In the wee hours of the morning last night my dry feet were getting frantically itchy. I groaned to myself as I tried to get to sleep. Suddenly I remembered that the samples of hard lotion bars that Renee had sent me were by my bed. I quickly rubbed it onto my heels and feet and instantly felt much relieved. I was then able to drift into a long hoped for sleep.
As I mentioned yesterday in my post, What Does your Skin Eat? , personal care products can be full of unregulated chemicals that are not only harmful to us, but probably not even helpful for our skin! One example from Skin Deep is Aveeno Moisture Lotion with Natural Soy, Lightly Fragranced. It got a 7 out of 10 rating- ten being the worse-with ingredients having concerns for everything from reproductive toxicity to neurotoxicity. Not what I want to be using on my skin! And even some more “natural” brands like Burt’s Bees Babies Bee Lotion contained many ingredients considered toxic giving it a high rating of 6 out of 10. Not what I will be using on my baby!
I personally like to use a lot of “food”, such as oatmeal and coconut oil, to clean and moisturize my skin. Coconut oil is great because not only is it full of health benefits, it absorbs easily into your skin. However, that can have a disadvantage too. Lately my hands have been getting quite dry between all of the hand washing after changing diapers, doing dishes and the winter air. My usual coconut oil treatment wasn’t being as effective as it generally is.
However, when I tried MadeOn Lotion Bars I found that the pure combination of coconut oil, shea or cocoa butter and beeswax was so much more soothing and helpful. The synergy of the three ingredients helped much more quickly than just the coconut oil itself. A hard lotion bar is basically lotion without the water and other liquid ingredients. This makes it firm, though still soft enough to rub onto your skin. (Renee sends it in little metal containers perfect for keeping it). The Au Chocolat lotion bar uses cocoa butter instead of the shea butter in the Beessilk hard lotion bar. The Beessilk bar has a subtle honey like scent from the beeswax, while the au chocolat lotion bar has a subtle chocolate scent that is equally as delicious.
I have found them both very helpful for the especially dry skin areas. I still use just coconut oil on my face, but on my hands, elbows, knees, heels and any little dry patches of skin, this hard lotion is extremely helpful as well as perfectly pure. I think that it is much more effective them most lotions that contain water. For some reason the liquid in most lotions, while making it easy to smooth on, make the lotion not as effective. So if you experience dry skin, I would recommend using products without aqua in them. In contrast, the shea butter and the coconut oil deeply moisturize while the beeswax creates a barrier between your tender skin and the elements.
I found that barrier effect to be even more helpful this week as my four year old developed a very tender and sore area under her nose caused by a runny nose. I put my lotion bar under a hair dryer for a few seconds and then rubbed a bit of lotion onto my fingers and very gently applied it to the sore spot. It helped so much! And because of the beeswax, it helped prevent more chafing.
The lip balms we tried were equally effective as well as pure. My four year old loves using it. Renee also carries a Bug Block hard lotion bar and baby cream (review to come).
I was thrilled when Renee inquired about advertising on this site as her products are actually quite similar to products I’ve made for my family in the past. Since I am not in a season of life right now that is conducive to making lotion bars and lip sticks, I found the samples she sent a real blessing. I also found that her bars weren’t as hard as my homemade ones were, so they were much easier to use. It’s nice to have a company to purchase from that uses ingredients just like what I would use.
So I was glad to not only accept her advertising, but also plan a giveaway for you! Renee is giving away a $50 dollar gift certificate to one lucky person. To enter this giveaway, please follow this link and enter on Renee’s page. This will be open until next Friday night, and the winner will be announced on Saturday.The winner will be selected using random.org.
Thank you Renee!
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I love chocolate!
I’ve been using organic virgin coconut oil on my face at night this winter, but I haven’t found a good solution for the dryness of my hands and feet. Thanks for the great suggestion and contest.
this is awesome! i actually just found this company a few days ago & have been wanting to order some of their lotion bars!
I tried out the chocolate formula for lip balm and absolutely love it. If you don’t have the time or inclination to make them yourself, I highly recommend getting some of her premade ones.
My daughter bought me one for Christmas I love them!
These products sound wonderful! I suffer from extreme dry and sensitive hands. (cold ohio winters and being a potter is not a good combo for dryness!) Thanks for the opportunity to win! 🙂
They look like great products. Thanks for featuring the bars.
I always think “I need to make some soap or my own lotions” but rarly get around to it.
love love love!!!
These sound great! I’ve never really thought about the “icky” things in lotion before.
wow. that looks like an amazing product. would love to try.
I am sooooo hoping to win this one. What woman doesn’t love lotion? 🙂
Thanks for the great giveaway. I have used Renee’s products in the past and would love to get some more to pass along to some friends I know could use them.
I just discovered the best products ever. Skin looks 3-5 years younger in only 36 hours and I am 58. Annmarie Gianni (I think this is the spelling) Unbelievable ingredients. I make my own usually but I can’t duplicate these products. Did I mention they are expensive?
This sounds like something I could really use to help me with my dry cracked hands. The pain in my fingertips and thumbs makes it really difficult to do everyday tasks. This is a great giveaway.
Our hands get so dry and painfully cracked in the winter. We just received our order of Beessilk, but due to my daughter’s tree nut allergy, I am worried about the shea butter. I would love to try the cocoa butter version.
These look wonderful! Thanks for the info on Aveeno and Burts Bees.
I will definitely have to try these bars for my family. I’ve recently been trying to replace all our personal products as well as household cleaners, etc with more natural ones after learning about xenoestrogens. I use coconut oil, but have needed something more moisturizing. Thanks for the info.
what a wonderful offer! thanks renee and nourishing!
Ohhh, those look delightful.
This looks wonderful! Can’t wait to try it.
Kim, do you have any recommendations for a natural deodorant that really works? Tried so many but haven’t found one satisfactory.
I am a constant lotion user, always trying to keep my skin feeling smooth and looking healthy. I get a lot of dryness, especially in the winter. I found the Made from Earth Aloe & jojoba Therapy body lotion to be the best for my dry skin – it absorbs well, and doesn’t smell to strong. And its super gentle yet moisturizing.
Im natural and healthy, so I like that the brand doesn’t put any chemicals in their products and they do not test on animals.