Osmia Organics ~ A Review

Hi Lovelies! I hope all is well and all you Mom's & Mama's-to-be enjoyed your Mother's Day weekend!!! We had a busy beginning part of the weekend here, so I spent my day relaxing and spending some quality time with my Hubs, Son, and Furbabies. It was a really nice day! So a lot has been going on here and I've obviously been so behind on blog posts! I'll be sharing some exciting news later in the week!! But I wanted to make sure to get on asap to share an amazing product review with you! Especially with the heat quickly approaching. It's in the mid 80's and humid here in Jersey as I type! Bleh!!! Not my favorite.....

So as I had mentioned before, this past winter my skin was a nightmare. It was way more dry than it has ever been in my life and was just non-stop issues with breakouts. I definitely blame aging!!! But during the balmy summer spring/summer months, it's a whole other set of issues. I have combo - oily skin and it can get way out of control if I don't keep it balanced. I try to vary between some different masks, a nice light, but nourishing moisturizer and light makeup. This usually keeps my skin in check as long as I'm eating correctly for my hormones etc.

Osmia Organics was so very generous to send me some beautiful products to try! I received this pretty little package with the Detox Exfoliating mask (complete with little ceramic bowl & spatula), Black Clay Facial Soap, and samples of the Honey Myrrh Lip Repair and Purely Simple Face Cream. First off, all of the products smell delicious. Like so so good!!! And I love the simple & clean packaging. I'm a sucker for branding, what can I say! Ok, so on to the good stuff. I'll give you my thoughts on each individual product here....

The Black Clay Facial Soap is for Normal, Problem, and combination skin. As described on the Osmia Website: Black Australian clay and dead sea mud balance and tone the skin, while organic almond, avocado, and castor bean oils condition.  Coconut milk helps make the beautiful, white lather.  This is the soap I recommend for perioral dermatitis. For extremely sensitive skin, try a test patch on your inner arm first - the dead sea mud can be mildly tingly.

I really really liked this soap. I had some breakouts and dermatitis going on and within a couple uses, it started to clear it up. It was just the right amount of drying and nourishing. I also love the smell. And a little goes a long way! I like to cut my soaps into smaller pieces so they last longer. I cut a rectangular sliver and repackage the rest and it lasts me a week or more! I would highly recommend this soap for anyone struggling with any skin issues!!!

The Detox Face Mask with Manuka Honey was also amazing! This mask is for all skin types. As described on the Osmia Website: Three kinds of purifying clay, nourishing raw cacao and manuka honey, and toxin-removing activated bamboo charcoal are the key ingredients in this dual-purpose exfoliating mask.  It comes as a dry powder with a small, ceramic dish and stirring spatula, as pictured.  It may be used weekly as an exfoliating paste - the organic, finely-ground walnut shells and olive leaf powders will gently resurface and condition the skin.  If left on for 15-20 minutes as a mask first, it will also pull impurities from the skin as it dries.  The raw cacao will soften the skin, as its natural caffeine tones and lifts.  Afterwards, step in the shower and softly massage the mask away, leaving behind smooth, soft, conditioned skin. 


I loved that this mask actually came with a little bowl in it's own cute little packaged box, as shown above. Again, it smells of herbal & delicious. This review was actually a little tough for me, because for the short amount of time that I was able to use the product, it worked amazingly well! But in all honesty, there was an ingredient that caused a huge amount of itching for me. I'm not entirely sure exactly what that mystery ingredient might be, since I've used all the components before. In any case, I was able to keep it on for 5 minutes, and with the results I got just from that, I truly wish I could have held on longer. My pores were noticeably clearer and whatever wasn't clear was loose enough to easily scrub off. I can only imagine how fantastic my skin would have looked if I could have done 20 minutes!!! 


Due to the essential oil content and the ingredients that might be foreign to some natural newbies, I would highly recommend trying samples of the face mask and doing a patch test. Luckily Osmia offers samples of all of their products!!! This is a great way to give them a try before committing to the cost or if you are concerned that you might have a reaction. I'm sensitive to SO MUCH organic & not organic, that this is a great option for anyone that shares the same issues! 


