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What were some of your favorite parts from November?
Have a lovely Saturday!
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Wrangler's Monthly Wrap Up: November 2013
Happy Small Business Saturday, everyone! I hope you'll be supporting small and/or local businesses today! I think 99% of my favorite lip balms come from small businesses, so without them, this blog probably wouldn't have lasted this long! Anyway, another month has come and gone, which means today's post is all about my favorite parts from this month. I hope you enjoy!
Friday, November 29, 2013
Balms I've Got My Eye On 11.29.13
Happy Black Friday, everyone! I'm sure some of you went out and are mostly done doing your Black Friday shopping. I hope things were safe and not *overly* hectic. This year was probably our most toned down Black Friday ever. We did mostly online stuff this year. There are still sales going on all day, so just keep an eye out! Anyway, some balms on my wishlist this week are:
Lippincott Soap Co.'s Black Cherry
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Latika Soap's Mango Kisses
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The Gnarly Whale's Vanilla Latte
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What goodies did you buy today? Are there still items on your wishlist you haven't gotten yet?
Have a lovely day!
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Eco Lips: One World
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! That is, if you're celebrating it. If not, then happy Thursday! I'm sure most of you have seen my huge haul from Eco Lips the other day. Eco Lips' Founder/CEO, Steve Shriver, contacted me a few weeks ago to see if I'd be interested in trying out some Eco Lips products. Of course I said yes, but I had no idea what he had in store for me. When the packaged arrived I was like, well that's pretty large for a few sample balms, and then I opened up the box and there was almost one tube of every balm they sell! All of this after he had already so graciously allowed me to try out their [My] Eco Lips where you make you design your own balm, including everything that goes into the formula! To say I'm honored is an understatement, I'm completely blown away! I don't want to overwhelm you guys though, so I'm going to break up my Eco Lips haul into smaller reviews. Here's the first installment, it's on Eco Lips' One World balms, I hope you enjoy!
Company: Eco Lips
Flavors: Orange Spice, Coconut Ginger, and Lavender Lemon. The Renew: Orange Spice, like I told you on Monday, smells of bright, sweet oranges with undertones of warm spices. I really like this balm because the usual orange spice type balms I use are over the top spicy when I'd rather have more orange than spice, so for me this balm is wonderful! If you're looking for something a bit spicier, this is probably not what you're looking for. But if you're looking for a great balm in general, this is one you're going to want to try! The Restore: Coconut Ginger is definitely a flavor combination I've never tried in a balm before. This balm is most definitely soothing with scents of warm coconut and even warmer, slightly spicy ginger. This will be great for the upcoming months when a touch of warmth is what I'm looking for. Is it weird that I use products with certain scents depending on how I want to feel? Like when I want to feel warm and cozy I'll wear fall/winter scents, but if I want to feel energized I'll wear more spring/summer scents. This is a scent I'd wear to feel warm and cozy. The Relax: Lavender Lemon smells strongly of lavender, which most of you who've been reading for a while know I don't particularly like. There's just something about lavender that I don't like in a balm. This balm is most certainly calming though, the strong scent of lavender combined with the light scent of sweet lemons makes it easy to relax and leaves my mind at ease. It's a lovely effect.
Wear: These go on so smooth and kind of thick, one swipe on top and one on bottom is more than enough. They provide a nice layer of protection, you can definitely tell you're wearing balm, but not in a bad way. It's in a way that makes me feel confident that I won't have to apply balm for a while, for me it lasts about 2 hours or so at a time. When you apply these they do kind of go outside of your lips though since these tubes are the jumbo tubes of balm. It's not really too much of an issue for me since I'm usually going crazy on the balm anyway, plus with all the dryness in the air, any moisture is welcomed.
Packaging: Like I said, these balms come in the jumbo tubes (0.25 oz) so just under 2 times the size of your average lip balm tube (0.15 oz). I love the way the labels feel on these balms. I know that sounds really weird, but these are more of a matte label and it feels so smooth in my hands. The label designs on these look like something you'd find in a higher end beauty store or spa. I really like how clean and sophisticated these balms look. Each label also has a slightly different color scheme to match the flavor of the balm. Also, each balm is supposed to representative of a different part of the world and has slightly different ingredients which is pretty neat
Price: $5.99 per tube which is a pretty good deal since you get almost twice the product in one tube as you would in purchasing one normal lip balm tube which is usually around $3-4.
