Diva Review – Kabana Organic Sunscreen

Kabana Organic Fragrance Free Tinted Sunscreen SPF 22

Planning a getaway for some fun in the sun this winter? You’ll want to protect your winter white skin from the sun with sunscreen, but you’ll also want to be sure the protection doesn’t care it’s own set of concerns.

Kabana Skincare offers a selection of ultra pure sunscreens, baby care products, soap & bodywashes that offer light UV protection for everyday protection, moisturizers, lip balms and sunscreens.

To learn more about the importance of careful sunscreen selections read the Diva Guide to Safer Sunscreen.

Kabana offer’s sunscreen in both Tinted & Untinted.  Many of the safer sunscreens contain a high amount of zinc, as does Kabana’s.  Many people don’t like the white pastiness you end up with from the zinc.  Tinted sunscreen provides a solution to this problem.  I’m very fair and the tint disappeared into my skin.  Those with darker skin my find the tinting a little pale.

Sunscreen is an important part of a skincare regime.  Not only does it prevent skin cancer, but wrinkles too.  Let’s face it, most of us are more motivated by vanity then our health.  According to the American Academy of Dermatologists – 90% of wrinkles are caused by sun!

What I love about the Kabana line is their streamline approach they take with their products.  Their Tinted Sunscreen has 8 ingredients.  Eight!  They focus on high quality, effective ingredients.  I was initially concerned that they didn’t offer a SPF 30.  Their founder,  Eric Kreider believes that an SPF 20 is all the protection we need and equates to absorbing 95% of UV, while an SPF 45 only gives you 2.8% more protection while exposing our bodies to more chemicals that typically carry a %300 increase in associated health risk along with a higher price tag.

With a Diva Total  13.7 of out of 15 points this product is: Divaliscious!

CLICK HERE for review criteria:

8 Points Skin Deep Low Hazard Rating ~ 1
2 Points for being Organic – The Tinted Sunscreen comprised of %86 organic ingredients.

1.8 Points for effectiveness Worn at the Beach in Sunny California and on a Palm Springs getaway, my fair skin didn’t get burnt. I did get a bit of extra sun on my nose – I should have reapplied after 2 hours as per the instructions.

.8 Point for Texture This product was very smooth and creamy. For a zinc based sunscreen I found it absorbed in more quickly than other products I’ve tried.

.7 Point for Fragrance The Kabana Sunscreen is unscented and doesn’t contain any fragrance to mask it’s natural scent.

.3 Points for Packaging Appearance The packaging is very sporty in appearance. Royal Blue with Bright Yellow and Green Writing accents.

.1 Points for Packaging SustainabilityThe Sunscreen is not packaged using any additional boxes, but there was no information on their site or the tube.

Overall:

With a nice texture, effective sun protection and ultra pure ingredient list, this is a great sunscreen option for your entire family.  If whiteness from the zinc bothers you, choose the tinted option.  Otherwise I didn’t notice a difference between the two offerings.

Note – Don’t forget to shake the tube well prior to application as it separates when it sits.

Diva Review – Kabana Organic Sunscreen

Diva Review: Vapour Organic Siren Lipstick

Vapour Beauty is a New Mexico based company that joined forces with renowned make-up artist Erik Sakas.  They created a line of organic beauty products that is made using food grade organic ingredients.

Vapours shares many of the values that we embrace here at PND.  Acknowledging that as our largest organ; care should be taken with what we put on our skin.  Topically applied products will be absorbed into our bodies!  Adding toxins and chemicals will unduly burden our system, contributing to illness and disease.

They recently sent me a sample of their Siren Lipstick to review.

With a Diva Total of 14.8 out of 15 points this product is: Divaliscious!

Click here for review criteria:

8 Points for Skin Deep Low Hazard Rating of 1 - Excellent!
It should be noted that PND input the product ingredients and one item was not found in their database.

2 Points for being Organic – 95% organic content

2 Points for effectiveness – I was concerned that it wouldn’t have very good staying power and while it may not rival those in the extended wear lipstick category it’s certainly surprised me.  It nicely made it through lunch with the girls.  I also enjoyed the conditioning properties in the lipstick.  These days most lipsticks feel very drying on my skin, but the Siren felt hydrating.

