No-poo journey

Early in the year 2014, I stopped using shampoo. I was fortunate in not having work at that moment, because I heard that your hair goes through some really oily phase as it adjusts to not being washed as much. I tried a variety of things at first, but thanks to this blog post (which shared actual scientific reasoning as to why baking soda is bad for your hair), I knew to steer clear of the most commonly discussed method of going “no-poo” which would be a baking soda and ACV wash/condition method.

I had done a lot of reading leading up to my decision, and got many ideas for things to try. First up was just water. Literally just water. I wasn’t sure how it would work, but I knew that around week 4 was supposed to be the greasiest your hair looks with any no-poo transition, so I decided at the start I wouldn’t judge until at least week 7.

Week 7 and my hair just wasn’t feelin’ it. My hair is very thick, and it is naturally a bit oily. It just looked bad with plain water. Thankfully, with no job at that point, I didn’t have to worry about professional appearances, and would just throw a bandana on over my hair when I had to step out, hoping it would pass the greasy phase.

June 2014 (nothing)

I decided to revisit the post linked above and tried out the rye flour method of shampoo. I just mixed in a bit of rye flour with water until it was a paste, used that to rub into my scalp, and rinsed. I used ACV/water for conditioner.

May 2015 (Rye flour)

The above worked really well, and I continued doing that for the last year and a half (if not a bit longer). It was especially nice when I would cut my hair short, but I recently started using shampoo again, for simplicity’s sake.

June 2016 (Rye flour)

I know it sounds like not much work to pour a bit of rye flour into a bowl and mix with a bit of shower water. It really wasn’t. I stirred it with my finger. It took basically no time. The hard part was rinsing it out of my hair. If I had thin hair, I think it would be a totally different ending to the story, honestly. Rye flour has little pieces of the shell (husk) in the flour. It is great as an exfoliator for the scalp, but isn’t a friend to thick hair. I found that if I didn’t take the time to use the highest pressure and carefully blast every part of my hair, the tiny little pieces of husk stuck to strands of hair. This looked bad. Not just like a weird piece of fuzzy in someone’s hair, weird… but it looked like a piece of dandruff, or worse, a louse egg.

If I switched to the tub faucet and rinsed under there, it was easier to get it all out, but it just was such a water waste. That, and it hurt my neck to do that. It was more of an inconvenience, and my hair was longer by this point. Thick, long, heavy hair… and having to do that.

I truly believe that if I had very fine, straight hair, this would be a non-issue. Sadly, my hair is not only very thick, but naturally wavy (not curly). I loved paying only a few dollars a year for rye flour and having it last so long, but now I’m back to shampoo. I’m actually really sad about it, as I really wanted to never go back. My hair already feels less healthy, but I’m trying out more natural shampoos and hoping to find the perfect one for me. It will probably be a lot of trial and error until I find one I like, and it isn’t going to be as cheap as the rye flour (nothing would!).

If you’re looking to go no-poo and have thin/straight hair (or just short hair), I highly recommend trying the rye flour option. Otherwise, I’m interested in hearing suggestions for other no-poo alternatives (or good, natural shampoos)!

Disclaimer: Thoughts of Fluff is responsible for the content of this post. All opinions are my own and may differ from your own.

Tips: Fruit Flies

I don’t know how common of a problem this is, but every year we have issues with tiny little flies. I think they are fruit flies or gnats, honestly, though I’ve had them long before I had children (which means sometimes food ends up in places you wouldn’t think to look). They hang around drains, they hang around potted plants, and of course, food.

To help control these little pests without using unsafe chemicals, we put little dishes (think tiny condiment dishes) with apple-cider vinegar (ACV) near the sink and the fruit. 

You know the saying “You catch more flies with honey than vinegar”? Yeah… I’m convinced that’s a lie. They really, really like the ACV. Of course, they can’t fly in it, they can’t swim, and so they are trapped. Success!

You can also add a tiny bit of dish soap to it and mix it up to help thicken the consistency and ensure they are actually stuck. We empty them out and refill them every couple of days during “fly season”.

Do you have any tips for controlling fruit flies?

