Problem fixed: You can now comment on posts

Problem fixed! You can now comment on all of the posts.

Sorry for any problems caused and I look forward to reading all of your messages!

xx

Meet my new flowers!

Keeping a plant in your room has been found to improve air circulation, remove impurities from the air and to improve mood. I just bought it because it looks pretty. And pretty things always improve my mood! With the darker nights, I need all the brightness I can get!

Pretty orchids in my new plant pot

Orchids are one of my favourite flowers. Not only are they so pretty but they are so easy to look after too.

Do you have any favourite flowers?

xx

Wysteria Lane goodies pt 1

I am crazy about Wysteria Lane. I had bought a couple of things from their website before that I fell crazy in love with. So you can't possibly imagine my surprise when I found that they had opened in town.

Their boutique is so pretty. I literally want to live there! I want to sleep, eat and dance there! I'll try and see if I can take some pictures there to show you how gorgeous the place is. Oh, and their staff are so lovely!

So here is my latest purchase from Wysteria Lane....

Lovingly wrapped and bagged. How cute, right!

If you open it carefully then you can reuse the wrapping instead of throwing it away

The beautiful mirrored plant pot inside. Isn't it purty?

I'm planning on using it as a home for my new plant but you can use it to grow herbs in the kitchen or as a pretty vase for freshly cut flowers. It would be a beautiful gift on it's own or filled with any plant.

The pot is about 12cm high with a diameter of about 13cm. It costs only £4.99! Complete with the beautiful wrapping for no extra charge!

They don't currently sell it on their website so if you can't head down to any of their boutiques (two in Shropshire and one in The Pavillions, Birmingham), it might be worthwhile asking if they can deliver this particular item especially for you.

Keep your eyes peeled for more of my buys from Wysteria Lane. In the meantime, have a look at how I used my pot.

xx

Another way to follow Love From Eden

Love From Eden is now on Facebook.
Simply click on the below image to like this page and stay updated on all future posts.
Hope to see you there soon!

Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap

Following my previous soap review, I wanted a soap that is 100% natural. So naturally I went on Lovelula.com and started a difficult decision on which of their many soaps to get.

I have never seen so much soap on one website. Not even at a supermarket or Lush!  (Yes you read that correctly!) Many of the soaps are part of the Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps range, which come in solid bar form, hand washes and multi-purpose liquid soaps that can be used in the shower. Scents include peppermint, rose and lavender, to name a few. Even though they are scented, they are 100% natural including the fragrances. Most of the ingredients are also organic and fair trade.

Eventually, I decided to go for the unscented baby-mild soap as I love the creamy smell of baby soap. Unfortunately, it turned out not to smell like that but it does have a mild familiar smell  to it (due to the combination of different natural oils, I assume) that I really like.

The soap comes in it's traditionally designed packaging, which is 10% hemp-flax and 90% post cosnumer recycled paper. The soap is pretty big - probably about the size of 2 regular soap bars. So at £3.49 it is quite good value.

When using it, I noticed that it doesn't melt and lather in my hands. So by not melting, you'll be using less soap and it will last you longer. It does start to lather when massaging my hands together. In fact, it produces A LOT of foam (no wonder it's called magic soap) so you don't need to use a lot of soap to begin with.

When rising my hands, they felt very silky because of the many natural oils the soap contains such as coconut oil and jojoba seed oil.

Overall, I am very pleased with my purchase and would definitely keep buying from this range. I think next time I will try peppermint.

xx

Keep fit without leaving the house

Winter is the perfect excuse to stay indoors in our warm, cosy homes, instead of working up a sweat. But there's no need to let winter get in the way of our health and fitness when there are so many exercises to do at home for the fraction of a cost of a gym membership.

I love Pilates and Yoga and not only because they involve a lot of lying down. Winter normally makes me lethargic and Yoga and Pilates have really helped by stretching my tired muscles whilst toning them. They are also great for burning calories, depending on the workout you choose to do.

I've found a great website called My Yoga Online that is full of videos as well as articles on Yoga, Pilates, dance and overall health. The videos vary in length so you can fit them 5 minutes in the morning or go for a long 75 minute weekend session.

