The things I liked about this lotion:

It’s a nice medium-weight lotion that soaks in within a few minutes.  It has a mild self-tanner odor — not horrifically strong.  It did give me a nice, non-orange, even layer of tan.  This surprised me, because I’ve read a lot of reviews of this lotion, and many people say it did absolutely nothing for them.  However, I suspect those people do not have fish-belly white legs like I do!  Plus I only used it on areas to even out my farmer-tan — legs, neck, and upper arms — I wasn’t looking to enter Dancing With the Stars anytime soon.  So yes, this “light bronzing” color works great if you’re desperately, desperately pale, and you’re just looking to look a bit more alive, perhaps like you spent the afternoon in the sun.  If you already have a healthy glow, or you wish to look like you spent a week on a beach in Mexico, I’d suggest going for the darker bronze formulation.

(I applied a tiny amount to my inner arm and after about fifteen minutes a nice, non-orange tan streak appeared on my inner arm.  I suggest everyone trying out this lotion take this precaution as well.)

The things I did not like about this lotion:

Overall, I think it’s a little too high maintenance for me.  I found it oddly stressful to try to apply it without streaking — I spent five minutes obsessively making sure I was getting the lotion on without leaving any gaps, and then five minutes wandering around in old pajamas I wouldn’t mind getting tanning streaks on before being able to get on with my life.  Whereas it usually takes me about 15 seconds to slap lotion on my legs and dress.  Also, the effects lasted maybe a few days, and I always smelled faintly kind of like self-tanner.  That really just did not work for me.  Other problems — while the pump dispenser is very convenient while the bottle is full, it means a lot of product gets lost when the bottle is almost empty.  I’d prefer some kind of squeeze tube instead — it would be less wasteful.  It was also a little expensive — I think I paid about $12 for 8oz at Whole Foods when I bought it, and I think I got maybe ten applications out of it.  If I’d been thinking of tanning more than my legs and upper arms, I’d have gotten a lot fewer out of it.

Overall: it’s a nice self-tanner lotion that I think would really appeal to people who are more high-maintenance than I am.  If you are very, very pale, don’t mind spending 15 minutes every few days applying this self-tanning lotion, don’t mind spending $12 for 8oz of lotion, and would like to look lightly tanned, this will be a great resource for you.  So I’m giving it 4 out of 5 stars.

Alba Botanica Light Bronzing Very Emollient Body Lotion is available at Amazon for $15.07.

(Alba Botanica products are 100%-animal-testing-free, but they are not organic, nor are they vegan.  They are vegetarian, however.)

Ingredients:

Purified Water, Glyceryl Stearate SE, Cyclomethicone, Carthamus Tinctorius (Safflower) Seed Oil, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Dimethicone, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Cetyl Alcohol, Stearic Acid, Glycerin, Dihydroxyacetone, Erythrulose, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract*, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract*, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract*, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Tocopherol, Isopropyl Palmitate, Retinyl Palmitate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Steareth-20, Xanthan Gum, Lactic Acid, Ethylhexylglycerin, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate, Fragrance (1), Amyl Cinnamal(2), Benzyl Benzoate(2), Benzyl Salicylate(2), Citral(2), Citronellol(2), Limonene(2), Eugenol(2), Farnesol(2), Geraniol(2), Linalool(2)

* Certified Organic
1) Natural Fragrance Derived from Essential Oils
2) Component of Natural Essential Oils

I like this lip gloss a little — it’s a nice pink, it’s not horrifically sticky, a little goes a long way, it’s a good consistency, and it’s made by a lovely company.  However — it doesn’t have much staying power, it has no SPF, and it’s mica-y/glittery.  I much prefer a solid color gloss to a glittery one.  So I’m taking off two stars for those three reasons.  I’m thinking of trying the other Zuzu Luxe colors in the future — maybe there’s some less glittery options?  (I can always hope!)  Though honestly I think I’ll stick with my Gabriel lip gloss, which is made by the same company, has great staying power, has SPF, and is a solid color.  I bought this Zuzu Luxe lip gloss at Whole Foods, but it is also available at Amazon for $24.15.

Ingredients: castor oil, candelilla wax, wheat germ glycerides, grapeseed extract, titanium dioxide, isopropyl palmitate, glycine, aloe vera extract, bixane herb, st. john’s wort extract, bis-diglyceryl caprylates, shea butter, chamomile extract, iron oxides, bisabolol, jojoba oil, jojoba esters, mica.

Today you are again privileged to read a guest cruelty-free review written by another cruelty-free-blogger friend of mine, the Glamorous Grad Student!  Owner of an AMAZING blog devoted to being a fashionista (in a cruelty-free way!) on a grad student budget.  Seriously, it’s a blog you’ll want to check regularly!

The Body Shop Coconut Shimmer Body Butter (5/5 stars)

I was so thrilled when Emily asked me to do a product review for Living Cruelty Free. Her blog is such a great resource for anyone trying to go cruelty-free and I feel really grateful for the opportunity to contribute.