Disclaimer: Thoughts of Fluff is responsible for this post. All opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own. 

Clean Hair, Naturally

I've kept a pretty low-profile on this for a while, but I've been experimenting greatly with hair care. I use lots of natural products, and while I used a more natural shampoo, I really wanted to go completely natural. People haven't had shampoo forever, and their hair didn't always look like a grease ball, so there has to be a way, right?

An older picture of me (with Bobble!) to show my hair when it was cleaned using commercial shampoo

This started back in March. March 19th to be exact. Well, I guess technically it was March 20th, as the 19th of March was the last time I put purchased shampoo in my hair.

Since I'm currently out of work, I figured this is a great time to try this. Not only do I not have to worry about how to style my hair when I hit that peak of greasiness as your hair transitions, but nobody can complain that I don't "look professional" when it happens. In the off chance that I got scheduled for a job interview, I would simply wash my hair and start over (unless it looked okay by that point).

They say your hair goes through a transitional phase where your oils are trying to balance. Modern shampoos strip the oils out of your hair so your hair makes more. The more you wash the more your hair is making oil. When you start to back off with the shampoo (be it a "no 'poo" method or simply washing less often) your hair is still making all that oil. You're going to need a transitional period. I thought that would be around the 4 week mark, as that's what I've read.

For the record, I went from using a more natural (purchased) shampoo to only using hot water. I read that some people have luck with just hot water. I made sure to massage my scalp well while running the hot water, cleaning my hair as best I could. I tried doing this daily. I tried doing this every other day. Every few days. Once a week.

I'm going to skip ahead for you: It didn't work for me. It didn't matter how I did it, just hot water was not working. I have thick hair, and it's just past my shoulders. I also have very hard water. During week 5 (of just hot water), I washed my hair at my in-law's. They have average (if not soft) water there. My hair was much nicer and I even went with it down and without a bandana that day. That's when I realized using absolutely NOTHING in my hair just wasn't going to work. I need to do something different.

Below are some pictures of 10 weeks in. My hair was always thick and full. While these pictures aren't the greatest (yay, camera phone!) you can see my hair looks flatter (thanks to the oil) and almost like it's thin. That's just not right. 

I had heard conflicting things from (local) mothers saying that they heard using apple cider vinegar is bad, using baking soda might be bad, that using bronner's soap might be bad.... the list goes on. I decided that I was going to read up on stuff before I put anything in my hair. I'm glad I did.

Did you know that Baking Soda damages your hair? Your hair is happy and healthy at a natural pH of about 4.5.... and it takes 20 CUPS of water to make 1 TABLESPOON of baking soda a pH of 9. NINE! That's still double what your hair wants! I was very thankful for the post I stumbled upon over at The Hippy Homemaker's blog. It is well written and goes into the science about natural hair care.

Thanks to her hair care series, I was able to stop scouring the entire internet (as she links to other places that are helpful) and just read her natural hair care series. Finally, at week 16, I added something different to my hair. Yes, I went sixteen weeks without shampoo or conditioner in my hair. Nobody can say I didn't give that a fighting chance! At week 16, I made a honey shampoo that I read about in the second installment of the natural hair care series.

Up to that point, my hair had been consistently greasy. Namely the top back part of my scalp (where you'd put a high pony tail). I would try to wear it down and let it breathe, per se, but I always ended up putting a bandana on before heading out in public.

14 weeks, no shampoo + bandana

I was really surprised at how different my hair felt after the honey wash that I did. I did not use ACV, just the honey wash. After the wash it was not completely oil free, but I didn't expect it to be. After all, it had been 16 weeks. That's a long time. I knew I couldn't rush into this and go crazy, washing my hair 2x a day or something, so I figured I'd do the honey wash again in a few days.

The next time I washed my hair I made up twice the amount (my hair really could use it!), and, to ensure that I didn't dump it on my head and miss a bunch of spots, I actually leaned forward and dipped my hair into the cup that had the wash. I then did my best to slowly pour the mixture where it was the oiliest (back of head), as you really need to worry about the roots when you wash, not the rest of your hair. This helped significantly. I then did a quick ACV rinse and let it be.