1 Point for Texture – The texture of their lipstick was really nice, not sticky or heavy.

1 Point for Fragrance -  The fragrance is delicate and just a little fruity.

.4 Points for Packaging Appearance – Their lipstick comes in a tube and twirls out, much like chapstick.  Part of me missed the conventional twirl out of a more traditional lipstick.  However, when Lil’ Diva got her hands on the tube and I was able to “save” the tube by compacting all the lipstick back together again, I was VERY grateful!

.4 Points for Packaging Sustainability – Vapour uses wind power for all of their manufacturing.  Packaging is either recyclable or made from recycled materials.  We’d love to see all packaging made from post consumer materials, but they’ve made some great choices and hopefully will strive toward that goal.

Overall:

Vapour delivers a high quality organic lipstick using food grade ingredients.  This is fantastic because we wear it on our lips which means we’ll likely be ingesting a little of it!

Siren lipstick is available in 5 colors, desire, hint, knockout, ravish and tempt and retails for $19.

Ready to try Vapor for yourself… find it on www.ShopNBC.com and www.VapourBeauty.com.

Diva Review: Vapour Organic Siren Lipstick

Diva Review ~ Brighter Tomorrow by Organicare

By Tania Reuben

Microderma Oxygenation Treatment by Organicare

With a Diva Total of 14.4 out of 15 points this product is: Divaliscious

Organicare is a line of Certified Organic Skin Care designed for the individual who wants luxe organic skin care with without sacrificing performance.

For this review I used the Brighter Tomorrow 4 times in a week, then I stopped. After four days without using Brighter Tomorrow my skin  started to feel rougher and the texture was not as nice.  So I definitely did notice a difference.

Using this product is a two step process.

First you apply the mask and massage gently for one minute.

Next you add about 1 teaspoon of the activator and massage for another minute.  You’ll start to feel it warm and tingle.  Note – I don’t recommend using this treatment in the shower – both of the times I tried it in the shower resulted in a mad dash for a dry towel to clear my eyes. The extra moisture from the shower was the source of my troubles.  With practice I’m sure I’d master it, but I’m going to save this treatment for my sink.

Click here for review criteria:

8 Points for Skin Deep Low Hazard Rating.
2 Points for being Organic – Certified USDA.

2 Points for effectiveness – My skin felt very smooth and tingly after this treatment. A little like I’d just come home from a facial!

.7 Point for Texture – The mask is exfoliating, the grain was fine and smooth.  I could feel the mask heating as I massaged it into my skin.  The activator is very thin, almost watery in texture.  When using it I suggest, opening the tube facing up to aid in controlling how much liquid comes out.

.8 Point for Fragrance – Brighter tomorrow is scented with notes of citrus, which I loved. The Aloe Activator is fragrance free.  The scent left on my skin after the treatment was fresh and clean, but interestingly,  not the citrus – which I would have loved more.

.5 Points for Packaging Appearance – The packaging is luxe and very nice. The Mask is in a Glass Jar and the Activator is in a plastic tube. They are sold in an all black  box that contains both items.  Style wise I loved the sleek look of the box – inside the box was a chic black and white stripe.

.4 Points for Packaging Sustainability – The packaging is gorgeous. With 3 components, box, tube and glass jar – it’s a lot of pieces. It would be nice to have less packaging. However, all packaging is produced in a carbon neutral facility and the paper products are made with FSC certified paper products.

Overall:

I enjoyed using Brighter Tomorrow Microderma Oxygination Treatment and will continue to use it because of how great my skin texture was after use.

This is a product for the person who loves to treat themselves to the best of the best – all while demanding a safe product with a corporate conscious.

Brighter Tomorrow retails for $125.

The Winners are Janet, Lisa & Jessica! Congratulations!

Organicare has agreed to give 3 lucky readers a Fresh Fix Hydrating Spray – a $30 Value!

HOW TO ENTER:

There are a few ways you can enter, leave separate comments for each entry.

Mandatory:

Become a Verified Email Subscriber to PND.
CLICK HERE.
- After subscribing you will receive an email – check your junk mail – you must verify your subscription using this email to win!
- Already a confirmed Subscriber. Leave a comment letting me know you’re subscriber and completed any one of the additional entries options.

