Whoot whoot, it’s Friday! Friiiiiiiiiiiday. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m so ready for the weekend. We’re supposed to get a big snow storm tomorrow, and you can probably guess how I feel about THAT, but I’m just happy we made it through the week. Ain’t no time for complaining here. Do you guys realize this is the LAST weekend of April?! Seriously, I’m not joking. April is done. That’s a wrap. It’s over. And my question for you today is how? How did that month go by so darn fast? I mean, it seems like it was seriously yesterday when I called my mom to prank her for April Fool’s Day. (I had a good one by the way!) Monday starts the month of May and I feel like April just started. It’s just pure craziness. Now I do have a theory about how time is actually speeding up without us realizing it, but I think I’ll spare you that nonsense because we have Friday Favorites to chat about today! I seriously love these posts. It’s become such a fun way for me to share stuff I might not typically post about, like my favorite girly things or a random book I’m loving. It’s just fun. And I’m all about having fun. I want this to be a place you can come to and forget about whatever crappy things are going on in the world. Just relax and take a minute for yourself. And today is the perfect day for that. Grab a snack or a cup of coffee and let’s chat about what I’ve been loving lately!
I grabbed this beautiful tiered tray from World Market recently and I’m loooooving it. How cute is this little guy?! I really like the look of the metal top with the wooden base. Perfectly farmhouse!
This is the first tray I’ve owned like this, so I’m still trying to figure out how to style it. But once I get a few fun ideas I might actually do a whole post about it. There are many possibilities with a tiered tray!
Think Dirty App
Next up is an app I recently discovered while reading a post over on the Inspired Room blog. The post was about the dangerous chemicals and toxins in our household products–even our skincare and beauty products. The post mentioned the Think Dirty app, which allows you to look up a product and see how “dirty” it is in regard to toxicity and chemicals. Each product gets a “dirty rating” from 1 to 10, which is based on the ingredients and how they rate in three categories: 1) carcinogenicity; 2) developmental and reproductive toxicity; 3) allergies and immunotoxicities. I downloaded the app and started scanning a few products around our house. And let me tell you, it was scary. Look at this baby shampoo.
It got a rating of nine….NINE!! It’s just about at the top of the charts in terms of carcinogens and toxicity. Here’s how the ingredient list breaks down:
Pretty crazy, right? And scary to think I’ve been putting this on my babies and in their nightly bath. I’ve been checking lots of other products, like these facial cleansing wipes I love:
These got a rating of eight. Holy cow that’s not good. It’s awful to think these products are full of chemicals and toxins, which can lead to really terrible conditions and health problems over time. I’m still doing my research and trying to come up with healthier alternatives, but I wanted to share this app with you guys in case you’re interested in checking out the products in your home. I’m not a medical expert, obviously, but it’s definitely got me thinking more about what products I’m purchasing and how they could be impacting our health.
Turbo Booster Vitamin C Powder
Ok, this is a fun one. You guys, I’m obsessed with this Turbo Booster Vitamin C powder. I first discovered it about a year and a half ago. I loved it then and saw a big improvement in the overall texture and brightness of my skin. And even better this little bottle lasted around six months or so, which is pretty awesome in my book. Well I never got around to buying another bottle until about two months ago and HOLY COW. I forgot how amazing this stuff is. It’s just highly potent vitamin C powder that you mix into your moisturizer or serum. It comes with this little spatula thingy, so I just add one scoop to my serum at night. My skin is seriously so clear and radiant when I use this. Love, love, LOVE it.
Bare Minerals BarePro Foundation
So now that the weather is getting warmer I usually switch out my daily foundation for something a little more breathable and lightweight. Once summer hits I’m all about easy makeup and glowy skin. Well I recently picked up this Bare Minerals BarePro Foundation and I’ve really been enjoying it for a day-to-day foundation. I don’t think I’ve talked about my obsession with BareMinerals here on the blog yet, but let me tell you–I’m an OG. I started using BareMinerals in high school and I’ve used it off and on for the last fifteen years. But my issue has always been the amount of time it takes to get a full-coverage look with loose powder. I mean, who has time to buff and buff for 10 minutes? I sure as heck don’t. Foundation should take 3-4 minutes at most. Well this BarePro Foundation comes in a compact and it’s much more pigmented than the loose stuff, so you can easily and quickly get a full coverage look if that’s what you’re going for. Or you can do a light look too if that’s your thing. But the amazing part is that it doesn’t feel like you’re wearing anything at all. So darn breathable. It’s like magic. Plus it lasts all day on the skin, so extra bonus points for that. This is good stuff folks!
Essential Oil Diffuser Blends for Spring
A few weeks ago I talked about the essential oil diffuser I’ve been loving and how I’m trying to use it regularly in our home. You can see that post here. I’ve been diffusing just one oil at a time, but I recently saw something about combining different oils to create specific blends that can help with all sorts of things. Of course I went to Pinterest to get a few ideas and I found a gazillion diffuser recipes for just about anything you can imagine. It was a little overwhelming to be honest. But I scoured through them all and selected five blends that I think are perfect for a fresh, clean home. I made this little chart for myself and I thought you guys might be interested in it as well. I’m excited to try these out for spring and summer!
Well friends, that’s a wrap for today’s Friday Favorites. I hope you enjoyed it. Now go have a fabulous weekend and I’ll see you back here bright and early Monday morning!
Other posts you might enjoy:
Happy Friday! I love the tiered tray and have been looking for the perfect one for some time now. I just found it online and can’t believe its only $19.99!! I can’t believe my old beloved baby wash is so full of chemicals; I used it on my boys when they were babies. And, believe it or not, I used it when I was college (YEARS ago in the 80s!!) because it was the only body wash around at the time so the convenience of a bottle worked nicely in my shower bucket!! Which by the way, I still have: it’s red and heart shaped and lives under my bathroom vanity with cleaning products!! Anyway….sorry for babbling, thanks for another fabulous list, Sarah!!
