Lush Henna

I received so many awesome gifts from my familia on Christmas. One of my gifts were all these products from Lush. They knew how much I’ve been wanting to buy lush products. Everytime I go shopping with one of my sisters, we end up at the lush store smelling and trying all these products until we get so overwhelmed that we end up buying nothing. This time my sister said let’s just go into lush and buy you your Christmas gift. The best part, was that, I had made a wishlist with all the products I have been wanting to try. We went in, gave them my list, they showed us the products, and finally we made the selection. It wasn’t that hard after all.
From the things I picked, I have tried a couple so far. This post will be about their Henna, the Caca Noir.

As a middle eastern, henna is one of the widely known product we use for various things and occasions. It is used in weddings celebrations, for drawing on hands, tattoos, and for dying hair. Henna is a plant, it is natural, and it has so many benefits for hair and skin. Personally, I have never used it before.
I like to color my hair black once in a while; however, I haven’t done so in a while because I am trying to avoid all those products with the harsh chemicals. Therefore, I thought I would give this henna from lush a try since it is beneficial for the hair and claims to deposit color to your hair.
I followed the instructions and applied it to my hair last night. As directed, I kept it warm through out the process when applying to my hair and left it on for a couple hours. It definitely felt super nice when applied warm to your scalp. It refreshened and conditioned my scalp. Now, it didn’t deposit any color to my hair even though I chose the black color; however, It is definitely a nice hair treatment because it left my super silky and shiny.

I would use it again because they suggest giving the hair another application to get better color results, but I would do so just to get the silky shiny hair. It is worth it.

Next I want to try the Indian/middle Eastern henna and find out if there are any differences. I will give an update once I do so.
Now I am going to give my other lush products a try.

Happy Suday!
Arki

That’s how it looked after a couple hours ^

Glossy Box November

OMG! The November Glossy Box is awesome. It has a great selection of products and a few of them are full size. The value for what I received is at least worth $70, how amazing is that when I only paid $20 dollars for it? Oh I love me some bargains.

Epionce restorative hand cream – full size
Illamasqua LTD lip & eye pencil- full size
Nume Style arganics Argan oil
Perfumies solid perfume stick- full size
Skin&CO Roma truffle serum

And not to mentions I also received two gift cards to Nume website for a $100 and a gift card to Skin&CO for a face set sampler!

Stay fabulous,
Arki

Easy Organic?

So over the weekend, I got a delivery package from Arganica. It is the mid-Atlantic’s premier locally sourced food club. It grants you access to a variety of local farm-fresh and organic foods. However, it doesn’t stop there, they deliver it to your footstep every week on a day you specify!

 

It is a great service, especially for those with tight schedules and who like to have organic food in their household, yet do not have the time to shop for it.

I stumbled upon Arganica on Living Social. They had a deal for One-Month Membership, One Mixed Organic & Local Produce Crate, One $25 Gift Certificate, One Issue of Flavor Magazine and all for $45. It sounded appealing and decided to try it out.

 

When buying a crate, you have two options: All Local or Mixed crate. The difference between the two is the source of the produce. I went with the Mixed crate as it was ten dollars cheaper.

The crate was delivered Sunday morning at 9:45am. The produce looked so fresh and beautiful! Some of the items I received were apples, pears, strawberries, onions, green onions, broccoli, Kale (I think), tomatoes, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. I also received the Flavor magazine.

 

I am not so much of an organic buyer; however, I am working on becoming one. Therefore, I cannot really judge the price, but to me it seems very reasonable as it was delivered to my house, I received great quality produce, and not to mention it is all organic!

 

I will be using the $25 gift certificate soon for my next crate.

I definitely recommend checking their website to see if they deliver in your area. I think you should give it a try, especially if you are a busy person.

 

 

Stay healthy and beautiful!

Arki

 

 

 

Organic Face!

I am so excited to try this natural organic line Nardo’s Natural. Four brothers are behind this company and I’ve heard great things about their products.

I will post a review on these products once I get to use them. However, I just tried their lip balm and Oh EM Gee it is so moisturizing. It feels like butter on your lips! I am in love already.

One more step closer to being an IOC.

Arki

Becoming an IOC?

The more I browse and read online about health, the more I realize we are surrounded by hazardous ingredients. Ingredients in the food we consume, the soap we use to cleanse our skin, and in my case, the makeup I use. I have never been oblivious about those ingredients, but I have been always lazy to do my own research and find out more information about his sensitive topic. However, I need to make this change. I need to increase my knowledge and educate myself. If I want to be healthy, then all aspects of my life style have to change. However, this is not going to happen overnight!

I will take you with me in this journey. My goal is to educate myself about a certain harmful ingredient every week. I want to know what it is, how it is used, what’s its consequences, where and in what is it used, and which products do not contain it.

