Beyond the Spritz: Sun Bum Sunscreen SPF 50

Here is to age letting me learn to love the beach again. In my twenties I hated going to the beach, overly self-conscious being the culprit but thankfully I entered my thirties and have come to the point of not giving too much thought anymore if I have the perfect "beach body". I don't, I'm pale and my figure is not lean, but fuck it I want to enjoy the beach and that is what I am going to do.

The thing is though with that severe paleness, a token of my Normandy French heritage I have to wear sunscreen, like intense high SPF stuff, and in addition I have sensitive skin so a good amount of my beauty routine is spent finding new sunscreens that don't irritate me. I should add everyone should where sunscreen, Baz Luhrman is correct about that. My everyday sunscreen is scentless yet last weekend I found myself on the way to my future sister-in-laws bachelorette weekend and knew I needed a good sport sunscreen. Enter Sun Bum, I've seen it everywhere, it is the "it" sunscreen at the moment.

Sun Bum will never be an everyday sunscreen for me for one simple reason: it is highly fragranced yet it makes for the perfect beach scent. I feel like Sun Bum must have hired a perfumer and said "Give me the most coconut-ty pina colada scent you can think of. We want people to think "This is BEACH in the Summer."" Sun Bum starts off intensely pina colada, it's caramalized pineapple and coconut cream. That scent remains the same for quite awhile yet as time goes by below all that is a vanilla soft serve scent with just a hint of woods but still very much laced by coconut.

As for the formula of the sunscreen itself. This stuff works. That day I was the only person who did not get a sunburn. Inherently I believe part of the problem was many people opted for spray sunscreens that in studies have been shown to not work nearly as effectively. Also I intensely re-applied. The nice thing about Sun Bum is the formula is not too sticky, it moisturizes well but does not leave me feeling greasy. Other things to consider before applying sunscreen, moisturize well before applying sunscreen it will help with even out distribution of your sunscreen.

As for my beach song today, doesn't seem quite right but I love it:

My other summer jam Mitski's "Your Best American Girl"

The book: American Housewife: Stories by Helen Ellis. Amazing bizarro story lines, surreal biting humor, and satire.

first image from Sun Bum
second image from Amazon.com

Beyond the Spritz: Balance Conditioner by Everyone

About two years ago my scalp became hypersensitive and it took me a very long time to figure out the culprit of the issue, I eventually figured it out and realized it was sulfates. I tried many different methods of trying to clean my hair the first being the no-poo method of washing my hair but found over time I didn't like the results (especially when combined with hard water), shampoo bars (once again does not work with hard water), and many different forms of sulfate free forms of shampoo and conditioner and almost all could not handle hard water. I eventually lucked out in my journey in trying the rather new Everyone Balance Shampoo and Conditioner, finally a sulfate free duo that could handle hard water.

Yet, the thing that strikes me every time I used the Everyone Balance Conditioner is that real smoky earthy vetiver essential oil is used in it. If you have ever wondered what vetiver essential oil smells like but don't want to pick up a bottle of it then I recommend going out and smelling the Everyone Balance Conditioner. The funny this is that the Balance Shampoo definitely does not smell of vetiver, in fact it is rather a natural citrus scent, so this draws me to the conclusion that the vetiver actually must play a genuine role in the product.

It is rather refreshing to have a shampoo and conditioner that do not smell of fruits or flowers, I've actually always been a fan of earthier scents when bathing and this definitely fits my earthier scent predilections when bathing.

First Image from Shape.com
Second Image from Whitelotusaromatics.com

Beyond the Spritz: Cinnamon Orange & Shea Soap by Pamela Soap

I'll say it now I love bar soap. I mean shower gels are nice but for some reason bar soap remains my favorite still. On the other hand cheap bar soap is not a favorite of mine and I believe is the number one reason bar soap gets a bad rep. The Cinnamon Orange & Shea Soap by Pamela Soap is the perfect example of why handmade bar soap should be held in esteem. I found Pamela Soap because I went to my very local and very tiny Farmer's Market and saw their stand. I was even more thrilled when I found out that the soap being sold was being made so close to where I live. Well I dithered about and bought one of their soaps as a Christmas present and then I bought two soaps for myself. I spoke to the very nice husband of Pamela, the soap maker, who was the sale's rep for the day, and got to learn about their soap and overall it was a very nice experience.  On the other hand the real proof of how good the soap is in the actual use of it.

