(review) New fragrance oils at Candle Science

Some Fragrance Ho's convinced me to buy more fragrance oils lol as if I need more 😂 

 Fresh Cut Grass (new): Citrus, Lemongrass, Grass, Green Leaves, Sage, Moss -Excellent! Could do without the citrus note but definitely smells green.

Pink Sugar Crystals (new): Black Currant, Strawberry, Raspberry, Sugar, Freesia, Tonka, Vanilla, Light Musk  -I think this scent would smell better without the musk. Smells worse than a cheap Justin Bieber perfume

Black Coral and Moss (new): Marine, Camphor, Pineapple, Lavender, Bamboo, Dark Musk, Amber, Vetiver, Cedar -Manly, wow! This would be a good cologne. I will definitely buy more of this to make manly soap 😂

Beach Linen (discontinued): Sea Salt, Ozone, Citrus, Jasmine, Lavender, Powder, Wood -Smells super clean, I love this!

Magnolia and Peony (discontinued): Violet, Lily, Peony, Magnolia, Freesia, Powder, Wood -I smell lily, I love lily! Then I smell the other flowers and it reminds me of Grandma's house.

Hemp: Lemon, Lime, Hemp, Green Leaves, Vetiver, Patchouli -Too much lemon, not enough patchouli. Will not repurchase.

Himalayan Bamboo: Bergamot, Lime, Grass, Green Leaves, Cucumber, Bamboo, Violet -Smells like the bathroom at a sushi restaurant

Coconut: Rum, Lime, Coconut, Vanilla -Smells nice. Would smell better if it was only coconut. There's not enough lime to make it smell delicious, it just has a weird sour edge

Rose Petals: Green Leaves, Ozone,Rose, Carnation, Lily of the Valley, Ylang Ylang, Powder, Peppercorn -this smells really beautiful!

Apple Peppercorn (new): Green Leaves, Green Floral, Apple, Peppercorn, Pear,Spice, Light Musk, Nutmeg -🤷this smells like a lumberjack man coming to your Thanksgiving and bringing you a bag of red apples.

Palo Santo (new): Cardamom, Citrus, Palo Santo, Violet, Saffron, Smoke, Wood, Sandalwood, Amber -I heard a lot of great reviews... I'm not feelin' it tho.

Santal and Coconut (new): Benzoin, Coconut Milk, Coconut, Sandalwood, Cedar, Tonka, Amyris -smells like an inoffensive coconut scent 🤷 idk,nothing special

Lavender Driftwood (new): Marine, Eucalyptus, Honeydew Melon, Green Leaves, Lavender, Sage, Cedar, Amber, Benzoin, Cypress -nice woodland gnome variation of lavender

Neroli and White Jasmine (new): Green Leaves, Petitgrain, Citrus, Neroli, Jasmine, Orange Blossom, Powder, Patchouli -all the extra crap drowns out the jasmine, I don't like this

*WARNING* about shipping: Candle Science has 2 warehouses, one on the East Coast / one on the West Coast. So you have to watch what you buy and make sure it all ships from 1 warehouse. If your order ships from both warehouses = you get 2 shipping fees! 😡 

(review) ALAFFIA Bath & Body Products (lotions, body washes, conditioners)

This hippie trapped inside me keeps buying these 'Fair Trade' products at Sprouts. I like that the ingredients lists are simple and natural lol makes me feel healthy! ...eventho hair is technically dead... ON TO THE REVIEWS!

FAIR TRADE = the money customers spend will never contribute to the exploitation of workers or the environment.
Embrace social responsibility with ethical standards :-)

Coconut Face Cream: lightweight, smells kinda girly like faint coconut, very basic face lotion

Coconut Eye Cream: this is a little thicker than the face lotion, I like to keep it in the fridge and apply cold

Coconut Body Wash: very simple bodywash, kinda moisturizing, good enough-- this scent specifically has coffee in it so I'd like to think the caffeine is helping hide my cellulite lol
African Black Soap: this works miracles on bacne, I love the tangerine scent, A+!

 

Coconut Conditioner: Coconut oil is rich in fatty acids, moisturizing, acts like a protein to temporarily strengthen hair. Whenever I used the Coconut conditioner on my scalp my hair looked kinda greasy later, so I'd recommend keeping that on the ends only. Scentless.
Shea Lavender Conditioner: Lavender oil kills germs, promotes healthy hair growth, adds shine. Sometimes I use the Shea conditioner for co-washing (it has no coconut oil in it). The Shea conditioner makes my hair feel more voluminous after each shower. Strong scent.