The results were great! I had really soft, shiny hair again... and I didn't use a bandana to hide my hair only to keep it out of my face while I cooked. Oh, and that one time I had to run out the door without having time to brush my hair. That doesn't count, though. Right? I don't mind having my hair unbrushed, but it looks a mess if I haven't brushed it. See? And yes, that is how I have to type sometimes. Squiggle needs her mama's milk, especially when not feeling well!

17 weeks, after 2 separate honey washes (but not the same day this picture was taken), with unbrushed hair

So now we are at 19 weeks. My hair feels like what it used to feel like. It's soft. It's smooth. It's even shiny again. My natural waves are there again (as opposed to the straightness I had when I was using only hot water), and I don't hide under a bandana.

I am going to look into more natural hair options. I might even try the natural hair colour that I read about. I'm usually don't dye my hair, but I'm so curious about this I might just have to try it. Of course, I'll write about how it goes if/when I do.

Disclaimer: Thoughts Of Fluff was not reimbursed in any way for this post. All opinions are my own and may be different from those of your own.

Baby Spa Skin Care Products

A few months back I was contacted by Baby Spa to do a review of their lotion. I gladly accepted after reading a bit about the products, but was then stuck for a while waiting for the weather to cool down. I wanted to focus on skin care during the winter months because, let's face it, you need extra lotion to help combat the dry skin caused by winter chill/wind! Of course, being in Ohio, the weather couldn't decide if it wanted to get cold or not. I was able to tell it was finally turning to winter when my hands started drying out around the knuckles!

I was sent a sample of both the Stage 1 and Stage 2  Face Cream and Body Lotion. Stage 1 is formulated for newborns - crawlers, and Stage 2 products are designed for toddlers on up. Keep in mind, my pictures are of the samples I received which are travel-size. They definitely have bigger sizes!

I was actually thrilled these were travel size containers, as it I quickly snagged the body lotion (stage 2) and whisked it off to work to keep in my desk. I wash my hands a lot at work (it gets so germy there!), and they dry so easily during the winter.

My hands were already starting to get the dry, slightly sore skin around the knuckles and in between my fingers, but Bobble was still good-to-go... which is surprising for a toddler that loves to play outside in the cold but will not keep mittens or gloves on his hands no matter what we do! My face has also had lots of patches of dry and flaking skin (thank you, pregnancy hormones!), and I had very chapped/dry patches under my nose from the 2 week long sickness that I had over the holidays. This actually worked in my favour (hey, silver lining....) for the product testing!

I've been applying the Stage 2 face cream to both Bobble and myself (Bobble as a preventative measure against drying/chapping, me for the flaking skin), and I've been using the Stage 2 lotion on my hands. I let my husband use the Stage 1 lotion, and we've tested the face cream out too. Since we don't have the super delicate skin a newborn would have, I can't really give too much of a review of that product other than to say it worked just like the Stage 2 did for us.

The face cream has worked great for us. When I use it, my face is nice and smooth, and I don't have the weird dry patches that this pregnancy has been causing. It's very gentle on my skin, gets absorbed well, isn't oily, and doesn't have a strong scent to it. Bobble's face is still nice and smooth, and he hasn't had any issue with chapping or drying out. Yay!

The body lotion is much of the same.... great results, not oily, soft skin, gentle scent. While I still have some of the dryer skin around my fingers, it's worlds better now than it was before! It also would be better if I remembered to put some lotion on today. *sigh* We've used the body lotion all over on Bobble, and we've had the same great results. His feet  and knees tend to dry out the most because he loves being barefoot, and he loves crawling around making cars and trucks "drive". The lotion worked beautifully on him as well.

My husband had good results with the lotion he used as well, but thankfully he's not the one doing the majority of the testing, as he only remembers to put it on when I mention it. He needs a lot of lotion, however, as he works a lot on our house and he also washes his hands a lot. His hands tend to get worse than mine in the winter, drying and cracking to the point of bleeding. When he uses the lotion, they get noticeably better... but, like I said, he doesn't think about it. What can ya do? *shrug*

All of BabySpa's products are 98-100% natural (remember, tearless shampoos aren't 100% natural!), and they are free of Parabens, Phthalates, SLS, PEGS, and Mineral Oils. They use also use 5 Ethobotanicals in the BabySpa collection, which isn't used in any other baby skin care line.

