to write accurately while someone is talking, so I'll more than likely share the conversation with you tomorrow.
So, what to talk about today...
How about hand soap, in particular, how about Kiss My Face Lavender & Chamomile Self Foaming Liquid Soap. Well, it is definitely self foaming, just push the pump and you have a handful of foam. Per the back of the bottle the "instant foam is is a result of the pump action without propellants." The back label also claims that it "leaves your hands soft and smooth." Well, my hands are actually a little rough and dry feeling, I really don't think it's moisturizing at all. Neither the name of the product, nor front of the label imply that it's a moisturizing soap, just this comment on the back of the label, so, I'm not sure where they are going with that statement, but I need more moisture if you are going to claim this will make my hands soft & smooth. As far as the smell...it really delivers, you can smell the lavender & chamomile a mile away and long after you have finished using it, so if you are sensitive to a very obvious scent, this is not for you. Lastly, the label also states "this product is 72% organic", and "this products contains no animal ingredients, no artificial colors, no preservatives and was not tested on animals."
So all in all, the Kiss My Face Lavender & Chamomile Self Foaming Liquid Soap delivers on the foam and the scent, but the soft & smooth, not so much.
*Kiss My Face is a Campaign for Safe Cosmetics signer— of which EWG is a founding member — is a coalition of public health, educational, religious, labor, womens, environmental, and consumer groups working on the ground in communities, in the halls of lawmakers, and directly with cosmetic manufacturers to encourage reformulations and safer ingredients. Over 500 companies have voluntarily signed a pledge called the campaign's "Compact for Safe Cosmetics," a pledge to formulate products that do not use ingredients that are known or suspected to cause certain health harms within three years of signing.
*This product is a 2 on the EWG/ Skin Deep scale.
*The Kiss My Face Website is http://www.kissmyface.com/.
*I paid $5.79 for a 8.75 oz bottle at my local grocery store.

Terressentials is Essential

Anyone who knows me will agree that I'm a "germophobe". I don't touch door handles, I clean the grocery cart handle prior to using it and I am constantly washing my hands. Needless to say, my hands are forever dried out, or at least they were until I tried Terressentials Real Soap for Hands. It comes in four scents. I purchased three out of the four.
The Jammin Spice Tea Tree smells delicious, I swear I could eat this stuff. Made with organic aloe vera juice°, organic coconut oil° castile soap, essential oils of organic sweet orange°, organic cinnamon leaf°, organic tea tree° and organic clove bud°, organic extract° of organic calendula°. You can really smell the cinnamon and cloves, it's perfect for the Fall and the Holiday Season.
The Zingin Citrus with tea Tree Oil is made with organic aloe vera juice°, organic coconut oil° castile soap, essential oils of organic sweet orange°, organic lemon°, organic lime° and organic tea tree°, organic extract° of organic calendula°. It smells of a delicious cross between orange and lemon. The Chillin Mint Tea Tree smells just like Wrigley's Gum, sort of a cross between the Peppermint and Spearmint. It's made with organic aloe vera juice°, organic coconut oil° castile soap, essential oils of organic peppermint°, organic spearmint° and organic tea tree°, organic extract° of organic calendula°. Yummy!!
As far as performance...The pro's are 1. The scent, I could truly sit around all day and just smell myself, it's that good. 2. They are very moisturizing. My hands feel great right after I use it and to be honest, in the winter my hands are usually so dried and cracked, they bleed, but this year is different. I've been using this for about 6 weeks and my hands are almost a soft as a baby's bottom. No kidding, this stuff really moisturizes! 3. Cleans well, a little goes a long way.
There is one issue I have with this soap though. It is very loose and runny. If you've ever added water to an existing bottle of liquid soap, you know what I mean, it's just like that. It's hard to dispense without making a mess all over the counter & mirror and it often squirts all over me and my husband when we use it. If you are wearing nice clothes, be careful because it will more than likely squirt all over. If you have company you may want to warn them of this or switch soap until they leave, it's that bad. The dispenser seems to clog easily too. I emailed their customer service from the website to ask them about this annoyance and they responded within a couple of hours, so needless to say, I was thrilled to get such quick feedback. Here is the response:

Hi, Julie,

When you craft a traditional soap from coconut oil, depending on how
you make it, you either have a very hard bar, or a liquid with the
consistency of our hand soaps, and nothing in between.  There are
thickening agents of various kinds, both natural and synthetic, which
could be used.  Of course, we would not use a synthetic thickener such
as carbomer or xanthan gum.  As for why we do not add a natural type of
viscosity-modifier, it would increase the cost of the end product with
no increase in its cleansing properties.

If you'll take a look at the Left Coast Body Wash that you recently
purchased, you'll see that it is similar in its constituents to the
Zingin' Citrus Hand Soap, but it is thicker, due to the addition of a
special type of natural clay, and it is a bit more expensive.  If you
wish, you can use it as a hand soap.  A body wash requires a certain
amount of viscosity so that it will stay on your wash cloth or sponge
as you bathe.  This is not really necessary for a liquid hand soap.

Thank you so much for your interest and support. Have a terrific

holiday!

The Terressentials team

OK, this is a fair answer, and to be honest, it's annoying, but not enough to tell you I don't love the product because the pros outweigh the cons and I love everything else about it, so this one is a big thumbs up...just watch out for flying soap!
*Terressentials is a Compact for Safe Cosmetics signer, which means "The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics — of which EWG is a founding member — is a coalition of public health, educational, religious, labor, womens, environmental, and consumer groups working on the ground in communities, in the halls of lawmakers, and directly with cosmetic manufacturers to encourage reformulations and safer ingredients. Over 500 companies have voluntarily signed a pledge called the campaign's "Compact for Safe Cosmetics," a pledge to formulate products that do not use ingredients that are known or suspected to cause certain health harms within three years of signing. Read the Compact document or see a complete list of the signers. If you're a cosmetics company, find out how to get involved."
*All four scents of the soap are zero's on the Skin Deep/ EWG scale.
*The Terressentials website is: http://www.terressentials.com/. According to their website, all Terressential products are °USDA Certified Organic.
*Real Soap for Hands is well worth the $7.25 for 8 oz.

*As of Dec 2007, Terressentials products are available in stores in the following states: Arizona, California, Maryland, West Virginia and Wyoming. They are also available in Toronto, ON.