Finding and Reviewing SLS Free Products

Today I want to talk about something a little bit different.

I once read a book called Cradle to Cradle, it was about how we could improve our future by basically finding a way to recycle everything we use. Its a great book and has some wonderful ideas, but what struck me most was some of the facts about the chemicals and toxins that are in our environment. I've read similar books since which support their ideas and honestly it got me a little concerned at what we are exposing ourselves to.  

It's not really something we are often made aware of, not like the media treat food anyway. Everyday we seem to hear some new piece of information about a type of food that is bad for us, but we aren't being given any information about what is bad for us to put on our skin or in our hair. Probably because the majority of it isn't very good for us I would imagine!

After I read the book I looked into the ingredients in some of my own beauty products, and found that a lot of them were just plain nasty. One that stuck out in particular was Sodium Laureth Sulphate (SLS).  In layman's terms its basically the ingredient used to make most products foam up, and it is used in nearly everything. Its also found in a number of industrial cleaning agents such as engine degreaser!

There have been links of use of Sodium Laureth Sulphate to Cancer, although nothing has been proved yet. But it is certainly an irritant, and will not help you at all if you have sensitive skin or eczema. It has been linked to hormone imbalance and poor eye development in children. I'd really recommend doing some research yourself into this as there is a lot of information out there on the subject, and it is definitely worth being aware.

Now I'm no expert, and I can't say for sure if there are any negative effects of using these products, but I have read a fair amount about the subject and personally, I'd definitely prefer to err on the side of caution! So I've decided to have a bit of an overhaul and try and remove as many chemicals from our house as possible.  I've started with shower products, deodorant and toothpaste since I use these everyday.  I did a little bit of research and found online that Green People were getting good reviews, so I thought I would give them a try. Their products are  made without SLS/SLES, parabens, methylisothiazolinone, methylchloroisothiazolinone, phthalates, alcohol (ethyl alcohol, ethanol), colourants and artificial fragrance, and the majority of their ingredients are organic!

I've been pleasantly surprised with the result, have a look at my reviews on each product below;

Moisturising Shower Gel - This is great, there are no down sides to using this as opposed to any normal shower gel, it works just as well.

Intensive Repair Shampoo -  I knew that the shampoo would be the hardest to find a replacement for. I had tried a natural shampoo a few years ago and my hair did not like it, it all ended up in one big greasy knot! However, I think Green people may have cracked it!  Their shampoo is a little more difficult to distribute throughout the hair than a normal shampoo, and it does take a little more time, but I find that applying the shampoo to 4 sections of my head does the trick. My hair feels clean and I definitely think it is worth the little bit extra time it takes.

Conditioner - I've had no problems with the conditioner. It seems to work well!

Natural Deodorant - I'm pretty happy with this. It is perhaps not quite as effective as an antiperspirant, but still does the job.  I will probably continue to use this as an everyday product and maybe occasionally use a normal antiperspirant for special occasions!

Natural Toothpaste - Again this is totally useable, but rather more watery than a normal toothpaste, I squeezed out far too much on the first go!  This toothpaste doesn't use fluoride, which I know is bad for you to ingest, but is good for your teeth. Since I don't really know enough about fluoride and how lack of it would effect my teeth, I've decided to use this fluoride free toothpaste for my nighttime brush, and stick with my normal toothpaste in the mornings. 

One thing that I have noticed, is that the eczema that was developing on my arms has definitely cleared up a lot! It is now just dry skin, and no itching yay!

The only downside of these products really is that they are rather expensive compared to normal products. However, I definitely think it is worth it and will keep using them!

I'd love to hear if there are any natural products that you like. It does seem pretty tricky to find them! What are your opinions on SLS?

Laura xXx

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Objects De Desir - A Lovely Necklace!

I'm on a bit of a roll for good post days at the moment. I've been getting lots of RSVPs for the wedding recently, so I've got more to open than just bills! But even more exciting, the other day I received a little gift from  Objects De Desir!

Objects De Desir is an online shop selling a plethora of awesome goodies from fantastic artists, illustrators and creators. They aim to give a wider audience access to smaller brands or new artists and designs showcasing unique and often vintage inspired pieces for the home and, as well as stylish hand crafted jewellery. 

They were kind enough to offer me a piece from Rachel Loves Bob, and since I have a love of mint, I chose the beautiful Mint Triangle Necklace. Rachel loves bob is a range of handcrafted jewellery using clean lines and graphic elements from designer Rebecca Gladstone. She works with a variety of materials incorporating wood, metal and vintage pieces. 

The packaging was super cute too! Its always nice to open a beautiful box!

I'm looking forward to wearing this with my matching mint cardigan! 

If you would like to know more you can follow Objects De Desir on Facebook here . 

Laura xXx

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Urbanears headphones review in association with 3

Hey guys, check out my new headphones!  I was approached by the lovely people at 3 to test out a product for my iPhone 4.

