The Raw Spa

Poetic Pits

For me, it has proven nearly impossible to find a deodorant that uses completely non-toxic ingredients and also actually works.  There hasn’t been a single one I’ve tried that has been completely effective at banishing odour.  In my mission to find one, I decided to invest in the Living Libations deodorant because it gets very good reviews and is made of absolute tip-top quality essential oils (hence the price).  It comes in a tiny bottle that doesn’t look like it will last five minutes, but you don’t need much – just a quick stroke with the little roller applicator.  My verdict?  It’s effective in most situations so I’d rate it the best I have tried so far.

I tried the lavender one.  It’s not completely infallible; there were at least two occasions when I detected a sweaty smell after a long day.  But to be fair, I am a tough challenge for any deodorant at the moment as I’m going through a period of deep cleansing and a lot of toxic gunk is coming out through my skin.  I am also doing intermittent fasting which means I am in ketosis some of the time, which is notorious for making a person pong.  I would expect that someone who is either cleaner than me or who just isn’t emitting waste through the skin would find this product more than capable of keeping their pits sweet-smelling.  Also, the days I did feel less than fresh were both hot humid days when I was doing something that made me sweat with nerves because I was meeting people, so definitely a tough test for this deodorant.  The funny thing I noticed was that when I undressed at the end of the day, my actual underarm area smelled fine – it was the clothes that had a slightly sweaty odour.  They were man-made fabrics because I had to be dressed up, and that may have been a factor.

My overall rating of Poetic Pits is 8/10 because it smells good, the ingredients are of exceptional quality, and it works well under most normal circumstances.

Sacred Sage Smokeless Mist Spray

This spray is made by the same company who produce the incredibly popular Medicine Flower Extracts, so I knew it was going to be a premium product from the off. But I first imagined  it was simply a nice-smelling room spray.  Although I was never a fan of those artificial commercial air freshener aerosols, the idea of a pleasant room spray that is non-toxic appeals to me.  But I’m so impressed with this product because I find it does so much more than just make a nice smell – it functions as a kind of energy medicine that you breathe in.

First thing you notice is it smells pleasant in a very natural way, like a walk through the woods.  It’s not at all artificial or overpowering.  But I soon noticed that it also completely neutralizes bad smells with great efficiency.  I guess Febr*ze does the same thing only the makers of that probably use all sorts of stuff you don’t want to be breathing in.  I have tested Sacred Sage mist on a very smelly bathroom and found one spray was enough to get rid of the pong.  I’m not sure if the people at Medicine Flower intended it to be used for such a lowly function, but if it works, I’ll use it!

The third level this spray works at is a little harder to describe without sounding a little "out there".  Let’s say, it helps to calm my mind when I try to meditate - I say try, ‘cos I’m still total rubbish, but this stuff helps.  It doesn’t surprise me to learn that the Native Americans have used sage and cedar for hundreds of years to prepare a space for sacred rituals.  The spray does seem to have a clearing effect on an energetic level.  This is something I only dimly perceive as yet. I imagine others may find it more obvious.  Certainly this spray mist is intended for use to purify a space for ritual or healing purposes and is an easy and pleasant way to achieve this aim, a lot more convenient than setting fire to a bunch of leaves and wafting them about.  So whether you want to meditate, heal or just breathe easy in the bathroom, have a go with Sacred Sage mist and relax…

Hi-Bath

Great review of our Hi-Bath Bar in Juno magazine. Juno is a natural parenting magazine which is published quarterly in the UK.

Alpha Dream Supreme Cream & Ripe Shimma Lip Gloss

Alpha Dream Angel Cream

As a woman I have spent the last 16 years buying and using moisturiser on my face.  I have gone through the younger years of buying commercial face products that are very cheap, full of chemicals and do nothing beneficial for your skin at all!  Then during my 20’s I fell into the more expensive ‘luxurious’ range.  The range which is really expensive and makes you feel, “It must be good for me,” because it is so expensive.  They tell you it has natural ingredients and it will tone, tighten, and clean your skin leaving it so soft, so radiant and ten years younger.   Unfortunately I fell for this con and spent lots of money and time with these products.