Additional Entries

1. Go to www.icareorganics.com – tell PND about your favorite Organicare product or their corporate vision.

2. Stumble this post. Leave a comment with your name and the link to the stumble.

3. Follow @purenaturaldiva on twitter (use link on the sidebar). Leave your twittername in a separate comment.

4. Become a Fan of Pure Natural Diva on Facebook and post this giveaway as an update, leave your FB Name or Name with a copy of your update in a separate comment. One entry for each.

5. Tweet this giveaway. Copy and paste “@PureNaturalDiva – Organicare Review and Giveaway Fresh Fix, Hydrating Mist, 3 winners $30 Value http://bit.ly/yw3Jp “. Then come back and leave the direct link to your tweet (go to your twitter account, click on the words when your tweet was sent (ie. 5 seconds ago) and copy and paste that link in comments.

6. Write a post on your blog linking to my blog and to the Organicare website – Good for two entries. Leave this comment twice so you get both entries!

This giveaway will run through midnight on Sept 23, 2009 PDT, with winner being announced the morning of Sept 25, 2009. Winner will be chosen using Random.org from all valid entries and notified via email. Winner will have 48 hours to contact me before another winner is chosen.

Giveaway is open to residents of the U.S.

Winners -  Missy, Lisa D and Janett have been notified and have 24 hours to claim their prize!

Diva Review ~ Brighter Tomorrow by Organicare

Use Care Choosing Beauty Products

The purchasing decisions we make on a daily basis may impact more than just the environment.

The food we put in our body, the air we breath and the personal care products we use may impact our quality of life. According to the EWG, Americans have the highest rate of cancer in the world.

Consumers rely on government agencies to protect them, the evidence suggests this may not be wise. Personal Care products contain an average 126 individual ingredients and my belief is that we don’t know if they are safe. The US has approximately 82,000 registered chemicals & 10,500 are used in cosmetics. Of these 10,500 chemicals less than 10% have been evaluated for safety by the CIR, the FDA or any other publicly accountable institution.

Read the rest of the article at The Climate Community…

Use Care Choosing Beauty Products

Diva Review: Everyday Minerals

By Tania Reuben

Everyday Minerals offers a full line of Mineral Make Up. Their products are handmade in small batches to ensure product freshness. Stored correctly they should be safe for use for up to 2 years.

With a Diva Total of 13 points Everyday Minerals are: Divaliscious!

Click here for review criteria:

8 Points for Skin Deep Moderate Hazard Rating
0 Points for being Organic

2 Points for effectiveness:
I was easily able to achieve the looks I was going for with Everyday Minerals. For this review I used Everyday Minerals daily in lieu of my day to day make up. I had two functions to attend and I used Everyday Minerals for both. At a wedding I was told my skin was glowing!

1 Point for Texture:
Everyday Minerals Make Up was smooth, easy to apply and blended well. It felt light on my skin. I was also able to achieve a more dramatic look for evenings out.

1 Point for Fragrance:
I didn’t notice any smell or fragrance while using Everyday Minerals.

.5 Points for Packaging Appearance:
Everyday Minerals has simple, elegant packaging. Individual items are not re-packaged in a box. The containers themselves have inserts to limit the “flow” of your make up – making application easier. A few of the small sized containers I received had a clear film over the insert (to prevent the product from leaking) that was challenging to remove. I noticed that other similarly packaged products had a convenient pull tab. My guess is the “tab” is the new and improved film. If you happen run into the tab free film – you’ll want tweezers to remove the film.

.5 Points for Packaging Sustainability
The plastic used is recyclable. Everyday Minerals suggests saving the sample containers to use on the go touch ups.

OVERALL
Watch a full make up application using Everyday Minerals – Check this out:

I was nervous about trying a “full” Mineral make up regime. Worried I would have powder flying everywhere and it would take me forever to do get my make up done. As a mom of two toddlers, spending more time on make up is not an option! My mineral applications are quick and easy. Tip – I keep a piece of paper for blotting my colors, almost like an artist’s palette.

One appeal of Mineral make up is they often have better safety scores. Everyday Minerals scores top points here, nothing in their line scores higher that a 3 in the CD – for me that means I can shop with confidence and just have fun.