You would need to join to access the full videos as well as to take advantage of other benefits such as keeping a wellness diary. But it is really great value, especially compared to how much you would pay at a studio. It costs $9.85 a month which is just £6.25 (at time of writing).

I've watched some of the taster videos and I can't wait to start! I'll let you know how it goes. Until then, why not try out some of the video samples and see if you like it?

xx

Great news for followers

Great news!

If you're following Love From Eden, you can now receive updates via Google Reader. There had been some technical issues for the past few weeks where updates wouldn't show on any reader but they have now been fixed.

If you're not following then now is a good time to click on that Follow button and receive updates as soon as any new posts are published.

xx

My Lovelula.com purchases have arrived!

Tea, biscuits and a box of goodies in the mail that I ordered from Love Lula the organic apothecary. A great start to the day!

The cute box

Inside

A cute card that came in the box. A nice reminder to take everywhere with me in my wallet.

Inside

So this is what I bought:

• Urtekram Rose shampoo
• Dr Bronner's mild baby soap
• Natracare natural sanitary towels
• Elysambre eyeliner in White
• Free Oskia London samples

I will be reviewing all of these very soon so keep your eyes peeled!

xx

Feed your hair

Being North African, I have crazy coarse hair that needs a lot of taming! A lot of my family have lovely, soft hair but I get the unlucky gene as always! :P

After causing further abuse to my hair, armed with a pair of very hot GHDs, I decided to give it a little mercy and embrace my curls. But then I found that a lot of hair products are heavy and seem to sit on my hair making it look greasy, instead of absorbing into the hair and leaving it looking soft and healthy.

Then I found L'Olio Hair Food by Cioccolatina!

This stuff does exactly what it says on the bottle - it feeds my hair, giving it the moisture that it so desperately needs. Usually, after washing my hair, it goes quite frizzy once it has dried. But after using only a couple of drops of L'Olio Hair Food on my damp hair, my curls were really smooth and had a healthy and natural looking glow.

How does it do it?!!

Well let's have a look at some of the ingredients...

Sapote (organic) oil: Sapote Oil prevents hair loss and promotes hair growth

Ximenia oil: conditions the scalp and nourishes the hair 

Kukui nut oil: Conditions the hair and leaves it silky and shiny

Rosehip oil: Rich in Vitamin C. It strengthens thin/ damaged hair and soothes the scalp

Papaya oil: Conditions the hair and imparts shine

And these are only a few of the many natural ingredients it contains.

So if your hair is hungry for moisture, then feed it this healthy cocktail of natural oils. L'Olio Hair food is truly an amazing product that I would definitely recommend.

It costs £4.85 for 30ml and a few drops go a long way!

Visit Sheabuttercottage.co.uk for L'Olio Hair Food and many other natural hair and body products.

xx

Cargo PlantLove illuminator and blushers

Wouldn't it be nice to look sunkissed and glowing all year round?  It might seem impossible, especially here in cold, grey England. But Cargo PlantLove have, in my honest opinion, the perfect solution.

The illuminator in Wind is a beautiful mix of gold, copper, bronze and pink for a tanned and blushing look. I mostly use it just on my cheeks but I sometimes use a little on my nose and forehead too.

The colour stays on for a few hours before fading off but the shimmer lasts all day.

Wouldn't it be nice if we all looked soooo beautiful close up?

Puresha have a lovely video showing how to use it...

I also bought two blushers. A pretty rosy pink colour in Rose and a slightly shimmery peach shade in Peony. Both of these shades are so beautiful!

Rose

Peony

There are plenty more gorgeous shades on Puresha.com. But be quick because some of them have sold out!

xx

Cargo PlantLove eyeshadows

I love using Cargo PlantLove eyeshadows. Unlike many 100% natural eyeshadows, these babies stay on my peepers for hours! The texture is just right - not too rough and not oily - whilst the natural oils, such as rosehip fruit oil and sunflower seed oil, give a smooth finish. And they are so pigmented that you don't need to use so much so they will last you forever. They're a great investment and I totally recommend them.

However, if you're prone to getting eyeshadow creases, then I suggest using a primer.

Beech

Beech is a shimmery peachy nude colour. This isn't too shimmery and can be used during the day. I certainly do! I like to use it on my brow bone as well as my eyelids for a simple yet pretty look.

