I’m slowly increasing the number of Method products I own, (because I can’t help it!  They’re just so pretty! and they work so well!) and this is the latest one.  It’s a really nice floor cleaner with a WONDERFUL fragrance.  I didn’t realize how much I like almond fragrance till I got this — I’m hoping Method starts making an almond scented shower gel and lotion to match, because I would buy those in a heartbeat!

Anyway, this is a lovely floor cleaner — it’s kind to my hardwood floors, leaves them shiny-shiny-shiny, and doesn’t strip them of their finish.  I’ve actually started using it to clean up places my dog has had accidents — if I use any other cleaner I can actually see the chemicals eating into the floor finish making it dull while the rest of the floor looks nice and shiny. And have I mentioned I love the scent?

This floor cleaner only has one major drawback — the nozzle.  While the bottle is very attractive, the nozzle releases a stream of cleaning fluid — and I would much prefer a spray bottle.  My old BonaKemi floor cleaner (which was really nice — dear BonaKemi — have you considered going cruelty-free?  Because then I could buy your floor care products again, and I’d really appreciate it!) came in these really nice spray bottles, so I could spray a very fine mist over the floor.  You’re not supposed to EVER let water pool on hardwood floors, so the Method Floor Cleaner stream of floor cleaner worries me because it leaves these heavy streaks of liquid on the floor.  Method people — that is not good!  It ruins the finish!  Also, the streaks of liquid make it difficult to slide the Method O Mop on the floor — the alternating patches of dry floor and wet floor do NOT lead to an even glide.  Whereas the fine spray of liquid from the BonaKemi spray bottle lets the Method O Mop glide over the floor nicely.

I also think the nozzle wastes a lot of cleaning liquid — the microfiber of the mop soaks up the puddles it comes to, instead of using that liquid to clean the floor, whereas a fine spray of liquid lets the microfiber of the mop clean the floor but not soak up the cleanser and then go all soggy.  I also do not know what crack the Method people are on saying the nozzle on this bottle is “shower style” and covers the floor in a few simple sweeps.  It most emphatically does NOT do that.  No matter how much I fiddle with the top, it releases a single stream of liquid.  Seriously.  It’s just like the top of expensive water bottles — no matter what you do with those you can’t make them “shower.”  If you somehow manage to get the thing to be barely open, it will give off a few tiny bubbles.  Not useful at all, if you ask me.

Luckily, I do have a solution for this — I’m almost at the end of a spray bottle of Method All Purpose Spray, (which I go through really fast), so as soon as that is empty I’m going to pour the rest of the Method Wood For Good Floor Cleaner into it and use it to spray the floors instead.  While I wait for the day Method releases this floor cleaner in a spray bottle!

(Method products are 100%-animal testing free, vegan, but not organic.)

Method Wood for Good Floor Cleaner is $6 at the Method Online Store or your local Target.

Method wood for good® floor cleaner
no-wax, no-nonsense floor cleaning polish
smells so good, you practically want to eat off the floor. we don’t recommend it. but it is good to know this no-wax formula is non-toxic and biodegradable. makes you want to throw out the timer on that whole 5-second rule. plus, the ergonomically designed shower-nozzle spray covers your floors in fewer sweeps and helps avoid puddling.

Non-toxic and biodegradable cleaners (including baking soda) mean that no hazardous residues will stay behind when you clean your floor, making it safe for pets, people and the planet. It’s also a DfE recognized formula and a 100% recycled plastic bottle.
Ingredients: baking soda, non-toxic and biodegradable solvent, color, biodegradable and non-toxic surfactants, fragrance oil blend, purified water, potassium hydrate
preservative (under 0.1%).

poll by twiigs.com

 I bought a bunch of these a few years ago and keep finding them in old jackets.  I used to really like them — they’re a nice basic lip balm.  They last a long time, they don’t run, and they’re not shiny.

However, they have one unfortunate deal-breaker — their spf does not protect against UVA rays, and I like to protect myself from getting cancerous melanomas, so I do not consider them adequate sunscreen, so I won’t be buying any more.

