Weekly Musings #2 – January 2019

Hi Lovelies,

Welcome back! And welcome if you are new here xo

Hello hello hello there, how are all of you? Hope this new year is treating you well?

I’ll be honest, this “musings” post is not about green beauty or products, so if this is what you are looking for, you may exit here, no hard feelings, promise! I started this section of my blog to let you guys into my personal life more, or my head if you will – these types of post will be more about what’s going on in my life or my thoughts, but always with intentions to be helpful – no ramblings here, promise! I am extremely grateful for you, my readers and the time you take out of your busy days to read my posts, so the last thing I want is to waste your valuable time!

Now that the Holidays are well and truly over and I am coming out of my social media break – in all honesty I got burnout. How do other bloggers do that? I found myself working at all hours of day and night, from answering emails and DMs, some people demand to know the best cleanser or whatnot at two am, and if I don’t reply within two seconds, I find five follow up DMs telling me how rude I am ignoring them! Hello, how about I was sleeping? Are we becoming so accustomed with everything available 24/7 that we expect people to be on 24/7 too, forgetting they are actual people? Do we actually understand that this “instant-download” life style is not what life actually is and not how the world works? That’s something I need to work on in this year, setting clear boundaries on blog/ work/ family time.

So what’s going on? First and foremost I decided to take a leap and to fix my health, so I signed up for a course of TCM or Traditional Chinese Medicine course of treatments to try to fix lots of things that are wrong with me. I went in with the intention of fixing my rhinitis (permanent sinusitis) and very soon I got answers to the health questions that were bothering me for a while too – as soon as the doctor felt my pulse she asked do I have problems with my lungs (yes) and do I have problems with the weak and painful joints (yes), do I feel tired all the time (yes) and do I have a compromised immune system(yes)? Turns out the dampness that is in to air gets into your body and wreaks havoc on multiple levels – how did I not figured that out? The doctor also said that I live in the wrong climate, somewhere hot and dry would be perfect for my constitution. Yes, I instinctively knew that, and I keep telling to my husband that I’ll move to Spain for my retirement, you know, once your life’s work of raising good children, planting trees etc will be done – I am adamant my retirement years should and will be spent enjoying myself in my house seaside. I left the practice with lots of questions swirling in my head, how do I make sure I do not get in this state in the future? How to stop that damned dampness getting into my body, what foods do I eat to nourish my lungs, and is that enough? Do I run my dehumidifier at all times? Do I have to save a ton of money for a course of treatments for next fall and winter and try to help myself this way? These and more questions are swirling in my head at the moment, if you have any info to help me out, drop me links, that would be appreciated! The doctor also suggested the same treatments for my younger princess for asthma treatment, but I know she’d jump off the table at a first sight of the needle or cup and I’d never be able to bring her back there ever again – what do I do? Only time will tell  I think?

I am not the one to make New Year resolutions – I think we are always making our aims too high and setting ourselves for a fail, so why do that? Slow and steady is a better way, once you built up a new habit, you can move on onto the next. Doing a big (too big) list of improving yourself on every possible level, like you know, drop X dress sizes, save X amount of money, start driving or speaking another language by X month, be a better wife/ GF/ daughter/ mother/ sister/ friend, do a dry January while completely overhauling your diet to raw/ vegan/ goodness knows what – does that not sound too unrealistic and too taxing? How about we set ONE DREAM and ONE GOAL for ourselves? Wouldn’t that be much more realistic and achievable?

Now for the random bits:

This is one more reason why I won’t let my daughter have “kids” make up sets – I had to trade some of my own make up when she was gifted one of those nasty sets, but it was well worth it for the peace of my mind. See here.

Study shows kids have energy levels greater than endurance athletes – do you need a study to know that??

Chilling new studies on children’s cancers linked to vaccines + autism what are we doing to ourselves and our kids? How the world got so twisted that these new breed of vaccines are forced on us by law when they were never proven safe in the first place? My heart aches over this!

Kudos to France for banning all pesticides linked to killing bees! I sincerely hope all other countries follow the lead!

