Natural Cleaning With Norwex (Christmas Gift Guide)

Today I'm reviewing another product that was sent in for the Christmas Gift Guide.  Be sure to check out all the ideas there!  You'll find plenty of ideas that will interest you as well as help to support some of your fellow homemakers.

If you're trying to remove toxins from your home, a good place to start is with your cleaning supplies.  Many of them contain hormone-disrupting chemicals that are not good for you or kids to be breathing.

An extremely simple way to get started switching to natural cleaning products is to use Norwex products.  I was sent the household package to try out, which includes an Envirocloth, a Window Cloth, and a Dusting Mitt.

This package gives everything you need for most of the common cleaning you would do.

When using Norwex cloths, all you do is add water to the cloth and clean like you normally would.  The specially-made fibers attract and trap dirt much more effectively than a regular cloth does.  The cloth can hold up to seven times it weight (in other words you can clean a very dirty surface without having to rinse your rag!)  Antibacterial silver woven into the fibers inhibits bacterial odor, mold, and/or mildew growth within the cloth.  Your cleaning cloths will not get nasty and have to be thrown away like a regular rag would.

I enjoyed using the dusting mitt to clean my ceiling fans.  It made the job much easier since my hand was completely encased in the cloth.

My kids had a little different idea.  They decided to clean the bathroom floor with it.  At least they tried to be helpful, right?

My favorite item by far, though, is the window cloth.

I absolutely love how well the window cloth cleans glass.  All you need is water, and there are no streaks!

I can wet the rag and turn my kids loose to go wash windows without worrying about letting them use window cleaner or whether there will be streaks all over the window!

My mother-in-law bought me something very similar for Christmas several years ago, and I loved it!  If you're Christmas shopping for other ladies you know, I am sure any homemaker would be grateful for anything that will make her job easier.

If you're interested in finding out more about Norwex products, you can connect with Michelle Morgan on Facebook, and she will be happy to answer any questions that you have!

I'm looking forward to exploring some of the other products Norwex offers.  They have a large selection of non-toxic cleaning products as well as personal care products.

Which product would you want to try first?

Younique Moodstruck 3D Fiber Lashes Review

Note from MaryEllen: I asked my team member Nicole to review this for the Christmas Gift Guide and share her experience with us. For more Christmas gift ideas that will help support other homemakers from this community, be sure to check out the Christmas Gift Guide.

If you would have asked me during my growing up years, I would have claimed to be a tomboy: climbing trees, rambling through woods, and staying far away from dolls and “girly” stuff. By the time I hit college however, I had discovered there is a fun side to being female. Things like makeup, hairdos and accessories became a fun new world to be explored!

I think I have come a long way from my tomboy days…at least I hope I have! I have to say I enjoy dressing up, getting all “beautified” and the primping that comes with it when I have the time.

That is one reason I jumped at the chance to review Younique's Moodstruck 3d Fiber Lashes. It is not just a mascara, this 3-step process is a whole new way to pamper and define your lashes!

One eye with 3D Fiber lashes, one eye without!

I received the product from Younique in a nice case to hold both tubes of product. It already felt fancy!

Inside is a tube of Defining Gel and another tube of Natural Fibers. The best way to learn how to use these is to watch the video, but basically you put on a coat of Defining Gel, then while that is still wet you follow it with the Natural Fibers. Complete the process with another coat of defining gel, and you are done! The whole process doesn't take very long at all!

My beautiful cousin came to try it out with me.

Things I liked:

It is easy to use. It doesn't take any more time than regular mascara.

It defines your eye without a whole lot of makeup – I find I use less eye shadow when I am wearing this.

It washes off pretty easily. I use makeup removing wipes and it wipes right off.

The fibers are natural, not chemical. They are green tea fibers and I love that I'm not putting harmful things on my eyes!

It is feminine and fun!

Beautiful gal, beautiful lashes!

My one complaint:

I find that because you re-apply the defining gel after applying the fibers, the gel gets clumpy because fibers get inside. At first this resulted in clumpy eyelashes. I have found I can avoid most of the clumping by using strokes that go all the way from the root of my eyelash to the tip. However the gel does still tend to be more clumpy than regular mascara.

You can try Younique Moodstruck 3D Fiber lashes for yourself by clicking here. I also found it on Amazon but it was more expensive…just showing you that this is a great company to buy from!

I'd love to hear if you have tried it and how you like it! Have you ever used any other Younique products I should know about? Please share!

Jamberry Nails Review

Note from MaryEllen: I asked Becky, one of my team members, to complete this review of Jamberry Nails and share her experience with you all. This review is part of our Christmas Gift Guide.

As a former Cosmetologist I must say I've been skeptical of Jamberry Nails and their claim to a long lasting product. Over the years I have tried Acrylic nails, Gel nails, Gel polish and many other nail products only to be disappointed when the nails would pop off or not work as they had been advertised. We won't even talk about the damage that is often times left behind! Personally, I had come to the point of no longer wearing anything on my finger nails, but kept my toe nails polished, lets face it, toes need all the prettying up they can get!

When Mary Ellen posted the Jamberry Nail sample for the Christmas Shopping Guide I decided to take the plunge one more time into the nail product realm. The application process was easy, there was no filing or buffing my nail bed causing damage and the product really does last! I'm so glad I gave this a try.

Here are my official Jamberry Nail Challenge pictures:

I chose, what I consider to be, my very best nail polish to go head to head against the Jamberry sample. As you can see my best stuff did not last the full challenge week. To be honest, I have actually repainted my nails twice since applying the nail wrap and currently (day 8) am looking at chipped fingernail polish next to, a still perfectly good looking, nail wrap. This girl is SOLD, 100% on the durability of the Jamberry product!

