Back in Business! (GIVEAWAY!)

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Wow, it feels good to open up the laptop and write a new post again! PLUS, I am so excited to be able to visit each of you this morning and leave a comment after so long of just reading!! I hope I haven't lost too many readers :)

And, just like I promised, it's time for a celebration giveaway!!

As you know, we've switched most of our food to organic/natural, and that has extended into other products around our home, too, like shampoo, soap, and cleaning products. I don't consider switching the home products to be quite as important as food, but some of the ones that come into contact with our skin are something to consider because of some of the ingredients, for example parabens which mimic estrogen and therefore can have an effect on our hormone system that we are so desperately trying to manage!!!

My favorite website for natural products is vitacost. There are tons of reviewed products, from vitamins to laundry detergent. And their prices are better than at least the stores in my area, usually by a couple of bucks. For my giveaway, I will be offering one of two products- you can choose which one you'd like!!

E&O Peppermint and Tea Tree Hand Soap: Alot of the naturally-fragranced products use lavender. I got the world's largest bar of all-natural lavender soap for our downstairs bathroom in the spring, and at that time I mentioned to my acupuncturist that we'd switched to natural soaps, and I had this amazing lavender one, and she told me that lavender oil is used in some instances to bring on your period, so I shouldn't use it during the 2ww! Ack!! So when searching for a new (period-inducing-free) bathroom hand soap, I was really happy to find this one. The scent is just right- not too overpowering or girly (for the very manly husbands)- and it definitely does not dry out your hands. But it also cleans very well- so I have a bottle at the kitchen sink, too. Plus, the blue bottle is really pretty, and the soap is paraben free!!

Earth Friendly Wave Lavender Dishwasher Soap: Okay, since I don't wash with this soap, I allow it to be lavender. Ha! It really does make the kitchen smell nice!! But more importantly, I have found this product to work better than cascade! We don't have a very new dishwasher, and I am not one to rinse all my dishes, and when I was using cascade, alot of my glasses would not get clean on the inside- to the point where I just started handwashing all the glasses. Amazingly, this product gets all my glasses clean!! (Unless, I put something really icky in there without rinsing it, but that is my fault...) I am always impressed by how well this product works, and it doesn't contain bleach or any other harmful ingredients that are prevalent in other dishwasher soaps. (I was using Palmolive Eco because it is free of alot of the other chemicals, but then I checked the label and it contained bleach!) Anyway, I think you will be impressed with this product. You have to remember to shake the bottle before putting it into your dishwasher though :)

So there you have it! I hope you will want to enter this giveaway and go explore the natural products for you and your home! (I'm not being paid by vitacost- I did email them to see if they wanted to partner, but I haven't heard back yet- still hoping they will want to in the future!)

To enter, leave a comment and tell me which product you'd choose and why! I'm keeping it simple :) (ETA: No comments after 5pm EST Friday. I'll announce the winner (random) on Saturday morning!)

13 comments:

Brigittemarie said...

I want to pick the dishwasher soap BUT I would have to pick the hand soap because I don't have a dishwasher. HA!! Glad you are back in business ;)

Adam and Julia said...

I want the handsoap. Being pregnant has really turned my hands into cracked sad versions of their formal selves. I can't wait to try it!

Jos said...

The dishwasher soap! My husband and I recently bought a house, and it's the first time I've had a dishwasher in 10 years. I think it's time for me to learn more about the best products to use in it!

Coco said...

Oooh. I would never be able to choose between those two!!! Lavendar or Peppermint w/ tea tree oil.... Two of my all time favorites!!! Bummer that lavendar can make you have a period. I didn't know that. But I am glad to see you back on line! Hope all is going well.

Hillary said...

Welcome back! :) I, too, have had the commenting breaks....totally understand!

Thanks for doing the giveaway - I choose the handsoap since I have quite a stash of dishwasher soap at the moment. Thanks for doing a giveaway!

makingmemom.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Welcome back to blogging.

Lisa said...

Oh dear...hard choice...dishwasher soap??

Thanks for the comment earlier today, or maybe yesterday...I forget. It's good to have you back. :)

Jessica said...

Welcome back! I've been slacking with comments too...it's okay. I'm glad you like the hope figurine!!! We got our dog 2 months ago...so I'm hoping that I will find them cuddling together sometime soon:)

I pick the hand soap because I'm addicted to hand soap! I always have like 20 different kinds under my sink and always seem to come home with more!

Anonymous said...

Welcome back! I would love the hand soap...peppermint is my favorite!!! It relaxes me, it's def my all time favorite scent for massages/bath stuff. =)

Rach said...

The peppermint soap! I think it would smell great!!

Erica said...

Good to see you and I'm glad your computer issues are remedied! I would definitely pick the dishwasher soap. Our apartment has a very old dishwasher that barely cleans. The maintence guys told me all the apliances are 30 years old and it's to be expected. I have taken to lots of hand-washing. I'd love to see if a really good quality soap would make a difference. Or maybe we just need to move, or both!

Anonymous said...

I would pick the dishwasher detg :).

But, WHAT THE WHAT? Lavender oil can bring on a period?!?! I use the Dr. Bronner's castille liquid soap with lavender oil EVERY day. Ummm, wow. I guess I need to switch back to the peppermint! I just loved more girly lavendar scent...but I had no idea. Now that I google it, I see that both lavender and tea tree oil "contain compounds that act like female sex hormones". That is some crazy stuff...

Trisha said...

Glad you're back and everything is going well. Thanks for your continued prayers! I would pick the handsoap...my favorite!