That’s all for now, see you here very shortly. Sorry for a bit rambly post – in all honesty winter SAD (or winter depression in other words) has me in a tight grip unfortunately. Plus all these doctors visits are a sure way to get even the cheeriest person down, let alone me. It is fair to say I am only muddling through and counting days until the Spring and Summer. I hope you will bear with me xo

 

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Lots of Love,
Renata.

green life in dublin
Green Life In Dublin, green beauty and lifestyle blog
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Living Libations Dew Dab Review /AD

Hello Lovelies,

Welcome back! And if you are new here, welcome xoxo

green life in dublin
Living Libations Dew Dab review

How are all of you, I hope you are well? Today I am coming at you with a short and sweet review of Living Libations Dew Dab, which I was sent for review by lovely Wilma from The Dutch Health Store – who has the largest Living Libations selection in Europe. If you want to see my review of that online shop. see here, and if you want to see what I think of Living Libations dental products, where I talk about Happy Gum Drops, Ozonated Happy Gum Gel & Frankincense Toothpaste, click here and here, where I review Living Libations Wintergreen + Clean Toothpaste & Revitin Toothpaste. If you want my two cents of their haircare, True Blue Spirulina shampoo & Flowers In Her Hair Dry Shampoo, see this post here.

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Vote For Me In UK Blog Awards 2019 Please

Hi Lovelies,

 

Welcome back! And welcome, if you are new here ???

Please vote for me in the #UKBA19 Awards in the Green & Eco category

In my near decade of blogging I have never asked anything of you, my lovely readers, but now I will – could you please take a minute (not even that, a few seconds) of your time to vote for me in #UKBA19 awards?

THANKS IN ADVANCE ?

All you have to do is click a heart next to my blog, Green Life In Dublin, which can be found in the second row.

Please click here to vote – and MANY MANY THANKS  ?

 

Lots of Love,

Renata.

green life in dublin
Green Life In Dublin, green beauty and lifestyle blog

Black Friday Love Lula Picks

Hello Lovelies,

 

Welcome back! And if you are new here, welcome xoxo

How are all of you, I hope you are well? Are you ready to do some shopping for this upcoming Black Friday? If so, you are in the right place! And guess what, you can get everything you might want all under one (virtual) roof – step forward Love Lula*! They ship worldwide, for free for all orders £15+ which is easily done. I have been a happy customer with them from the very start prior to being accepted into their blogger family, so I can speak from both of blogger and real customer standpoint – and I am happy to report they treat both with utmost care and respect. The best customer service all around, I am sure many will agree – and I never ever had any problems with my order being mixed up or items coming broken or missing. This online shop really has Green Life In Dublin Seal Of Approval!

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Weekly Musings – November 2018

 

Hi Lovelies,

 

Welcome back! And welcome, if you are new here xoxo

Green Life In Dublin Weekly Musings

How are all of You? I hope life is treating You well?