Sparrow

As you can see, Sparrow is a dark brown. I like to use this in the crease of my eyes to give more depth. Using a slanted eyeliner brush, I also like to use it under my lower lashes as an alternative to eyeliner. It gives a much softer effect than black. Not only that, but I use it to fill in my brows AND I use it for contouring all over my face such as the sides of my nose and my cheeks!

Bluejay

This is a shimmery dark blue shade. It is perfect for a smoky eye on a night out complimented with a nude gloss on the lips. If you're brave, why not line your lower lashes with this vibrant colour? 

Bamboo

Bamboo is a shimmery medium brown, which gives an overall beautiful bronze colour. It's a really glamorous colour!

Some of these shades have already sold out so go to Puresha.com before they're all gone!

xx

Cargo PlantLove lipstick, lipgloss and lipliner

I'm going to be reviewing Cargo PlantLove's lipstick in Evangeline, lipgloss in Jasmine and lipliner in Pink. Enjoy! :)

Evangeline lipstick

The Evangeline lipstick is a beautiful coral red shade. It was chosen especially by the actress Evangeline Lily. I absolutely adore this colour! It is that perfect coral shade that suits anyone no matter their skin tone (I normally cannot use certain coral shades as they bring out my yellow undertones leaving me looking sick!).

It stays on for quite a few hours and, unlike many lipsticks, does not dry out my lips thanks to the many natural oils it contains.

And let's not forget the packaging. All PlantLove cases are made from corn (would you believe it!) . Not only that but the lipstick box is made up of wildflower seeds so you can just stick it in some soil and watch the pretty flowers grow!

Plus, (yes there's more!) $2 from each lipstick goes to St Jude Children's Hospital!

Lipgloss in Jasmine

Unlike the swatch and description provided by Cargo, Jasmine is light brown toffee colour and not a soft pink. So if you're looking for a light brown lipgloss and can pull it off, unlike myself, then this would be a great choice.

Lipliner in Pink

I was worried that the lipliner in Pink would be too... pink. Thankfully it is a cross between a 'kinda-dark' nude shade and a light pink, which is exactly what I was looking for. This lipliner glides on easily and stays on for hours and hours and hours without rubbing off. I absolutely love it!

Check out Puresha.com to purchase any of these beauties and more!

xx

What's for dinner?

Today I made yummy salmon croquettes with a cucumber salad. Everyone at home LOVED them!

Thanks, Sophie Uliano!

For dessert, I made grilled figs with creme fraiche and honey.

This dessert is so so easy and only takes a couple of minutes.

It looks like a butterfly! :D

1. Preheat your grill.
2. Cut your figs in quarters but don't cut all the way through. The quarters need to stay attached at the base.
3. Spread a little butter inside the figs.
4. Sprinkle some sugar on top of the butter.
5. Place on a baking tray and leave on the bottom shelf of the grill for no more than 5 minutes.
6. Once cooked, add a dollop or creme fraiche, double cream or Greek yogurt. I used creme fraiche but I'd prefer double cream if we had any.
7. Drizzle some honey on top.
8. If you like, you can also throw some nuts on top, such as flaked almonds.

Bon appetit!

xx

A cure for the sniffles

I'm really poorly today (cough cough sniff sniff!) :'(

Since I'm trying my very best to avoid unnatural products, including medicines, I'm doing things the old fashioned way by resting and letting my immune system do it's thang!

If your immune system needs a boost, like my poorly self does right now, then give it a good dose of vitamin C, which, as you know, is found in citrus fruits especially lemons.

So like they say, if life gives you lemons, make some juicy lemonade...

For more natural recipes, check out Sophie Uliano's books.

Got any spare clicks?

Everyclick.com is a website with a built in Yahoo powered search engine. Whenever you search on their website, they will kindly pop a penny into the charity pot of your choice.

If you search on eBay or Shop.com on Everyclick.com a percentage of the sales will go to charity!

Did you know that 1.5p can feed a child in Gambia?* That's only one and half clicks!

Why not set this website as your homepage to remind you to use it. You'll be surprised how much difference switching search engines makes! (A couple of meals difference!)

You don't need an account to start this but it will help you keep track of how well you're doing.

