Coconut Secret | Raw Coconut Nectar

Are you also one of those who went and bought Agave Nectar only to read the next day that it’s not a better option than high fructose corn syrup? And after hearing about honey recently, surely this should have thought us not to jump on new “healty sugar substitutes” trends, there’s no such things… But being a consumer of coconut sugar, and not being much of a honey lover (it’s too sweet for me and hurts my teeth), I wanted to test it in its liquid form.

I’m not highly impressed by claims like “Low GI”, usually low GI food are high in fructose and being a frugivore there’s no such thing as to much fructose lol And while they claim that Coconut nectar is lower in fructose, there’s articles saying it’s not lower than actual table sugar. I don’t know what to think about that matter. Is it better than sugar? Yes, but it’s still sugar without fibers as I see it.

It tastes a lot like dark syrup, but with a bitter tone to it like it had a lemon squeezed. You don’t go, “Mmm so sweet”, you go, “Mmm so sweet” with a deranged face as if you’ve bitten into a lemon. That’s the best way to describe it. Luckily, this bitter or sour tone to it isn’t noticeable in cooking, only if you eat a whole spoon of it straight.

I was surprised by the bottle, it was a lot bigger than I imagined and will probably last me forever. My thoughts are to use it in raw buckwheat granola and in other recipes that call for liquid sugar or as a honey substitute.
I did the mistake of putting it in the fridge at first, and it turned out very viscous, though it says on the bottle that it doesn’t need refrigerating. That’s nice, more room for my sweet & chili sauces.

▸ The Health Benefits of Coconut Nectar

There  also was a container of Bee Pollen that I’ve mentioned many times before.

Pacifica Perfumes | Stellar Gaze Length & Strength Mineral Mascara in Supernova

★★★★☆

As I mentioned in my last iHerb Haul, I mistakingly bought the Aquarian Gaze water proof mascara, and not only that, but also in the wrong color! Nonetheless, I thought I’d order the right mascara next time to compare these two.

Well, can’t say more than that I’m deeply impressed by the Pacifica Length & Strength mascara! The formula is a bit sloppy, but the wand does a great job in combing the product onto your eyelashes. It doesn’t really build thickness as I would like… But hey, it doesn’t say anything about it on the packaging, it actually says “length” and that’s what this mascara delivers!

It can become a bit smudgy when trying to paint the lower lashes, but it’s easily removed. That’s one of the things I really like about this mascara, it comes off with just the splash of water with none to not much smudging! Of course, this doesn’t mean you won’t look like a raccoon in the rain or snowing weather, but in those cases you should go with a water proof mascara!

It doesn’t smell intensively or stings my eyes as some natural and non-natural mascaras has done to me in the past. I don’t have much bad things to say about it… For example, with this one I look forward to use it! As with the water-proof Aquarian Gaze Mascara, I wasn’t so keen on turning to it.

If only it made my lashes a bit thicker, it would get a full five ★ from me, as for now it has definitely made me want to wear mascara on a daily basis again.

INGREDIENTS: aqua, glycerin (vegetable), glyceryl stearate se, jojoba esters, tapioca starch, stearic acid ( vegetable), copernicia cerfera (carnauba) wax, euphorbia cerifera (candelilla) wax, arabic/acacia gum, acrylates, crosspolymer, potassium cetyl phosphate, microcrystalline cellulse (plant), cocos nucifera (coconut) oil, panthenol (vitamin b), cellulose gum, gluconolactone, macrocystis pyifera (brown kelp) extract, hydrolyzed oryza sativa (rice) protein, sodium benzoate, iron oxides c1 77499.
100% vegan. Cruelty-free. Formulated without FD & C color, parabens, talc and mineral oil.

Sierra Bees | Tinted Lip Shimmer Balms

★★★☆☆

Sierra Bees lip balms was a free gift at some point when shopping at iHerb, and I remember them being one of my favorite lip balms. So when I saw that they’ve come out with a tinted color version I had to test them out of course and went for the variety pack!

There’s four shades:

Nude – Gives you shimmer
Pink & Mauve – Almost the same shade
Red – The strongest pigment of them all and comes off a bit terracotta-ish.

