One of the most annoying parts about frosted Toronto winters is dealing with chapped skin.  We’re actually enjoying a rather warm winter this year, but the air is still very dry.  Not only does the office air cause my skin to be unbearably dehydrated, I also deal with a lot of paper on a regular basis, which further strips my hands of any remaining moisture.  I already own a lot of pretty-smelling hand lotions and creams (I love Crabtree!!), but recently I’ve been bitten by the organic bug.  I am slowly switching my skincare to more natural products, just so both I and my wallet can be more green..  I’ve seen Weleda’s Skin Food on many beauty magazines and forums with A+ reviews, so I decided to pick up a tube to try out for myself.  I got mine at the Nutrition House for $18.99 but I think you can find this any health food stores.

What originally caught my attention was its name – Skin Food.  Yes, I thought.. My skin needs food too!  It comes in a cute green tube with 2.5oz of product.  Yayaya.. it’s a tube of hand cream, what’s the big deal! The kicker is, this product can be used on hands, elbows, cuticles, heels, face and even lips!  Oh, all-in-one products, how I love thee!

Apply a small amount at a time and rub.  The consistency is the same as your regular hand lotion, except it’s richer and needs a bit more time for the skin to “eat it up”.  It has a citrusy herbal scent, not at all offensive to my finicky nose.  Here, I apply a pea size to my wrinkly and dry hand.  Stupid camera picks up the lines too well…!

After some rubrubrub, the skin is left with a healthy sheen until the product is fully absorbed.  Frankly I love the natural glow.  Look ma!  Lines no more!  Once the product sinks in, it doesn’t leave the hands sticky the way some thick creams do.  They feel truly moisturized and soothed, not silicony and slippery.

I’ve used this for a week on my hands so far and results have been stellar.  I will try it on my face (I’m so brave!) and report back shortly.

It’s been about two or three weeks since I’ve used Lush Jungle Solid Conditioner.  My first post is here.  It was a little tough to adjust to it, since I’ve always used conditioner out of a bottle.  I’ve also learned from using this that I don’t need to saturate my entire head with conditioner; I just focus on the areas of my scalp that need the attention (for me, it’s my hairline and the ends of my hair).  It made me realize how much product we use on ourselves, and most of which we probably don’t need.

Anywho, I’m going to share you some tips I have for using it.

Storage: I know that most people will probably bring the whole bar into the shower and leave it on the dish rack thing to let it dry. As I said in my previous post, you should only take a small chunk of it in the shower. The rest should be stored away. I store it in an empty, clean Nivea jar like so:

You can also use empty Ferrero Rocher boxes, sandwich boxes, or an empty cleaned margarine tub. Keep it in a dry container, placed in a dry and cool place like a cabinet.

Patience: I know we all live busy lives and cannot be bothered with the act of chopping up conditioner and making a paste out of it.  That’s okay — don’t buy it if it doesn’t fit into your lifestyle!  But in reality, it’s not about taking more time, it’s just a change of habit with using a conditioner. Instead of squeezing it out from a bottle, you’re just making a wet paste out of it with the natural body heat from your hands. A little effort, that’s all.

Thoroughness: One morning I was trying to shower as fast as I could, rushing the conditioning process as well.  After my hair dried, I noticed I hadn’t rinsed it out properly. This is so important, yet I know people will roll their eyes. You have to be thorough with rinsing it out. Really get into it!! Put your whole self into massaging your scalp so that it rinses out properly (don’t scratch with your fingernails though — use the pads of your finger tips).

It’s a bit of a shame that Lush only has Jungle as their only offering for solid conditioner – I wish they’d come up with other scents and formulations.

What other brands offer a range of solid conditioner bars?

I’d love to hear from you, I am so fascinated to see what other non-bottled hair products are out there!!!

Two months ago I bought a solid shampoo bar (like a soap bar) from Lush called “Soak ‘N Float”.  It’s especially effective on hair with dandruff.

Lush Soak 'N Float Shampoo Bar

The yellow string thingies are chamomile.  It smells like bacon frying over a campfire.  It’s an acquired smell.

The main microbe-fighting ingredient is cade oil, which gives that burning firewood scent.

Since it’s winter season, my hair gets extra static-y so I have to use conditioner to prevent flyaways and annoying static.  The most obvious choice was to visit Lush.  The reason why I enjoy buying from Lush is that they use minimal packaging, or none at all. Because their a majority of their products are in a solid form, plastic containers are unnecessary.

Besides the genuine practice of environmentally-sound selling, Lush’s products are incredibly effective (for me).  Some people assert that it is ineffective, but it might be a matter of not using the products correctly.

I recently bought Jungle, a solid conditioner made of (among other ingredients) cocoa butter, organic avocado, and bananas.

Lush Jungle Conditioner Bar

$8.23 might sound like a lot of money for conditioner, but this can last up to a year. Maybe even longer – I’ll do a progress report within a year’s time.

Lush Jungle Conditioner Bar

1. Using it is a little tricky. Before you go into the shower, chop off a small piece (the size of a sugar cube) and put the rest of the block away. Only bring that little piece into the shower with you.

Lush Jungle Conditioner Bar

Lush Jungle Conditioner Bar

2. Then, with the natural heat of your hands and a little water, rub your hands together until you have a smooth paste.

I couldn’t get a good picture of it since my hands were all pasty, but it should look like wet glue.

3. Apply to the hairline, then massage to the scalp and work your way down the tips/ends of your hair.  The tips/ends are usually the driest.

4. Leave it on for about 2+ minutes. Then rinse out the conditioner. Use your fingers to help move the conditioner out of your hair. If you don’t rinse it out properly, you might find sticky residue after your hair dries. Be assertive with rinsing it out!

The sales associates at Lush instructed that I take the entire block and rub it on my hair, but I find that to be using up the product too fast.  I find that taking a small chunk and using it up in the shower is best.

Because this conditioner is made of cocoa butter, it can be super moisturizing, so it’s best for people with sensitive, dry scalps (like me). Awesome possum.

After two years and five tubes of lipstick later, I have found the perfect red lipstick for me: Lancome Color Design in Edgy. It was a gift with purchase at one of those department store makeup counters.

Sorry, I had some mad under eye bags this morning. No amount of photoshop could save these photos.

Right out of the tube, it’s a really dark red.  Intimidating, but just misunderstood.

I found that the best way to apply it without it looking like clown makeup is by dabbing it lightly on the lips, not rubbing it on liberally.

YAY! HAPPY RED LIPSTICK TIME!

Oh, and check out my awesome avocado-coloured green sweater. It was my mom’s from the 80′s.

IS NICE!

HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!