But if Alba would like to jazz up these lip balms with something a little more UVA-proof, (and perhaps remove the lanolin ingredient?  wool-wax kind of grosses me out) — I’d buy them again.  (The active spf ingredients in this lip balm, padimate O and oxybenzone, are NOT adequate for sun protection — only avobenzone, mexoryl (ecamsule), octocrylene, titanium dioxide, and zinc oxide are.  I’ve written more here about good vs. bad sunscreens.)

(Alba Botanica products are cruelty-free, vegetarian, but not organic.)

Alba Botanica Lipcare SPF 18 (0.15oz) is available at the Alba Botanica online store for $2.50.

Ingredients:

Active Ingredients
Padimate O 7.5%, Oxybenzone 5.0%

Ingredients
Castor oil (ricinus communis), candelilla wax (euphorbia cerifera), beeswax (cera alba), natural flavors, jojoba oil (simmondsia chinesis), lanolin, carnauba wax (copernicia cerifera), olive oil (olea europaea), tocopheryl acetate and tocopherol (vitamin E), evening primrose oil (oenothera biennis), soybean oil (glycine soja) and echinacea (echinacea purpurea) extract.

Standards
• Hypo-allergenic
• SPF 18
• No artificial colors, petrolatum, mineral oil, phthalates or parabens.
• 100% vegetarian ingredients and no animal testing

Signature ingredient: We use soy bean oil, rich in essential fatty acids and vitamin E, to moisturize and protect lips, while echinacea extract and evening primrose oil detoxify, heal, and nourish.

Product description: The secret to soft, smooth, healthy lips in every season and climate. A natural, non-petroleum blend of botanical plant oils, vitamin E and echinacea moisturize, nourish and protect lips from the sun and elements.

Features and benefits: Our lips deserve nourishing protection. That’s why we’ve given our Lip Care an SPF of 18 as well as a range of healing botanicals. Natural plant oils hydrate and protect lips while vitamin E, echinacea and peppermint rejuvenate and restore.

Who should use this product? For all skin types.

Directions for use: Apply daily. Reapply as needed.

 This is, without a doubt, the best eye cream on the planet — it has titanium dioxide as its active spf ingredient, so it will protect the area around your eyes from fatal melanomas ALL DAY LONG (unlike those chemical-based sunscreens that need to be reapplied every 2 hours — for more information on what makes a good and a bad sunscreen, click here), it keeps the skin around your eyes gently moisturized without being too greasy, and it’s cruelty-free!  (Unfortunately it is not vegan or organic.)

But the absolute best thing about it is that it does NOT streak.  Despite having a mineral spf ingredient.  Isn’t that amazing?  I really don’t know how Dermalogica does this — all other titanium-dioxide-containing sunscreens I’ve tried have streaked like crazy on me.  But this one — nary a streak in sight!  It’s pale pinky-orange in the tube, but it goes on clear, and it DRIES CLEAR (even better!).  I should send the people at  Dermalogica a thank you card, really.   I am planning to buy more of Dermalogica’s other spf-containing products as soon as I become super wealthy, because Dermalogica obviously really understands what works in a sunscreen. (I’m not entirely sure it wouldn’t streak on someone with a very dark skintone — I’d be sure to try it out in the store first.  Though if you’re incredibly pale, it really won’t streak on you, I promise — I’ve tested it on my inner elbow which is white,white,white — and my face, which is “fair” — and there have been no streaks whatsoever.)

I originally got this eye cream because my Alba Botanica sunscreen, if applied close to my eyes, tends to run in them and Ow!  This stuff only gets in my eyes if am really sweating buckets, and it doesn’t burn my eyes when that does happen — it just feels a little uncomfortable.  (The whole not-making-the-area-around-my-eyes-look-oily was an excellent bonus.)  One slight issue I have had with it is that it doesn’t mix well with Juice Organics tinted moisturizer — I would get these weird demarcations where the eye cream met up with the moisturizer.

