Find the guide here.

1. Chocolate Pumpkin Spice cake soap, 2. pumpkin soap, 3. Pumpkin Spice Soap, 4. Elegant Pumpkin Pie Spice Soap

Naya Organics products are founded on the philosophy of “Less is More” when it comes to your skin.  Everything that Kelsey creates is natural, organic, sustainable, and of course, cruelty free.  As our skin is our largest organ, what you apply to it is very important to your health and well being.

The Naya line consists of body scrubs, balms, and oils in a range of scents and essential oil benefits.  My favorites are the Bloom organic body scrub, which includes jasmine (my favorite!) and lavender buds for a calming combination; and the Linden Flower body oil.  The body scrubs are moisturizing without being greasy and the body oils absorb quickly and both leave just the right amount of scent on the skin.

Naya offers sample packs of the oils, scrubs, and a sampler with the entire line in addition to the full sized items.   Naya Organics products are available at select stores in the Bay Area and in several states, in addition to online.  Find more information and the full product line here.

1. Ghouls & Goblins Soaps, 2. BOO Glow In The Dark Ghost Soap, 3. Candy Corn Loofah Soap, 4. OwlSoap

1. Bubbling Bath Salts – Cucumber, Raspberry, and Lavender, 2. Relaxation Bath Salts, 3. Moisturizing Bath Salts, 4. Botanical Bath Salts, 5. Sea Maid Bath Salts, 6. fizzlav3FIZZTASTIC, lavender bath fizzy salts, 7. Bath Salts Castaway Green Tea, 8. Lavender Bath Salts, 9. bath salts bubbles

Upon returning home, about an hour or so after having had the makeup applied, my facial skin started to tingle, and then burn and turn red. I hurriedly washed off the makeup, but attributed the stinging sensation to the primer that was applied before the mineral foundation. My skin continued to tingle all night, but felt a bit better the next day, so I decided to try the foundation again, without any primer. Again, with home application, I found that the foundation itself provided about the same amount of coverage as other mineral foundations, but after applying the mineral veil, my skin looked  healthy and even. Unfortunately, again within the hour, my skin started to tingle and sting and I had to wash off the makeup. At this point, I had determined that it was the makeup and not the primer.

How could something “so pure, you can sleep in it” cause such a bad reaction? After doing some research, I learned that bareMinerals is made of only five ingredients: titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, mica, iron oxide and bismuth oxychloride. Bismuth oxychloride is a known skin irritant, but in small amounts, generally doesn’t affect most people. In fact, the makeup I had been previously using included bismuth oxychloride in its ingredients, but at the end of the ingredients list. With only five ingredients, a much higher percentage of bismuth oxychloride is used. Bismuth oxychloride is used to give a shimmery, silky effect, and to help the powder adhere to the skin. Most people don’t have any reaction to bismuth oxychloride, but for the few who do, it can be quite painful. It has been a week since I used bareMinerals and even though I only had it on my face for about an hour, my face is still a bit sensitive, although it is finally lessening.

Luckily, Bare Escentuals has a 30 day return policy, so I took the starter kit back to the store and explained what happened. The clerk was very apologetic and told me about their brand new product, Matte, which just debuted last week. She assured me that there was no bismuth oxychloride in Matte and gave me a sizable sample to take home to try. I tried the Matte and wore it an entire day with no side effects, but I think I will try it out a bit longer before deciding whether to purchase a full-sized foundation or not.

Despite my unfortunate experience with bareMinerals, I am still a big proponent of mineral makeup. If you are interested in trying bareMinerals in the original or matte formulas, I would recommend visiting a local store and asking for a sample to try first, whether you have sensitive skin or not.   It is not only people who have sensitive skin that can have allergic reactions to bismuth oxychloride.

Alternatively, there are also a number of bismuth-free mineral makeup products available on the market. Here’s just a few:
Jane Iredale
Glominerals
Aromaleigh
Afterglow Cosmetics
Mineral Silk
Avon

1. Bath Bombs, 2. Bath Bomb, 3. Coconut Cocoa butter bath bomb, 4. SV. Soaps Coco Mango Bath Bomb, 5. I Love you Bath BOmbs, 6. Fizzy Bath Bombs, 7. Luxury Rose Bath Bomb, 8. Moonlight Breeze Bath Bomb, 9. Coconut Cream Sky Bath Bombs