I myself am completely knackered, but since I love blogging so much, I still wanted to get a blog post out. Having just sent my kids back to school, I finally found a minute to actually sit down and work in peace for a little while.  This is actually my second Weekly Musings post, and while I’d like to link to the first one, I can’t – I lost it together with my first website, and as a true professional, I haven’t saved it 🙂  In it I wrote a long and heartfelt post about my life, the actual reason I moved my blogging day to Tuesdays, to the blogger life not being so glitzy and glamorous as people imagine. Even if I tried to replicate it, I can’t, because I wrote it in a spur of the moment – and every time I sit down and try to re-write it again, it doesn’t come out right, it feels dry and forced instead of heart to heart post I intended it to be. I have to be in the right zone to blog, because when I catch the tail of inspiration, that’s when I am at my best creative self, the words flow faster than I can write them down, and when I proof read the post prior to publishing it, I am happy with it on the whole, whatever kind of post it might be. Whereas when I decide I need to work on the blog to get one post or the other, that’s when I hit the wall, the posts come out dry and not my best. Plus all hell breaks loose around me, I find myself pulled into a million different directions at the same time and getting irrationally angry at not being able to get the stuff done.   This leads me to my next point, my new posting days – after working on the weekends only I found myself with too much on my plate on Mondays, from a cr*loads of housework post “Daddy’s Day” – we don’t have a nanny or anyone to help with child care or anything, really, so it is down to us two. Long story short, daddy started minding kids while I went back to work a few months ago. My job is on the weekends only, but he thinks it’s my job to clean up after them when I come back to work. Obviously I am not happy with that at all – you would think I’d have this area of my life in balance after two thousand years of marriage? Not so much. I think like most women I’d done a huge disservice to myself holding three corners of the house while working full time in the past. Now trying to change it and get my family to pitch in, I am met with resistance, obviously. Because if they had it that good so so many years, why would they want to work for free, right? This reminds me of a meme I saw on Facebook ages ago – it reads something like this – ” It is so easy being a woman – you get up at 5-6am, you make breakfast, get up family, serve them breakfast, help kids get dressed, prepare lunches, walk them to school, go to work, pop to supermarket for groceries after work, come home, prepare dinner, serve dinner, wash up after the dinner, supervise your kids homework, play with the kids, walk the dog, put the bins out,  bathe the kids, read them bed time stories and put them to bed, clean up the house, put on washing, sort out and iron previous washing, check & reply to email, pay the bills – and the rest of the time you are FREE to do what you want!!!” Well, something like that, I think I should put it into a meme actually 🙂 So, with all this in mind, and the pressure to do all the things right and on time, I made a decision to move my posting day to Tuesdays after doing it for so many years on Mondays. Being the responsible person I am, I realised I was stressing myself out for no reason – blogging is like a full time job, but I am not at that stage where it pays for itself, so I should take my mental health into consideration and drop the weight where it is appropriate. As my family pointed out, why work for free? And put pressure on myself to post on Mondays if I have the rest of the week that is mostly stress free?

 

 

Well, I hope I communicated this point right, I am not someone who leads this glamorous life, party hopping with a champagne in my hand – far from it. I am just a tired mommy who is trying to keep all her plates in the air, blogging included! Not-so-recent changes in IG algorithms did my nut in, the engagement level dropped dramatically, as well as my page became invisible to the people who didn’t know about me already, meaning I was concealed from the masses. Lots of smaller brands and bloggers were affected, not just me, but it was so disheartening that I thought of leaving it all together a couple of times. I also noticed a couple of bloggers finding a way around it by buying followers, something I would never ever do. What keeps me going is the desire to help people to switch to natural and organic beauty – that is the exact force driving me and my blog – not the fame and money, I think these things should come as a “side effect” of your hard work. And it is hard work, anyone who tried his/her hand at blogging, will know that. I decided bumps like that not to let to get to me – Your messages telling me I helped in some way or form to find your best natural products is the best music to my ears – even all these years, it doesn’t get old. It gives me wings to keep going!

Well, having said all that, I think it might be my seasonal depression talking, as it always rears it’s ugly head at this time of the year. But then again, I think it is important that everyone in the family would pitch in in equal measures, am I right? Us moms tend to do the lions share out of love for our families, but it is a fine line to balance – family members take it for granted all too soon. I was listening to one of On Air With Ella podcasts, where one lady submitted her question and Ella and some psychologist, who’s name escaping me, spend the good hour talking about all the ins and outs of the situation. Basically, one middle aged lady with a husband and two grown up male sons found herself with a health problem that prevented her doing all of the housework she always did, and she asked her family to help and pick up the slack. Do you think they did? She soon found herself branded a nag and a killjoy if she repeatedly asked them to do what had to be done in the first place – how is that fair? And where’s the happy middle ground here? Comment below with your thoughts on this?

Moving onto happier subjects! November is my birthday month, so I am actually on the lookout for a present for myself. After all, I’ve been really good this year, so I deserve to treat myself, right? I am looking at Ere Perez Colour Pot in Harmony, as I really like the way it looks on my blogger friend Jana from Small Bits of Loveliness (see the Natural Beauty post in my old blog here), as well as Ere Perez Almond Oil Mascara. I chose both products from the same brand as I really enjoyed what I have tried from them so far (see review here), even though I am a bit sad they discontinued one of my favourite blushes, called Bondi. You know I love my Nars Orgasm Natural Dupes 🙂 I am also looking at these duo lipsticks from Emani, Xanadu (described as peach and pink) and Shangri La (described as soft pink with hot pink) – not too sure which one to get, as the photos from online shops look different to swatch photos, I am a bit apprehensive and confused. Let me know if You have any of those and how do you find them? Any feedback would be appreciated, so please send me the link to reviews or your IG swatch photos, anything, really? By the way, do you want me to do a full blog post on what else I want for my Cake Day and plan on getting? Do let me know and I will be happy to do that post for you.