Overall
Pros: Flavors, Wear, Packaging, Price
Cons:
Rating: 5 out of 5 twists. I really enjoyed these One World balms from Eco Lips and I'd definitely recommend them! The consistency is really great and so are the flavor options. Yeah, the tube is a little larger than you're used to, but if you're like me and carry 2 or 3 balms at a time, it's not really that big of an issue.
Ingredients:
Renew: Orange Spice-Fair Trade Certified(TM) Cocoa Butter, Organic Sunflower Seed Oil, Organic Beeswax, Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Organic Argan Oil, Vitamin E, Organic Essential Oils of Sweet Orange, Fennel Seed, and Cardamom.
Restore: Coconut Ginger-Fair Trade Certified(TM) Cocoa Butter, Organic Beeswax, Organic Coconut Oil, Organic Sunflower Seed Oil, Organic Tamanu Oil, Vitamin E, Organic Essential Oils of Lemon, Sweet Orange, Ginger, and Lemon Grass
Relax: Lavender Lemon-Fair Trade Certified(TM) Cocoa Butter, Organic Sunflower Seed Oil, Organic Beeswax, Organic Grapeseed Oil, Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Organic Vanilla Flavor, Vitamin E, Organic Essential Oils of Lemon, Lavender, and Sweet Orange
Have you tried these balms from Eco Lips yet? What did you think of them?
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These balms were provided complimentary to me by Eco Lips, however, all opinions are strictly my own. Thank you, Steve and the Eco Lips team, for this wonderful opportunity!
Company: Eco Lips
Flavors: Orange Spice, Coconut Ginger, and Lavender Lemon. The Renew: Orange Spice, like I told you on Monday, smells of bright, sweet oranges with undertones of warm spices. I really like this balm because the usual orange spice type balms I use are over the top spicy when I'd rather have more orange than spice, so for me this balm is wonderful! If you're looking for something a bit spicier, this is probably not what you're looking for. But if you're looking for a great balm in general, this is one you're going to want to try! The Restore: Coconut Ginger is definitely a flavor combination I've never tried in a balm before. This balm is most definitely soothing with scents of warm coconut and even warmer, slightly spicy ginger. This will be great for the upcoming months when a touch of warmth is what I'm looking for. Is it weird that I use products with certain scents depending on how I want to feel? Like when I want to feel warm and cozy I'll wear fall/winter scents, but if I want to feel energized I'll wear more spring/summer scents. This is a scent I'd wear to feel warm and cozy. The Relax: Lavender Lemon smells strongly of lavender, which most of you who've been reading for a while know I don't particularly like. There's just something about lavender that I don't like in a balm. This balm is most certainly calming though, the strong scent of lavender combined with the light scent of sweet lemons makes it easy to relax and leaves my mind at ease. It's a lovely effect.
Wear: These go on so smooth and kind of thick, one swipe on top and one on bottom is more than enough. They provide a nice layer of protection, you can definitely tell you're wearing balm, but not in a bad way. It's in a way that makes me feel confident that I won't have to apply balm for a while, for me it lasts about 2 hours or so at a time. When you apply these they do kind of go outside of your lips though since these tubes are the jumbo tubes of balm. It's not really too much of an issue for me since I'm usually going crazy on the balm anyway, plus with all the dryness in the air, any moisture is welcomed.
Packaging: Like I said, these balms come in the jumbo tubes (0.25 oz) so just under 2 times the size of your average lip balm tube (0.15 oz). I love the way the labels feel on these balms. I know that sounds really weird, but these are more of a matte label and it feels so smooth in my hands. The label designs on these look like something you'd find in a higher end beauty store or spa. I really like how clean and sophisticated these balms look. Each label also has a slightly different color scheme to match the flavor of the balm. Also, each balm is supposed to representative of a different part of the world and has slightly different ingredients which is pretty neat
Price: $5.99 per tube which is a pretty good deal since you get almost twice the product in one tube as you would in purchasing one normal lip balm tube which is usually around $3-4.
Overall
Pros: Flavors, Wear, Packaging, Price
Cons:
Rating: 5 out of 5 twists. I really enjoyed these One World balms from Eco Lips and I'd definitely recommend them! The consistency is really great and so are the flavor options. Yeah, the tube is a little larger than you're used to, but if you're like me and carry 2 or 3 balms at a time, it's not really that big of an issue.
Ingredients:
Renew: Orange Spice-Fair Trade Certified(TM) Cocoa Butter, Organic Sunflower Seed Oil, Organic Beeswax, Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Organic Argan Oil, Vitamin E, Organic Essential Oils of Sweet Orange, Fennel Seed, and Cardamom.