When I was pregnant with my little boy I decided not to use any chemicals at all!  In the house, in my food or on my skin.  I watched a programme which warned about how many chemicals our skin comes into contact with daily, due to the dangerous chemical content in our products etc.  This shocked me and turned my life around.

I went to the local health supermarket, Infinity foods in Brighton, and bought out the shop – much to my finances' horror!  Amongst them I bought face products.  I won’t mention the much loved brand which I bought, but it made my skin dry, and the peach kernel for the scrub got in my eye I ended up in A&E with a scratched lense!  I never used that brand again.

When Kate asked me to try out her new skin care range I was very excited.  I bought the pot into my massage course and showed my colleagues, who were all hooked instantly.  Luckily we were learning how to do facials so I had an amazing chocolately flowery ALL natural facial and massage – bliss!

Alpha Dream is a rich, dark, smooth smell with healing properties of aloe, MSM, hemp oil, cacao, coconut butter, jasmine essential oil, ylang ylang essential oil, clary sage essential oil, may chang oil and monoi de Tahiti.  All of which give relaxation and true cell regeneration.  MSM softens and heals the skin and the essential oils provide stillness of the mind.

This is a moisturiser which I will always have, I love it!

by Emma Gill

Alpha Dream Angel Cream

I have to say I wasn't sure how this luscious new addition to the Alpha Dream range, Angel Cream, was going to compare to my all time favourite Supreme Cream.  You see, I'm a total sucker for anything with glitter in it and so Supreme Cream takes a lot of beating.

With almost entirely edible ingredients, including cacao butter, coconut butter, monoi de Tahiti, hemp oil, aloe, MSM, jasmine, clary sage, ylang ylang and may chang. Angel Cream is a deliciously light and soft body cream suitable for those that want all the benefits of raw natural skincare but without the glitter...

I find this cream very hydrating and great for dry skin.  I've been slathering it all over my legs and arms and my friend commented the other day I was feeling very smooth!  A little certainly goes a long way.

The fragrance is very light and sweet and the only difficulty is trying to refrain from eating it!

Alpha Dream Dragon Cream

For a long time I was an avid user and proponent of a certain high-street cosmetics chain which prides itself on being luscious. I had a bad experience with them though, and while my remaining supply of face cream has been running lower and lower I’ve been searching for a replacement which is just as ethical, cheap, effective, and toxin-free – no mean feat, I have to say!

So with that in mind, I have to say that the Alpha Dream Dragon Cream is, well, an absolute dream. It’s completely vegan and not animal tested; the ingredients are all-natural in the truest sense of the word – not a chemical in sight, the ingredients can actually almost all be found in my food cupboard with the exception of the essential oils; and it’s more effective by far than what I was using before; and it works out cheaper than the old! Can’t say fairer than that.

So what’s it actually like then? First impressions are that the jar is small, and that’s true, but it’s packed full of great things, and a little of this stuff goes a long way. I’ve been using it every day for over a week now and you can barely tell it’s been used at all. The smell is amazing – cacao butter central – but not overpowering and once it’s been on for a minute the smell is gone, which is great if you’re using other scents or you don’t want to smell like a chocolate bar all day. Going on it feels quite greasy and at first that can be off-putting, but it sinks in very quickly and leaves no shiny residue all over your face, which is brilliant. The hemp oil with its Omega oils is great for your skin, especially dry skin, and the MSM provides sulphur which most people are severely lacking in – feeding your skin from the outside, essentially!

I have to say I’m very, very impressed overall with this cream, it will definitely be a bathroom cabinet staple from now on!