So, from the products we tried, we loved BabySpa! I would love to try out more of their products like their Bubble Bath Milk, their Tearless Baby Shampoo, or their Massage Oil! Actually, I'd definitely want to try the massage oil.... hubby being a licensed massage therapist and all, he would have plenty of use for it!

I'd definitely recommend the products if you are looking for some natural skin care products! I love that the smell of them isn't that fake perfume-y scent, but more the simple "lotion" smell. (Hey, it makes sense to me!) I'm very sensitive to different scents, but these products didn't bother me at all. Also really cool: even though my hands were super dry in some spots (to the point where warmer water hurt them), the lotion didn't sting. I liked that a lot!

Are you interested in trying out BabySpa products yourself? Check out their Online Store to see what they have, and get free shipping on orders over $50! They also have some great deals on gift sets if you're in the market for one!


Disclosure: The product(s) mentioned above was provided to me by Baby Spa for review. This did not influence my opinion of the product in any way. My opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween to all my readers! I hope you are having a fun (and safe!) time with your family and/or friends! We didn't have any festivities tonight, but we went to a party last Saturday with Bobble. He went as Charlie Brown, just as I mentioned a while back. I will upload a picture when I have the opportunity, likely over the weekend.

Also, if anyone was curious, this Kick-it Immune stuff seems to work really well. It could be sheer coincidence.... but Bobble is 100% better already. That was pretty darn fast. He also surprised me by signing for "more" of it after a full dropper (it suggests 2 droppers for kids over the age of 1, but I only gave him 1 the first day to watch for a reaction). He takes a dropper, shakes his head with squinty eyes and a crinkled face, then signs for more. I love it. Again, I have no clue if it was sheer coincidence or not, but if it really is this stuff being that awesome, I'm buying some.

If anyone can, I would also appreciate it if you went and voted for Bobble on Thirsties Facebook Contest Page. He's the one with the little leaf in his hand that is captioned "autumn leaves are falling". There seems to be a glitch, however, and it has duplicated my picture. Please vote on the one with the higher number!

Earth's Best Organic Blueberry Mini Waffles

I love trying new things, especially food items. Granted, I’m super picky, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like trying stuff out! Recently, during a grocery shopping trip, I wandered down the aisle of frozen foods generally reserved for “healthy/healthier” items. I saw stuff that was organic, gluten free, vegan, etc. Something caught my eye though…. Earth’s Best Organic Blueberry Mini Waffles! Since becoming an Earth’s Best blogger, I’ve learned that they carry a lot more products than I thought! I honestly had no clue that they made waffles! Of course, I had to buy them and try them out! Especially since they have 10g of whole grains per serving!

I don’t know what I was more excited about with these waffles… offering them to Bobble, or eating them myself! I didn’t hesitate to do both the first opportunity I got!

These mini waffles are one piece/sheet of waffle that can be broken apart into 4 mini, circular waffles. You don’t break them apart until after you heat them, though, or you won’t be able to get them out of the toaster! (Well, I suppose you could if you used a toaster oven, but I used a regular toaster.)  I popped two “sheets” into the toaster, set the toaster to about 3.5 (out of 5 for ‘doneness’), and got the plates ready. When they popped up, I put one sheet on Bobble’s plate and one on mine, grabbed the silverware (plastic ware for Bobble!) and some delicious pure maple syrup.

The waffles broke apart very easily, and they didn’t tear or anything. The indentations on the waffles (syrup-catchers!) are not as pronounced as they would be on full-sized waffles, but I honestly think I like them this way better because they are easier to spread butter on (if you put butter on your waffles).  I cut one of the mini waffles in half for Bobble, and cut the other half up into tiny pieces that were maybe a centimeter in size. I also poured some syrup in the cup holder part of his highchair tray since the plate was likely to go flying and I didn’t feel like picking up that mess AND cleaning up syrup off the floor, curtains, and anything else it splattered on.