There is one problem with this eyecream — it’s very expensive.  However, despite that, I still think it’s a good value — I use a tiny, tiny amount every morning, and I foresee the tube lasting me at least five years.  So on a cost per year basis, it’s relatively inexpensive.  (Dermalogica’s face and body sunscreens on the other hand — $45 for a small tube of sunscreen?  Are they on crack?  I’d go through that in a few months.  Also a bunch of those appear to have bad sunscreens ingredients — or rather, not UVA-shielding — I’m definitely not paying $45 for those, thank you VERY much.   Dear Dermalogica — please make a face/body sunscreen with titanium dioxide as the active ingredient and your amazing non-streakiness, and charge a lot less for it.  And while you’re at it, if you could please put your ingredient list on your website so I wouldn’t have to go to Pure Beauty to see if you have good SPF ingredients.  Your consideration of this matter would be greatly appreciated!)

Dermalogica Total Eye Care with SPF 15 (0.5 oz) is available for $31.95 from WhatGreatSkin.com.

 Recommended for all skin conditions.  A technologically-advanced eye treatment cream.  Gentle alpha hydroxy acids smooth while firming plant extracts retexturize the skin, helping to reduce the appearance of puffiness and fine lines.  Optical light diffusers help dminish dark circles.  A chemical-free sunscreen helps to shield against further damage.  Contains no artificial fragrance or color.  

 Directions: Gently pat underneath eye area, blending inward from outer corner.  Use daily under makeup or alone.  

 Active ingredient: Titanium Dioxide (4.5%).

Warnings: For external use only, not to be swallowed.  Avoid contact with eyes.  If contact occurs, flush thoroughly with water.  If irritation develops, discontinue use.   Do not use on infants under 6 months old.  

Alba Botanica Papaya Mango Body Cream is from Alba’s “Alba Hawaiian” line in the yellow, orange, and green print bottles. It has the words “Alba Organics” on the side — I suppose this must be a new development at the Alba Botanica/Avalon Organics/Unpetroleum company. Maybe Alba Botanica is now Alba Organics?

Anyway, the cream is hypoallergenic, made from 75% certified organic ingredients, and filled with “tropical fruit enzymes and beta-carotene blended in a rich, luxurious body cream to soften, soothe, and smooth rough, dry, flaky skin.” To use it, you’re supposed to apply liberally to entire body, especially elbows, knees, and heels.

(It’s 100%-cruelty-free, vegetarian, and 75% organic. But it is not vegan.)

My take on it: Well, I like the jar — it’s a medium-sized plastic tub that is easy to carry around and doesn’t take up much space on any countertop. I like the fragrance — it’s very fruity and mango-ey, though it is a little chemical smelling, which I’m not so keen on. It has a wonderful texture — creamy and thick but melts into my skin pretty quickly for a thick cream, not grainy at all, very smooth, and not heavy or greasy. I do kind of wish it were a little thicker — I was looking for something primarily to moisturize my feet — I’ve been wearing flip-flops all summer long and my feet are really in need of serious moisture. I think this is a great rich cream for legs, arms, and hands, but really dry feet that have been exposed to really dry dusty conditions every day of the week? Not so much. I think I may have to find something else for that. (The other problem I have is that I usually put this on before I go to bed, and get it all over my hands, and then when I wake up and rub my eyes in the morning I get papaya-fragranced chemicals in my eyes and that makes my eyes tear. I think I’ll have to find an unscented foot cream somewhere . . . )

Alba Hawaiian Papaya Mango Body Cream (6.5oz) is available for $11.95 from the Alba Botanica online store, as well as Whole Foods and Longs.

Ingredients: Purified water, certified organic aloe barbadensis leaf juice, caprylic/capric triglyceride, carthamus tinctorius (safflower) seed oil, stearic acid, vegetable glycerin, glyceryl stearate, stearyl alcohol, butyrospermum parkii (shea butter), polysorbate 60, dimethicone, extracts of carica papaya fruit, mangifera indica (mango) fruit, cucumis sativus (cucumber) fruit, arnica montana flower and anacyclus pyrethrum root, aleurites moluccana (kukui) seed oil, macadamia ternifolia seed oil, rosa moschata seed oil, beta carotene, phenoxyethanol, ethylhexylglycerin, potassium sorbate, tocopheryl acetate (vitamin E), carbomer, caramel and fragrance.