What else is happening? I am happily testing/ judging for The Beauty Shortlist Awards 2019 and just submitted my judging form for CertClean Clean Beauty Awards as well. The best jobs I ever had, and I am hoping to do lots more of them in the future! That’s a dream come true and proof that hard work pays off. I gets loads of questions about it, and yes, I will blog about it in my own good time, and yes, the opportunities came to me and not the other way round.

What else is happening? It is not announced yet, but I am happy to tell you I am the new Ambassador for Inner Senses brand – over the moon about this, as I have been a fan for a couple of years now. I have actually reviewed the body oils last year, see the post here.

My love of books is well known, and I was really happy to learn that I can actually request any book I want at my local library – how come no one told me that before? I went on thinking I can only choose from what’s available in my local branch, which is tiny. I am on the maximum 12 book at any given time, but have to scale down, because that’s one of the areas I was stressing myself out for no reason. From now on I will try to be on two or three books at once – which is a very manageable number. Anyone else reading multiple books at once? My reading list can be seen in my Instagram a few posts back for those of you curious?

So imagine my delight when I learned I can also read magazines online, also via Dublin library – I felt like I won the lottery or something! There were times in my past where I actually had a disposable income, or play money (something that is next to nothing now) and I was buying loads of magazines every month, but losing a job put an abrupt stop to all that. Kids needs and bills come first, am I right? Happy to re-discover my old fave thing – the first day was spent drinking tea and reading all magazines I could squeeze into the few hours when the kids were in school. Pure bliss! This will definitely help lift my mood and feed my endless curiosity in the dreary upcoming Sickness Season, umm, excuse me, I meant Winter.

Umm, I am also on a few audio books – yes you guessed right, from the library! I imagine you rolling your eyes at me at this point, and yes, I can totally understand that, I probably sound like a broken record by now. But if You are like me and are committed to constantly better yourself, you will get me. Currently I am onto Jennifer Kries Waking Energy and loving it! The way I can actually fit it into my life is when I power clean in the morning post school run. I can’t remember where I heard this idea of power cleaning your house every day for 20 mins in the morning, but I found this idea perfect! I am a big fan of putting all the things we used that day at the end of the day, while my husband is errr, make-a-mess-all-week-leave-things-where-they-fell-and-then-spend-Saturday-cleaning-it-all-up-while-blaming-everyone-around-you kind of guy. So this technique was kind of like a saviour to me, and if I can feed my soul while doing mundane tasks, then it is thousand times better!

What else? I am hoping to manage to squeeze a date night with my hubby to go watch the new Queen movie! Have you seen it? Is it any good? I am hoping it is good, because Queen’s was actually a first album I ever bought, aged 13. I hope my idols won’t fall from the grace in my eyes, as there were a few places I skipped while reading Freddy’s biography.

 

That’s all for today, see you here tomorrow!

Lots of Love,

Renata.

green life in dublin
Green Life In Dublin, green beauty and lifestyle blog
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Bella Aura Skincare Review

Hi Lovelies,

Welcome back! And if you are new here, welcome ???

Bella Aura Skincare Review
Bella Aura Skincare Review
Bella Aura Skincare Review – old packaging