Bobble had never had waffles before, so this was definitely an experiment for us. I know he doesn’t care for pancakes *gasp*, but I remained hopeful that waffles would be a winner (and that pancakes will be a winner in the future). I handed him his little plastic fork and put the plate of food in front of him. Success! This is the first time he did not throw his plate! He got frustrated since the waffles I cut small were too small to stab with the large tines of the fork, but he had trouble stabbing the half of mini waffle, too. I decided to get a small, metal dessert fork and that solved the problem. (I just had to make sure he didn’t stab himself!) Bobble happily devoured his ENTIRE (mini) WAFFLE! I gave him another two mini waffles and he ate them all. I couldn’t believe it! This kid normally throws most of his food! Also, Bobble had a slight iron deficiency, so we look for foods that are higher in iron. These waffles have 25% of the daily value he needs!

So they were definitely a win for Bobble, but I haven’t mentioned how I liked them. So I ate my sheet of waffle and decided they were ideal for me, too. Reasoning? Well, aside from tasting great, I didn’t have to worry about cutting up a messy, syrup covered waffle! I could tear them apart and just eat them with my finger, dipping them in some syrup if I so desired. They weren’t greasy, so I didn’t have to worry about getting my work clothes messy if I accidentally dropped a (non-syrupy) piece! Yes, that is a concern of mine. I may be a little bit *ahem* clumsy.

All in all, these were definitely a win. They tasted delicious, cooked quickly, broke apart easily, Bobble devoured them, and they were Earth’s Best Organic. What’s not to love?! I actually enjoyed the taste of these waffles over any of the other frozen waffle brands I’ve purchased, so I’ll definitely be purchasing these again for both of us, not just Bobble!

You can find these delicious waffles at a grocer near you that carries Earth’s Best products. You can use the Earth’s Best Store Locator to find a location near you!

Disclosure: The product mentioned above was purchased by me. My opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own.

Earth's Best Kidz Organic Apple Sauce (review)

Ever since I was a toddler myself, I’ve loved dipping breakfast sausages in applesauce. It was something taught to me by my grandmother, and it stuck with me all throughout the years. Bobble loves applesauce too, so finding a healthier applesauce was on my to-do list for quite some time. It’s hard to find applesauce that doesn’t have high-fructose corn syrup in it as a sweetener, or that tastes good without some sort of sweetener. Once again, Earth’s Best came to the rescue! Enter Earth’s Best Kidz Organic Apple Sauce!

Made with 100% organic apples, this apple sauce is pure goodness with no artificial flavours, colours, or preservatives. The containers are a wonderful size for lunchboxes or to just take on the go, and they are great for breakfast sausage-dipping too!

Available in both cinnamon and original flavours, you can find something to suit your little one’s pallet. Bobble likes spices and flavours, so he loves cinnamon in most things, and apple sauce is no different! If your little one doesn’t like stuff like that and prefers plain items, the original flavour won’t disappoint! These little apple sauce cups are also great for those little ones that don’t really show an interest in whole fruits. With Earth’s Best Kidz Organic Applesauce, they can get the goodness of whole apples without the cleaning, cutting, and peeling!

For more healthy snacking ideas, check out “Healthy SnackingThroughout the Day” on the Earth’s Best website!

These organic apple sauce cups (in both cinnamon and original flavours), along with many other Earth’s Best products, can be purchased online from the Earth’s Best Store, from Amazon.com, numerous other online retailers, or you can use the Earth’s Best Store Locator to find a retailer near you! You can also head over to my giveaway post and try to win some!

Disclosure: The product mentioned above was sent to me by the company in exchange for a review. This did not influence my opinion of the product in any way. My opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own.

Earth's Best Organic Infant Sensitivity Formula

I mentioned before that Earth’s Best had also sent me some of their new Organic Infant Sensitivity formula, but Bobble is 18 months and has never had formula. I didn’t want it to go to waste, so I gave it to a local mother that uses formula for her 3 month old. She used the formula and provided me with a review of the product for you all to read!