 Loading …

Have you always wanted to try Method products? Now’s your chance! Method is having a 20% off sale on their new “midsummer salad” kit — it has an all purpose spray, dish soap, hand wash, and a soy candle — all for $16 if you order the kit online. (I think it’s $16 after the 20% off — i.e., without the 20% off it would be $20.) If you’ve been thinking of trying Method products, this would be a very nice starter package. I don’t think I’ll be ordering it myself, because sadly, I own all of these products except for the soy candle, and I have a bunch of candles I ought to use up before I go buying any new ones. Sigh . . .

(Method products are of course not tested on animals, but they are also vegan. They are not organic.)

mid-summer salad kit

a healthy dose of greens in fresh flavors

detox your home for the dog days of summer with our new kit. we hand-picked a few of our best-selling cleaners in some of our favorite scents and we’re offering them up at 20% off. all purpose spray, dish soap, hand wash and a soy candle, all for just 16 bucks. sweet. unfortunately, just like the long days of summer, we won’t have it forever. (psst… sweeten your deal even more with 50% off shipping when you purchase $50 or more.)

I’ve written before about Juice Organics products I’ve tried. I bought this lip balm around the time I first started buying Juice Organics products back in the winter. I really didn’t care for it then, but I thought maybe I should try it in the summer as well. So I’ve been trying it out lately too.

Juice Organics is a very nice company — it is the bargain-product-line to Juice Beauty. Everything made by Juice Organics is made from certified organic ingredients, 100% vegetarian, made from five juices, has no harsh paraben preservatives, synthetic fragrances, petroleum derivatives, artificial dyes, harsh sulfates, phthalates, or toluene. Juice Beauty is also a supporter of the Compact for Global Production of Safer Health and Beauty Products and the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics — i.e., it never uses chemicals that are strongly suspected of causing cancer.

So yeah, Juice Organics is a very nice brand. The only real issue I can see with it is, why in the world isn’t it vegan? And I’ve looked at a lot of its products — what nonvegan but vegetarian ingredients does it use? I can’t figure it out.

Juice Organics Lip Amplifier

Nourish your lips with safe, healthy organic ingredients. You’ll love the way your lips look and feel. Achieve sumptuous, smooth lips immediately, with a blend of lip amplifying peptides, refining cane sugar, certified organic citrus juice and nourishing essential fatty acids.

• Increase lip volume up to 40%
• Immediate plumping technology
• Glossy finish

So — while I like the packaging of Juice Organics Lip Amplifier a lot — the squeeze tube with the slanted tip applicator is my favorite lip gloss packaging! — this lip balm just does not work for me. It’s far too light — when I was using it in the winter my lips became chapped. I need something with more moisturizing capability. Even now I’ve been using it in the summer when chapped lips aren’t as much of an issue for me, and it’s better than nothing, but it’s just not as good as a more moisturizing lip balm would be. Also, I haven’t noticed any lip amplifying whatsoever, and it has no UVA-protecting ingredients. So I’m taking off three stars because of those problems.

It does have some good features — while I found the smell a little strange at first — it smells kind of like sour oranges — it grew on me, and now I kind of like it. It also has a great texture — it’s nice and slightly shiny without being too viscous or over-the-top shiny or sticky, and it doesn’t tend to run off the corners of my mouth if I apply too much.

Juice Organics lip balm is cruelty-free, organic, but not vegan (but it is 100% vegetarian).

Juice Organics lip balm is available at the Juice Organics online store for $9.99.