Let me present the review of something that really works for my sensitive skin – step forward Bella Aura products! I can’t express my feelings enough about the whole line and how wonderful it is! I have started this review many times and every time it does not come out right, so I delete everything and start again. And again. It’s just because there is so much I want to say and so much joy I want to express, the words are tumbling down faster than I can write them down. Let me put it in a nutshell – my sensitive skin found home! I am so amazed at this, as every single product in the line works amazingly well for my skin, and when used in conjunction I have clear and happy skin. And continuously so! I never had this with any other line or brand, and I never seen my skin changing so fast either. Needless to say I recommend this brand to just about anyone, because if it works for me, with uber sensitive skin, chances are it will work for you too.
Let me tell you a little pre-story – the day I received Bella Aura, I was sporting rare dermatitis breakout on my face, as many of you might know, I have form of Celiac called Dermatitis Herpetiformis, where the only outwards symptoms you get are dermatitis rashes all over the body. Nothing to do with herpes, mind you. And in my case it is extremely frustrating and annoying – because it always starts on my face before it spreads to anywhere else on my body. I am lucky girl, I know! Soo, long story short, Bella Aura products cleared the outbreak in three days! Even though they aren’t specifically designed for that purpose. Let’s pause here for a second and let that sink in and be a testament for the brand. Yasmine, you did a wonderful job! I was so amazed and delighted, as so so relieved I decided to go for it – as you might understand, trying new products is a scary thing for me. So many hyped up products in the green beauty community didn’t work for me – if I didn’t get an initial reaction, then most likely they were not working well on my dermatitis patch, making it redder and angrier. None of that with Bella Aura! In fact, the opposite was true – my skin (and my dermatitis patch) were soothed, nourished, glowing and happy. Needless to say everything else I own went into the fridge for the time being. Upon inspecting the ingredients I was happy to find out my
skin receives a supercharged cocktail of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, peptides, hyaluronic acid,  coenzyme Q10 and more, delivered in a creamy white emulsion. During use, my skin was the clearest it has ever been—and I’m not exaggerating. Bella Aura is starting to collect awards, so don’t just take my word for it – the line speaks for itself!

Bella Aura line came about when Yasmine Jones, the creator of the line, was suffering from deteriorating skin & acne scars after going through a traumatic experience with her mother’s battle against leukemia (You can read her full story on Bella Aura website, link at the end of this post). After spending thousands on skincare products and consulting with skincare specialists, she found nothing was working to improve her skin. It was during a trip to Morocco that she met a prominent chemist/herbalist who believed that his oils would help her skin and after months of trying them, she began to see her skin improving. Yasmine wanted to add active ingredients to these oils, and with the help of Swiss skincare technology, Bella Aura line was born. According to Yasmine, most skincare regimens incorporate both serums and creams in order to balance out the advantages and disadvantages of each. By combining them into an emulsion for Bella Aura’s blends, the best of both is fused into one.

There are only five products in the line so far (hold the horses for not one, not two, but THREE new products launching super soon! And what’s more, there *might*be a giveaway for them on my IG page. What can I say, I am so excited!)  and they work amazingly well together – there’s emphasis on less is more, and I have to agree in this case – these products are all my skin needs. For the most part, that’s it, but let me explain that further on in this review.

Bella Aura products

The textures are that of thin lotion, but do not let that fool you – they are true powerhouses of amazing ingredients blended together into a powerful fusion. Yasmine describes it as a serum in a cream emulsion. As the products are light, they sink in very quickly, leaving no residue or heavy feeling you sometimes tend to get with oils. If it worked amazingly well for me, it will work for you too. Let’s see some amazing ingredients in these products? All of the minerals and vitamins in Bella Aura products are derived from natural botanical fruit and vegetable extracts. Black oats, Nigela Sativa oil (also known as black cumin or black seed oil) and prickly pear (also known as fig de barbary or cactus oil) are the key ingredients in products.

Black Oats contain lipids and proteins which have humectant and emollient properties that help to moisturize the skin keeping it soft and supple.

They also contain antioxidant properties making them extremely anti-aging, and helps with inflammation as well.  Black Oats are known for helping with more sensitive skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis. and they also contain saponins which make them a gentle cleanser for more sensitive skin.

Nigella Sativa is a flowering plant that originates from Southwest Asia, India and North Africa. The flowers are usually white and pale blue. They belong to the plant family known as Ranunculacease (buttercup family). This miracle oil has been used in traditional medicine as a remarkable healing agent with powerful restorative properties since the beginning of civilization.  Originally, it was called Panacea, which means to cure all.  It is said that Cleopatra used Nigella Sativa oil in her beauty routine for hair and skin. It was also reported that the oil was found in the tomb of King Tut in Ancient Egypt.  Bella Aura uses Nigella Sativa that farmed and processed in Morocco. They work in partnership with local farmers to produce 100% premium, natural, organic Nigella Sativa seeds, and never use any chemicals or pesticides during the planting, farming or production process. The virgin seeds are cold pressed, bottled in dark glass bottles and stored in a dark cool place to ensure that the chemical properties of the black seeds are retained.