Recently I have been watching a lot of youtube wedding tutorials for make-up, hair and other DIY's on my phone. I picked these awesome Urbanear Plattan Coral headphones so that Chris would not have to be subjected to listening to them all! Also, I figured I could also use these with an iPad or our computer when I want to listen to music in the office.

When they arrived I was not disappointed! They came in a lovely box and were pretty cleverly packaged if you ask me!

I love the colour of them and think I will make a little place for them to hang on my wall like Elise has done in this post.

The sound quality is great too so I am looking forward to lots of evenings snuggled up by the fire 'researching'!

Laura xXx

The headphones reviewed in the post above were kindly gifted to me by the people at 3.

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Revlon Chalkboard Nail Art Review

For Christmas one of my friends bought me Revlon's duel ended Chalkboard Nail art set. As it is a bit of a novelty varnish, I thought I would give it a go and do a little review for you while I am at it!

So here is how my nails looked once I had painted 2 coats of the matt black. Let me tell you, this stuff dries super fast! It was great!  Next I had to come up with a design to paint on them with the chalk paint. 

It has a skinny brush so that you can do intricate designs. Although, I don't know anyone that would be able to draw something freehand neatly on their nails, especially when using their non dominant hand! 

I decided to get out my trusty nail stickers to make the design as neat as possible. I opted for a  lightning bolt effect using these stickers (number 7).

So here is the finished effect! What do you think? Probably not as neat as I would have liked.  In fact, I quite like the black on it's own. I'd like to try out using just the matte black together with a shiny black, like in this post. Although I think you would need to use a matte top coat if you wanted these to last for more than a day, as it does seem to chip quite easily. So I'm  not quite sure how you would get a top coat to work with that design!

The other thing I noticed about this dual varnish, was that there were a few times I started opening it upside down by accident,  I could see it making a bit of a mess if you aren't careful! Also, the skinny shape of the bottles makes them a little wobbly when you set them down, so definitely one to have an old magazine or something under just in case!

What is your take on chalkboard nails?

Laura xXx

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An AMAZING Sewing Machine - Janome 525S Review

A little while ago it was my Mum's birthday. I really didn't know what to get her, I was stuck. I'm not supposed to buy her chocolates because 'it will make her fat', and I can't buy her anything big (or even medium sized) as she lives in a dinky little cottage, and she won't have anywhere to put it.

Ugh, what to get her! Then I stumbled across The Amazings and saw this course for freehand embroidering your own necklace using dissolvable fabric.  I remembered having a conversation with my Mum when Kirsty Allsop used dissolvable fabric to make something pretty in one of her TV programmes. I was pretty sure that my Mum had even gone out and bought the fabric and the special foot for her machine, so I thought it would be something fun she could do, which didn't take up space or make her fat, hurrah!

As I made the purchase I noticed that I was also being entered into a draw to win a sewing machine up to £300. I thought something like 'ooh, it would be nice if I won that', then promptly forgot about it.

But, guess what? I did win it! Amazings, you are amazing!

This absolutely made my day because my old Singer hasn't been working properly for months, the tension has been completely out, and I had to pretty much ground to a halt where sewing is concerned. It has been on my to do list to take it to a specialist to get it fixed for ages, but I have never gotten around to it, and actually I would have probably ended up paying more than it was worth, so just as well!

I will be sad to say goodbye to my Singer, but I got to choose any machine I wanted for under £300, so I decided to do some research. As it turns out, Singer aren't all that hot any more, as people on twitter told me, and the reviews confirmed. Apparently they sold the Singer name in the 90's, and the machines just aren't the same quality.

Everywhere I looked it seemed, people were pointing me in the direction of Janome. I had a look at the most expensive Janome machines I could afford, but they were all computerised, and I felt I wanted something a bit simpler. Then I found this beauty, the Janome 525S, which is actually only £229. All the reviews were great, PLUS it was the machine the contestants used on The Great British Sewing Bee AND it was voted Which Best Buy!

To Top it off, after I had made my decision  I noticed it had made an appearance in this months Molly Makes magazine, and coincidentally elsewhere in the magazine The Amazings were also mentioned. Weirdly enough, the illustration accompanying this article was drawn by talented lady Emma Block, who is one of the lovely friends I have met through blogging. Talk about fate huh!

On tuesday, beautiful Janine the Janome arrived (named accidentally by Rachel)! I excitedly took her out of her box and sat down to read the instructions. Usually I wouldn't bother with instructions, I would be too impatient, but I decided I wanted to look after Janine, and make sure I was doing everything right! And guess what, I learnt a heck load more than I would have done otherwise! I found her secret storage compartment, I learnt how change the foot over (which was super easy peasy), to sew on a button and make a button hole, and how to re-wind the bobbin without unthreading the machine!

She sews really easily, although I did have a few issues initially with the top thread getting caught up inside the bobbin casing every time I finished stitching, but that seems to have stopped now and it was probably something I was doing wrong.