About the conditioners: these did not make my hair easy to comb, there's no dimethicone in them, so I did have to use an additional leave-in conditioner (I like to lightly spritz super diluted jojoba oil as a detangler). I've used both of these conditioners as body lotion, works well. I've also heard of people using these as a pre-shampoo conditioning treatment (I've tried this but my hair didn't feel any more special afterwards *shrug*). And finally, I want everyone to know that from my experience: Shea Butter does not strip hair color :-) My purple didn't fade.

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Aromatherapy 101

Aside from smelling wonderful, some essentials are actually helpful! I keep a few of these handy:

ROSE: romance, love, joy, sensual pleasure, happiness, passion, desire, soothes emotions, lifts depression, eases anxiety and stress, insomnia

JASMINE: decreases anxiety, depression, nervous exhaustion, stress, elevates spirits, balances moods, encourages optimism, self-confidence, diminishes fear, emotionally and physically relaxing, spurs creativity, inspires artistic expression, awakens intuition, sensual stimulant, promotes feelings of beauty and allure, confidence
Warning: do not use if pregnant

LAVENDER: eases feelings of depression, fear, insomnia, irritability, melancholy, mood swings, nervousness, stress, worry, anger; helps balance emotions and provide mental well-being

ORANGE & TANGERINE: emotional balance, revitalizes, energizes, calms nerves, optimism and positivity especially in wintertime, subdues stress and depression, encourages adventurous attitude, tangerine especially helps sooth me to sleep

CINNAMON CASSIA: warming and uplifting, encourages inner-strength, courage, confidence, promotes healthy digestion and immune system, stimulates metabolism
(sometimes I add a drop of cinnamon to my lipgloss, it stings my lips a little, and plumps them :-)

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I am not a doctor and I cannot advise what will/won't work for you, but...
Here are essential oils I use organized by need/mood/emotions:

Appetite Stuff
grapefruit: boosts energy, curbs cravings, endurance
bergamot and lavender helps keep me calm and alleviate stress, positive emotions, motivation
orange, lemon: emotional support, energizing
peppermint: relaxes stomach muscles, calm mood, mentally alert, energizing
patchouli: sedative/relaxation
cinnamon: regulates blood sugar levels to reduce mood swings (emotional balance)
ylang ylang: helps mind think clearly

Fear
essential oils: cedarwood, sandalwood, patchouli, thyme

Confidence, Self-Worth
essential oils: jasmine, ylang ylang, rose, bergamot, clary sage, frankincense, lavender, basil

Nervous Energy
essential oils: rose, chamomile, clary sage, jasmine, lavender, rosemary

Calming when I'm Stressed Out, Negative Emotions
essential oils: frankincense, lavender, chamomile, sandalwood, ylang ylang, clary sage, rose, bergamot

Grief and Sadness
essential oils recommended: bergamot, chamomile, jasmine, rose, basil, lavender, peppermint, thyme

Depression
essential oils: bergamot, rosemary, jasmine, juniper, peppermint, chamomile, sandalwood, ylang ylang, frankincense

Need an Uplifting Mood
essential oils: bergamot, rose, basil, sandalwood, orange

Stimulating, Get Up and Go
essential oils: peppermint, rosemary, basil, lemon, grapefruit

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IMPORTANT NOTE: Fragrance oils are NOT the same as essential oils. Fragrance oils are most often synthetic, they are for fragrance purposes only. Fragrance oils do not have natural healing properties like essential oils do.

Where to buy: if ordering online, I like http://www.gardenofwisdom.com  If you want to smell the essential oils before buying, I suggest checking out your local Sprouts because they often have better sales than Whole Foods. Walmart and Rite Aid carry some essential oils now. I also see "100% pure essential oil" bottles at TJ Maxx/Marshalls/Ross stores sometimes.

How I Use Them:
---take a whiff directly from the bottle cap
---a few drops into a cup of boiling water, inhale the steam

---in a diffuser or humidifier

---in shower steamers
---on an aroma locket necklace


WARNING! these essential oils are poisonous to cats: Oregano, Bay Leaf, Parsley and Savory, Cedar Leaf, Sage, Hyssop, Cyprus, Lavender, Eucalyptus, Mint ,Caraway, Citronella, Clove, Ginger, Chamomile, Thyme and Rosemary, Pine, Peppermint, Lemon, Melaleuca and Tea Tree Oil, Cinnamon Bark Oil, Wintergreen

embarassing sunburn & tan lines?