The last couple sample size products I received were the skin cream which sounds lovely, but I did not try due to the fact that it contains almond oil and I was concerned I might break out from that. But I will say that I fell in love with the Honey Myrhh Lip repair. I actually wanted to eat it, it smells so divine. This is absolutely a product I would order! Just another wonderful way to feed my lip product obsession ; )


Osmia Products on my Lust List:


~ Whisper Lip Gloss
~ Taza Perfume Oil
~ Facial Calibration Serum  

** Make sure to check out Osmia Organics on Instagram & keep up to date on Twitter!!! 

DISCLAIMER: The Osmia Organics package shown above was generously gifted to me for my review. I was not otherwise compensated by Osmia Organics for this post in any way. All opinions stated are my own.

Getting Ready for Spring with Duluth Trading

Back in February Duluth Trading had sent me the amazing Convertible Messenger Bag and I fell in love. They were also so very kind enough to send me a fantastic Spring Staple that has really come in handy the last few weeks.

 The DuluthFlex Ripstop Jacket has been wonderful during the constant weather flip flops we've been having here in Jersey the last several weeks. It's not too hot, but offers just the right amount of warmth on a slightly chilly spring day. It's also thin, but extremely durable. I love the feminine fit as well! Though I do recommend sizing up if you like your jackets to fit a bit on the loose side. 

I also came across this amazing Vest that is just like the jacket, but without sleeves of course. I could see myself wearing this with a cute camo tee or striped long sleeve tee. You could def play around with it to achieve different looks. And the best thing is that they are not only functional, but so versatile, they should last a really long time!

There are 3 different colors - a khaki color, a slightly rusty shade and the green, which is sold out in the jacket in Medium!

I also have to mention that I'm still beyond smitten with my bag! I use it every single day and love it more and more as it gets more distressed. It's the perfect size to use everyday, but it's perfect to toss all my work essentials into it. It's darkened just a bit and has become more soft since it's arrival. And I just adore it. I used it all winter long, have still been wearing it and can definitely see myself slinging it over my shoulder whilst rocking a maxi dress, wedges and some boho jewels. It works with so many styles and can be used year round! 

Also noteworthy....

~ The Free Range undies

~ Durable Plaid Shirts

~ This Longtail Waffle Hoodie

Don't forget to stop by Duluth Trading's Twitter & Facebook pages to say Hi! =)

Latest Natural Beauty Haul

Hi Lovelies! I hope you all are doing well! I'm so happy that the warmer weather is right around the corner!!! This little bit of sun & warmth has been a bit of a tease lately. Though I'm not a fan of the summer humidity, I'm definitely looking forward to enjoying the outdoors and soaking up some Vitamin D very soon!!! With Spring on my mind, I've been making a lot of great purchases lately. I've been on the hunt for the perfect natural deodorant. I do have my mainstays, but I need something a little stronger when the heat hits. I also needed to change over to a different foundation routine and so far, I've been loving the results! This is my latest Natural Beauty Haul....

Top L: DermaE Anti-Wrinkle Vitamin A & Green Tea Advanced Creme

Top Middle: Pacifica Coconut Kiss Lip Butter in Stardust

Top Right: Melange Perfume Essential Oil Roll-On No.3

Bottom L: Primal Pit Paste in Orange Creamsicle

Bottom Middle: W3LL People Narcissist Foundation & Pacifica Color Quench in Guava Berry

Bottom Right: Me & The Girls Bar Beleza

So I recently placed my order from Lucky Vitamin (which I do about 2x a month) and this time I decided to add in a couple extras. I've been searching for a really good night cream for what feels like forever. You see, I have very very VERY finicky skin. I'll use something for a couple weeks, everything will be going great and then all of the sudden, my skin decides it doesn't like it and starts throwing all these crazy symptoms at me. I'm sure there are different variables that contribute to this - my hormone issues, the climate, my diet, etc, etc .... but it's really annoying! The night cream that I was using and loving for a couple months suddenly started breaking me out really bad, so I decided to give the DermaE a try. So far, so good! It dried up a couple spots that I had, hydrates my skin without being greasy and a little goes a long way. I'm pretty happy with it so far! So much so that I'm planning on adding this Facial Mist to my next order. I also decided to finally give Primal Pit Paste a try, since as I had mentioned, I've been in the market for a new deodorant with the warmer weather rapidly approaching.