You can’t beat the value of Everyday Minerals. Their prices ranging from $2.50 to $12 for a full size foundation. They also over fantastic promotions with their Perks Program – order 5-11 products and get 25% off – order 12 or more products at 45% off!

Everyday Minerals makes it easy for you to find the right colors for your skin. They walk you through the basics of selecting the best shades and will even send you color samples for free (you pay shipping). Once you have the product – they walk you through the application.

While I was able to use my own Make Up brushes, they do offer a full line of Bamboo Vegan Brushes. If you use your own brushes be sure to clean them when your new make up arrives so you don’t cross contaminate.

Colors Used in the Video Application:
Golden Fair Foundation
Fresh Hydrating Concealer
Wild Flowers – Eye Shadow (as brow liner)
Everyday Resort – Eye Pallatte (as eyeliner and crease)
Apple – Blush (as blush and lip color on top of lip balm)

I also loved:
Champagne Lucent Powder – It has a gorgeous shimmer and I didn’t feel guilty dusting it on my daughter when she asked for some.
Dark Brown – Brow Color (as eyeliner) – created a nice dark liner for a more dramatic look.
Rare Silk – Eye Shadow – created a nice shimmer on for the eyes.

Ready to try Everyday Minerals for yourself – Everyday Minerals has agreed to give four lucky readers their latest colors for fall, the Shady Stroll Eyeshadow Palette.

HOW TO ENTER:

There are a few ways you can enter, leave separate comments for each entry.

Mandatory:

Become a Confirmed Email Subscriber to PND.
CLICK HERE.
– After subscribing you will receive an email – check your junk mail – you must verify your subscription in this email to win!
– Already a confirmed Subscriber. Leave a comment letting me know you’re subscriber and would like to enter.

Additional Entries

1. Go to www.everydayminerals.com – tell PND which foundation sampler you’d try if you were matching your skin.

2. Stumble this post. Leave a comment with your name and the link to the stumble.

3. Follow @purenaturaldiva on twitter (use link on the sidebar). Leave your twittername in a separate comment.

4. Become a Fan of Pure Natural Diva on Facebook, already a fan – post this giveaway as an update, leave your FB Name or Name with a copy of your update in a separate comment.

5. Tweet this giveaway. Copy and paste “@PureNaturalDiva – Everyday Minerals Review – Win one of 4 Shady Stroll Fall colors – http://bit.ly/tc1Tu “. Then come back and leave the direct link to your tweet (go to your twitter account, click on the words when your tweet was sent (ie. 5 seconds ago) and copy and paste that link in comments.

6. Write a post on your blog linking to PND and to Everyday Minerals website – Good for two entries. Leave this comment twice so you get both entries!

This giveaway will run through midnight on Sept 16, 2009 PDT, with winner being announced the morning of Sept 18, 2009. Winner will be chosen using Random.org from all valid entries and notified via email. Winner will have 48 hours to contact me before another winner is chosen.

Giveaway is open to residents of the U.S. and Canada.

WINNERS HAVE BEEN CONTACTED: #1 # 27 #32 & #3

Diva Review: Everyday Minerals

Hairdryers – Do You Love Yours?

By Tania Reuben

I love, love, love my Hair Dryer!

Did you know that they release 57 lbs of Carbon Dioxide per year, just under the 59 lbs that our dishwashers release! I was surprised that either they were so bad or our dishwashers have gotten so good!

I have long hair and I used to hate blow drying it, it would take forever, and my arms would get tired holding the brush, spin, pull… I’m tired just thinking about it.

One day I was complimenting my girlfriend Samantha on how great her hair looked. And asking how it looked so great with a newborn baby on her lap, she started to rave about the hair dryer she got for Christmas.

I had to try it. That was over a year ago and I still love this hair dryer. It’s the Conair Infiniti Hair Dryer.

I wash my hair the night before I’m going to give myself a blow out. Pin my hair on top of my head. In the morning I have damp hair. It takes me 6-8 minutes to blow it out.

One of the best things about this dryer is that when you use it you don’t need to use a brush, you style your hair using the dryer and your hands. I usually comb it out before I clip it up, that’s all. I section my hair using a giant clip, then work one piece at a time, pulling the comb’s of the dryer through the section of my hair.

