organic? not quite!

some german beauty companies have come out with products that are hybrids between organic and irritant free.

what does that mean? 
they are not 100% organic and thus not as expensive as products that are because those need to be certified. these products are about 95 to 99% organic and irritant free: no silicones, parabenes, PEGs, mineral oils or other "bad" additives.

what's in it for me?
personally i don't HAVE to have a certified product that is 100% organic. my skincare being irritant free is far more important to me so now i get the best of both for a relatively low price.

what are they?
here are two examples for this sort of product...
#1 a very well known german cosmetics brand NIVEA

the good thing about this line is that it contains a lot of different products for face and body and is easily accessible at drugstores and supermarkets. the bad thing is that even though they are not 100% organic they sure are almost the same price as (drugstore own brand) certified organic products .

#2 a drugstore own brand BALEA

the good thing about this is that the products are considerably cheaper than the nivea ones, they are however only available at dm drugstores and there are only the three products available that are pictured above.

french skin care

my bf and i are going to paris in summer. and while german pharmacists DO stock loads of french skin care, it's still very expensive over here, so i thought i would splurge at a french pharmacy instead ;) after having watched countless youtube videos and read numerous blogs about french skin care, i would like to let you know what i have decided on getting. it's mostly organic and if it isn't i made sure the products have no irritants in them. i have also decided to get products for every category of my skin care regime, so here goes:

1. eye make-up remover: bioderma créaline H20
2. cleanser: caudalie cleansing solution
3. toner: caudalie eau de beauté
4. moisturizers/serums: embryolisse lait-crème concentré, la roche posay hydreane légère, caudalie vinosource mattifying moisturizer, caudalie vinosource serum SOS
5. lips: nuxe rêve de miel lipbalm, caudalie chapstick
6. body: caudalie zeste de vigne line (bodywash, lotion, scrub, perfume,...)

any thoughts on that? anyone? did you notice how many caudalie products there are in this list? ;)

also i'm still looking for tips concerning hair care products i might want to try. i have very fine hair that tends to have NO volume at all- also i have a sensitive scalp.

organic hair and skin care on a budget

that actually works for ME!

hair:
shampoo and conditioner - yes to tomatoes
(alternatively the eco awesome range by tigi)
deep treatment - the body shop rainforest moisture

unfortunately the treatment that goes with the yes to tomatoes products (yes to carrots leave-in conditioner) contains irritants :/ and the shampoo is sometimes kind of hard to come by (like right now!) which is why i have an alternative option to switch to.

face:
alverde by dm
alterra by rossmann
nonique by schlecker/ihr platz

body:
alverde by dm
alterra by rossmann
nonique/naturé by schlecker/ihr platz

i like to switch things up in my face care routine depending on whether it's summer or winter and in my body care routine, because i like a new scent once in a while. but the brands in general offer affordable organic cosmetics and there's a very wide range of products to choose from! IF you live in germany or the bordering countries that is, because the brands mentioned above are local drugstores' own brands :/ (anyone interested in a product swap, please message me!)

i might throw in the occasional product by lush or the body shop, but i usually stick to my staples AND save some money at the same time ;)

all time favourites

as soon as i'm done using up all the stuff i bought to try out, i am going straight to this regime of hair, body and face care:

HAIR
shampoo: yes to tomatoes
conditioner: yes to tomatoes
detangler: frizz ease spray
treatment: frizz ease tub
deep cleansing shampoo: lush big

BODY
shower gel: creme 21 jasmine or lush snowcake bar
body lotion: creme 21 (biotherm for special occasions)
scrub: lush buffy bar
deodorant: hidro fugal (nivea pure & natural jasmine to touch up)
hand cream: soap & glory hand food

FACE
day cream: my skin purple
night cream: my skin green
eye cream: alverde augentrost
cleanser: my skin green
tonic: my skin purple
wipes: my skin pink
scrub: soap & glory scrub your nose in it
mask: my skin sheet mask

not all of this is organic, but it's what gives me the best results plus has a good scent ;)

back to basics!

