Holistic Living

Shape + Firm With Erbaviva Organic

October 3, 2014 By lyndsinreallife 2 Comments

I think most women can agree that shaping and firming our skin is something we are into. Especially for ladies like me who live in Southern California where it’s “beach weather” 10 months of out the year! Sometimes, we need a little more than great nutrition and exercise- we need outer nutrition for our skin. That’s where Erbaviva comes in!

First let me share a little background of who Erbaviva is:

In the defining spirit of voyagers, Robin and Anna were among the very first to seek out and source the highest quality organic ingredients possible for their original organic baby skincare line in 1996. Desiring the healthiest, safest and most natural products for their newborn, the couple developed distinctively pure products, consciously crafted with ultimately nourishing living herbs and botanicals and free from harsh detergents, chemical fragrances and other unhealthy additives. Erbaviva was born (website).

In addition to having amazing skincare products, Erbaviva was also founded in Southern California! Being that I live in SoCal, I find this extra exciting. 🙂

Disclosure: I found Erbaviva through Twitter, and connected with the company via email. They offered to send me the entire line of the shaping and firming products in the hopes that I would write an honest review on my blog. No monetary compensation was received. As always, all opinions are 100% my own.

Here’s some information on the shaping and firming line:

An exquisite custom-blended collection of USDA Certified Organic spa-grade salts and essential oils brimming with active botanicals and enzymes that effectively absorb into the skin and inspire your body’s natural ability to firm, shape and tone. These USDA certified organic skin care products bring spa quality treatments to your home. Therapeutic grade pink pepper, ginger and sandalwood stimulate circulation and tone while frankincense and helichrysum encourage cell regeneration and promote skin elasticity. Erbaviva’s Shaping and Firming line is presented in two dynamic phases for greater efficacy (website).

Products:

For the first two weeks, you start off by using the shaping line. There’s the shaping salt, shaping oil, and shaping essence. There are a few ways to use them: put the salt in your bath water, then use the oil and essence after you get out; rub the salt and oil together on your skin after your shower, then use the essence; or (if you only take showers and don’t want salt everywhere) rub the salt on your skin in the shower, then use the oil and essence after the shower.

After the two weeks, repeat this process using the firming products. Simple!

I’m super impressed by these products. They smell and feel amazing, plus they not only shape and firm my skin, they moisturize it, too! For someone who goes through a ridiculous amount of lotion a day, Erbaviva is a saving grace. I used the products for four weeks to see how they worked, and they work great! There’s definitely a difference in my thighs and stomach/love handles. My skin is smoother and looks more refreshed! Unfortunately, I don’t have any photos because my camera broke. 🙁 I’ll have to do this process again when I have a working camera, and add the photos to this post!

Erbaviva also has skincare for moms-to-be, babies, everyday essentials, bath and body, and aromatherapy! There’s so many different products, it’s almost impossible to choose which ones to get! You can check out the shaping and firming line here, and the rest of the products here.

You can also find Erbaviva on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest!

Thank you Erbaviva for the amazing opportunity to try your products, & thank you to my readers for checking out my blog!!

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XO

Lyndsay

Instagram | Twitter

Beauty Holistic Living Reviews

Benefits of Genuinely Simple’s Comfrey Cream + A Discount

September 6, 2014 By lyndsinreallife 5 Comments

Disclosure: I received free samples from Genuinely Simple in exchange for an honest review on my blog. I did not receive any monetary compensation. As always, all opinions are 100% my own.

When I found Genuinely Simple on Instagram, I was instantly intrigued. Before now, I had never heard of comfrey cream. I try to use alternative medicine as much as possible, and this includes natural lotions and salves. The comfrey cream made by Laura at Genuinely Simple is absolutely amazing!

Here’s a bit of background information about comfrey (from genuinelysimple.com):

Comfrey is a medicinal botanical plant. It has been used for centuries to treat problems of the skin, bone and muscles. Genuinely Simple infuses comfrey into olive oil along with calendula flowers. The herbs sit for weeks, allowing the nutrients to flow into the olive oil. Afterwards, they are strained out of the oil and the plant matter is composted. The infused oil is than mixed with shea butter, and candelilla wax for a thicker consistency.

Photos: The comfrey plant (courtesy of GS) | Peppermint comfrey cream from Genuinely Simple

This comfrey cream is definitely a new favorite! It comes in original, lavender, and peppermint. I use it as body lotion, hand lotion, a conditioner on my split ends, and to even out calluses on my feet. My boyfriend uses it for his joint pain on his knee. It’s something that you need to use over time to get the effect on the joints, but for simple skin care, it’s instantaneous!