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When I had the opportunity to give the Earth's Best Sensitivity formula a try I was so excited because we enjoy Earth Best's products in our home and I wasn't even aware they had started making formula, let alone formula for sensitivity!

The canister is a plentiful size and lasted my chunky three month old six days, which is standard for other formulas we have tried.  I really liked the fact that it's so good for him and is made using all natural, organic products. 

It was super easy to prepare and didn't leave chunks when mixed and was never grainy.

My son took it with ease, and really enjoyed it.  His belly tends to get upset pretty easily, so I was happy that, aside from the usual "I've eaten a smidge too much" spit up, he didn't spit excessive amounts back up. He finished the canister and I was a happy mama that I could give him something so awesome for formula and all!  As always, Earth's Best did not disappoint!

Bio: Nichole is a stay-at-home mama to two boys, Grayson (16mo) and Liam (3mo). She recently started cloth diapering, enjoys researching and trying all-natural products for her family, scrapbooking and decorating. She also has her own blog: http://nicholew.typepad.com/colorful_me/

Disclosure: The product mentioned above was given to Nichole in exchange for a review. This did not influence her opinion of the product in any way. These opinions are Nichole’s and may differ from those of your own.

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This formula, along with many other Earth’s Best products, can be purchased online from the Earth’s Best Store, from Amazon.com, numerous other online retailers, or you can use the Earth’s Best Store Locator to find a retailer near you!

I'm an Earth's Best Blogger!

I'm very pleased to announce that I am going to be an Earth's Best Blogger for the next year. That means that you will see some posts on Earth's Best products at least once a month, and you'll have the opportunity to enter some giveaways for their products too! If you're a fan of Earth's Best, you definitely will want to keep an eye out for the posts!

I was offered the opportunity to be an Earth's Best Blogger, and it was a no-brainer for me! We love Earth's Best products in our house! We do our best to make certain that Bobble eats natural, organic foods without those additives, chemicals, pesticides, etc.We don't want him to eat anything bad for him, so we also avoid GMOs. Earth's Best offers a variety of products for little ones to eat from baby cereals and purees to frozen meals, cookies, and soups!

Earth's Best offers many more products than just food, though! They offer products for your little one's body (wipes, sun screen, toothpaste, lotions....) and even cleaning products for your nursery.

Earth's Best sent me a lovely assortment of products to try out, so look for some reviews in the near future!




If you haven't heard of Earth's Best before now, here is their mission:

Earth's Best Organic provides "better for baby" products with the freshest, purest ingredients, so parents can nurture their baby's health with the utmost confidence.

And their Quality Promise:

• Earth's Best organic infant formula contains no toxic chemicals or heavy metals. Ingestion may compromise long-term immune system development.
• Earth's Best organic infant cereals provide an excellent source of iron to aid early physical and neurological development and restore the iron depletion that results after birth.
• Earth's Best organic baby juice comes from fresh pressed, undiluted, single strength juice. We do not use juice from concentrate.
• Earth's Best organic produce does not expose infants to the higher level of contaminants found in conventional produce. Proportionately, babies consume up to four times the fruits and vegetables that adults consume.
• Earth's Best organic jarred fruits provide an excellent source vitamin C to aids the absorption of iron and help fight infections.

You never need to worry about their ingredients in any of their organic foods, either!

I look forward to introducing you all to more of their products down the road! Hopefully I can introduce you to products you didn't even know they made (I had no clue they made toothpastes!) that might just become your new favorite product!

Rockin' Green Soap Review & Giveaway

For many cloth diapering families, one thing that they have to figure out is a laundry routine. It’s probably the most difficult thing about cloth diapering. What works for one family doesn’t necessarily work for another. It depends on what type of washer you use, what type of settings the washer has, what type of water you have, what type of detergent you use…. so many things to factor in! Rockin’ Green eco-friendly cleaning products can eliminate some of the laundry issues for you because they offer something for all water types! Their products are phosphate-free, so they are great for your whole family and the environment too! Want to know exactly what goes into the detergents? They list their ingredients on the website for you!

