Product Review: Monica's Cococastile Soap

Confession: I love bars of soap! Whether I'm having a bad day or rewarding myself, pulling out a new fragrant bar of soap really hits the spot.

Image: Monica's Cococastile Soap

One day at the farmer's market, I saw a table full of soap and immediately proceeded to 'oooh' and 'ahhh' over the pretty colors and lovely smells. Monica, who makes the soaps, took the opportunity to give me a sample of her oatmeal bar. She explained that her soaps are all natural and can be used as shampoo and for shaving too. I was very skeptical of these additional claims, but I decided to keep an open mind.

I first tried it on my face and body. It was wonderful! My skin felt clean and soft, and even after a hot shower, there was no tightness. Then I tried shaving with it. This was a little less successful as the oatmeal soap has little bits of exfoliating oatmeal that got stuck in the razor. So I went out and got her Bay Rum scented soap, which is smooth with no additional bits. I gave it another try, and it worked great. The shave is not as smooth as with shaving cream, but I like the soap as a quick, natural alternative that doesn't leave rust rings in the bath tub.

Finally, I had to try the shampoo claim. I seriously did not think it would work. I have fine, curly hair that is unruly and addicted to conditioner. But Monica said that she did not need conditioner with her soap, so I just shampooed and let it dry naturally with no product. Let me tell you, I was shocked. While my hair still had some frizz, it was so soft and the curls got tighter and... curlier! For not having conditioned or added any product, my hair looked great.

I like Monica's Cococastile Soap so much that it has kind of ruined other bars of soap for me. While I still enjoy opening up a fun, new bar of soap, I find myself using it for only a couple days before I put it away and pull out Monica's soap. My favorites are Oatmeal, Bay Rum and Patchouli-Ylang Ylang. I highly recommend trying them out for yourself.

The Details

Ingredients: olive oil, coconut oil, fragrance, food grade dyes, and natural essential oils.

Price: $5.50 for 6 oz bar

Availability: online at http://www.etsy.com/shop/SoapmakerMonica, and locally in Gainesville (Ward's Citizen's Co-Op, Union Street Farmer's Market on Wednesdays)

DIY Diary: Back To The Drawing Board With Paste Deodorant

A few months ago, I wrote about my first experiment with homemade deodorant. After using it with great success for about three months, I started noticing my underarm skin was feeling sensitive. It was nothing visible, but I quit using the deodorant for a couple weeks to let my skin go au naturale. My boyfriend didn't have any problems with it until we traveled to Miami for a hot, Christmas holiday with my family. The deodorant melted in transport, but he continued to use it unaware that it had probably gone bad by this point. It started irritating his skin too, so finally it went in the trash. We both took breaks from deodorants for a few days.

In the mean time, I went back to the drawing board. Since I felt irritation first, I figured the deodorant must have been going bad before the Great Melt. I reviewed the recipe, which included only three things that I haven't used before for skin care: bentonite clay, juniper berry essential oil and cypress essential oil. I switched out the bentonite clay for white clay, added some oatmeal flour, and reduced the concentration of essential oils. I also added rosemary essential oil to help better preserve the deodorant paste.

The initial results are promising. The color is more reminiscent of commercial deodorants. The texture is nicer with the addition of the oatmeal, a little less oily with a little more firmness. The scent is nice and light. The first batch was good, but it ended up being a little too fragrant for my taste.

One drawback to our testing is that we are using a jar container and scooping up the paste with our fingers. I haven't found a good online vendor for deodorant tubes yet, so for now I will take advantage of our application method to test the deodorant's shelf life.

We've used it for two days with regular pit checks to test for effectiveness. So far so good...

Full Disclosure Makes Me Feel Warm & Fuzzy

When I started the Floraesthetics blog, I realized that I needed to take a step back and get caught up with beauty industry news and products. I tried news feeds, but that lead to a bunch of press releases from the companies themselves.

Then I found the fabulous world of beauty bloggers. I wake up every morning to coffee and the latest blogger posts about products, spas and trends. In the process, I've started to get a good feel for who writes what and for who is worth listening to. Fig+Sage happens to be one of the good blogs, with posts pertinent to my quest to find more natural skincare products. Their post today, Full Disclosure: Zuii Organics Cosmetics USDA Organic Certification Criteria and Status, made me feel all warm and fuzzy.

As a PR girl, I know that honesty is the best policy, even if it means retracting a previous statement. Fig+Sage went all out with their retraction of Zuii Cosmetics. While the blog did not diss the products themselves or their effectiveness, I think that Zuii's lack of transparency or willingness to communicate about their USDA certification when asked is a sign not to trust the company or their products. Regardless of USDA oversight, which seems to be poor at best, the company should be fully aware of approved ingredients before sending their products for third-party approval. If there is an organic claim on any skincare product, companies needs to be accountable to consumers not just regulatory agencies.

Fig+Sage just moved to the top of my list of bloggers that are worth following. Thanks for the honesty!

Welcome Beauty Addicts

I have a problem, and I'm going to share it with the world. I love beauty products!

When I was 14, my mom started working at Clinique. Being from Venezeula, my mom asked me to help translate her training materials and videos. In the process, I learned about daily skin care tips, different product types and even make up application techniques. I enjoyed it so much that my mom asked her Clinique trainers if I could attend workshops with her, and they said yes. I was invited to participate in training sessions, product launches and even help store promotions. My mom loved the help, and the company loved that I worked for free.


Then at 18, I was hired as a beauty specialist at Lancome and make-up was my niche. Using the bright colors of Lancome with the soft style of Clinique, I developed a unique look and a loyal customer base. During this time, my mom decided to go to school to become an esthetician, and I learned even more about skin and beauty. I was her official guinea pig, and it was heaven. Free facials all the time!

When I left for college to study public relations and history, I thought that I was leaving beauty industry  behind me. Life is always full of surprises because at 21 I was hired by the Mandarin Oriental Spa in Miami. I was a spa concierge, but my experience with Clinique and Lancome was invaluable for their retail sales. I took training courses for their spa line, ESPA. The products were divine, and the company really knew how to sell them to the employees first. Through the Mandarin, I learned a lot about customer service in the luxury industry and about spas, a whole different world from the beauty counters at the mall.

After graduating college, I went to work for a nonprofit as a public relations professional. It's a fascinating industry, and I've learned more at my current organization than I have from all my previous jobs combined. But something has been missing these past four years, and I realized that I missed the beauty industry. It made me feel like a million bucks to help women feel beautiful and pampered. I long for the sense of excitement of opening a shipment of new products and lathering myself from head to toe in sweet-smelling beauty potions.

There you have my background. Stay tuned for how I became inspired to start a skin care company and blog. Thanks for reading!!!