Such a good price, right? I love this tray, I can’t wait to play around a bit more with it. And yeah, can you believe that about the baby shampoo? So awful. I need a replacement pronto. And I love that you still have that old bucket! Never know when you might need it again š
Hi, I absolutely adore your blog and instagram. I have been following you for several months and I am always learning something from you. If you are looking for more natural non-toxic baby products, Young Living Essential oils has some amazing baby products, let me know if you have any questions. Also, a friend has recently opened an online shop Essentialelephant.com that sells natural, organic baby items;clothing, toys etc. go check her out. The Thinkdirty app is a great tool for everyone who is looking to know more about the products they use. Have a great weekend.
Aw you are so sweet Sonya, I’m so glad to have you following along! I’ve heard a lot about Young Living–I’ll have to check out their baby products. And thanks for the tip about your friend’s online shop, I’ll have to take a look at that too!
I love that tiered tray! Thanks for sharing that app, I downloaded it while reading this post!!
Great post! I’m going to start looking up my cleaners. I did hear about the baby shampoo a while back.
Thanks Jenny!
Love the tray Sarah! Thanks for the app details. I love essential oils, use them every day on me and the family and for household cleaning too, we should all be more aware of what we put on our skin.
I completely agree Helen. It’s so crazy to see how many awful things are in the products we use every day. That’s awesome you’re an avid essential oil user. I’m getting there!
Love that tiered tray.
Thanks for the info and tips.
Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for dropping by Dianne!
I feel inclined to share with you how I became interested in the app you wrote about in today’s post. I am 32 years old and have never suffered from allergies in my life! This year however has been completely awful. With No explanation, I have become allergic to every critter my children have come to enjoy, as I have in the past, but literally choke me being in the room for a few minutes. I find myself sneezing when I’m using cleaners like Lysol or 409. After using the app, I found out my favorite, sought after shampoo has a level of 10 on the bar. What is going on? Then if you enjoy watching tv and sit through commercials, I can’t help but notice at least 3 allergy medication commercials in a row, and I can name off NO problem like 8 different brands of allergy medicine. My 3 year old suffers from horrible skin irritation and eczema and food allergies since he’s born. An app like this really opens your eyes. And to think I’m cleaning my house. No, more like making it more harmful. Thank you for taking your time to let us know about this, it’s appreciated!!! And of course the bonus of farm decor and style ????
Oh Corinne, I’m so glad you shared this with me. But I’m sorry to hear what a tough time you’ve been having–and your son too! I think there’s a huge connection between allergies/skin issues and the products we use in our home. It’s scary really to see how many toxic chemicals are in the things we use every single day. I’m starting to transition to more “healthy” products and I’m hoping to share about it as I learn more along the way.
Love the tiered tray! I found one at a yard sale recently but haven’t gotten around to using it yet. I tried the Dirty Thoughts App and was frustrated. Only got one product, deodorant, to actually scan and give me results. Several items wouldn’t scan at all. Several more appeared to scan, but then would ask me to put in the product and brand name and take pics of the front and back labels so they could add it to their list. Some were discount store brands, some cosmetic store products, and some health food store items, all pretty common brands for the most part. I tried to make sure the product was still while I scanned and enough lighting, so don’t think that was the problem. Nice idea, but wasn’t very helpful for me.
I had the same issues Vicki! It works better if you just search for the item in the search bar, instead of trying to scan it. Mine was pretty sketchy too, so I just stopped using the scanner. Try again and see if you can search for your items!
I was going to get “into” the essential oils until I started reading about them and pets …. “Aromatherapy uses essential oils to create scents that we humans can enjoy. But itās important to realize that many of these substances are volatile compounds, which means they can be potentially toxic to pets at certain concentrations. Cats can be especially sensitive to essential oils. Keep in mind that what is safe for you to use isnāt necessarily safe to use on or near your pet. Your pet can inadvertently inhale, lick or eat these essential oils, and the oils can even be absorbed through your petās skin” DVM on Vetstreet.com
Love the tier tray! Yours is much prettier than mine – I have a galvanized tin two-tier tray which I use for spices as (1) keeps them handy (2) keeps me from accumulating too many (3) keeps me from buying duplicates as I can tend to remember what I’ve already purchased (3) frees up valuable kitchen cabinet space. I also have it sitting on a lazy-susan which really makes it easy to use.
Just recently subscribed your blog – am loving it !!!!
Thanks for the info on the essential oils Lynn, I didn’t know they could be so risky to pets. Thankfully we don’t have any pets, so we are in the clear. And I love your idea to use a tiered tray for spices on a lazy-susan, that’s so clever!
Loved this post as I have a couple of tiered trays that I never know how to style. Have considered getting rid of them, but I keep thinking some day I’ll figure out how to style them. Would love a longer post on that some day. Mine are “tippy” and one is wired so it’s hard to figure out sometimes what to put in it without the items looking weird. Excited to download app and I LOVE Bare Minerals. I’ve been using their products for over 10+ years. Just always love all of your ideas and suggestions Sarah! Thanks.
I plan to share a post on styling tiered trays very soon Denise, so stay tuned. And high five to being a fellow BM fan, it’s definitely good stuff!
Hi Sarah! I’m just catching up on your last Friday Favorites post! Thank you for sharing the Think Dirty app! I use Johnson & Johnson on my baby girl and now I need to switch! Do you have any suggestions for alternatives? I need to start researching. Also, I am a Bare Minerals fan as well! Have a great weekend! š
Hi Jessica! I looked up the Honest company products and they rate really well on that app. I’ve switched to those but they are so expensive!