I decided to to go with the kids version in the Orange Creamsicle scent to match the slightly sweet scents of perfume and lotions that I wear. I really like the smell. It's not super Orangey, which is a good thing for me. I like oranges, don't get me wrong, but I was hoping for a more subtle, vanilla type scent. This deodorant works very well for me! The only very small gripe that I have personally, is that I seem to get some very slight irritation from the baking soda. This is definitely not enough to make me stop using it, as it's not terrible irritation, just not something I've really experienced before. It's just a tad drying right now. But this may be a benefit during the heat when I sweat a lot more! I'm not sure if this is a clear cut winner as far as when it's sweltering outside, but I could def see using this pretty much year round! 

Now on to my new foundation routine. I've been a very loyal Everyday Minerals user for years now. I've been extremely happy and have never had an issue. I've even tried a couple other mineral powders out there, and nothing works nearly as well for me. This is why I've been using them faithfully for about 8 years now. However, I've found that this winter, my skin decided it wanted to be super-dry and crepey.  Fun!!! I'm sure part of it are the variables I had mentioned with my moisturizer issues, but the other is the fact that I'm.... well..... to put it delicately, aging. Out of nowhere, it seemed that my beloved semi-matte mineral powder, the very same powder that gave me such a light, airbrushed finish, and the same powder that also fooled so many people into thinking that I had beautiful skin, started accentuating any flake of dry skin I had. It just would not blend properly into my skin. At no fault of the actual makeup at all, it was the canvas it was working with. So I finally decided it was time to change a couple things in my routine. I've been familiar with W3LL People for some time and the Narcissist had been on my Lust List forever!!! So it was time to pull the trigger. I knew this was going to be amazing for me. I could just tell. However, I could not for the life of me figure out what color I needed. Good thing they offer samples on the site! They got them out to me quickly, and after figuring out that I'm a No. 2, I then ended up placing an order with Pharmaca, which also provided excellent shipping time!

I absolutely adore the Narcissist! I use it as an all over foundation base and because I need a little extra coverage, use my Everyday Minerals Powder concealer and a dusting of my EM Semi-Matte Foundation Powder on top. It doesn't give a ton of coverage in the sense that if you have some scars or blemishes it completely covers, but it's definitely build-able. I would say about sheer medium, but it gives this gorgeous "lit from within" look. It's not shiny or oily looking, but like an inner glow. I like to blend with my fingers and then use my sponge to slightly buff it in before using my powders on top. And don't be scared off by the slightly higher price! There are no icky chemicals and a little goes a long way. Def love at first swipe ; )

I also grabbed a couple new Pacifica products this week as well. I'm a sucker for free shipping, so in order to qualify on my Pharmaca order, I decided to add the Coconut Kiss lip butter I've been wanting for quite a while to my order. I really like it! It's a lot more sheer than it looks, so I may go with a darker color next time. But the texture is really nice. I also noticed on my most recent Target trip, that a couple of the lip quench colors were on sale! I like to take a gander through the healthy beauty section every time I go, which is a couple times a week (there's a Target about 8 minutes away from me) and I just happened to see the Guava Berry & Sugared Fig colors were both on clearance for $2.08!!! I grabbed the guava berry and I'm in love! I may grab a few on my next trip if there are some left. The texture is so nice and moisturizing with a sheer wash of color. I don't typically wear pinky/purplish colors, so I was a bit scared, but for the price, I figured why not. I'm so glad I did! So so pretty and the smell..... Amazing! Like a delicious grown up grape juice. I highly recommend! My favorite tinted lip balm thus far!!! 

And last, but certainly not least..... I was recently sent a couple products that I have fallen so in lust with. The first is a product that came in a package that I won from Me & the Girls. It was the travel kit of all the various products. I use them daily, especially the spearamint lip balm... YUM. But the Bar Beleza Multi-Use Beauty Bar has me smitten! I use it on my cuticles, to smooth flyaways and frazzled ends, cuts/scrapes, and I have replaced the lone icky product I was using.... My neosporin, for when I get really bad spots on my face that are of emergency status. I recently had a bad one and no lie, I hit it with the Bar Beleza before I went to sleep, woke up and it literally healed overnight and peeled off! yes.... peeled off!!! And again, a little goes a long way. This stuff is amazing!

