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Tag Archives: Review

Beauty Counter Foundation

Posted on June 5, 2017 by Daniel & April

What initially drew my eye: Beautycounter’s commitment to products with safe ingredients. They have a list of over 1,500 ingredients that they promise to never use. They regularly pour over all sorts of studies and even commission some of their own to examine ingredients for toxicity. That’s awesome. But that’s not the whole story.

They don’t claim to be all-natural, “Over 80% of the ingredients in our products are organic, natural or plant derived. The others are synthetic…but that doesn’t mean that they are unsafe.” I get it. To mass-produce things economically and safely, you often have to include synthetic preservatives to make sure your products don’t spoil and kill someone. That is always my answer when a reader asks why I don’t sell my own products. And I’ve said time and again that natural skincare is not an all or nothing process. Any little step helps in the journey towards a healthier life. To foster transparency, Beautycounter even provides a complete glossary of their ingredients.

I’ve tried a lot of safer make-up brands but have yet to fall in love with the whole line. I have been on the hunt for a safer foundation so my awesome friend Stephanie invited me to try Beautycounter foundation. I decided to give it a try, so I bought the Tint Skin Foundation for $41 +tax & shipping. The price doesn’t really bother me cause before switching to safer brands I still bought high end products. I am extremely fair skinned so I purchased the porcelain shade which turned out to be a perfect match.

I applied with a brush. It went on smoothly and evenly. A little bit of product went a long way. It is a very light weight foundation so I used about a dime sized amount to get a full coverage. I tend to have oily skin and found that this did not add to my oiliness nor did it dry me out. It stayed in place well over 14 hours of rigorous mom life of 4 kids ages 1-10! When it was time to hit the hay I usually notice that when removing my make-up my skin will feel dry or even flakey, but not with this foundation. My skin felt soft and plump!

Overall thoughts
I applaud Beautycounter for their mission. I believe in it, I support it, and I want to do everything I can to bring awareness to the brand in the hope that more and more women will recognize the chemicals in their products and start choosing safer alternatives.

That said, from trying out their face products, I get the impression that these are designed more for the woman who doesn’t like to wear a lot of makeup, prefers a very natural look when she does wear makeup or for a woman that already has beautiful skin. These products are formulated to enhance what you already have, but if you’re looking for something with the ability to transform, hide or cover, these products are probably not the best choice for you. I would love to see Beautycounter come out with a face line that provides a broader range of coverage options, but understand that they’re bound by their ability to do so while sourcing from ingredients that are healthy and sustainable.

Posted in Beauty, Clean Living, Make-Up, Product Review, Reviews | Tags: California, clean, Clean Beauty, Clean Living, Healthy Lifestyle, Live Clean, Make-Up, no cheap ingredients, non-toxic, Review, Safe Cosmetics, Safer Make-Up, sensitive skin, stylish | Leave a comment |

Blendtec Classic 570

Posted on July 31, 2015 by Daniel & April

blendtecREVIEWI was so excited to get this blender, but after trying this out I was greatly disappointed. I picked this blender because it seemed quite similar to the famous Vitamix and a few hundred dollars less.

Now I wish I had just spent the extra money and bought the Vitamix. Obviously I returned the BLENDTEC 570 CLASSIC  and now awaiting my new Vitamix Professional Series 750 Blender. (Review Coming Soon)

Another BLENTEC CLASSIC 570 con:

Didn’t even use the heat/hot option and it started to strip out the plastic bearings on the bottom of the container melting tiny little curly rings all over the place.

 

Posted in Reviews | Tags: BLENDER REVIEW, BLENDTEC 570 CLASSIC, BLENDTEC CLASSIC 570, BLENDTEC REVIEW, Review | Leave a comment |

Veggetti

Posted on July 22, 2015 by Daniel & April

Pretty neat kitchen gadget. A veggie noodlizer or spiralizer is a must have for any home. It’s an excellent way to change up your meals and plus kids really love almost anything that looks like a noodle! In our home our kids will devourer 6 zucchinis with some lite marinara sauce as long as it looks like a noodle!

Posted in Reviews | Tags: As Seen On TV, Kitchen Gadgets, Kitchen Tools, Review, Veggetti, Veggie Noodles, Veggie Spiralizer | Leave a comment |

Hilton SLC-Utah Review

Posted on June 30, 2015 by Daniel & April

SLC-HiltonReview
We had a fantastic stay at the Hilton in Salt Lake City, Utah. It might not look too thrilling from the outside but the inside was gorgeous. It was warm and inviting. The staff was kind and helpful.

What we really loved was the bathroom in our room. It was wheelchair accessible done right! The shower was huge and all of the handles, knobs, shower heads were with in reach! The toilet (not pictured) was a great height, with wall mounted assist bars that were well placed.

Another fantastic feature was that the bed was NOT on the typical huge platform.

Even the carpet in the hallways were not the usual thick arm breaking quality, it was nice and smooth and did not require assistance just to make it too our room.

Thank you for paying attention to all these details they REALLY added to the enjoyment of our stay.

The only BIG accessibility issue was the outside. If you plan on walking to a local shop or restaurant the driveway down to the sidewalk is extremely steep. It definitely requires assistance.

(FYI: They do have restaurants located within the hotel. While the food was excellent we found them to be a bit too pricey for our taste.)

photo 1Hilton-SLC-Lobby

Posted in Accessibility, Reviews, Travel | Tags: Family, Healthy Lifestyle, Hilton Review, Live Clean, Modere, Review, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake City Hilton, Salt Lake City Hotel, Utah, Wheelchair Accessibility, Wheelchair Accessibility Hotel Review | Leave a comment |

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