Make Your Own Foam Soap

We go through a lot of hand soap at our house. My daughter's favorite is foam soap, it's just so much fun! Instead of buying new soap every week or two I found an easy and cheap recipe from www.wellnessmama.com. It literally took only 5 minutes and I love that my 5-year old can help (minus a few frustrating tears).

Gather your ingredients:
Distilled Water
2 Tablespoons of Liquid Castile Soap (I like Dr. Bronner's Pure-Castile Baby Mild best)
Foam hand soap dispenser (I reused a Method one from Target) 
1/2 teaspoon of Almond or Olive Oil (this is optional, but I like that it makes your hands a little softer)
Essential oils (any scent, but we like lemon and we put around 10 drops)
Measuring cup and spoons

Here's my little helper!

First, add the distilled water. Make sure you leave room for the big foaming pump.

We didn't leave enough room and had to do some cleanup!

Add 2 tablespoons of Castile Soap (you can add more if you would like) and 1/2 teaspoon Almond or Olive Oil. .

Add 10 drops of essential oils. Little gal got a little upset trying to pour the Castile Soap (that's why she has a red face). It's a roller coaster of emotions with a 5-year old!!

See if it smells strong enough, you can always add more essential oils if you like a stronger smell.

This is the best after shot I could get! Though it doesn't look like it, she had fun and it seriously took less than 5 minutes and is a lot cheaper than buying new soap every week or two!

Why I Like Pangea Organics

Like most people, in my teens and twenties my face broke out. Looking back, it wasn't too bad, but I remember thinking it was horrible. I went to several dermatologists in the quest to make my face clear. One even put me on Accutane. Which knowing what I know now, I'm shocked and a little mad at myself for being okay, even excited about Accutane.

That being said, I'm very particular about my skin care routine. I always wash my face before I go to bed. I'm one of those people that can't go to sleep without washing my face. I always use eye cream and moisturizer and have been since I was probably 20. But until I made the switch to Pangea Organics, I never have been loyal to any one brand. I know I sound like an infomercial, but it's true! I love their products. The toner is probably my favorite. I spray it on and just inhale the goodness. And I feel like my face has never looked better. Also, I really like knowing I'm not putting synthetic chemicals on my face.

BB Cream

When I became pregnant with my daughter (5 years ago), I really started looking at the products I was using on my face and body.
For example, I used to love Bath and Body Works. I would get one of their coupons and go crazy buying all kinds of smelly lotions and bath items. Now I can't even walk in the store, it gives me a headache. Everything smells so strong and fake to me.
I decided to make the change to more natural products with less chemicals. I always try to check Environmental Working Group's cosmetic database before I buy anything that goes on my face or on my body.

That being said, I've struggled a lot more with makeup. There's nothing I love more than going up to the Clinique counter or Sephora store and trying on a new lip gloss or eyeshadow. I'm a sucker for fun makeup. But I'm trying to slowly make the change to safer makeup with less chemicals.

I recently ran out of my favorite BB cream by Garnier. What's not to love, it makes my skin look great, it's cheap and I can get it at Target. But after I looked it up on Environmental Working Group's Cosmetic Database and saw that it scored a 7 (the scale goes 0-10, 7 is in the red zone, considered high hazard) I knew I had to find another BB cream.

I have a couple of Tarte products that I love, so I decided to try their BB cream. It only only scored a 2 (green zone or low hazard) on the Cosmetic Database, which is awesome! But, it is a lot more expensive, around $34 verses $12 for Garnier's BB cream. I have to say, I don't love it, but I do like it. The consistency is different than Garnier's. It goes on a little thicker (probably because of the titanium dioxide and zinc oxide sunscreens), but rubs in nicely. It stays on all day and helped my makeup stay on too. I don't feel like it gives me the glow that the Garnier cream did, but I also haven't been sleeping as much as I like lately, so that could be why I'm not glowing!

I'm planning on using the Tarte BB cream for now. Derma E also created a new BB cream that I might try next time, but I couldn't find a sample, so that's why I tried the Tarte BB first. I'll keep you posted!! 

Nail Polish Clean Up

Some people buy lipstick, I buy nail polish. You never know when you might need that perfect shade of glittery pink. I also never throw away nail polish, some of these bottles are more than 6 years old!

One of my daughters favorite things is having me paint her nails and toenails. She really likes it when they are all different colors!
Which got me thinking, what's in my nail polish? I've read about formaldehyde and DBP in nail polish, but I've also read most of the major nail companies have replaced those chemicals. I got a fantastic little card from the Environmental Working Group (ewg.org/skindeep) when I donated $10 to them. It tells you the chemicals you want to avoid when you buy nail polish. They suggest avoiding all nail polish with:

• Formaldehyde or Formalin 
• Toluene
• Dibutyl phthalate (DBP)

So I decided to go through all my polish and throw out those with the questionable ingredients.

At first I thought I was going to have to throw away 30 bottles! All of these contained Formaldehyde Resin. Thankfully, I did some more research before I put them in the trash.  According to the Environmental Working Group, ewg.org, (my "go to" website for research) Formaldehyde Resin is different than straight up Formaldehyde and it is safe.

In the end I threw away 13 bottles that had Toluene in them. It's still a little scary, because I know I used some of these colors on my daughter and Toluene was the second ingredient listed, which means the content was pretty high.

This is really hard for me because I hate wasting stuff and I hate throwing things away. I would always rather donate. But, as the saying goes, when you know better, you do better. So, I can't in good conscience use these anymore on myself or my daughter or even feel comfortable donating them, plus I don't even know if you can donate nail polish.

Though, I have to admit I did write down some of our favorite colors in hopes that they've been reformulated without the bad chemicals so I can buy them again.

A lot of the newer polishes don't contain these chemicals anymore, but I recommend always checking. And a warning, the ingredient list print is tiny!

Welcome

Welcome to my blog! I am somewhat of a beauty product junkie. I've always loved makeup, hair products, nail polish, all of it. One of my favorite stores is Sephora. Recently, I've been doing research and reading everything I can about what goes into my beauty products. I'm quickly learning, things aren't always as good as they seem. There are some dangerous chemicals out there lurking in nail polish, hair products and some of my favorite moisturizers.
That's why I decided to become a Beauty Ecologist with Pangea Organics. I love that I never have to worry about what's going on my skin when I use their products. Plus they smell and make your skin feel amazing!!! Let me know if you are interested in trying some products, hosting a skin care class, or want to join my team and spread the word about Pangea Organics!!