in terms of skin care. funnily enough i figured out that cheap brands work best for me. expensive moisturizers tend to break me out and organic ones make my skin go itchy. so, here's what i've been using recently:

masks and exfoliator

left to right: cleansing mask when i get spots, scrub/mask by soap&glory to use once a week, moisturizing mask when my skin feels dry

cleansing

cleanser and make up removal wipes

toning (and some extra boost in winter)

toner and a vitamin serum for the colder months

moisturizing

left to right: daytime moisturizer, nighttime moisturizer, eye cream

face care and glossy box september

okay, i've given up on the AOK stuff altogether- be it organic or not, i'm not happy with the results i'm getting. i'm back to some very basic cleansing products:

in terms of moisturizers i'm using a basic one for night time and a sample of a very pricey one  (klapp extreme) from my latest glossy box:

i really like the weleda hand cream, but i'm not going to repurchase it as i have other (cheaper) options that work just as well.

i quite like the moisturizer, too. i am, however, not willing to pay about €50 for a jar of the stuff.

haven't tried the nail polish yet, so no review on that.

the shampoo was okay- organic and all that- but i needed a lot of conditioner afterwards to get some moisture into my hair.

loved the burt's bees lotion, but there are other options for that as well.

AOK bio expert

been trying out this range of organic face care products: AOK Bio Expert

will post a full review later, just a few things for starters:
+ 99% organic
+ doesn't contain any irritants
- don't like the scent
- the cleansing gel is SO hard to get off your skin
- the moisturizers (i got all three of them) are far too rich for me and make my skin very shiny
- generally not impressed with what it does for my skin

BUT i've only been using the stuff for a few weeks, will give it another try and get back to you about it!

eye opener!

over the summer vacations my bf and i did quite a bit of experimenting concerning shampoos and conditioners for thin hair that needs volume (*YAY* for having the same type of hair as your bf). we have come up with the following (it's different products for him and me simply because our tastes in scents vary):
i'm going to be using the YES to TOMATOES shampoo and conditioner and he's going to be using the ECO AWESOME shampoo and conditioner from tigis love, peace & the planet line (please excuse the whacky link for the later as the tigi site seems to be down). that is after we've used up all the left over samples and half emptied bottles that have accumulated X)

i have decided on something else as well. i am giving up on going all organic for good. i don't seem to be able to find purely organic products that work for my skin (face or body). i will be using what works best for me and what i like the scent of (i'm very much a scent oriented person). in terms of haircare my shampoo and conditioner will be free of silicone as i've noticed that too much of that weighs my thin hair down even more. other than that i just don't care anymore what's in my cosmetics. most of my favorites are organic, though. i'm still on the lookout for a good daytime moisturizer that works for my combination skin. it should not leave my skin all shiny or too dry...

as soon as my list of favorite products is complete in all departments (hair, face, body) i will post an update here ;)

i noticed something else as well. i used to be a huge fan of THE BODY SHOP as a teenager simply because there was nothing comparable about. then i switched to YVES ROCHER as their stuff became more readily available (in shops instead of just via catalogues) and then went into a right LUSH frenzy (i have more bars of soap than i'm every gonna use up in my life!) and now... i went all the way back to THE BODY SHOP. i think it's gonna be for good this time- not that i don't shop at the other places occasionally ;)

reviews for you

i've been testing out a few things- mostly organic and irritant free. i'm liking these combos:

yes to tomatoes shampoo and conditioner, swiss haircare volumizing mask

i got the yes to tomatoes stuff in a miniatures set. it was for my hair and skin type and i really like the effect it has. however none of the products smell nice :/ the swiss haircare mask i got in my july glossybox. i like it, but i have yet to check whether it's up to my demands in terms of being irritant free.