Nigella Sativa, (also known as Black Cumin Seed or Fennel Seed) contains over 100 chemical compounds that are direct contributors to having beautiful skin. This is the most powerful oil in the world with a significant amount of protein and exceptionally high in antioxidants. It is rich in unsaturated fatty acids, calcium, selenium, magnesium, iron, beta-sitosterol, copper, zinc, potassium, paltimol, niacin, vitamins A-B-B2&B3-C-D&E in the seeds. Nigella also delivers the essential Omega3&6 fatty acids that are not produced naturally by the body. This extraordinary oil also has anti-inflammatory and anti-fungal properties.

Nigella Sativa oil is renowned for keeping your skin looking flawless, young and radiant. This powerful oil helps prevent blemishes, fine lines, age spots, dry or oily skin. Some clinical studies suggest that it is beneficial for removing scars in the skin as well.

Fig de Barbary, also known as (Prickly Pear, Cactus Oil and Opuntia Ficus Indica) is one of the richest oils that fortify the skin with the essential vitamins A-B1&B2-C-D-E-F-K and Omega 3-6-9 fatty acids. It also delivers a wide range of the vital minerals magnesium, zinc, iron, calcium, potassium, thiamin, niacin, beta carotene, amino acids, selenium and many more. Fig de Barbary is miraculous oil that acts as a natural barrier against free radical damage, which is the major cause of premature aging.

This extraordinary oil has a powerful anti-oxidative activity and high moisturizing value to rejuvenate mature skin for a remarkable lifting effect. It reduces dark circles under the eyes, hydrates, smooths, firms and refines skin texture plus brightens the complexion. It is a true beauty elixir that is quickly absorbed into the skin and leaves no greasy residue. This age-defying oil contains almost 150% more of the anti-aging antioxidant Tocopherol in comparison to any other oil in the beauty care industry, including Argan oil.
The Fig de Barbary oil is produced in Sidi Ifni that is located in southwest Morocco. It is one of the most expensive oils in the world to extract and requires the production of about 1 million seeds to acquire just one liter of this precious oil. Our Fig de Barbary plants are completely pure and organic with no chemicals or pesticides used during the farming process.

If we want to break down ingredients further to singular mineral and vitamins, here’s what they do:

Omegas 3-6-9s play an important role in all skin conditions, such as combating wrinkles, lines, acne, eczema, psoriasis and even dry, flaking or very oily skins. These good fats are credited with helping your skin’s cell membranes stay healthy, which acts as a barrier to harmful exterior conditions. The cell membranes influence the cells ability to retain moister, thereby producing a softer, more subtle and more wrinkle-free skin. The anti-inflammatory compounds in 3-6-9s help to affect how healthy the skin looks and feels during the aging process.Magnesium is a powerhouse mineral that is essential for keeping your skin performing at its best. It has anti-oxidant clout with enzymes that regulate DNA replication and repair to prevent the skin being subject to a host of wrinkle-producing malefactors, such as free radical damage and inflammation. Without the DNA repair from Magnesium, you will continue to be assaulted by free radicals and it’s only a matter of time before fine lines and wrinkles begin showing up.

Zinc is beneficial for many acne sufferers who are deficient in zinc. Once they start obtaining zinc in their daily regimen, their acne often improves. It is a trace mineral essential to all forms of life, such as gene expression, cell growth and cell replication and especially important for clear skin.

Calcium includes cell renewal, lipid barrier function, and antioxidant protection from DNA damage. Calcium is the most abundant mineral in the human body and a deficiency can manifest itself in skin dryness, itching and premature wrinkling.

Potassium is a vital indicator of healthy looking skin because it is a key player in cell integrity by maintaining electrolyte balance and internal fluids, thus keeping cells hydrated and skin internally moisturized.

Beta Carotene is a carotenoid known for its antioxidant properties. Its ingredient in skin care products can include skin cleansers, facial moisturizers, foundation, sun products and anti-aging treatments. Beta-Carotene provides protection against sun damage and helps to even out skin tone and improve skin texture.