Restore: Coconut Ginger-Fair Trade Certified(TM) Cocoa Butter, Organic Beeswax, Organic Coconut Oil, Organic Sunflower Seed Oil, Organic Tamanu Oil, Vitamin E, Organic Essential Oils of Lemon, Sweet Orange, Ginger, and Lemon Grass
Relax: Lavender Lemon-Fair Trade Certified(TM) Cocoa Butter, Organic Sunflower Seed Oil, Organic Beeswax, Organic Grapeseed Oil, Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Organic Vanilla Flavor, Vitamin E, Organic Essential Oils of Lemon, Lavender, and Sweet Orange
Have you tried these balms from Eco Lips yet? What did you think of them?
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These balms were provided complimentary to me by Eco Lips, however, all opinions are strictly my own. Thank you, Steve and the Eco Lips team, for this wonderful opportunity!
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Haul of the Week 11.27.13
Happy Wednesday, everyone! I hope you're having a wonderful short week this week! We're headed to Chicago today and we're really excited to see our families! Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite holiday, I mean, come on, who doesn't love a holiday centered around being thankful, eating amazing food, and spending quality time with the ones you love? You've gotta love that! My haul this week is kind of a combination of balms I've gotten over the last two weeks, packing things up kind of messed up what I was supposed to be taking photos of and posting about. I hope you enjoy!
Yes, did you see all of that? Eco Lips sent me over one of every one of their products to try! Holy cow! This all in addition to being able to create my own balms using [My] Eco Lips. Thank you SO much, Eco Lips!
What balms did you get this week?
Have a lovely day and a wonderful holiday tomorrow (if you're celebrating)!
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Little Batch Part IV
Hi all! I know it has been a while since my last Little Batch review, but I think this post will more than make up for it. There are a LOT of balms I want to tell you about today, so I hope you're ready! I bought a ton and Jen threw in a ton more, so I broke up my haul into two different reviews. Here's the first half! Also I'm sorry for some repeats, but sometimes it's good to take another look at some balms and perhaps we've got some new readers who haven't read about some old favorites yet.
Company: Little Batch Apothecary
Flavors: Vanilla Cupcake, Cherry Bomb, Pina Colada, Cherries & Berries, Plain Naked, Winter Frost, Rose, and Raspberry. The Vanilla Cupcake is one of my absolute favorite Little Batch balms. It honestly smells like a vanilla cupcake was squished into a lip balm tube. It's light and sugary and smells like a delicious vanilla bakery treat. It also kind of smells like vanilla cookies. My point is...this balm smells delicious. The Cherry Bomb as I said yesterday, smells like fruity, sweet cherries similar to cherry Starburst. It's really yummy and would make a great gift for anyone, but especially those individuals like myself who prefer the red Starburst over every other flavor. The Pina Colada is another one of my favorite balms, in fact with my last tube of this balm I woke up one night with it clutched in my palm. Even in my sleep I grabbed it and held on to it! It smells super tropical! Fresh, sweet pineapple and warm coconut make a wonderful combination in this balm. It most definitely reminds me of our trip to Hawaii last April. The Cherries and Berries smells of sweet cherries and ripe berries. It reminds me of a balm I had when I was in elementary or middle school. This balm is sweet without being overly in your face and really kind of just brightens up my day when I use it. The Plain Naked smells exactly like you'd expect! Like nothing! Okay, well not quite. There's a slight scent of the cocoa butter that's used in it, but it's pretty much naked. Next up, my absolute favorite Little Batch lip balm, and one of my all time favorite lip balms, Winter Frost. This balm...oh this balm...it's amazingness in a tube. It's creamy white chocolate combined with cool, tingly mint. Seriously, there's nothing better than this balm during these colder seasons. Seriously, you need this balm. The Rose balm smells exactly like you think it would, like fresh, delicate rose flowers. It smells sweet and fresh, even though I'm not a fan of floral balms, I'm sort of warming up to them. Still wary, but this one smells super yum. If you're a floral fan, get yourself one of these balms. The Raspberry is a new found favorite of mine. This smells of ripe, tart, slightly sweet raspberries. I find that this is one of the most true to life raspberry scented balms I've come across.
Wear: These balms are super buttery! They're soooo creamy and go on so smooth. These have such a wonderful consistency! You only need about two or so swipes on each lip, but they go on so smooth I usually just keep going around and around. My lips feel soft and smooth after wearing these!