I also had the pleasure of receiving a little sneak peek package of a brand new slew of gorgeous natural perfumes from my favorite range, Melange Perfume. Denise is the sweetest and she sent me a roll-on bottle of  No.3 from her new Essential Oil Roll-On collection. It's described as: French Lavender, Moroccan Tangerine, dark Patchouli Leaf, creamy Oak Moss. An adventurous melange of pure Lavender, bold citrus and rich spice, perfectly balanced with creamy Oak moss absolute & a hint of Cedar. To be honest, I was a little nervous/excited. Only because I'm so picky with perfume. But she was spot on as far as choosing the scent to gift me! I adore smokey and earthy scents, and this is on point. When I first rolled it on, I was a little worried, as it has kind of an herbal & slightly citrus scent. But as it dried down, it became more complex and earthy. And by mid to the end of the day, it was this sweet and sexy hint of scent that lingered. I'm not quite sure that this will completely replace my Amber 2 palette (my most favorite perfume ever EVER), but it's really gorgeous and has major staying power, which I love! Melange is my go-to and I can't recommend all of the range of products, especially the palettes, enough!

So that's my latest round-up of purchases with a couple gifts thrown in! If you have any questions about anything mentioned, please don't hesitate to ask!

DISCLAIMER: All of the products above, with the exception of the gifted melange roll-on and the Me & the Girls giveaway kit, were all personally purchased by yours truly. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated in any way for this post.

Monday Musings My quest for the perfect summer deodorant, preparing for spring, and a brilliant date night movie!

Hi Lovelies! I hope you are all enjoying the lovely weather we've been having the last couple days! Here in NJ it's been a breath of fresh air, literally...... I actually don't mind the cold or the snow much at all, but even I'm a bit sick of it lately. I don't know that I'm necessarily ready for it to jump right into warmer weather, but that's only because I'm a little late getting my fitness regimen ready to prepare for losing those winter layers! More about that later this week ; ) Anyway, In the midst of starting a new part-time job this past week, I was forced to finally go through all my clothes and reorganize my closet. I've been putting it off for months! But luckily for me, my hubby is excellent at organizing things and he actually likes doing it! Score!! So he helped me go through everything! Major points for him!!! =)

{ source: honestlyWTF }

So I did a major purge and also found some things that I'm not quite ready to part with, but need some new life. There was a white, gauzy camp shirt I had gotten from American Eagle a couple years ago, wore once and left it downstairs. Only to find the next time I wanted to wear it, that it had gotten a huge rust stain on the sleeve somehow. I'm hoping that I can dye over it. I'm planning on doing some indigo dye or maybe trying out a dye using food or herbs. I'm also planning on making a flowy, floral maxi skirt out of a gorgeous dress I got from H&M a few years back! I'll post pics of the finished projects when they're done!!!

Another thing I start mildly stressing over when the warmer weather approaches, is deodorant. As I've mentioned on here before.... I've found some amazing natural deodorants that actually work! But.... The thing is, for me they fall into two categories - fall/winter or spring/summer. I have yet to find one deodorant that works so well, that I can wear it in the scorching summer heat. I have a few that I'm hoping to try.

{ source: schmidt's online }

This one by Schmidt's has been on my radar for quite some time and I'm planning on placing an order to try it out asap! Once I do, I'll post back on the results soon enough!


I also wanted to mention that I watched the most brilliant, lovely movie on Saturday night. I'm a huge fan of British films and I adored Love Actually. So when I saw the previews for About Time last year, I was already quite smitten. Especially being that I've had a such girl-crush on Rachel McAdams for years. She's so adorable! I finally got a chance to rent it and loved it as much as I thought I would! I think even guys that aren't into super girly chick flicks would like this one. But I will say that if you don't get British humor, you might not be a fan. I think this is going on the "buy list" for me! I highly recommend!!!

Coming Soon....

~ My Spring Jacket picks
~ Summer Sunglasses Obsession
~ What I've been Reading
~ My Latest Fitness Regimen

My {me} day - Poundfit, Holistic Facials, Skin Saving Smoothies, and Lovely lippies!

Hi there! I can't believe how much time has gone by since my last post!! I have had so much going on lately that the time just flies by so fast, but something I've been working on has finally come to fruition and I can really start focusing on this blog now! I definitely plan on organizing my time and putting a lot more energy into this blog!! I actually decided to kick this off yesterday with a personal "ME" day.