I emailed back and forth with Laura, the owner of Genuinely Simple and creator of the comfrey cream you see here. She is fabulous! We both have mood disorders, so we instantly clicked. She told me a little bit about how she started making comfrey cream, and why the plant is so special to her:

“When I was 20, everything started to fall on top of me. I [took] myself off all medications, against doctors orders, but I knew this was not the answer. I struggled with insomnia when I would get “manic”. I always said, “I could not shut my brain off but my body was so tired.” During the time period I started studying natural medicine and diet, which led to adopt a strict vegan diet, exercise, and natural remedies for healing purposes (no pharmaceuticals).

i went to Australia to intern under a Naturopathic doctor, Barbra O’Neill. It was life changing. Although, I had been vegan for almost six months at the time, I learned so much on natural medicine that I felt the need to share it with everyone I knew. While I was in Australia, I took a keen to the comfrey plant. I worked with a lot of the clients and noticed how amazing comfrey worked on their backs and stiff joints. It was love and I knew this was my ticket in sharing the health message. That is why I make and sell comfrey cream.”

Photos: All the GS products from Laura | Original comfrey cream (photo from genuinelysimple.com)

The lotion bar is super cool, too! I thought it was a soap bar at first, but it’s actually lotion that you apply after you bathe or shower (it contains comfrey as well). I’m always in a hurry, so it was awesome being able to use a lotion bar as opposed to liquid lotion. It was much faster to use! Plus it’s great quality.

Photo courtesy of genuinelysimple.com

Discount Code:

Laura at Genuinely Simple has graciously offered my readers a 15% discount on all Genuinely Simple products! Isn’t she amazing?!

Check out her website at www.genuinelysimple.com – enter code BALANCED15 at checkout for your discount. It’s that simple!

You can follow Genuinely Simple on these social media platforms:

Have you ever used comfrey cream or the comfrey plant?
What do you currently use for skin ailments?

I want to thank Laura at GS for the wonderful opportunity to review your products!

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Lyndsay

Holistic Living Nutrition Personal

GAPS Diet Update – Week 3

May 11, 2014 By lyndsinreallife 10 Comments

A couple weeks ago, I posted about my new nutrition plan and why I was doing it. As a recap, I am following a plan called the GAPS diet, which basically means my digestive system is not a happy camper. The past four months have been very stressful, which led to an excess of cortisol being released (stress hormone), sugar and refined carb cravings, poor nutrition, and then an overgrowth of candida.

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Candida is a fungus/yeast that we all have a little bit of in our digestive systems. However, if it grows out of control, you get pretty scary symptoms. Since starting to detox from things like sugar, soy, dairy, gluten (grains), and refined carbs, these are the symptoms I have experienced:

hives (daily)
migraines (6 days in a row)
fatigue, no matter how healthy I eat
difficulty sleeping
abdominal/digestive pain/bloating
irritability, mood swings, depression
muscle pain, especially in my legs
weight gain
acne (I haven’t had acne in YEARS!!!!)
intense sugar and refined carb cravings

I could go on and on, but those are the ones that really stood out to me. It has been a rough 3 weeks! But I feel like I am finally getting over the hump of the worst part. I started a 21 day cleanse (through Herbalife), I’m taking a supplement called FloraFiber daily (probiotics), and I just ordered goldenseal root (to push the candida out) and another probiotic. I already feel so much better!! I definitely have a ways to go with getting healthy again, but I can already feel a difference, and it is soo comforting!

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Sugar addiction and sugar detoxing are no joke. I was blaming myself for having a hard time cutting it out completely, but I was reassured that it really is my body that craves the sugar! It’s so similar to a drug addiction, it’s crazy. Did you know sugar is 8 times more addicting than cocaine? There was a study done on rats, and the rats chose the sugar over the cocaine every time.

Anyway, I feel like I’m rambling. I wanted to share a little bit of an update about this sugar detox since I know a few of you are following my updates (which I so so appreciate!!). If anything, I have totally learned how essential it is to truly take care of our bodies. Yes, I knew it was important before, but I feel like now, I have a deeper understanding of why we need to nourish our bodies with real food and get those toxins out through exercise. So many of us are living with poor gut health, and we don’t even realize it! I can’t stress enough how important it is to take care of our digestive system. 90% of our immune system is in our gut.

Healthy gut = happy life. 🙂