Packaging: These come in oval tubes with white labels. Each label has the flavor of the balm clearly stated on front. They also have sets of colored lines on the front that correspond to each balm's flavor, makes it super easy to tell them apart if you're like me and have a ton of the same balms from one shop.
Price: $4 per tube which is a total steal for one of these!
Overall
Pros: Flavors, Wear, Packaging, Price
Cons:
Rating: 5 out of 5 twists. These balms are crazy amazing! Seriously, I've never come across a Little Batch balm I didn't like. Well...unless it was floral, but that's because I'm a weirdo and I don't like floral balms! They still smell awesome, I just prefer fruity and sweet balms =).
Right now you can save 20% off your order of $10 or more at either Little Batch shop using code: HMW13 at checkout. This is good from now through December 2nd! With that kind of discount, you could try tons of different balms! Oh, and did I mention her lip scrubs are also incredible? Do yourself a favor and pick up one of those as well, you won't regret it!
Ingredients: natural beeswax, cocoa butter, shea butter, sweet almond oil, grapeseed oil, jojoba oil, castor oil, tocopherol (vitamin e), flavor
What are some of your favorite Little Batch balms? Have you got your eye on any of these?
Company: Little Batch ApothecaryFlavors: Vanilla Cupcake, Cherry Bomb, Pina Colada, Cherries & Berries, Plain Naked, Winter Frost, Rose, and Raspberry. The Vanilla Cupcake is one of my absolute favorite Little Batch balms. It honestly smells like a vanilla cupcake was squished into a lip balm tube. It's light and sugary and smells like a delicious vanilla bakery treat. It also kind of smells like vanilla cookies. My point is...this balm smells delicious. The Cherry Bomb as I said yesterday, smells like fruity, sweet cherries similar to cherry Starburst. It's really yummy and would make a great gift for anyone, but especially those individuals like myself who prefer the red Starburst over every other flavor. The Pina Colada is another one of my favorite balms, in fact with my last tube of this balm I woke up one night with it clutched in my palm. Even in my sleep I grabbed it and held on to it! It smells super tropical! Fresh, sweet pineapple and warm coconut make a wonderful combination in this balm. It most definitely reminds me of our trip to Hawaii last April. The Cherries and Berries smells of sweet cherries and ripe berries. It reminds me of a balm I had when I was in elementary or middle school. This balm is sweet without being overly in your face and really kind of just brightens up my day when I use it. The Plain Naked smells exactly like you'd expect! Like nothing! Okay, well not quite. There's a slight scent of the cocoa butter that's used in it, but it's pretty much naked. Next up, my absolute favorite Little Batch lip balm, and one of my all time favorite lip balms, Winter Frost. This balm...oh this balm...it's amazingness in a tube. It's creamy white chocolate combined with cool, tingly mint. Seriously, there's nothing better than this balm during these colder seasons. Seriously, you need this balm. The Rose balm smells exactly like you think it would, like fresh, delicate rose flowers. It smells sweet and fresh, even though I'm not a fan of floral balms, I'm sort of warming up to them. Still wary, but this one smells super yum. If you're a floral fan, get yourself one of these balms. The Raspberry is a new found favorite of mine. This smells of ripe, tart, slightly sweet raspberries. I find that this is one of the most true to life raspberry scented balms I've come across.
Wear: These balms are super buttery! They're soooo creamy and go on so smooth. These have such a wonderful consistency! You only need about two or so swipes on each lip, but they go on so smooth I usually just keep going around and around. My lips feel soft and smooth after wearing these!
Packaging: These come in oval tubes with white labels. Each label has the flavor of the balm clearly stated on front. They also have sets of colored lines on the front that correspond to each balm's flavor, makes it super easy to tell them apart if you're like me and have a ton of the same balms from one shop.
Price: $4 per tube which is a total steal for one of these!
Overall
Pros: Flavors, Wear, Packaging, Price
Cons:
Rating: 5 out of 5 twists. These balms are crazy amazing! Seriously, I've never come across a Little Batch balm I didn't like. Well...unless it was floral, but that's because I'm a weirdo and I don't like floral balms! They still smell awesome, I just prefer fruity and sweet balms =).
Right now you can save 20% off your order of $10 or more at either Little Batch shop using code: HMW13 at checkout. This is good from now through December 2nd! With that kind of discount, you could try tons of different balms! Oh, and did I mention her lip scrubs are also incredible? Do yourself a favor and pick up one of those as well, you won't regret it!
