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soaps

The Beauty Benefits of Black Soap
Skin Care

Ingredients to Watch: Black Soap

Have you been searching for a natural alternative to help clear acne?
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Have you been searching for a natural alternative to help clear acne? Then black soap is the ingredient you want to use more of in your skin care regimen. This soap recipe has long been used by tribeswomen in West Africa, but now that its beauty benefits are out of the bag, black soap can be seen at your local beauty depot.

What is black soap?
Traditionally produced in West Africa, black soap is comprised of ash and oil. Some formulations even include plantain leaves, shea bark, cocoa pods, palm tree leaves, and coconut and olive oils.

The beauty benefits:
Not only does African black soap contain antioxidant-rich vitamins A and E, but its anti-inflammatory properties help prevent breakouts in acne-prone skin. Black soap is also a great, sulfate-free way to combat oily scalp.

The products:
Black soap has popped up on the skin care scene in a variety of formulations. Nubian Heritage, for instance, carries a Black Soap Bar ($4) for the body and face. And to hone in black soap's acne-blasting benefits, try Shea Terra Organics Rose Hips Black Soap Wash and Mask ($18) for the complexion. Finally, go with Shea Moisture Black Soap Dandruff Elixir ($10) for dry-scalp relief.

L'Occitane Get on Board For Sight Soaps
Charity

Your Spirits Will Soar With L'Occitane's Adorable, Charitable Soaps

There's nothing plain about these cute little planes.
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There's nothing plain about these cute little planes. In fact, for every sale of L'Occitane's limited-edition Get on Board For Sight soaps ($6 each), 100 percent of the proceeds will help support Orbis, an organization that strives to help end preventable blindness. Available in pink (a fruity-floral scent with notes of grape, white rose, and blackcurrant) and blue (a sparkling, zesty scent with notes of grapefruit, verbena, and lemon), these charming cleansers will have your spirits soaring in no time flat.

Household Supplies Review: Bath & Body Works Kitchen Anti-Odor Hand Soap
soaps

Tried and Tested: Bath & Body Works Kitchen Anti-Odor Hand Soap

Grating onions and deveining shrimp are among my least favorite kitchen tasks.
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Bath & Body Works Kitchen Hand SoapGrating onions and deveining shrimp are among my least favorite kitchen tasks. They not only leave me in a foul mood, but they leave me with equally foul-smelling fingers. If there's one thing I can't stand, it's stinky hands — so when I got mine on some kitchen soap that promised to not only be cleansing but also "odor-eliminating," I had to put it to the test.

Bath & Body Works Anti-Bacterial Deep Cleansing Hand Soap claims to be all things to all cooks in the kitchen. Not only does it contain a patented technology called FreshSource that fights strong odors, but its citrus-scented formula is also allegedly antibacterial, exfoliating (thanks to blue microbeads), and moisturizing (due to coconut milk, honey, and olive fruit extracts).
I can't verify the antibacterial part, but I can say without a doubt that a sudsy moment under the sink with this soap will get just about any offending smell off your hands. I put it through the garlic test, the onion test, and, yes, even the peeling and deveining shrimp test. My hands weren't only clean, they were slightly moisturized and also scented like the somewhat-artificial smell of Sunburst Tangerine — which I'd gladly pay $7.25 for over the smell of gutted seafood.

Gifts for a Pet Lover: Gianna Rose Atelier Dog Soaps
soaps

Gifts for a Pet Lover: Gianna Rose Atelier Dog Soaps

How precious are these pups?!
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How precious are these pups?! Coming in such lovely fragrances as Italian Bergamot, Wildflower, and Fig – like these labs – to a sweet Lily, Mimosa, and Violet Chihuahua, the soaps are nestled in lovely packaging to protect their doggie shapes. The Gianna Rose Atelier designs would make a sweet housewarming gift for an animal lover – not to be used on a pet, of course. I know if I were confronted with one of these decorative doggie soaps ($21.75) in a bathroom, I'd smile but be tempted to look elsewhere to wash my hands – they're almost too cute to use! To see some of my favorites, read more

Nudo Is Neato! Adopt an Olive Tree of Your Own!
soaps

Nudo Is Neato! Adopt an Olive Tree of Your Own!

There's a little olive tree in my mom's backyard; the harvest isn't huge, but it allows her to create her own style of pickled olives and oils.
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There's a little olive tree in my mom's backyard; the harvest isn't huge, but it allows her to create her own style of pickled olives and oils. If her olive harvest has you feeling jealous, then listen up and adopt your own olive tree. For £65 (~$130), the Nudo olive grove in Le Marche, Italy, lets folks "adopt" a tree for a year. You can let them assign any tree to you, or you can choose a specific part of the grove. Once the tree is yours, you will reap the benefits twice a year. The spring package contains a minimum of 1.5 liters of extra virgin olive oil, and the autumn package contains lemon infused extra virgin olive oil, and three different olive oil soaps scented with mint, rosemary, lemon and lavender. However, if you think that might be too much olive oil for you to handle, you can always purchase their olive oil directly.

Rethinking Pink: Pink Ribbon Soaps
soaps

Rethinking Pink: Pink Ribbon Soaps

Pink isn't necessarily always my decorating go-to color, but since it is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I'm all for it.
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Pink isn't necessarily always my decorating go-to color, but since it is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I'm all for it. I'm tickled pink even more so if the sale of the products benefits breast cancer research. So, when I spotted these beautiful Pink Ribbon Soaps from Gianna Rose Atelier, I knew I had to share.

The four French-milled soaps are scented with fresh-linen (yum), embossed with a pink ribbon, and come nestled in a beautiful gift box. I love the gift box on its own; I'd use it as a pencil case after the suds are gone. More importantly, 15% of the proceeds from the sale of these soaps will be donated by Gianna Rose Atelier to the Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation.

Source

The Lush Life
bath products

The Lush Life

Every girl knows that soothing baths are the bomb, and no brand understands this better than Lush.
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Every girl knows that soothing baths are the bomb, and no brand understands this better than Lush. I first fell head over heels for Lush on a trip through London's Covent Garden almost ten years ago. As anyone who has visited one of their retail stores (located in more than 27 countries) can attest, Lush's counters of fresh, handmade cosmetics bear more resemblance to farmer's markets than makeup stores. At the heart of Lush's beauty philosophy are organic fruits and vegetables, essential oils, and non-animal tested products. Here are some of my favorite Lush products.

Lush's number-one best-seller is the hot-pink Sex Bomb. Scented with jasmine, ylang ylang, and sage oil, this bath bomb is guaranteed to give you a "balanced viewpoint and a clear mind" before your crazy night on the town. Buy one for $4.95 here.

To see the rest, read more