yes to tomatoes face mask and daily moisturizer, kiehl's acai berry tonic spray, the body shop carrot moisturizer

the two yes to tomatoes things complete the set i got. the kiehl's spray was in my july glossybox and the body shop carrot moisturizer has been my favorite for a while. unfortunately in contains silicone oil and i will have to find something else to use for night time :/

i have also tried the vitalumière aqua foundation by chanel and i LOVE how it feels on my skin. i wouldn't buy it, though, as i don't really use foundation anymore. here's a link:  CHANEL VITALUMIÈRE AQUA

and then i had a few trial sized packs of a multi-purpose cream by neutrogena that i really liked. it's my mum's bday on the 17th and i'm considering to buy her one of these: NEUTROGENA

mini haul...

i finally found it! a drugstore face care line that doesn't have any irritants or otherwise unhealthy stuff in it:

it's new, so i had vouchers for everything :) i'm gonna do a review, but first i want to use up all the other stuff i have. and in order to do so, i needed to buy a few essentials as i want to start trying all products of the new line at one time.

and i finally found the retro apple blossom shampoo i had been looking out for. i'm going to run the ingredients list through codecheck- i wonder what's gonna turn up X) i also bought a gorgeous nail polish and some concealer. with my new glasses it's vital to get rid of my under eye circles as they would show big time.

skin care products

i tried two lines of skin care for combination skin. i only had trial sized versions of the products.

florena: i like that it's free of all the stuff i'm trying to avoid, but according to codecheck it isn't entirely irritant free :/ the website is looking for people willing to test the entire range- i might go apply for that.

clinique: it's very harsh despite the fact that it was supposed to be for my type of skin. it smelled funny and left my skin very, very shiny. the products aren't irritant free or easily affordable. that's a miss for me!

need help!

as i already mentioned in an earlier entry i am trying yet again to make my entire routine sulfate, silicone and parabene free. it's not as easy as you would think. i'm gonna tell you now what i got so far and which products i still need replacements for:


hair:

shampoo - garnier natural beauty granatapfel & bierhefe, yes to tomatoes, the body shop rainforest

conditioner - alterra feuchtigkeitsspülung granatapfel, yves rocher himbeeressig, the body shop rainforest

deep cleansing shampoo - lush big

deep conditioner - alterra granatapfel, the body shop rainforest

leave in conditioner (detangler) - schauma seiden-kamm, the body shop grapeseed glossing serum

i am also gonna try to go back to only washing my hair every other day!


face:

make up removal wipes - balea young pink, my skin pink or blue

tonic - balea young green, florena mattifying

cleanser - balea young pink, nonique (all available lines)

mask - montagne jeunesse sheet masks (all types)

eye cream - alverde augentrost, nonique

what i'm still searching for are day and night creams. i'd prefer a light, moisturizing cream for daytime and a more nourishing cream for nighttime. most day creams i've used were mattifying and all of them contain bad ingredients (mostly silica). i might go try the nonique moisturizers for daytime. i'm currently using my trusty carrot moisturizer from the body shop at night, but it contains silicone oil (which is less harmful than proper silicone, but still...). has anyone tried the yes to tomatoes facial hydrating lotion?!
also i'm still looking for a face scrub- or maybe i'm just gonna switch to using one of those little brushes?!


body:

hand cream - alverde vitamin, alterra granatapfel

body wash - creme 21 jasmine & vanilla, the body shop earth lovers, alterra (all scents), balea young turteltäubchen/raubkatze

body lotion/butter - yves rocher mandelmilch, alverde macadamia, florena körperbutter

deodorant: hidro fugal doppel effekt roll-on

here i'm looking for more options in terms of body wash and lotion. i'm also still on the look out for a decent scrub and shaving gel :/

silicone, sulfate and parabene free everything?!

is that even possible? i'm doing my best to have a go and try! unfortunately german (or european?!) brands are far behind american ones on making their products healthier.

i discovered this brand that has all natural products: NONIQUE which in germany is exclusive to schlecker drugstores.