Rockin’ Green offers Soft Rock for soft water, Classic Rock for normal water, and Hard Rock for hard water. I was sent a few samples of their Hard Rock formula to test out as my water is rather hard. I received Rage Against the Raspberries, Earth, Wind, and Orchids, and Lavender Mint Revival. I have a mild sensitivity to many scents (they just cause me to sneeze a lot), so I typically won’t get scented things like this. I was a bit adventurous with the scents since I own some Melody Odor Neutralizer & Fragrance Spray from Rockin’ Green and I knew the scents weren’t likely to make me sneeze since they were natural.

The first thing I did upon opening the samples was sniff the air. I actually couldn’t smell them! I guess I anticipated some overpowering fragrance that would waft up into the air as soon as I opened the package. I brought the package to my nose and sniffed. It smelled great! I was rather thankful it wasn’t super strong, as I am rather fond of hints of scents as opposed to something smelling like it was doused in a scent. All three scents that I tried out were pleasant and not at all overpowering. I suppose you could say it was a “gentle” fragrance, or “lightly” scented.

I washed diapers first. My diapers came out nice and clean. Nothing smelled, nothing looked dirty, and nothing caused my little one any irritation when the diapers were used. I was, admittedly, a wee bit sad that they didn’t smell like the detergent when they were dry, but that’s really a good thing since that means I got all the detergent out of the diapers. The scents were so lovely, though!

I was able to do a couple loads of laundry per sample packet (they are generously sized samples!), so I did all of my laundry with Rockin’ Green for a couple weeks. I must say, it does a great job cleaning! All of Bobble’s clothes came out nice and clean (despite the fact many shirts had huge splotches of food on them before being washed), and all of our clothing and bedding looked great. Everything looked clean, smelled clean, and had no sign of the fact we have both a toddler and 3 cats (well, other than the toddler-sized clothing!).

Overall, I was very pleased with Rockin’ Green. I love the variety of scents they offer, I love the fun names they have for them (many of which remind me of bands I listened to growing up!), and I love the variety of products they have to fit every situation. They also offer detergents for use on pet bedding/toys and mama cloth. Are your diapers starting to smell funky? Rockin’ Green sells Funk Rock (ammonia bouncer) to help with that, too!

Rockin’ Green is sold in many cloth diapering stores (online or in-shop!), big-name online retailers (like Amazon.com and Diapers.com), and can also be purchased from their store online. You can go there to try any of their samples ($0.85), or you could purchase a big bag (45/90 size) to last you for a while at ($14.95 or $15.95 depending on water hardness in your area). Not sure what water type you have? Buy one of their water test strips for only $0.60 and make sure you get the right formula for your water! You can also use their RETAILER page to find a store near you that offers their products!

While Rockin’ Green sent me some samples to try, they have offered to give one of my readers a whole bag (45/90) of Rockin’ Green (in their scent choice!). You can enter the giveaway below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I receive sample(s) for the purpose of testing and review. These opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own. Thoughts Of Fluff is not responsible for shipment of the prize(s).

Episencial 3-step system review & giveaway!

With the summer sun growing seemingly hotter by the day, many mothers are looking for a natural sun screen to protect both them and their little ones. This is how I found Episencial. Episencial makes natural products for your whole family, and is great for those with skin sensitivities. The company was kind enough to send me their 3-Step System for review. This 3 pack contained their Soothing Cream, Playful Wash, and Sunny Sunscreen.

The first item we used was the Sunny Sunscreen since it has been very sunny and my little Bobble loves playing outside.  The sunscreen doesn’t really have much of a smell other than normal “lotion” smell. It’s not strongly scented like when someone walks by you in the store and you get a sudden whiff of sunscreen. (That actually happened to me this morning!) The sunscreen rubbed in very easily, and it didn’t leave you feeling (or looking) oily or greasy. I liked that I could apply it to my son and not rub it in all the way (so his skin was still white from the sunscreen) to make sure I didn’t miss any spots, but that it rubbed in super easily once I was done applying it. We’ve tried this sunscreen while just playing outside, while playing in the hose, playing in a kiddie pool, and playing in a big pool. Here in the Midwest, we’ve been pounded with scorching hot temperatures and sun, so when I saw the SPF on the Sunny Sunscreen was only 35, I was a tiny bit concerned. I’d been using higher SPFs for our little one, but hated the chemical-laden products. Now I’m wondering if that higher SPF was even necessary as none of us have gotten burned (or even dried-out skin!) since using Episencial’s Sunny Sunscreen. Not one burn! Very impressive!