So get clicking! :)

*Fresh Start Foundation The Gambia. Registered Charity no 1118109

Fruity ideas

Looking back, I have not eaten any fruit the past week. I drank fruit in the form of juice. But eaten it? Nope! Not a single grape! So my aim this week is to eat more fruit.

This isn't easy considering I don't even like it. Plus it's winter so there's another reason not to want to eat something cold.

So I Googled around for fun and fruity ways to get my five a day...

Fruit with Greek yogurt

Fruit parfait

Recipe

Fruit salad

Recipe

Porridge with fruit

Baked figs

Recipe

Fruit on crackers with honey/ chocolate spread/
peanut butter

Baked fruit kebab

Recipe

Fruit - how do you eat yours? Any ideas/recipes you love?

xo

How to make vanilla body cream

Vanilla body cream... Doesn't that sound delicious?

Sophie Uliano, author of the New York Times bestseller, Gorgeously Green, shows us how...





For more eco-friendly and health-friendly recipes, tips and tricks, check out her books!

Healthy haul

I get so excited food shopping! I especially love buying products that are healthy and taste good. By healthy I don't mean all that low fat processed 'stuff' (I can't really call it food) such as those made by diet companies. I mean real food made from real ingredients. With all their healthy fats and complex carb oats. Yum! A lot of the goodies I buy tend to be made from only a few simple ingredients instead of a concoction of E numbers.

Here is what I bought from Holland and Barrett today (I actually only went in for some coconut oil, which they didn't have)...

• Nairns Cheese oatcakes
• Nairns organic herb and pumpkin seed oatcakes
• Whole Earth Smooth Original peanut butter
• Sesame Snaps
• Sunita Whole Tahini
• Sunita Honey Halva
• A cotton carrier bag because I didn't bring my shopping bag with me

Holland and Barrett have buy one get one half price on all items in store for a limited time only!

Cargo PlantLove haul!

My package from Puresha.com arrived yesterday full of natural goodies lovingly wrapped in Furoshiki.

The lovely Furoshiki

Here are all the things I bought...

The ingredients in the cosmetics are 100% natural (some of the ingredients are organic too), the boxes are made from post-consumer waste, the lipstick box is embedded with wildflower seeds that can be planted, and the cases are made corn. The whole range is clean and green!

I'll be reviewing all these products as well as putting up some FOTD's soon so look out for them!

xx

Une Natural Beauty

When I decided to stop using synthetic beauty products, I went out to buy a few basic make up items to start off my new collection. I had heard about Une a few months ago and was eager to try it out. If you haven't heard of Une, it is a cosmetics brand that uses natural and organic ingredients in all their products.

Unlike most niche brands that use natural ingredients, Une is available in Boots, as well as Superdrug, so I had the chance to see the colours exactly as they really are and to try them out before I buy too. Plus it meant that I could take them straight home with me!

I came home with Skin-Glow foundation in G02, Skin-Echo concealer in E01, All in One black mascara in A01, Absolute Blacks Kohl in K01, Lip-Toned Colour red lipstick in L09 and a dark pink one in L02.

Skin-Glow foundation in G02

98.2% natural

17.1% organic

I found that this liquid foundation evens out my skin tone very well whilst looking like I'm not wearing any foundation at all. It is very light and has a similar consistency to tinted moisturisers so it is very easy to apply and does not give a cakey look.

My only problem with this product is that it comes off really easily. So I always end up with foundation all over my mobile or my camera. It also messes up my concealer whether I apply concealer before or after foundation, which is a BIG pain!

Overall, it is a good product that is easy to apply, evens out skin tone and gives a natural looking glow. But you will get this stuff all over your phone!

Skin-Echo concealer in E01

99.2% natural

I must be very honest here. This concealer doesn't work at all. It is very thin so it doesn't doesn't cover any of my flaws. When blending it in, it smudges the foundation completely off my skin and makes me look more like a panda than before :( DEFINITELY not buying this again. A complete waste of money.

Looking at the reviews on the Boots website, I'm not the only one to experience these problems. I have contacted Une about this but they seem to be ignoring me.