and then there's THIS

the scent of my childhood :) i only wish there was some info on the ingredients :/

lavender sheet mask

this morning i tried another sheet mask and i loved it. it did not irritate my skin and it left me feeling refreshed. it smelled of herbs, especially lander, so if you are not a fan of that smell- this might not be for you ;) and for the first time the cut outs actually matched my face *yay*

new stuff...

so here's the beauty haul that i promised (sorry about the quality of the pictures).

i had some vouchers from local drugstores so i went and bought a few things:

repurchases first (things that i'm very happy with and that i will be repurchasing for a while at least).

a new limited edition shower gel that smells lovely and goes great with the fruity body butter that i bought the other day *yum yum*

then i went to the body shop as they had a 3 for 2 offer going on their new organic shower gels:

here's all that i got in full...

and in detail:

frank and i went and had a sniff the other day so i came prepared and knew which ones to get.

i LOVE LOVE LOVE the scent of this!!!

yesterday i got my order from avon in. i hadn't gotten anything from there for ages, but now that i had the opportunity...

this is everything- rarely any make-up, though ;)

a lovely dark plum lipstick that's vanilla scented and heart shaped. what more can you ask for? ;)

a long necklace that allows you to fiddle in trollbeads or pandora or whatever...

a lovely perfume for summer that smells of coconut and tiare flower :)

a pillow mist that frank and i tried last night- we loved it :D

last but not least i went and got some goodies from the old catrice range- everything was on sale, so...

the powder is another repurchase/back-up.

a lovely pinky coral lipstick.

and a pink one with sparkles *little girly girl squeee*

new beauty products

it's a new month and i had a 10% off voucher for one of the local drugstores (müller) so i got a few things to try out:

first of all the new skin care line by essence- i'm really looking forward to try this out. i bought everything for a skin care routine- we'll see how that goes...

then i was GONNA get some trial sizes by yes to carrots, but i ended up getting this instead:

as you can see it has a volumizing shampoo and conditioner and that intrigued me. it's from the same company as yes to carrots, so...

then some random stuff that caught my eye:

another sheet mask (my face doesn't seem to accept any other sort of masks and goes beet red- not a nice sight! there are different sheet masks in this range.

i'm running out of body scrub and i thought this had a nice scent to it:

and finally a new product by my favorite eastern german cosmetics brand. i can't wait to try it. the packaging alone is gorgeous:

and then i also went to another drugstore (dm) the other day and got this:

really, really yummy! :P

all organic?! not for me...

okay, so i stand reformed- not all organic cosmetics are actually good for my skin and hair. especially with my skin care routine i'm basically back to using local drugstore brands that aren't organic, because they are the only ones not to cause redness or make me itch like crazy. what really surprised me was that the famed lush "fresh farmacy" cleansing soap was the WORST thing i ever did to my skin :/ also the neutrogena visibly clear line is definitely too harsh for my skin. i have combination to oily skin in summer and combination to sensitive skin in winter btw. in case you're interested, here's what i'm using now:

for removing make up: balea young cleansing wipes (the pink ones)
for cleansing: balea med soap-free cleanser
for toning: balea face alcohol free toner for sensitive skin (the pink bottle)
for moisturizing: balea face moisturizing fluid (in the blue tube) come summer i'm gonna go back to my balea young mattifying moisturizer (the green pot)

as you can see it is ALL balea- all different ranges, but this is what works best for me ;)

and for my hair, well, it DID look horrible just after i'd switched to silicone free shampoo and conditioner, but it's getting better now. i am still using all sorts of products to test which i like best. so far my favorites are the body shop banana shampoo and conditioner plus my beloved lush "big" shampoo once a week. as soon as i'm out of those things (which is gonna be a LONG while yet as i got back ups in january) i'm gonna switch back to balea there, too. they have a professional line of shampoos and conditioners that are silicone free and also a deep cleansing shampoo called "pure fresh".