I sometimes use a little serum once it’s dry, nothing else goes in my hair. When I’m done, it looks almost as good as when my stylist does my hair. Seriously.

The blow out also last me 4-6 days depending on what I’m up to. Everyone’s hair is different, so I don’t know how it will work for you, but did I mention… I love my hair dryer!

Less time with the hairdryer – means less emissions and great hair without a lot of product even better!

I wish Conair was paying me to write this, if someone’s in touch with them,let them know.

Hairdryers – Do You Love Yours?

Diva Guide: Safer Lipstick Options – Lipsick Love

By Tania Reuben

With the Canadian government banning two common lipstick ingredients and questions surrounding lead and it’s use in lipsticks.

A guide to the safe selection of lipstick is in order.

The suggested choices have a maximum hazard rating of 4 in the EWG Cosmetics Database – 4 is on the low end of a moderate hazard rating(4-6). There were so many choices that rated 4 and under, it didn’t seem necessary to add hazards. Also, given that lipsticks are worn on our mouth – better safe than sorry.

Diva Top Picks:
NVEY Eco Organic Lip Lustre
Burt’s Bees Lipstick
Organic Wear Lip Veil & Organic Wear Lip Gloss

Other Options:
MAC Matte Lipstick, Glaze Lipstick, Satin Lipstick, Cream Lipstick and Frosted Lipstick
DuWop Shades of Venomn & Anti-Venom Satin
Bare Escentuals Lipsticks

Value Selection;
Covergirl Continous Color Cream & Covergirl Outlast All Day Lipcolor

Shop carefully – many of these companies have a number of lipstick offerings – pick another Covergirl Lipstick and you may be selecting a 7 or 8 on the EWG hazard rating.

To Look up your lipstick, see how it rates with EWG – click here.

Diva Guide: Safer Lipstick Options – Lipsick Love

Diva Review – More Moisture Raspberry & Brazil Nut Shampoo by Burt’s Bees

With a Diva Total of 10 this product is : Diva Worthy

Click here for review criteria:

6 Points for Skin Deep Moderate Hazard Rating
0 Points for being Organic

1.8 Point for effectiveness – I liked it, although when my hair is really dirty it needed to be rewashed. My husband didn’t feel like it cleaned his hair well enough.

.4 Point for Texture – The consistency was a little thin. It is fairly low sudsing, especially for my first wash with my hair. Although sudsing has nothing to do with clean hair.

1 Point for Fragrance – Best part of this product is the yummy fruit smell. You want to eat it.

.8 Points for Packaging Appearance & Sustainability – Simple package design – a little old fashioned – that’s the entire brand image.

Plan to purchase this product – consider supporting our site through Diva’s Amazon Affiliate. Thank You!

Diva Review – More Moisture Raspberry & Brazil Nut Shampoo by Burt’s Bees

Diva Review – Vitamin C Hydrating Cleansing Milk by Avalon Organics

Vitamin C Hydrating Cleansing milk by Avalon Organics

With a Diva Total of 12.7 points this product is: Diva Worthy

Click here for review criteria:

6 Points for Skin Deep Moderate Hazard Rating
2 Points for being Organic

2 Points for effectiveness – my face feels clean but not stripped dry after using this cleanser

1 Point for Texture – I liked the texture and consistency of this cleanser. Nice and creamy without feeling heavy or gunky.

1 Point for Fragrance – I love the fresh citrus smell of this product – it just might be my favorite part!

.3 Points for Packaging Appearance – I just like a cleaner simpler look and the orange is a bit bright. I keep mine behind doors so not a big deal in my home.

.4 Points for Packaging Sustainability – it’s in a plastic bottle with a pump – but thankfully it isn’t package in an additional box.

Plan to purchase this product – consider supporting our site through Diva’s Amazon Affiliate. Thank You!

Diva Review – Vitamin C Hydrating Cleansing Milk by Avalon Organics

MyChelle Skin Care Products on Sale – Expired

From now through June 30th enjoy a 15% discount on MyChelle Products.
I haven’t reviewed their products yet – but I’ve tried them and like them. Might be time to restock.

http://www.mychelle.com/index.aspx

MyChelle Skin Care Products on Sale – Expired

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