First off, my Body Shop position statement. I am a long-time Body Shop fan, so the L’Oreal connection is not something I’m enamoured with. But like Emily, I’d rather see L’Oreal stop their cruel ways than see the Body Shop go out of business, so I feel that buying from the Body Shop, which is still cruelty-free, and boycotting the other L’Oreal brands is the most constructive way of sending the message I wish to send as a consumer.

Now, on to the review! The Body Shop has recently added some new additions to its divine Coconut body range in the form of a new Coconut Shimmer lotion and body butter. I got a sample of the lotion recently when I bought some other products, and later bought the body butter for myself.

I really really like this product. As I’m a fair redhead, fake tan just looks strange on me. And besides, there’s something unnatural to me about dying my epidermis, you know? But with summer fast approaching, and bare legs and arms beckoning, I’ve been on the lookout for a product that would be amazingly moisturizing and make my skin look less pasty and more porcelain.

And this is it. This body butter is really thick but absorbs really well, and leaves a long-lasting, subtle sheen on the skin. It’s lasted throughout the day for me. It doesn’t leave gritty, glittery residue on the skin like some shimmer products do, it just glows.

And the fact that it’s coconut, my favourite summer scent, is an extra bonus. I am currently layering with the coconut scrub and perfume oil. My nose must think it’s in Tahiti.

The Body Shop’s Coconut Shimmer Body Butter is £12.20, though when I bought it the combination of a special offer and my store loyalty card knocked something like £5 off the price. That said, I would totally pay full price for this product. As I say, I view it as the paler gal’s fake tan alternative, and I know I’d have saved a fortune if instead of wasting sooo much money on disappointing bronzing products over the years I’d embraced my pallor with a product like this!

Ingredients:Aqua, Cyclomethicone, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Butyrospermum Parkii Butter, Glycerin, Theobroma Cacao Butter, Glyceryl Stearate, PEG-100 Stearate, Lanolin Alcohol, Mica, Cetearyl Alcohol, Cocos Nucifera Oil, Phenoxyethanol, Parfum, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Xanthan Gum, Benzyl Alcohol, Disodium EDTA, Benzyl Benzoate, Coumarin, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Sodium Hydroxide, CI 77891, Caramel.

Hi everybody,

Emily has asked me to share a cruelty-free product review with you, I’m very pleased!!! I like this blog so much, and Emily is lovely, so here it is one of my favorite products — one that you can easily find in the USA.

Dentaforce toothpaste  A.Vogel (3.5 fl oz -100gr) 5/5 stars

If you are looking for a natural and vegan toothpaste, give this a try!  I really think that anybody would like it, it tastes very nice, has a not-too-strong mint flavor that gives you a nice fresh and clean sensation. All the ingredients are good quality.  It does have some alcohol, but you won’t taste that at all.  It also comes in Echinacea, which has a few more ingredients, and tastes a little bit different, but is very good as well! Just one note — mint is not suitable if you are using homeopathic remedies.

A.Vogel (Bioforce Group) is a Swiss company, approved by the Australian Choose Cruelty Free . . . which has a great standard that we can trust (as Emily already told you), plus, the company cultivates its own organic plants – that’s a good thing!

It’s another one of my polls — I love doing them!  Please ask anyone you think might be interested to answer the poll too.  

I’m kind of curious about what people actually feed their pets — please tell me, what kind of pet food do you feed your pet?  (Uh, omnivorous pets, that is — I HOPE you’re feeding your rabbits/guinea pigs vegan food. )

You know how the other day I wrote about how much I love Method almond floor wash, and I wished they had a bodywash in that scent too?  A few weeks after I wrote that, I found Method almond flower bodywash at Target.  And I was thrilled!  However, it turns out “almond flower” smells nothing like “almond.”  And the body wash itself seemed fine — it got me clean — but nothing special.  Sigh.  So I was not too pleased with this bodywash.  It’s okay, but definitely not my favorite scent.  I’m holding out for almond flavored bodywash . . . 

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

Method Almond Flower Natural Body Wash
almond flower
rich lather + totally nourishing
olive oil is the key to making this creamy body wash super moisturizing and skin friendly. with natural antioxidants and vitamin E. be warned, skin this soft may inspire spontaneous bursts of nudity.
Naturally moisturizing olive oil, glycerin and aloe vera gel plus gentle cleansers made from coconut oil clean gently but effectively. Free of dirty ingredients like the EDTA and parabens used in many body washes.

$10 for 18oz

Ingredients: water (aqua), cocamidopropyl hydroxysultane, retinyl palmitate (vitamin a), aloe barba
sodium methyl cocoyl taurate, glycerin, tocopheryl acetate (vitamin e), sodium lauroamphoacetate
guar hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride, olea europaea (olive) fruit oil.

 Shampoo for normal and fine hair with Artemisia Essential Oil

I picked up a travel sized bottle of this at the L’Occitane buy 2 get 1 free sale at Christmas.  So far I REALLY like it.  It doesn’t leave any buildup on my hair, and it gets it clean.  I’m also impressed by the high quality travel size bottle — it seems very solid, well-made, and easy to open without being so flimsy it douses my luggage with shampoo.  Unfortunately it has two drawbacks — it has the Aromachologie scent that I really don’t care for, just like the Aromachologie deodorant.  It’s not bad, it just smells kind of mens’ cologne-y to me.  Just not my style.  It kind of reminds me of 4711 a bit.  The other drawback is the price.  Kind of expensive for shampoo, I feel . . . 