I'm really excited to start sewing up a storm! The first project I have in mind is to make new curtains and cushion covers for the camper van, so I will let you know how that goes!

I'm keen to learn to sew clothes as well, and I know there are some online courses you can take, so I might give that a go at some point. I'm just so excited!

Have you used a Janome machine before? What are your thoughts on them?

And have you checked out The Amazings yet? If you want to learn new crafty skills it is definitely the place to go!

Laura xXx

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Joules Sponsored Post

Today I have some goodies from Joules that I'd like to share with you. Have a little peek at the pictures below.

I was attempting a bit of a "Singin' In The Rain" pose above, just incase you were wondering what the heck I was doing! And yes, I know there is not a cloud in the sky! Although that makes a nice change at the moment.

As you can see I went for a pink and blue theme, I think it all matches nicely with Pip! And most importantly I also have nail varnish to match too, yippee! Joules have a fantastic selection of wellies so it was pretty tricky to decide. In the end I opted for...

• These Wellies - £37.95
• This Umbrella and Matching Bag - £27.95
• This Hare Pin Badge - £3.95

They also have some pretty nifty women's coats. How cute would this one be to match my wellies!?

I absolutely love it all! The wellies are the comfiest I have ever worn, and they have been truly tried and tested as we went to a mini wedding fair festival on saturday and it rained torrentially!  I'm really  looking forward to using them more when we get out and about in the van soon. Who says you can't be stylish when camping?! Not me!

Laura xXx

All items photographed and mentioned above were kindly gifted by Joules.

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Book Club - Life of Pi by Yann Martel

 “I was giving up. I would have given up - if a voice hadn't made itself heard in my heart. The voice said "I will not die. I refuse it. I will make it through this nightmare. I will beat the odds, as great as they are. I have survived so far, miraculously. Now I will turn miracle into routine. The amazing will be seen everyday. I will put in all the hard work necessary. Yes, so long as God is with me, I will not die. Amen.” 

If you haven't yet read Life Of Pi, chances are that you have at least heard of it, and you may well have seen the film which has had such great success. I am one of the few that hasn't seen the film yet, but I found the book to be fantastic and am eagerly anticipating my chance to get to watch it at long last!

The book is written mainly from the perspective of 16 year old Pi. An intelligent boy who finds happiness in religion, so much so that he practices three of them! He is not only a Hindu, but also a Catholic and a Muslim! Much to the horror of his three religious teachers when they eventually find out!

“Hindus, in their capacity for love, are indeed hairless Christians, just as Muslims, in the way they see God in everything, are bearded Hindus, and Christians, in their devotion to God, are hat wearing Muslims.” 

I found this part of the story really interesting and enlightening. Pi's love for God knows no bounds. Now I am not really a religious person, but this kind of faith makes far more sense to me than any one religion. After all, the holy books were all written by man and therefore are surely prone to error? Pi chooses to love god in all his forms, in every story that is told, taking morals and lessons from all. Anyway, the point of the fact is that religion is an important subject throughout the book.  The way it is implemented alongside the need for survival reminded me of Robinson Crusoe. Another shipwrecked soul doing his best to survive in unfamiliar surroundings with the help of God.

“If there's only one nation in the sky, shouldn't all passports be valid for it?” 

Pi's companion is not so different from Crusoe's Man Friday in actual fact. He is a cannibal and the pair are not able to communicate easily. Pi's companion is a Bengal Tiger named Richard Parker! What a delightful name for a Tiger!

"'I love you!' The words burst out pure and unfettered, infinite. The feeling flooded my chest. 'Truly I do. I love you, Richard Parker. If I didn't have you now, I don't know what I would do. I don't think I would make it. No, I wouldn't, I would die of hopelessness. Don't give up Richard Parker, don't give up. I'll get you to land, I promise, I promise"

You may wonder how exactly a 16 year old boy ends up with a Tiger named Richard Parker for a companion. Pi and his family are emigrating from India to Canada, when their ship sinks during the voyage. The boat is transporting many animals from the zoo which Pi's father owned.  With a stroke of luck Pi manages to get aboard a life boat before the ship sinks. But, once he sees his new crewmates he soon curses the fact. A zebra, a hyena, a tiger and an orangutang are also aboard! The rest of the book documents his survival upon the life boat, through many trials and tribulations.

“You might think I lost all hope at that point. I did. And as a result I perked up and felt much better.” 

This book is a heart wrenching, heart warming, tear jerker that is full of hope. Is it believable? Well, that is another thing all together, and I will let you make up your own mind about that... 

“If you stumble about believability, what are you living for? Love is hard to believe, ask any lover. Life is hard to believe, ask any scientist. God is hard to believe, ask any believer. What is your problem with hard to believe?” 

Life of Pi is available to buy on Kindle from amazon at the bargain price of just 20p! You can find it here. Or you can opt for the good old fashioned book here.

Laura xXx 

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