The Playful Wash is a 2-in-1 shampoo and body gel. I decided to test this on myself since Bobble doesn’t really have much hair to test it on and my hair is VERY thick. I loved the scent of the Playful Wash immediately. It was a subtle orange scent (it has tangerine oil in it) that didn’t overpower you at all. I am very sensitive to scents, and I quite often find myself sneezing at anything and everything… even my deodorants! I have found that natural scents don’t really aggravate me, and this held true with the Playful wash. Episencial doesn’t use fragrances, just fruit juice extracts. I thoroughly tested out the wash, using it every way possible. This includes shaving, washing, and using it as my shampoo. Normally I use shampoo and conditioner. My hair is gets difficult to comb or brush if I don’t use conditioner, but it tends to get greasy looking fairly quickly too. I was pleasantly surprised that my hair was so soft and shiny, and no tangles! While my hair is short now, it still can be difficult to comb if no conditioner is used. Thankfully, this was not the case! I also put no styling products in it and let it dry to see what my hair did. It looks soft and shiny… just like if I used conditioner! I can’t guarantee this would be the case for all hair types, but this mama is definitely pleased with how it turned out for her! As for the shaving and body washing, it did a great job. I really didn’t have any issues. I had no razor burn, no dry skin, no weird/itchy feeling (I sometimes get that with body washes)… just a nice, refreshing wash with a touch of orange in the air.

The Soothing Cream test was my absolute favorite. That may be, of course, because I talked my husband into massaging my legs and back with it after my shower! Hehe. That aside, it was great. It’s a full day later and my legs are still feeling super soft and smooth. It didn’t leave any oily or greasy feeling, and the extra lotion washed off my husband’s hands very easily. The Soothing Cream doesn’t really have a scent either, so it would be great for use at work where you could be around people with lots of sensitivities (or if you have sensitivities yourself!). The Soothing Cream is also non-staining to cloth!

I also took a sample of the Soothing Cream to a coworker that has lots of sensitivities. She commented how soft her hands felt after using it, and a while later commented that she loved how soft her hands were even after she washed her hands. It’s definitely a winner!

The above is a smear of sunscreen (left) next to the lotion (right).

If all this fantastic stuff about these 3 products were not enough, Episencial goes and makes it even better by packaging their products in containers that are recycled, food-grade, non-leaching, with no residues of dioxins, BpA, phthalates, or other xenoestrogens. Need more? They use botanical, sustainably farmed, and certified organic ingredients. The products are also manufactured under solar power. They also use all natural ingredients, many of which are organic. Go check out their ingredients to learn more about what they use in their products and why these products not only prevent damage and sooth damaged skin, but also support skin immunity!  From what I’ve tried, I’ve fallen in love with these products, and the lengths the company goes through to be green and offer natural products makes me love them even more. I would love to list pros and cons on these products for you, but I couldn’t find any cons. The only thing I might want to change is offering a Soothing Cream with the same lovely orange scent that the Playful Wash has!

These products are only a couple of the products that Episencial has to offer, so head on over to their page to check out everything else! You can shop by product or shop by skin concern.  The products are for ages 0+, so they are safe for everyone in your household, including your newborn.

To learn more about who Episencial is and what they believe, visit their About Us page. You can purchase your own 3-step system for $30 (saving $5!) on their web page, or you can enter to win one below.  Episencial was also nice enough to offer my readers a 20% discount at their store if you use the code EPIFLUFFY, and they have free shipping on orders over $45. Happy shopping!

Surprise! Episencial is going to offer a SECOND 3-step system to one of my readers! Enter to win in the new rafflecopter form below!



 a Rafflecopter giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I receive sample(s) for the purpose of testing and review. These opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own. Thoughts Of Fluff is not responsible for shipment of the prize(s).