and if i ever feel like experimenting again, i have both a drugstore and a pricier option set up for my routines:

for skin care there's gonna be a new line called "my skin" by essence which sounds promising and i would also love to try the soap&glory range.

for hair i'm gonna test the balea professional line (plus the deep cleansing shampoo) and the body shop rainforest line.

dry skin in winter...

during this time of year when the weather is constantly switching back and forth between cold and wet i tend to get really dry, sensitive skin on my face. this is why i have basically gone back to my old (and approved) skin care routine:

left to right: lush "fresh farmacy", balea tonic for sensitive skin (no alcohol!), balea young mattifying moisturizer, balea young make up removing face wipes (remove even waterproof eye makeup without irritating my eyes!), alverde eye cream "augentrost" (the only one not to irritate my skin!), alverde face scrub apricot.

i really like the lush soap to cleanse my face with, but as soon as i have used that up, i'm gonna switch to a drugstore product there as well:

it's soap free and for sensitive skin (and only a fraction of the price of that lush soap bar).

i still have some left overs from the neutrogena stuff that i tried. right now i find it too harsh for my skin. maybe i'm gonna try to use those things again in summer when my skin tends to be more oily.

product reviews and some questions

over the past weeks i have tried several new products. here's my verdict:

essence winter edition hand balms: all three of them have a very nice and lingering scent. they do nourish my skin, but the effect doesn't last. if you like to use hand balm more than once a day (like i do) that's not a negative aspect. if you can still get your hands on these hand balms (they are limited edition) i suggest you do so!

guhl deep conditioner mango & honey: i LOVE the scent and the deep conditioner does leave my hair very soft. i very much suspect it does contain silicones, though. i couldn't find info on this new and limited edition product from the company website. it comes in a small pack that contains enough product for about three treatments (i have shoulder length hair). i recommend this product, if you don't forget to get rid of the silicones in your hair at least once a week, using a deep cleansing shampoo (big by lush or the deep cleansing shampoo by balea for example).

balea sheet mask aloe vera: the mask is very moisturizing, but the handling is a little difficult- at least for me (i seem to have a non-standard small face). if you don't want to have to go to asian stores to get sheet masks, this should be your go-to product. yet again, though, no info on this product on the company website yet.

now for the questions:
#1 are there any drugstore products in particular that you would like me to try out?
#2 would you be interested in getting to see my shoe and/or purse collection?
#3 can anyone recommend to me a red (not bright red, rather pinkish or purple) drugstore lipstick?

cheaper alternatives (if you live in germany)

for the sake of my skin's and hair's health i am currently using rather pricey products mostly, but i'm on the look-out for cheaper (drugstore) alternatives. and there are a few good ones:

instead of using lush's big shampoo to deep cleanse your hair (especially if you're otherwise using products that contain silicones) use the balea deep-cleansing shampoo. it has the same effect and it's much cheaper. i wouldn't advise you to use a shampoo or conditioner that contains silicones, but i have to admit that sometimes, if i don't have the time for my proper hair routine, i will use a leave in conditioner that does contain silicones. so i need a deep cleansing shampoo once a week to get rid of the residue.

instead of using lush's face cleansing fresh farmacy soap, try balea soapfree wash lotion. it works just as well and (as it is a drugstore own-brand) it is loads cheaper than any lush product.

instead of using frizz ease daily nourishment leave in conditioner, try one of the herbal essence serums- they have them to prevent split ends, for shiny hair,... (either one contains silicones!)

any other cheaper options? please let me know!

most of my skin care routine i'm already changing back to ALL balea products. i keep trying out new things and then going back to my old favorite. i have combination/oily skin that tends to be sensitive in winter.

i have yet to find a cheaper option for my favorite shampoo/conditioner combos: the body shop banana and burt's bees pomegranate. i am quite satisfied with the yves rocher shampoo i have, but there's (as far as i know) no conditioner available to go with it :/