Jewel Alchemy Lip Gloss

Winter is almost definitely here and for some of us that usually means  dreaded dry skin and chapped lips.  There is nothing more unsexy than rocking a chapped lips look!  Us raw goddesses need to maintain our sexy glow and luscious lips all year round you know...

Well don't fret, help is at hand, (or should that be mouth?), with the gorgeous new range of Lip Glosses available on Raw Living.  I'm all about natural skincare and products so was super excited to see these new glosses on the site.

There are two gorgeous options for you to try, Ripe Rose Geranium and Ripe Ylang Ylang.  Kissing my lips was the magic rose geranium gloss which slides on like a dream, coating your lips in sumptuous flavour (tastes kinda like a sexy turkish delight) and a beautiful rose tint.  Made with the sexiest of ingredients including hemp seed oil, cacao butter, rose essential oil, vitamin E oil and LOVE* (*certified organic) it left my lips feeling super conditioned and moisturised for hours.  I will confess to applying it more than I need to just because I love the taste of it!

Also I think this lip gloss has real magic powers.  The reason being, I always, always lose my lip gloss/salve.  Those little tubes seem to disappear in to the ether or go to lip gloss heaven but thankfully not this one.  Nope, no matter how careless I've been and jet-setting all over the globe this little tube has stayed firmly by my side and never once made a disappearing act!  That's devotion for you...must be the love.

The best bit of all though, was this quote from my husband, "Your lips look delicious." Can't really ask for more than that!

Alpha Dream Dragon Cream

This is a first!  Reviewing a product for men!  Luckily I have a husband of the male variety that tested the brand new Alpha Dream Dragon Cream on my behalf...

Let me begin by saying that my other half is a man of very few words so this was going to be somewhat of a challenge.  However, I'm pleased to say it wasn't as hard as blood out of a stone as I thought it might be.

'The husband', as I lovingly refer to him, has only recently started to shy away from conventional chemical-laden products.  Not that he uses that many.  I think he wants me to be clear he's no metro-sexual with umpteen products to primp and preen.  Nope, he's a real man's man, one product to wash (body and hair), one to moisturise.  However, after a bit of harping on by moi he has opted for more natural products and so was a bit more open to trying out Kate's latest spa sensation.

Dragon Cream is very reminiscent of its female counterpart (the sparkley and amazing Alpha Dream Supreme Cream which I LOVE) and has many similar ingredients to include cacao butter, coconut butter, shea butter, hemp oil, Aloe with MSM, Klamath Lake blue-green algae, frankincense oil, cedarwood oil, ginger oil, mandarin oil.

Ok so from what I can obtain from the husband here are his thoughts...in my words...thankfully!

The cream has a nice texture, really easy to put on and blends in well.  The smell is not as overpowering as the other creams he has used in the past.  A little goes a long way and is absorbed quickly so you don't walk about with a big sheen on your face (not Charlie Sheen).  Also it leaves your face nicely moisturised.

So there you have it.  Now confession time.  When I saw how nice his skin was looking on the cream I stole some.  He caught me though, the big finger scoop mark kinda gave it away.  But the best news is that you can share and share alike.  That's what marriage is all about right?

:)

Alpha Dream Supreme Cream

I am such a huge lover of Alpha Dream Supreme Cream, do you know why?

Well, not only does it have some of the most gorgeous ingredients ever which include cacao butter (everybody loves cacao right?), coconut butter (best skincare ingredient on the planet), monoi de Tahiti (hydrating and protecting), hemp oil, aloe, MSM, rose oil and lavender oil, it also has GLITTER.

I don't know about you but my day just doesn't go the same unless I've got a bit of glitter going on.  Glitter has been scientifically proven to make your day an extra 80% happier, 47% more likely to put you in your flow and 296% more likely to make you fall in love with everyone and everything you come in to contact with.*

Seriously though, this cream is really super.  It melts beautifully on to your face/body (I put it everywhere), smells absolutely divine and does make you sparkle!  I love it!

*sparkle*

*4 million women tested agreed