If anyone has been reading this blog for a while or if anyone that's new to it knows me, I'm a bit of a treehugger, admittedly. I go green, I try to be organic- in all aspects of my life. As far as perfumes and deodorants, I've been struggling a bit in this area. I'm not totally natural... and no, even I will not be 100% "natural" body smelling. Ick. I'm not that hardcore. Probably like most ladies out there, I've tried pretty much every perfume on the face of this earth... I mean, I've had my favorites but I like to switch it up depending on seasons, moods, type of events (IE: you can't wear a "work" perfume to a night out or vice versa...) The perfumes I've tried are endless: Chanel No. 5 (who HASN'T bought this at least once), Gucci Flora, Lacoste, Ralph Lauren Romance, Calvin Klein (eternity, mostly- but I've tried several), Armani Code, Lovely by Sarah Jessica Parker, and on and on. The list really is endless. I wasn't joking.
My whole problem with perfumes is and has always been that I want to smell good (GREAT even) but most perfumes have all of that artificial, unnatural synthetic shit in them (and for those who care about the more technical side of things, that shit in most perfumes (and most makeups- which is why I wear organic mineral based makeups which I won't talk about now because it would be a huge tangent) can be some or all of the following: petrochemicals, phthalates, propylene glycol, mineral oils, silicone, synthetic dyes, sulfates, parabens, DEA/TEA, PEGs, etc). And since you spray perfumes on your skin (which, by the way is the largest organ on your body), then all of that shit just goes straight into your skin and throughout your whole body. Gross. I've tried and tried to overlook it but can't really anymore. Now, I'm not saying that I won't use any of my favorite brands that I listed above ever again, I'm just saying that I might only use them every once in a great while...for a special occasion or something. I've just been feeling bad about wearing them every. day. Some of them might even be more healthy than others, I don't really know but I do know that none of them purport to be 100% natural.
So.
I was reading in my Natural Health magazine last month about a brand called Lavanila. I'd heard about this brand before and maybe have even seen it at Sephora once or twice but haven't given it much of my time. The article was about healthy deodorants but in this article they went on to talk about the brand Lavanila and the awesomeness of the perfume, too. The brand claims to be 100% natural- natural and organic ingredients, non-toxic, vitamin-rich antioxidants, pure essential oils, safe/effective, eco-friendly, and does not animal test. REALLY. Well, you have my attention now, Natural Health. That sure sounds great and EXACTLY what I've been hoping to find.
Everyone knows that a lot of things "healthy" aren't always the best smelling/tasting, what have you. Even I can attest to that and it's part of the reason that I don't have a natural perfume yet. But, I got brave and looked into it and decided to try it out. I bought a big vanilla/grapefruit perfume (I should add that I was having a VERY brave day because it was a $60 BIG bottle), a roll on vanilla/coconut travel perfume and a vanilla/grapefruit deodorant (more on the deodorant later). I have never been a huge vanilla person so I was a little bit skeptical at whether or not it would be worth it but I was willing to try...and I was feeling brave, as mentioned. They did have a pure vanilla scent but like I said, not so into that.
So, my conclusion? I absolutely LOVE IT. The vanilla/grapefruit perfume smells very light and fresh. I was glad that it's not really TOO much overpowered one way or the other- too vanilla or too grapefruit. And it's not really too citrusy either. It's a really nice balance of smells. The vanilla/coconut is ok...I might wear it every once in a while but I'm not as big of a fan. It smells a bit too much like suncreen or something and I'm not totally sure that I love vanilla/coconut together. So far, I've been wearing the vanilla/grapefruit every day and it's awesome. I've even gotten compliments on how good I smell and people asking what I'm wearing... YES! So I'm being natural AND it's healthy. Nothing makes me happier.
So, as promised, a word on deodorant. I was using Tom's of Maine (apricot), an all natural brand that I've always gotten at Whole Foods (but lately I've seen it at Safeway, Walgreens, etc. as well). I've always been pretty happy with it because it is a healthy deodorant with nothing unnatural at all and most importantly, no aluminum. BUT my complaint with it is that it totally dried out my armpits. Which was annoying. So, I've been using the Lavanila deodorant now for a while since I got brave and tried it, along with everything else. Again, I LOVE IT. It doesn't dry out my armpits and still has a nice smell...it actually kind of smells a bit like baby powder, I think. Doesn't really have the vanilla/grapefruit type of smell that the perfume has. The only problem is that it's $18, which is a bit pricey for deodorant. I think that Tom's is around $6-$7. But I'll probably keep paying for Lavanila if I continue to love it as much as I currently do. I am a happy camper with my new natural smelling finds.
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