I stayed out in the sun too long and got a sunburn :-( and even worse the tan lines weren't even cute!  WHY didn't I wear a sexier bikini?!  So I scoured through the internet for a hack to fix my problems... (which was frustrating as Hell because I'm allergic to aloe and everyone's #1 suggestion is aloe. EYE. ROLL.)   Here's a photo of my bikini bottom/hip area :-( you can see it's RED and blistered ---->

Fun fact: aloe is in the same plant family as garlic and onions LOL garlic makes me feel sick (and I think it tastes like wooden pencil), and I HATE onions. Now that I know these plants are all related it makes perfect sense! Crazy, huh? 😂 #TruFax

1. BURNS- how fast does Neosporin work on normal burns?

because I was slathering it specifically on the big red spot up top of my bikini bottom... 2 days later there was no change :-(

 

 

2. PAIN- a 'hack' told me to marinate in Noxzema (cold cream for you face) and that felt good/cooling... but the minute I rinsed it off I was back in pain and still red. Another 'hack' told me to soak cotton balls (or washcloths) in milk and put them on the super burned spots... ok, but it didn't say if I'm supposed to rinse off afterwards(?) I assumed no rinsing off and after an hour I smelled funky and felt gross.Washcloths soaked in witch hazel, on the other hand, had a very nice cooling effect :-)

I also read about taking oatmeal baths or pressing black tea bags against your skin, but I didn't try those.

 

MOST IMPORTANT NOTE I HAVE FOR PAIN= I took a maximum strength pain reliever every few hours, aspirin also helps with the inflammation :-) White willow bark is supposedly a more natural form of aspirin but I haven't tried it *shrug*

 

3. REDNESS- supposedly tomatoes will remove the red from your sunburn... so first I cut a tomato in half and rubbed it all over my body LOL I am such a hippie! I stood in the bath tub until the juice dried and tomato seeds were stuck in every inappropriate place possible(!!) and then rinsed off. This is ridiculous! I found some Yes to Tomatoes bodywash at Ross and tried marinating in that next. OKAY we're done with this hack, it's not working! You know the color when hamburger beef goes bad? It's red but with this brown/grey overcast-- that was my skin :-p abort mission!  >.<

Another 'hack' told me to spray my body in vinegar HAHAHAHA NO! I can't smell like that, sorry.

 

4. SOOTHING- ok so by day 3 my skin was getting tight and painful (preparing to peel, oh joy!) A few 'helpful hacks' suggested different oils for sunburn so I picked up a few oils: grapeseed oil, arnica oil, lavender oil, and coconut oil. So I mixed these up in a little bottle (mostly the grapeseed with a few drops of everything else) and massaged my entire body. I smelled so good! It massaged right in and dried rather quickly, so I repeated every couple hours. Anica oil helps reduce swelling and pain. This did NOT prevent me from peeling however, grrrrr! BUT while rubbing this massage oil in, some skin did gently rub off without hurting so that was nice :-) Good hack!

Another 'hack' told me mix a couple drops of tea tree oil in olive or coconut oil- HAHAHAHA NO! I can't smell like that, sorry.

 

Many 'hacks' suggested Vitamin E *sigh* ok I'll tell you why this is a fail for me. The vitamin e oil never dried/soaked into my skin. And trying a punctured vitamin e capsule & rubbing it on- well that felt thicker sticky and gross, still did not dry & there was no way I could put my clothes on after that. I will never do that again! Gross! I read that Aloe is high in vitamin e and that is why "aloe is so good for sunburns"- but aloe has NEVER worked on my sunburns! so I'm not surprised vitamin e is also worthless to me here

5. PEELING- time to exfoliate my ugly, damaged body *sigh* in case you didn't know: shaving your legs is great for removing dead skin cells so if you do that (gently!) then you won't have to worry much about exfoliating them :-) for the rest of my body I bought some scrub gloves. At first I used my bodywash with the gloves (St Ivea Oatmeal & Shea Butter, it's good for dry skin) ...but frustration= eventually I was just using the gloves dry rubbing across my peeling skin and making a huge mess just to make the nightmare end!! it was like grating cheese or something :-) AHHHHHH!

[just as a sidenote here: don't think you can scrub your tan lines off lol I tried and all it did was cause damage *sigh* more damage that needs to heal so more time your body will be miserable]

One PAINFUL 'hack' I encountered was to use an AHA cream... Don't Do This! glycolic acid is exfoliating and will eat away at the dead skin- but when if you accidentally touch any fresh skin IT BURNS!! and the pain is not worth it.

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1WEEK LATER: my sunburn has healed into a nice tan :-) And now I will use Malibu "Hemp Golden Glow" ($5 at Walmart) to keep my tan glowing as long as possible. I use this lotion year-round for a healthy glow so I highly recommend it. I rub it all over my body after showering, and then again on my legs before bed [because I shave every day and that fades leg tan fast!] And make sure to wash your hands with soap and clean between your fingers or else they might turn orange, haha