(L’Occitane is 100%-cruelty-free, and vegan except for bee products, and uses some organic ingredients.)

(This shampoo gets rave reviews on MakeupAlley — average of 4.7/5 stars from 7 reviewers.  Quite a feat!)

L’Occitane Aromachologie Shampoo is available from your local L’Occitane store for $3 (that’s where I bought it!).  Unfortunately it does not appear to be available right now from the or online L’Occitane store.

Ingredients: Aqua/water - disodium laureth sulfosuccinate - tea-lauryl sulfate - laureth 2 - laurdimonium hydroxypropyl hydrolyzed wheat protein - peg-120 methyl glucose duiolfate - cinchona succrubra bark estract - sodium chloride - peg/ppg-14/4 dimethicone - propylene glycol - coco-glucoside - glyceryl olfate - parfum/fragrance - panthenol - polyquaternium-7 - polyquaternium 10 - linalool - artemisia hera - alba/artemisa vulgaris extract - citrus aurantium amara (bitter orange) oil - methylchlorodisothlazolinone - methylisothiazolinone

Heavenly Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin.  At last, a vanilla, almond milk, and dove orchid moisturiser for sensitive skin.  Use this to soften and calm an easily irritated face and protect city skin against pollution.

Okay, so first off, I fell in love with this moisturizer at the Lush store and had to buy it.  It smells lovely — very mildly floral, and comforting.  I think it’s the slight vanilla fragrance — I’ve always found  most vanilla-fragranced lotions too overwhelming and kind of earthy — they’re just too strong for my nose.  This one though, just the slightest hint of a delicate vanilla fragrance, it’s very, very nice.  It’s like smelling cookies baking from far away.  

All in all, it’s a very nice moisturizer — very thick, very soothing.  I really like it.  It only has three problems — it’s seriously WAY too moisturizing for me — this would be far better for someone with really dry skin.  Even during the winter months when my skin goes dry it’s just too much for me.  Currently I use it once a week at most — it’s a nice break from my regular routine.  But I definitely would NOT use it any more frequently than that since I don’t have really dry skin.  Also, it won’t protect against skin cancer.  And, it’s a little too expensive for me to use all the time.  So I’m taking a star off for those three reasons.

(Lush products are 100%-cruelty-free, this product itself is vegan, and has some organic ingredients.)

Lush Celestial Moisturizer (1.5oz) is Available for $21.35 from your local Lush store or the Lush Online Store.

Ingredients: water (and) vanilla planifolia fruit, prunus amygdalus dulcis (sweet almond) oil, glycerin, theobroma cacao (cocoa) seed butter, parfum, propylene glycol and dendrobium phalaenopsis flower extract, stearic acid, cetearyl alcohol, methylparaben, triethanolamine, propylparaben.

I feel a little bad giving this 3/5 stars — it’s not that I don’t think it’s probably an excellent product, but it really doesn’t suit anyone who doesn’t have VERY dry skin.  If you have REALLY dry skin, this might be a 5/5 star cleanser for you.  But for me, which my slightly dry skin (just in the winter — in the summer, it’s oily), this is just seriously wrong.

However — and the reason I bought this in the first place — it smells SO GOOD!  Kind of edible and clean-smelling.  I’ve been using it once a week since I love the smell so much.  And it does make my skin very, very soft.

Why is this a good cleanser for someone with really dry skin?  Basically, It has no soap in it whatsoever — it’s kind of a waxy cream — it’s like smearing oil all over your face.  Not good if you have oily skin.  Repeat — DO NOT BUY THIS STUFF I YOU HAVE OILY SKIN.  And honestly, if you have fairly dry skin, I’d think twice about buying it as well.  On the other hand, if you have severly dry skin, or want a once a week nice oil-cleanser, this is quite excellent . . .

(Lush products are 100%-cruelty-free, and some of their products are vegan.  Lush does label every product with a vegan/not-vegan label, which is convenient.  However, this product is not vegan — it has beeswax and honey in it.  Sometimes Lush uses organic ingredients, but not all the time.)

(I’m a little confused by the paraben preservatives.  Aren’t those considered “bad” by knowledgeable organic-people?  Lush seems to think they are “safe synthetics.”)

Lush Ultra Bland Cleanser (1.5oz) is available for $14.45 from any Lush store.  

Ultra-gentle, thorough facial cleanser

This supreme facial cleanser, with magnificently softening rose water, peanut oil and beeswax cream, takes off everything you’ve plastered on and makes your skin astonishingly soft. It’s a marvel. Ultrabland is not the simplest cleanser to use, but it’s not that hard and it’s definitely worth it. Smooth it on, then remove it thoroughly with a slightly damp cotton pad or face cloth. Gently remove until your skin feels soft and not oily.