Amino Acids are the building blocks of beautiful skin. They help to produce collagen, elastin, and other proteins and fibers for strong, soft and desirable skin. Selenium has a number of positive attributes in skin care with the key role relating to its antioxidant properties and ability to tackle free radicals. Free radicals result in the disruption of living cells such as skin cells. Selenium helps to retard negative environmental factors such as pollution, radiation, cigarette smoke and herbicides, which can spawn free radicals.

Copper holds promise for prolonging youthful looking skin. It plays an important role in maintaining healthy skin because it helps to develop collagen and elastin, which maintain the strength of the skin for less sagging and fewer facial lines. It also has antibacterial and antifungal properties, which help prevent skin infections.

Sterols are natural compounds derived from plants, fruits and vegetables and essentially vegetable fats that enhance the human immune system. Phytosterols are extracted from different botanical sources. Phytosterols contribute to the structure of the cell membrane and have anti-inflammatory properties, which contributes to anti-aging properties. Phytosterols and polyphenols improve sun-damaged skin.

Carotenoids come from fruits and vegetable and help your skin’s complexion look healthy. They travel through and get stored in our bodies with the help of fats and enhance skin color and tone for a beautiful glow.

Ferulic Acid is found in the cell walls of plants and acts as an anti-oxidant that seeks and destroys several types of free radicals that cause skin damage. It act synergistically with other antioxidants such as Vitamin C & E and makes them more effective and powerful in preventing wrinkles.

Lemon Balm contains romarinic acid, which offers stronger antioxidant activity than vitamins C and E. This antioxidant-rich botanical helps to prevent free radical cell damage.Rutin is a type of bioflavonoid that has a very high anti-oxidative capacity and the ability to increase collagen production for reducing fine lines and plumping the skin. It also acts as a protectant from oxidative damage caused by sun exposure.

You may or may not know that I road test every new skincare product prior to writing a review on it, and this was no exception. Your skin renews itself at around 30 days period (40 if you are 40, yay or what?), so I need to make sure I test the product thoroughly before I speak about them. I see no point in doing first impressions reviews on skincare, but that’s just me. Here’s my skincare routine for the last year or so:

AM: no cleanser, refreshing my skin with thermal water and konjac sponge or washcloth.
1 pump of Antioxidant Booster mixed with 2 pumps of Daily Repair Moisturizer applied all over the face
1 pump of Instant Lifting Eye Contour, applied on the under eye area, upped lid, eyebrows and around lips.

PM: skin cleansed with a few pumps of Gentle Purifying Cleanser, followed by
1 pump of Antioxidant Booster mixed with 2 pumps of Night Cellular Renewal all over the face, followed by
1 pump of Instant lifting Eye Contour, applied like in the morning – on the under eye area, as well as on the upper lids and around the lips.

As I already mentioned, I shelved or rather refrigerated all the other facial products I used and stopped all PR products when it comes to skincare. What can I say, coming from a beauty blogger, this is BIG. I think you already got the impression on how great my skin loved these products (see the gushing at the beginning of this post) . Also worth noting is that when I first tested the products a year ago, I tried to stop using the entire line and go back to my usual products only incorporating one or two Bella Aura product into the set up – and that’s when my redness and skin irritations came back. So that’s why I wouldn’t recommend getting just one of moisturizers if you are new to the brand, you might not see the full potential of the products, and/or it might not mesh well with whatever else you are using. I would recommend getting a sample set first, and using all the Bella Aura products together – in the sample set you will get 10ml of each of the product, and trust me, they will give you enough use for a couple of weeks – plenty of time to see if the products are for you or not. I can bet you will end up falling in love with the products in the first couple of days, just like I did. The day and the night creams are very similar in consistency, as well as how they feel on the skin, but upon inspecting the ingredients I realized they have different ingredients, thus you might not cut corners and use only one of them. The Antioxidant Booster is a true star in my book, makes everything so much better and my skin truly likes it. For a while, I wondered how it would perform boosting my other creams I own, but at the same time I didn’t really want to try it, as I enjoy using Bella Aura exclusively too much. The eye cream works great, is light and sinks in quickly. I was a bit worried about it at first, as prior to this, I only used under eye oils for two years straight (Earthwise Beauty Passion Eye Serum and Wabi-Sabi Botanicals Budhi Eye Nectar – they might be called serums or nectars, but in reality they are oils). So I was a bit worried about not getting enough hydration in this delicate area, but my qualms were quickly squashed, it works great! It is also the first eye product to make a difference in darkness I have – not a stark night-and-day kind of difference, but I am impressed nonetheless. The cleanser I too found great, the same milky consistency like other products, but you get huge bottle of it, and must say it works great for my sensitive skin, it does not irritate it, which is super rare for me. It does not lather, but it cleans your face nonetheless. I find no need to double cleanse, and it takes all of my make up beautifully in one use. Even eye make up, but please take my advice and do not open your eyes when doing it. Rinse well first. Just saying.