Juice Organics Lip Amplifier Ingredients:
Organic juices of citrus aurantium dulcis (orange) juice & aloe barbadensis leaf juice, organic simmondsia chinensis (jojoba) seed oil, glycerin, organic honey, organic essential fatty acids of linum usitatissimum (linseed) seed & borago officinali (borage) seed, tocopheryl acetate & tocopherol (vitamin E), ascorbyl palmitate (vitamin C), caprylic/capric triglyceride, ethylhexyl (octyl) palmitate, tribehenin, sorbitan isostearate, palmitoyl oligopeptide, glyceryl stearate, sorbitan stearate, phospholipids, organic saccharum officinarum (glycolic acid), palmitic acid, stearic acid, cetearyl glucoside, xanthan gum, potassium sorbate, benzyl alcohol, phenoxyethanol, limonene, linalool, citrus aurantium (sweet orange) pure essential oil.

My lip gloss obsession continues! This is a very nice lip gloss — it’s made by Hard Candy, and it’s supposed to be an “ice cold, super-fruity sorbet for your lips.” It’s extra shiny, tastes and smells like exotic fruit and is loaded with cooling ingredients. It comes in red, peach, dark pink, light pink, and clear with gold sparkles.

Lip Sorbet

What’s cooler than being cool? Ice cold! Ice cold, super-fruity sorbet—for your lips, that is! Lip Sorbet is an cool indulgence for hot, sun-filled days and long, steamy nights. These extra juicy, extra shiny glosses taste and smell like exotic fruits and are loaded with cooling ingredients to make lips tingle…just like real sorbet!

Packaged in no-mess squeeze tubes, Lip Sorbets look as delicious as fresh-picked fruit. The creamy, melt-on-your-mouth formula gives maximum shine directly to lips and adds nothing to hips! So stop fantasizing about a tasty treat…satisfy that craving with Lip Sorbet, available in five mouthwatering see-through tints.

So far, there are a few things about this lip gloss I really like. First, I love the pale pink color (strawberry squeeze). It’s pale pink without being too pale as to make me look dead or too dark as to make me look frightening, and it doesn’t look orange on me! I am really pale with yellow and pink skin tones, so finding good lip gloss colors has always been really difficult for me. They usually make me look dead, turn orange on me, or look way too dark. (In terms of color season terminology, I think I’m a spring? Though I’m just guessing.) So a good pink color is excellent. Second, it has a slant-tipped tube — I really like this because there’s no wand to deal with, and the slant tip makes it easy to apply without a mirror. Third, it’s moisturizing (though it doesn’t feel oily — it feels kind of petroleum-y). Fourth, it lasts and lasts and lasts.

However, it does have a few drawbacks. Some minor drawbacks — the smell is awfully chemical, which I’m not really fond of. The ingredients appear to be very chemical-intensive — as you’ll notice in the list of ingredients. It’s also a pretty sticky lip gloss, and I try to apply it sparingly or it sometimes runs off the corners of my mouth (I may be in the market for some clear lipliner in the future!). Also, while it’s a great pink color on me, and looks very natural, I wish it were a little . . . stronger. You can only tell I’m wearing lip gloss from a few feet away — I wish it were fifteen feet away instead. However, I can forgive those things. The drawbacks I really don’t like are that it has no UVA protection, and for some reason it tends to overflow into the cap, especially on warm days so I end up having to wipe off the end a lot, or risk applying a huge amount of lip gloss at a time. So I’m taking a star off because of those two reasons.

Hard Candy Lip Gloss is cruelty-free, (naturally!), vegan, but not organic.

Hard Candy sorbet lip gloss is $10.50 at Hard Candy’s Online Store.

