Hi Lovelies,
Welcome back! And welcome if You are new here xo
How are all of You, I hope You are well? Today I’ll talk about what’s going on behind the scenes at Green Life In Dublin HQ (musings) and what natural beauty products I am using/ buying/ lusting after (things). Interested? Let’s dive in.
MUSINGS
Spring Blooms & garden
I used not to care about spring. For me it was come-on-summer-come-faster season. Lately I found myself enjoying it more and more, I oftentimes find myself taking pictures of the blooming flowers and trees. And don’t get me started on cherry blossom trees and magnolias! I just melt. My back garden is all concrete (why??) and ripping it all out is not in this year’s plans. So I am thinking of gardening in pots or hanging baskets for now. Milo is the reason I can’t go raised beds or any type of “normal” gardening – he digs up everything! And I mean everything. Whatever he can’t dig, he will rip and chew. All the plants I brought with me from Dublin didn’t survive, not because of the winter or black thumb, but because of Milo The Naughty Boy.
Ps. I just got pink magnolia!
Easter Holidays
I am a bit quiet online and this is the reason why. Let’s face it, holidays are so much more work for moms, there is so much more cooking/ cleaning/bringing them to activities. I love spending time with my kids, but it leaves so much less time for everything else, including blogging. Since I value privacy, I don’t document our lives online.
Slow fashion & life
If You follow me for any amount of time, You know that is my forever favourite. I’ve been doing it since I was 13. I am very lucky to have plentiful charity shops where I live, so I pop in every chance I get. Since I am very conscious of not cluttering our new house, I have to be very careful with what I allow into my space, but having said that, I am having so much fun shopping for wooden décor/ household items, even if they are costing so much more than I’d like to. I’ve been thrifting for clothes since I was 13, so a good chunk of my wardrobe is from charity shops/ car boot sales. I am re-doing “Slow Fashion Year” project again, where I will spill the beans on all the clothing & accessories I bought this year, look out for that post very soon.
Opening beach season
We sort of opened beach season around St. Patrick’s, but it was so windy and cold that we barely stayed. Take two a few weeks later wasn’t that much better. Real spring, where are thou??
Diffusing essential oils
I adore diffusing essential oils in my waterless nebulizing diffuser. This month I diffuse Pure Anada Desire blend, which I got from The Live In The Light. (Find links to both at the end of the post) It was really affordable, less than 20€ for 15ml. It has Cananga Odorata (Ylang Ylang), Citrus Sinensis (Sweet Orange, organic), Vanilla Planifolia, Pogostemon Cablin (Patchouli, organic). I thought I didn’t really like it at first, but then the base notes came through and vanilla took over, so now I really like it and I wish I hadn’t poured the whole bottle and left some to use as a perfume. Because it could totally work as a perfume. My Living Libations “cannon” essential oils diffuser is really working hard for the money I paid. Initially I thought it was expensive, but that thing paid for itself by now 🙂
If it sounds like I am in a quiet mode, that’s because I am.
My thoughts on changing green beauty landscape
Many thanks for fellow organic beauty blogger Andrea from Organic Beauty Lover blog for featuring me alongside industry heavyweights such as May Lindstrom, Lina Hanson and Ericka Rodriguez of Axiology. We were asked for the thoughts on changes in the clean beauty industry and also the clean brands selling out to conglomerates. Find my two cents here:
Clean Beauty Brand Founders on the Industry Today (& their next steps)
THINGS
Naturisimo order
I ordered Naturisimo Earth Discovery Box this month, as well as Ere Perez concealer in Honey. The discovery box really called my name when I saw not only my beloved Evolve Organic Beauty, but also Dr.Haushka and Odacite products, all three I used and loved, so I knew that box had to be mine. On top of that it has full size Upcircle face serum, which is really good, because I always wanted to try something from the brand. There are two travel sized products from Inlight and Rahua too. While the prices continue to creep up, these boxes still provide good value and a good opportunity to discover new products. Makes me miss Love Lula days….
Ere Perez concealer I also used in the past, so I know it is also gonna work out for me. I needed a new one as my old trusty Hynt Beauty one is getting quite old at this stage. I really wish I picked up their corrector too.
The order isn’t with me yet, so photograph, but I will update it once it is here. It takes around a week to
Tallow soap
In my local farmer’s market I bought tallow soap for only two euro – what?! – and while I am in the early phase of testing/ using it, I can honestly say that might be the best soap I have had to date. I was seeking tallow products for a while now because tallow is so beneficial to our skin and very healing for all kinds of issues like dermatitis. Not only the soap lathered and cleansed skin beautifully – both body and the face! – but it also left my skin not tight and not dry. In fact, I am now able to skip my oils and body butters. I might be able to skip so many products going forward. Let me test it some more and come back to You.
No plans to get any more products this month, but I will update if anything changes. One thing I am trying out that was in my stash for a little while is
Evolve Organic Beauty Bio Retinol Glossy Lip Oil
I fear I am sounding like a broken record at this stage, but LOVE Evolve! Almost all of the products I have tried to date ended up in my Holy Grails aka “Best Products” list, and this probably will too. This cruelty-free formula delivers age-defying skincare benefits naturally, enriched with Bidens pilosa, oil-soluble Hyaluronic Acid, and a blend of nourishing plant oils including Macadamia, Apricot, Raspberry seed, and Kalahari Melon. Sounds good? I thought so. Just one word of advise, this has minty feel on the lips, so bear that in mind if You don’t like it. I think I need to test some more and maybe make a blog post on my Top 10 Evolve products. Would You like it? It will be interesting to see if this will make a cut.
I was in talks with big organic hair care brand, but the package never arrived and a couple of similar collaboration offers also fell through. Dear brands, if You are coming to me, be sure not to ghost me later. Because how can I portray You in a good light then?
Check out my favourite online shops:
The Dutch Health Store
Live In The Light code GREENLIFEINDUBLIN15 saves You 15%
Living Libations
The Clean Beauty Edit GreenLife10 saves You 10
Pure Anada
Fushi Wellbeing GreenLifeInDublin gets You 20% off
iHerb code CDI1500 saves $£€ for the first timers
So that’s it for today, thank You for reading! I really appreciate You taking Your time of the day visiting my little corner of the internet.
What about You? What are You doing/ planning/ buying/ using this month? Please share, I would love to know.