They all have a subtle shimmer and feels just as moisturizing as the regular lip balms.

I know they say “tinted” but I expected them to be more pigmented. As you see from my swatch, they are hardly noticeable, except for the color Red. So I didn’t mind doing any lip-pics because you can hardly tell any difference in real life and the camera wouldn’t pick it up anyway.

Still my favorite became Mauve, if that even makes sense when most of these are hardly noticeable on the lips. I do like the Red for color, but it was just something about the brownish shade not suiting me as well as pinks do. And Pink is just too neutral.

I want to compare these to Dizao’s color lip balms that I reviewed a few months ago, but these are really not in the same league. If you’re looking for lip balms that also serves as a lip stick, go with Dizao. If you’re looking for balms with  just a small hint of color to not look too pale, Sierra Bees are a great option! They are not as butter-y as Dizao’s lip balms, but equally as moisturizing.

But in the end, these did not impress me and I just wish the colors were more defined on the lips.

Sierra Bees Tinted Lip Shimmer Balm from left to right: Red, Mauve, Pink, Nude.

Nubian Heritage | Patchouli & Buriti Body Wash

★★★★☆

Skin type: Dry, Dull, Aging skin

It was time for a new body wash after a year of using Original Source’s strawberry frosting ice cream cake, you name it, it will forever be hard to beat that amazing and tasty smell! So yummy…

I couldn’t find any green brands making a body wash with strawberry vanilla scent, and as we’re getting more into winter I was looking for a body wash that would be gentle and moisturizing, and Nubian Heritage’s products fit the bill. You all know how much I love their raw shea butter and the smell of Frankincense & Myrrh, but for some reason I thought about trying on a new smell. It’s getting dark and wintery, so why not something spicy, I thought for myself.

Nubian Heritage has a lot of body washes to choose from! While iHerb carries most of them, the ones missing right at this moment is: Fragrance Free, Lemongrass & Tea Tree and Indian Hemp & Haitian Vetiver.
The best thing would of course be to actually smell them all before making a purchase, but no can do via Internet (can’t wait until stores can offer you a “smellogram”) so like always shopping in web stores, it’s a huge gamble!

I chose Patchouli & Buriti, even though Patchouli isn’t my favorite smell, but Buriti sounded so exotic.
And this body wash is exotic… and just what I asked for, very spicy! It doesn’t smell bad by any means, it just smells strong, a bit too strong for a person like me who does not wear perfume or scented deodorant because of sensitivity.

And the thing is that the smell lingers on hours after your shower and it kind of spreads through your bathroom even when not using it… This would be a huge plus – because we love it when it smells anything else than cat litter – but I personally wish I’d gone with another scent. But I guess I’m growing into liking it, because it does feel relaxing and uplifting, like I’m on a spa with scented candles around me. And I also do like the idea of the scent lingering on on my skin… feels very sexy.

I don’t experience the Patchouli & Buriti wash to be drying at all, and I’ve even tested shaving my legs with it! And boy did my legs smell after that! Most of their body washes, if not all of them, are made for dry and aging skin, which I appreciate, considering most shower gels condone to more use of body lotions.

I’m personally giving this four star because I’m not 100% with the scent, but other than that it’s a five star product in my opinion! I’m definitely going back for more and I’m excited to try the other scents from this brand, I love the spa experience it gives!

INGREDIENTS: Water, Decyl Glucoside, Sodium Lauroyl, Lactylate, Disodium Coco-Glucoside Citrate, Glycerin (Vegetable), Fragrance (Essential Oil Blend), Panthenol, Organic Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Guar Hydrodypropyltrimonium Chloride, Caprylhydroxamic Acid, Caprylyl Glycol, Macadamia Ternifolia Seed Oil, Rosa Canina (Rose Hip) Seed Extract, Mauritia Flexuosa (Buriti) Oil, Theobroma Grandiflorum (Cupuacu) Butter, Pogostemon Cablin (Patchouli) Oil.
Cruelty-Free. Certified Organic Ingredients.

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