Ingredients:

Raspberry & Strawberry Ingredients:
Diisostearyl Malate, Polybutene, Cera Microcristallina (Microcrystalline) Wax, Quaternium-18 Hectorite, Retinyl Palmitate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Tocopherol, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Propylparaben, Menthol, Mentha Piperita (Peppermint) Oil, Parfum (Fragrance), Limonene

Passion Fruit, & Lime Ingredients:
Diisostearyl Malate, Polybutene, Cera Microcristallina (Microcrystalline) Wax, Quaternium-18 Hectorite, Retinyl Palmitate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Tocopherol, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Propylparaben, Menthol, Mentha Piperita (Peppermint) Oil, Parfum (Fragrance), Limonene, Citral

Cherry Ingredients:
Diisostearyl Malate, Polybutene, Cera Microcristallina (Microcrystalline) Wax, Quaternium-18 Hectorite, Retinyl Palmitate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Tocopherol, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Propylparaben, Menthol, Mentha Piperita (Peppermint) Oil, Parfum (Fragrance), Benzyl Benzoate, Limonene, Citral, Eugenol

May Contain:
Mica, CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide), CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499 (Iron Oxides), CI 75470 (Carmine), CI 19140 (Yellow 5 Lake), CI 15985 (Yellow 6 Lake), CI 42090 (Blue 1 Lake), CI 15850 (Red 6 Lake), CI 15850 (Red 7 Lake), CI 77742 (Manganese Violet), CI 45410 (Red 27 Lake), CI 45410 (Red 28 Lake), CI 17200 (Red 33 Lake)

I’ve been reading the CCIC’s Australian sister site ChooseCrueltyFree.com.au. I’ve never read through it company by company before, and I’ve been really surprised to find a few companies that are easily available in the U.S., yet are not listed on the CCIC’s list. This means these companies have gone to the trouble of being certified by ChooseCrueltyFree in Australia, and also the trouble of exporting all their products in vast quantities to the United States, yet have not gone to the relatively minor trouble of then registering with the CCIC.

Why these companies aren’t on the CCIC’s list just baffles me — why in the world haven’t they registered? I would not have been restricting myself from purchasing these had I known that they were actually 100%-cruelty-free. ChooseCrueltyFree.com.au is actually even more stringent than the CCIC — it won’t list companies that are owned by parent companies that do test on animals — the Body Shop just got stricken off ChooseCrueltyFree’s list — and it won’t include any companies that use ingredients that come from animals that were slaughtered or hurt by the extraction — i.e., they only allow bee products. (I do kind of wish the CCIC would follow ChooseCrueltyFree’s lead in this regard — wouldn’t that be nice?)

• So anyway, these companies include e.l.f. cosmetics, which is a REALLY cheap brand and should appeal to cheapskate cruelty-freeists (I know there are some of you out there!). ELF lip glosses are all $1 apiece. I’m not kidding! I’ve never seen them in stores, but they are sold on drugstore.com.

• ChooseCrueltyFree also includes Yardley, which is also a relatively inexpensive brand, which makes my inner cheapskate VERY happy. It’s easily available in the U.S. — I’ve definitely seen this at various drugstores in the bay area — again, I can’t remember which ones, but I’ll go check. The odd thing about Yardley is that it appears to be a London-based company. You would think that this would mean it would be on the British list of cruelty-free companies, but it isn’t. It’s only registered on the Australian list instead.

• ChoosCrueltyFree also includes Abba haircare products, which I’ve seen on drugstore shelves before. I can’t remember exactly where, but I’m VERY excited by this one. Walgreens? Target? Somewhere like that. I’ll go look and find out. As I recall, Abba hair products are slightly expensive, unfortunately, but they’ve always looked pretty nice.

• And I’ve saved the best for last — the very, very best of all — Lush is listed on Australia’s cruelty-free list! I can’t believe it! I gave up going to Lush when I went 100% cruelty free and I’ve missed it a lot. For those of you who don’t live near Lush, Lush is a really cool bath and body products store — everything is handmade from very fresh and unusual ingredients and has a pun-intensive name. I remember when I first found the CCIC’s list that I was surprised that Lush was not on it — Lush is very eco-friendly and against animal-testing — Lush even has a whole page describing its policy against animal testing. (It’s my policy not to include any companies on my list of cruelty-free companies if they are not on the CCIC’s list because I am a huge fan of gold-standard-anti-animal-testing lists. I dislike companies that think they’re too good to be on a list run by a coalition that has gone out of its way to certify cruelty-free companies and make this information freely available to the world. Plus I think such companies must have something to hide, and I wonder if they are really cruelty-free. But I maligned Lush — it does not have anything to hide! It doesn’t think it’s too good for a list! It just hasn’t gotten around to signing up to be on the American cruelty-free lists.)

