recently, i’ve been switching over to more natural and handmade beauty products and i thought i would review a couple things i’m really in love with right now.

the first is shave bars. i initially sought out shave bars because i’m always trying to find ways to cut the excess packaging out of my life. the metal canisters with plastic lids, then often again shrink wrapped in plastic, seem like more packaging than necessary for what they are. i did a quick search for “shave bars” on etsy and found bunches of options. i’ve tried two:

the one on the right is a shave bar from seller gudonyatoo! and on the left is a shave bar from spa therapy. both of them include kaolin clay for a nice, smooth shave. they both smell absolutely delicious, the spa therapy cherry almond smells sooooo yummy. i like them both and have been going back and forth between the two, however, i think i like the gudonyatoo shave soap just a tiny bit more. the bars are bigger and i think they create a more “slippery” lather, which i personally like.

the other beauty product switch i’ve made is the move to handmade deodorant. i was a little apprehensive about this one at first, all the handmade/natural deodorants i’ve found are deodorant only, not antiperspirant. good because they don’t have aluminum and other strange things that actually block sweating, but then…you are sweating. not something that i’m very fond of. but, i was willing to give it a try.

same two etsy sellers: vegan deodorant stick from spa therapy and stinky no more vegetable deodorant from gudonyatoo. i’ve been so pleasantly surprised with how these have worked out. not only do they smell amazing, but i honestly don’t notice any difference at all from regular antiperspirant/deodorant. a super hot trip to los angeles, what little heat we’ve had in seattle, as well as my usual pilates and running have been no match for these deodorants. again, i do like one a bit more than the other. the spa therapy, imo, lasts a bit longer and is available in scents that are more appealing to me. the scent thing is obviously personal, but i like the sweet, dessert scents offered by spa therapy. my favorite so far has been the lemon meringue scent, yummy!

i’ve bought a bunch of other products from both sellers, and i’ll probably post about them later when i’ve used them a bit more. in the meantime, if you have a handmade beauty product you like, please leave the link in comments. i’d love to try out some new things.