With over 300 nail wrap options to choose from, including solid colors, transparent wrap patterns and wraps especially for child fingers you are sure to find something that will peak your interest! Go ahead and give Jamberry Nails a try; I am so glad I did!

One of your fellow readers here at Imperfect Homemaker has submitted this product to the Christmas Gift Guide.  When you purchase a product through these links you are helping to support a fellow homemaker.  If you would like to include a product of your own you can find out how to do so here.

Why You Need P.E. in Your Home School

I had the privilege to attend a Christian school through 5th grade.  I loved every minute of it and I think my attendance there played a large part in shaping who I am today.

I especially enjoyed the opportunities for active play with my friends, and I had plans to play on the basketball team as soon as I got into junior high.  I even won the award for “Most Athletic” one year.  Just thinking about myself now as “Most Athletic” now seems laughable.

I have moved all of my homeschooling posts to christianhomeschoolfamily.com. You can go here to read this post at the new site.

You can go here to read this post at the new site.

A Compact Travel System for Your Growing Family

The more children we have, the more interested I become in things that will save space both in the house and in the car.

There are so many odds and ends that I feel we have to keep in the car, but there is only so much room.  I began the hunt for a compact travel system so that I could make other moms with growing families aware of it.

I specifically wanted to find a compact travel system rather than just a stroller because it is so nice to be able to just click the carseat out of the carseat base and into the stroller rather than having to transfer the baby (especially if he's sleeping!)

Here's what I found:

The Urbini Touri Compact Travel System not only lives up to its name as far as being compact, but it has lots of other fantastic features too!  (Disclosure:  I received the travel system free to facilitate this review; however, as always all opinions are 100% my own.)

Pros:

• Stroller is a comfortable height and has a comfortable handle design
• Stroller rides very smoothly
• Stroller folds extremely compact
• Cup holder included with stroller
• Stroller recline angle adjusts to wherever you want it (and does so very easily)
• Stroller has adjustable footrest to make it the most comfortable for baby's size
• Stroller changes from swivel wheels to locked wheels to make pushing on rough terrain easier
• Stroller is easy to fold and unfold
• The sunshade on both the carseat and stroller provides lots of coverage
• Carseat includes a preemie insert for tiny babies
• Carseat cover and buckle cushions are easy to remove and wash
• Carseat harness is easy to adjust
• Carseat is lightweight

I was really surprised at how much coverage the sunshade offers.

On the left is my umbrella stroller. On the right is the Urbini Touri stroller. They are pretty much the same size!

The stroller was packed very nicely for shipping. There was a lot of extra padding to prevent any part of it from getting damaged.

Cons:

• The basket under the stroller is small; I guess a larger basket would not allow the stroller to be folded so compactly!
• Latching the carseat in and out of the base or stroller is not extremely convenient.  Not a terrible deal, but it's not the easiest I've ever used.
• It doesn't seem like the most durable stroller in the world.
• The buckles do not buckle and unbuckle terribly smoothly.

The basket is small, and the bars underneath do not allow it to stretch out any larger.

Overall, the Urbini Touri is a very nice travel system at a very nice price.  (Walmart.com has it listed at $149.)  It has every feature I could wish for in a stroller, all in a very compact size.  This is a great option for any family with small spaces and a small budget!

Starting Natural from Day One

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post.  All opinions are 100% my own.

When I think of baby essentials, I naturally think of larger items like a crib, stroller, and car seat. But then I realize that babies need so much more than that. Smaller essentials like baby wipes, baby wash, and diaper cream also need to be collected before a new baby arrives in the home. I prefer to use only products with natural ingredients on my babies (and on myself for that matter.)

We have used and loved Burt's Bees diaper rash cream for every single one of our babies because it is the only one we've found that does the job on even the worst diaper rash — and it usually clears it up overnight!

Burt's Bees sent us a package with some Baby Bee Nourishing Lotion, Shampoo and Wash, Chlorine Free Wipes, Cream-to-Powder, and Multi-purpose Ointment.  We have enjoyed trying out these other products, and I love that there is a whole line of baby care products that is based on natural ingredients.

Now, I'll be completely honest and say that while most of the ingredients in these products are easily recognizable and definitely natural, there are some that I would need to check into a little further.  I also would prefer that they didn't contain soybean and canola oil as those are usually genetically modified, and I like to keep exposure to GMO's to an absolute minimum, even though it is only external exposure.  (Remember, your skin is your largest organ.)

With that said, I'll go back to saying that I'm okay with using the diaper rash cream for the reason that it works so well.

I just want to be completely honest with you.

I like the way Burt's Bees products work, but I do think their ingredients could be cleaned up even more than they are.  Are they better than some of the alternatives?  I think so.  You'll just have to make your own call on this one.

Update: Burt's Bees has offered the following information about their products:

“We actively engage with our suppliers regarding their sourcing practices, including the starting materials they use for our ingredients. Both the suppliers of our soybean oil and canola oil have signed a declaration that these are non-GMO ingredients.”

That's nice to know!  That actually makes me love their products so much more!

Baby products that work really well and are natural and non-GMO?  Yay!  I love it!

(Maybe Burt's Bees should add to their packaging that their products are non-GMO for the paranoid mothers like me?)

Some of the other natural ingredients you'll find in Burt's Bees products:

• Buttermilk for moisturizing.
• Beeswax to help lock in moisture.
• Shea butter to soften dry skin.
• Aloe vera to soothe irritated skin.
• Coconut oil to help nurture, young sensitive skin.

Want to know more about Burt's Bees baby products?  Follow them on Facebook:

How will you go natural with your baby?

This blog post is part of a paid SocialMoms and Burt’s Bees blogging program. The opinions and ideas expressed here are my own.