I am still baffled why all these companies don’t sign up with the CCIC, but glad I’ve found them anyways!

I first read about these face cloths on MakeupAlley, and initially I was skeptical, but they received many rave reviews, and I have been looking for an exfoliating washcloth for a while, so I thought I’d try them out. (I couldn’t find any other cruelty-free gentle exfoliating washcloths — you would think more companies would make these, but no. They only appear to make painfully harsh exfoliating loofahs or chemical exfoliants instead.) My skin always tends to become more bumpy in the summer — especially on my forehead and forearms — and normal washcloths don’t really help with that.

According to the Body Shop website, these cloths are useful to mildly exfoliate and deep cleanse the skin, while boosting circulation. Use them daily for regular and effective deep cleansing and circulation boosting.

I bought these washcloths a few weeks ago at my local Body Shop in the face cleaning area (not the loofah/scrub brush area).  You get 3 for $9, which is kind of expensive, but I figure they’ll last a long time, so they’re a good value.  They are very thin muslin cloths about the size of a normal washcloth. You could probably make these yourself by buying a yard of muslin and cutting it out into 10″ squares and hemming the edges, but I’m not very talented with a sewing machine, so I’m much happier to just buy them pre-sewn.  I know they won’t unravel at the edges if I don’t sew them!

I’ve been using one of these cloths daily for a few weeks, and I just love it! It gently polishes away any bumps I get on my forehead and forearms, and my skin has never looked so clear or felt so smooth.  And I don’t have to use any strong chemical exfoliants that dry out my skin and then cause breakouts! It’s also really useful on my elbows and knees — I can polish off any roughness and it leaves my elbows and knees silky smooth. I’m really looking forward to traveling with one of these as well — they are very lightweight and dry almost immediately in the shower, unlike normal washcloths. The only problem I have with these face cloths is that they are made by the Body Shop, which is owned by L’Oreal, and I HATE buying anything from L’Oreal since it is evil and seriously tests on animals — so I’m taking a star off for that. However, I figure that by buying Body Shop products I am actually encouraging L’Oreal to stop testing on animals — I am, in effect, giving L’Oreal money to refrain from testing on animals — and I think that’s a very good thing for me to do. I’m rewarding L’Oreal for its good behavior! So yes, I have mixed emotions about buying stuff from the Body Shop. (The Body Shop is certified by the Coalition for Consumer Information in Cosmetics, so you can be sure anything you buy from there is 100%-animal-testing-free.)

A pack of three Body Shop Facial Muslin Cloths is available for $9.00 at your local Body Shop.

I just updated my list of cruelty-free companies, and this time I carefully went through and figured out who all the new companies are (unlike last time, when I updated my list and then realized it had grown immensely, but had no idea who most of the new companies were), and so I can confidently state that I am adding 14 new companies to my list of cruelty-free companies. Yay! (I get my list from the CCIC’s list of cruelty-free companies — companies on that list pledge to not use animal testing, and their suppliers pledge as well, so consumers who buy CCIC-approved products are assured they are 100%-animal-testing-free).

I’d like to welcome all these companies to their new status of being 100%-animal-testing-free!

Bamboo Aesthetics

belle & bianca

Burt’s Bees

Coastal Classic Creations

Face Facts by Lori

Florere, Inc.

Joyful Hands Holistic Pet Care

KSA Jojoba

Neal’s Yard Remedies

Nectar Essences

Rare Natural Care, Inc. (Hi Jasmin!)

Simplers Botanicals

Tsi~La

Velvet & Sweet Pea’s Purrfumery

Cruelty-free subsidiary of parent company that does not comply with the Leaping Bunny Standard.
Company is a licensee of the CCIC Logo.