All in One black mascara in A01

98.7% natural

The mascara is one of my favourite products from this line. It lengthens, thickens and curls my lashes without leaving any clumps. It makes my eyes stand out so much that my dark circles become less noticeable. It is also very easy to remove compared to other mascaras I've tried so there is no need to rub it off so much that your eyelashes fall off.

A problem with this product is that it takes a while to dry. One sneeze and I have mascara smudged all around my eyes! Another thing I don't like about it is that my lashes only stay curled for a few minutes before they flatten out again.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: I've just found out that this product contains SLS. It's probably the reason why my lashes have been so thin and short ever since using this product. So I definitely do NOT recommend this product at all!

Absolute Blacks Kohl in K01

100% natural

29.7% organic

The kohl is soft so it glides on very well and it is soft enough to smudge with a wet brush for a more dramatic effect. However, it isn't quite dark enough to use to line my eyelids so I go over it with a black eyeshadow. I mostly use it for my waterline and I love how it smudges under my eye (in a nice neat way). It doesn't last very long on the waterline but it lasts all day under my eye.

Lip-Toned Colour red lipstick in L09 and L02

100% natural

21.8% organic

With the amount of lipstick women wear over their lifetime, it is scary to hear how much of it ends up inside our bodies, especially considering the harmful ingredients they contain. As the Lip-toned colour lipsticks are completely natural, I can carry on wearing lipstick without the fear of licking toxins off my lips.

I tend to use the pink lipstick when I go out as it is close to my natural lip colour except more pinkier. The colour looks quite natural and the natural oils leave them nice and soft. The red one is the perfect deep red shade for occasions.

What I didn't like about these lipsticks is that they don't stay on very long. They come off instantly on my morning coffee cup and fade during the day.

Tip: For a softer pink shade, apply only one coat of the L02 lipstick over concealer

Tip: If you don't have any clear lip gloss to apply over your lipstick, use lip balm instead, such as Balm Balm.

Overall, these products are 'satisfactory'. They do the job but they come off so easily which is such a bother for me, especially considering the prices. Une Beauty is still a new brand so I hope they develop their products to make them stay on longer without smudging.

To buy, visit boots.com or superdrug.com. Alternatively, click here to find your nearest stockist.

xx

Should people be forced to smell your perfume?

As you may know from my previous post, I am trying my very best to stay away from synthetic products. So this includes perfume. It has been over a month since I last put on any perfume. Since then, I have begun noticing scents a lot better. My nose has, for some reason, become extra sensitive to perfume worn by others and it's suffocating!

It is mostly the floral scents that smell too sickly sweet to me these days, which is surprising since I used to love sweet smelling perfumes in my perfume wearing days. I actually put on a little perfume today and I felt physically sick. That serves me right for spraying toxic chemicals onto myself! Never again!

Though while I stay away from spraying any perfume, I can't help what other people are polluting my fresh air with. These days, I am either breathing in people's toxic perfumes, people's toxic car fumes or people's toxic cigarette smoke. It is a shame that everyone else gets the smell of freedom while they pollute the very air that I'm breathing! What happened to the freedom to smell some fresh air for once!

I'm not saying people shouldn't have their freedom to do as they wish, but they should really be considerate of others by spraying less perfume. I mean if you wanna spray a little, go ahead! But there's no need to spray so much and make everyone else smell it. If I get nauseous smelling certain fragrances, then I hate to imagine the experiences of those who actually suffer from perfume allergy or asthma! Or even pregnant women who are not only passing on these toxins to their babies but also get morning sickness from just by smelling these fragrances.

In related news, check this out: Perfume protest: Teens Storm 'Toxic' Abercrombie and Fitch

My opinion? You guessed it! Quit spraying!

xx

Eww! What is in your make up????

Use soap? Shampoo? Lipstick? Then you NEED to see this!

This is why I have stopped using synthetic products and why I will never promote them again on my blog (Yep, you read that correctly!)...

Don't worry. This doesn't mean that we are doomed and can't even use a bar a soap for the rest of our lives. Safe cosmetics are out there! I will do my best to review safe and natural cosmetics and toiletries on my blog.

In the meantime, check out how safe your beauty products are on cosmeticsdatabase.com and share this with everyone you know.

xx

Just a reminder...

... because we all need reminding now and then.



Happy weekend :) x