Yasmine herself is the best advert for her brand – not only she looks drop dead gorgeous, but what drew me in was her gorgeous soul – so I am so glad green beauty community connected us! She not only supports several charities and works with the communities in her native Morocco, but I also witnessed her supporting her fellow green beauty sisters in a big way – she donated a portion of her profits to Lily’s aka Genuine Glow hubby’s cancer treatments, as well as when Taylor from My Lucite Dreams lost her home (and a dog) to a fire. Now, how amazing and thoughtful is that?! Be sure to check out the blog portion of her website and her Instagram too – you can find so many helpful tips over there, as well as facial massage videos – I think those are well worth checking out.

My overall thoughts – I was deeply impressed by every single product in this line, and honestly, I can’t even begin to pick a favorite! This truly is a beautiful and thoughtful line that really does deliver on its claims. My skin is so temperamental and difficult to please most times and during the entire testing period (about 1 year now, if you can call 1 year a testing time? I think we can all agree it is so much more that that), my skin is calm, clear, hydrated and just healthy looking, which it hasn’t been in a long while. I know it’s not the most wallet-friendly brand, but trust me, it is worth every single penny! As anyone with the troubled skin know the value of good skin days – it gives you wings and this new found zest for life! And that to me is priceless – I am willing to stop spending all my money elsewhere “for the sake of blogging and reviewing content” and truly invest in me, you know?
If you asked me to point out anything bad about the products, the only thing that comes to my mind is that the eye product could do with a different pump – the way it is now, I find it dispenses too much product, and I can’t half-pump it. With the amount it gives, I can easily do under eyes, upper lids, eyebrows, around the lips, and oftentimes I find I still have some product left, which I use on my neck. But that’s a good problem to have, isn’t it?

Bella Aura products have had a make over with new packaging and slight formula tweaks, so this might be the last time You see this packaging, although I am sure my and BA love affair will continue. It’s the same as finding THE ONE – you just know!

You can get it from BellaAura.com (use my code “renata15” to get 15% off your order) and EU distributor for it BeautyWiseShop.be. (shop no longer exists).

(none of the links is affiliate link, just FYI, so we would be on the same page. One of them is an ambassador link, the other is purely for your convenience)

*Update on why I no longer stand by this brand, even though I still think their products are fantastic here, scroll down to the very end.

Have you tried Bella Aura products? What are your thoughts on them? Please share, I would love to know!

Psst, keep your eyes peeled for the launch of the new products and my first impression review post very very soon!

That’s all for now! Ta-ta & I will see you here shortly. Always new posts on Tuesdays.

 

Ps. I have since been asked to be Bella Aura ambassador, and of course, I said yes in a heartbeat!

Lots of Love

Renata.

Green Life In Dublin green beauty blog
Enjoy my content? A  tip into my PayPal Tip Jar -  will get You my eternal gratitude and more awesome green beauty reviews Your way! I weed out all the greenwashing products so You won't have to.

*Post features PR products and an ambassador link. So you’d know and we would be on the same page.

Growing Pains

Hi Lovelies,

 

As you know, I invested into my own website a month ago – and let’s just say I had to dissolve it due to some issues. So despite blogging for years, here I am, starting all over again – sad to lose a month of hard work I’d put into it, but I’ll bounce back for sure! In the meantime, please check out my (now old) blog here – all the posts back to 2009, haha! And come back here for new posts every Tuesday 🙂

Have a nice day, all of You!

Lots of Love,

Renata.