The first soap I have used so far is the utterly winter perfect Cinnamon Orange & Shea Soap. This is a cinnamon scent supported by lovely soft haze of orange. The cinnamon in this scent smells of real cinnamon not the fake awful stuff that causes headaches and makes me question my whole liking of cinnamon. Nope, this is type of cinnamon that has real layers, it reminds me a bit of my current cinnamon, Vietnamese cinnamon from Penzey's, open this cinnamon up, and you smell all the complexity that cinnamon can have from floral notes to herbal notes.. The cinnamon used in the soap has hints of lavender, rosemary, and cedar in it, the scent is very warm and natural. Supported by all of this is light soft orange.

Okay, I said I would not do too much of a review of the actual qualities of the product, but as a long time bar soap user I feel like I can actually bring a little clarification to this discussion. I use all my bar soaps with a Japanese style wash cloth to get the best lather and longevity out of my soap. I highly recommend. On the other hand if you are finding that your soap is leaving a film on you and this includes also your shampoo and body wash it means you have hard water. I have hard water and this is also why I am so in love with Pamela Soap, Pamela is making a artisan natural soap that is able to handle hard water. I am left with with clean, soft, and not overly dried skin with this soap. If you have hard water you will understand that this can be incredibly hard to find in almost any cleansing product and even more so in natural products.

First Two Images are from Pamelasoap.com
Third Image from AuthorityNutrition.com

Beyond the Spritz: Bohemian Rose Olive Oil Body Balm by 80 Acres

So I thought I would start the new year with a week dedicated to a new column/subject matter idea that I have had floating around in my head for awhile, which is looking at different products that purvey fragrance. I don't necessarily want to call it a body products review because frankly it is just not my area of expertise and there are much better reviewers on that subject matter but I do like the idea of talking about fragrance in different formats. So the perspective I am bringing is first the scent part and then the actual qualities of the product.

I recently took some out of town friends to the Ferry Building in San Francisco. I love the building but admit at times it gets way too crowded but for once I was in the holiday spirit and playing tour guide in the Ferry Building was a lot of fun. As always I had to stop at the McEvoy Ranch shop and taste their olive oils and test out their body products. I feel like it was rather serendipitous that we stopped their that day because they had a new body product line, Bohemian Rose on display. As always rose has a siren call for me and I had to try the new scent out.

What Bohemian Rose reminds me of is
another moment I had a few years ago in the Ferry Building. I was taking myself out once again for my yearly birthday adventure and after visiting the comic museum to see an exhibit on Neil Gaiman's Sandman series I stopped at the Ferry Building to pick up cheese at Cowgirl Creamery. I felt like getting myself a sweet though before tackling the cheese shop so I stopped at Miette Bakery and I got myself a rose geranium macaroon. That little macaroon was a real eyeopener for me in discovering the beautiful flavor rose geranium can have when used properly. The flavor was at once softly rosy with hints of lemon and sweetly softened by the buttercream base. I've thought about that macaroon quite often since I've had it. Bohemian Rose smells a lot like that for me it is at once wonderfully rosy and tart like rose geranium but has a delicately sweetened base that keeps it tempered it is a bit more herbal than the macaroon but it is still a delicate interpretation of rose geranium to my nose.

The formula for body balm is wonderful. It is deeply moisturizing and leaves my skin feeling moisturized without feeling greasy which is a frequent complaint of mine when it comes to body balms.  While researching the product it turns out that I found that 80 Acres has only released their Bohemian Rose line at their Ferry Building shop but will be releasing it online in February 2016. It makes me wonder if they are trying to get the Valentine's Day crowd.

First image from Day Spa Magazine
Second Image from Sabrina Ko Photography