Everyone needs a "ME" day now and then. And everyone spends theirs differently. I decided to spend mine nurturing myself and doing some of the things that I haven't really had time to do lately. I started by checking out my new Poundfit DVD's that I got in the mail on Monday! I have been so so SO excited to get these, I was practically stalking the mailman. I have to say, they did not disappoint. Let me preface this by saying that I am not really into Cardio. I know it's necessary and so beneficial, but I really struggle with it. I don't like to run and I do ok on the treadmill, but I get really bored. I sometimes mix it up with some Dance Cardio a la Tracy Anderson Method, but again, I get bored. PoundFit is the perfect thing to add to my weekly routine! It looks kinda easy watching them right? Well let me tell you, it's not. I only did about 20 minutes because I didn't have a ton of time, and I am sore today. You sweat, it's fun, and it's perfect for someone like me that struggles with lack of fitness focus and needs to mix it up! I can't wait to start doing this daily!!! 

After I was finished my little mini-pound session, I hopped in the shower in preparation for giving myself a Healthy Facial. As I had explained before, I am chemical-free & I don't use any personal care products with toxins. I'm a label-reading lunatic!!! =) So here is a little pic of my ingredients....

There's actually one important component that I forgot to put in the pic, but I'll get to that in second. I started out by giving my face a good scrub when I was in the shower. Then I got my mask ready, My favorite thing to use is Aztec Secret Healing Clay, which I grabbed on a trip to Whole Foods probably well over a year ago. This stuff lasts forever!!! I personally love this clay because you can mix it with pretty much whatever you want according to your skins needs. Sometimes I use ACV as suggested on the package, and others I like to mix it with filtered water, brewed tea, facial oils, etc. This time I started out by doing a steam tent with some filtered water & tulsi chamomile tea. This way my pores were open when I applied the mask. The mask consisted of Aztec Clay, a couple pumps of Shea Terra Organics Wild Honey Argan wash (this is more of an oil, so I thought it would be great for moisture!) and my Wedderspoon Manuka Honey mixed with filtered water.  I just mixed everything together with my finger  in a little ceramic bowl (you def don't want to use anything metal here! It will react with the clay) until it reached the consistency I liked. I applied this directly after steaming and let it sit for about 10-15 min. You really don't want this to dry out a ton, or it will pull a ton of moisture from your skin. You can spritz with some orange blossom water if needed. Or, if you are using the mask for oily skin & clogged pores, just make sure to properly moisturize afterwards! Once I rinsed the mask off, I toned with a DIY mixture of Tulsi Chamomile Tea and a few drops of ACV that I keep in a glass spray bottle. 

After I finished my facial I decided to nourish myself by making a skin-loving smoothie! I grabbed some organic beets from Whole Foods this past weekend and have been looking for a way to sneak them into my daily diet. Beets have so many amazing health properties and are so cleansing, so I've been wanting to start incorporating them into smoothies, as I'm not quite accustomed to the taste just yet. I just used what I had on hand to throw this delicious smoothie together! I have an Omega Vert juicer and pressed the juice from the beets fresh. I then added the juice to some coconut milk yogurt, about a TB of organic chia seeds, and a handful of frozen blackberries in my blender, and blended until smooth. This was so good!! It was a tad sweet for my taste (probably because of the yogurt) and I think would have tasted amazing with strawberries, but I didn't have any. So maybe next time! 

I then spent the day just relaxing until it was time to pick my boy up from school. I felt refreshed and in good spirits. Not that my life has been super chaotic lately, but sometimes you just need to do these little things to reset & recharge, whatever that may mean for you! I want to close this post by sharing my most favorite lip balms with you! I am a lip balm addict and these lovelies have been my go-to's for quite some time.

Burt's Bees Tinted Lip Balm, Mongo Kiss, Me & the Girls Lip Moisturizer 

I may have mentioned before, that while I love a bit of color on my lips, I'm not a lipstick girl. Never have been. I've been using this tinted lip balm for a year now and I adore it. It adds the perfect touch of color and it's so moisturizing. Even though it's fine alone, I like to add a little extra pout quenching goodness underneath. Hubby grabbed me a couple of these Mongo Kiss lip balms at the checkout in Whole Foods last summer and I love them! I keep one at my makeup table and one in my bag. The vanilla honey smells so good. And a new favorite, this Me & the Girls lip moisturizer. I love a minty smell on my lips and this has Spearmint, which I LOVE! It's hard to find any lip products that use spearmint (which I prefer to perppermint). I keep this in my bag and have been layering it under my lip tint! 

Enjoy the rest of your day lovelies! I'll be back tomorrow with my "The Last Thing Thursday"!

DISCLAIMER: All of the above products mentioned were purchased by me personally. No samples or compensation was provided for this post. All opinions expressed are my own.