This week, even though we are in the middle of the week already, I stumbled upon the chemical SLS – Sodium Laurel Sulfate. It is a chemical used in many products. To mention a few, it is used in car washes, food, children body washes, soap, cleansers, facial treatments, and tooth paste. Basically, it is an inexpensive effective foamer. It is used to produce that foam we see when we wash our faces and scrub our bodies.

If you feel that washing your face is making your skin dry, or that shampooing is giving you an itchy scalp or making your eyes sting, or that cleaning your teeth is giving you mouth ulcers, stop and check out the label. SLS is responsible for irritating the skin. One other effect of SLS is improper eye development in children as it affect protein structures in their eyes and keeps them from developing properly!

These are some serious issues associated with that ingredient. I have visited and read a few articles and some argue against all these allegations. Their argument is that SLS is in contact with the skin for a few seconds and then it is rinsed. If it got inside the eyes, it should be rinsed thoroughly. They argue that those few seconds of contact wont hurt. But the question I ask, is the foam worth it? Is it worth the risk of consuming products that contain SLS? My answer is no, not in my household.

I will be going home tonight to check the labels around my house. Now, it wont be economically friendly to my wallet to throw all those products I find; however, I will be paying extra caution while using them, and once they are empty, they will not be purchased ever again!

On my way to becoming and IOC– informed Organic Consumer.

Arki

TJ’s Haul & Favorites

So if you don’t know yet, I am a fan of Trader Joe’s! I love to do most of my grocery shopping at that store because the quality is great, they have a variety of food and organic options, and the prices are great compared to other organic stores (i.e. Whole Foods).

I will share with you my favorites as well as the new finds. Every time I go there, I buy a few items that have made it to my staples list, and %70 of the purchase would be new items to try. Shopping at TJs is like a treasure hunt. Some things you might find again, and other things, unfortunately, disappear!

I love using Coconut Oil in cooking. It adds a slight sweet flavor and is great for stir fries. Plus, coconut oil has so many uses to it other than cooking. It can be used for the hair and skin. It is a great product! I will do a separate post on it.

Their Sesame Oil is amazing. I love the flavor it adds to the food you’re cooking. All you need is a tiny drop to achieve a great flavor.

The  Chile Lime chicken patties are so flavorful and delicious. You can either pan fry them or grill them. They are such a great source of protein with low carbs and low fat. It is a great choice, if you are watching what you are eating. Grill a patty, brush some mustard on a whole wheat/multi grain Arnold Sandwich Thins, add some lettuce and maybe a couple slices of avocados, and enjoy the healthy deliciousness! The Chicken Quesadillas is another delicious choice. It only takes a few minutes to be ready. It is great for those of us who are busy and rarely have time to prepare dinner from scratch.

TJ’s frozen section is a treasure to me. I lease to work at 6a.m. and usually do not get home till 6p.m. If I were to go to the gym that day, I wont be home till 8p.m. So, when can I ever cook or prepare dinner from scratch? NEVER. That’s when TJ’s come in place and help me out. TJs has a great selection of healthy options that fit easily in my busy and rushed life style. That’s why I am obsessed with it.

Here are more of our favorites. The vegetable Bird’s Nests are basically vegetable tempura. They are not the healthiest choice, but having one at lunch certainly doesn’t hurt as they are super delicious. The Lemon Grass Chicken are great as a snack with a home made mustard and Sriracha sauce. The Channa Masala chickpeas are so flavorful and make a great side dish with grilled chicken and rice. One other favorite is the Potatoe Pancakes. They make a great side on your breakfast plate, served with a fat free spoon of sour cream. Deliciousness.

More of our favorites are these:

The Sea Salt & Lemon Ppper grinders. TJ’s has a wide range of these grinders and each is less than $2. The Low Calorie Lemonade was one of my first items I ever bought at TJ’s and it’s been a favorite ever since. We love it as it is a bit sour and very refreshing! The Saffron is a great spice to have and add to your chicken marinade. And finally that Rustic Pan Bello bread is magnificent. Super tender, yet with a crunchy crust. It is one of our new favorites.

Both the Mixed Berry and Mango Passion Granola Cereals are the hubby’s favorites. They are so crunchy and the fruits actually taste like fruit. Great source of fiber!

I fixed dinner last night using the Marinated Chicken Breast and the Kimchi rice. Oh don’t they sound so wonderful together or what? We loved them! The Rice is on the spicy side, but so flavorful. Oh boy, and the chicken came out so juicy and tender. Here you go, more things are getting added to our favorites. Keep in mind that they were both very low in fat! TJ’s is such a treasure box.

The next three pictures are new items that we haven’t tried yet. However, I am pretty sure they will end up to be part of our favorites.

I hope you enjoyed this post, and I hope I inspired you to go do your own treasure hunt at Trader Joe’s!

Arki