Ingredients: natural beeswax, cocoa butter, shea butter, sweet almond oil, grapeseed oil, jojoba oil, castor oil, tocopherol (vitamin e), flavor
What are some of your favorite Little Batch balms? Have you got your eye on any of these?
Monday, November 25, 2013
Mini Monday 11.25.13
Happy Monday, everyone! I hope you're having a lovely day so far! Things are sort of settling down, but it's still pretty hectic around here, especially since we're leaving super early Wednesday morning to fly back to Chicago for Thanksgiving. I have so many boxes of balm I haven't gotten to unpacking yet because we simply don't have room in this apartment! This is the smallest apartment we've lived in yet with all of our stuff so it's a little difficult to find places to put everything. Anyway, I'm hoping to get back on track with posts this week, I'm going to work until I've got posts for each day! I hope you enjoy this week's Mini Monday installment!
Little Batch's Cherry Bomb
If you're a fan of cherry balms, you need to get this from balm from Little Batch! It has a strong, sweet, candy-like cherry scent. It kind of reminds me of Cherry Starbursts, which are my favorite!
Softlip's Praline Brownie
This is such a decadent lip balm, it's seriously just amazing. It has a rich nutty aroma combined with the scent of decadent chocolate brownie. This is some seriously delicious stuff!
Eco Lips' Orange Spice
I haven't shown you guys my HUGE haul from Eco Lips yet (stay tuned for Wednesday), but this is one of the balms from it. This balm is perfect for this time of year. It smells of bright and sweet oranges combined with a hint of warm spices.
There you have it! Have you tried any of these before?
Have an absolutely terrific day!
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Balms of the Week 11.24.13
Happy Sunday, everyone! I hope you're having a swell weekend! We're still trying to get settled in our new place, out of about 90 boxes we only have I think six or seven left! Woohoo! Anyway, my balms have kind of been up in the air since everything has been packed away, so I haven't been using as many different kinds this week as I usually would.
Little Batch's Winter Frost
Little Batch's Mango Lassi
Long Winter Farm's Peppermint Hot Cocoa
ForGoodnessGrape's Keep Calm and Carry Lip Balm
Ripe Shop's Matcha Green Tea
What balms have you been using this week?
Did you find any new favorites?
Have a lovely day!
Friday, November 22, 2013
Black Friday Wishlist 2013
Hi all! So sorry today's post is late, we got home late after my test last night and I was completely exhausted. I've been studying for major exams for over 5 months, 5-7 hours a day, every day...I just need to not think for a while haha. I didn't even study this much during college! Anyway, since Black Friday is a week away, I thought that I'd make a list of the things I'm hoping to purchase! I hope you enjoy!
Long Winter Farm's Blackberry Sage Skin Cream
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Firebird Bath & Body's Pomegranate Rose Perfume Oil
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Buffalo Gal Organics' Eye ZEN Pure Moisture Treatment
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Epically Epic's Custom Scented Solid Lotion
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Little Batch's Facial Mask in Pomegranate Green Tea
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Little Batch's Salvation Head to Toe
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ForGoodnessGrape's Heavenly Honeydew
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ForGoodnessGrape's Salted Caramel Mocha
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ForGoodnessGrape's Blood Punch from The Lip Balm Queen
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Live Beautifully Body's Candy Cane Anthology
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Live Beautifully Body's Beautifying Face Butter
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Live Beautifully Body's Breakfast Breads Lip Anthology
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Orange Thyme's Body Lotion in Pink Grapefruit
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Bunny Butt Apothecary's 2 Pack of Lip Balm
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Bunny Butt Apothecary's Complexion Zen
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Aubrey E. Apothecary's Lemon Lip Scrub
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Aubrey E. Apothecary's Solid Lotion Bar in Blueberry Lemon Verbena
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Rooted Beauty's Razz Lime Lip Butter
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Moody Sisters' Vanilla Chai and Mint Chocolate Truffle Lip Balms
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The Gnarly Whale's Green Tea Facial Toner
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The Gnarly Whale's Spiced Caramel
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Long Winter Farm's Blackberry Sage Skin Cream
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Firebird Bath & Body's Pomegranate Rose Perfume Oil
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All of this, plus so much more! I cannot wait for Black Friday! I've been really into facial care and skincare lately, so that's why there are so many of those types of products.
What's on your Black Friday Wishlist?
Have a wonderful Friday!
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