An Honest Review of the Honest Co: July Update!

July Update:  I'm so happy with the bug spray, sunscreen, and shampoo and body wash.  With that said, I think having a subscription service makes me like the products less.  I don't want the commitment.  I've pushed my shipments out to every 90 days now instead of getting it once a month.   Bottom line, I can make a lot of this stuff myself, find it cheaper elsewhere, or would prefer to have a different brand.  I'll give next months products a try and see how they go.  If I can find 5 products that I really love and can't do myself, I'll keep my subscription.

June Post with Updates in Red:
I have been using my Honest products for a little over 2 weeks now. Before I signed up I checked out the EWG to make sure what they said was legit.  While some of their cleaning products scored well on some scored average on safety.  Average is still better than what I was using so I decided to give them a try (and of course I had a coupon code!).  Their sunscreen and care products did much better on EWG.  Check out the EWG here for Honest Co cleaning products and here for Honest Co beauty products.

For the most part, I am pleased with my products.  Their customer service is outstanding too!

When I received my first shipment the shampoo leaked all over the other products.  Not a big deal, but I had read about that happening to other people so I emailed them to let them know they should probably change the top to the bottle.  They sent me a brand new bottle 3 days later with a response thanking me for the feedback.

1.  Fruit and Veggie Wash-

This turned out to be one of my favorites in the first shipment.  It was quick and worked really well on the grapes, peaches, strawberries, and blueberries.  Vinegar in water is way cheaper, but you have to soak the fruit in the water for like an hour for it to be effective.  I probably won't get this again just because of the cost compared to vinegar but if you can get past that it was great.

July Update:  Still like it, but not worth the money when you can make it for yourself for way less!

2.  Shampoo and Body Wash-  

I like this for myself, but won't use it on Jack again.  It got in his eyes a little and he rubbed them and cried.  I'll stick with California Baby for him (CA Baby got a better score on EWG anyways!).  I would actually get this again for myself though.  It smells like oranges and vanilla and is very sudsy compared to the other natural Shampoos I have tried.  I gave my extra bottle to our nanny and she liked it too! 

July Update:  Still like it!



3.  Stain Remover-

Jury is still out on this one.  It didn't remove the chalk stain from Jack's fabric covered chair after I ran it through the wash, but neither did the other stain remover I tried.  Time will tell!  I think the key with any stain remover is getting it on right away, which I suck at.

July Update:  I hate this stain remover.  It left a stain (yep a stain left by stain remover) on the one maternity dress that I love to wear!  Also, it hasn't removed any of the stains I've tried it on!


4.  Dishwasher Gel-  

This works just as well as what we used in the past (Cascade).  It does leave a bit of a film on the dishes, but that could be our dishwasher since the Cascade did that too...


July Update:  Still like it!  It left a film because we needed rinse aid in our dishwasher apparently! 


5.  Hand Sanitizer- 

A little sticky and doesn't take much to do the trick.  Of course how do you know if this actually works?  You don't, but after looking at the label of the standard hand sanitizer, I'll take this one any day.  We really only use this after diaper changes anyways. 


July Update:  Still like it!




Next month:

100% Organic Dishtowels (because they match my kitchen :) )
July Update:  The dishtowels are very thin and I don't love them...

Sunscreen (for me, Jack will continue to use Badger)
July Update:  I really like this sunscreen!  It is similar to the consistency of Badger and it got great reviews on EWG.  This is a winner!
 
BugSpray (for the fam)
July Update:  I really like this too!  It smells great and there is no deet in it.  It does keep the bugs away for the most part and I don't feel like I'm spraying straight up chemicals on myself or Jack.

Dishsoap
July Update:  It's ok.  I won't get it again.  I'm trying out a Babyganics dish soap the next time I need it for washing kid stuff.  I think I'll go back to regular free and clear for our dishes.

and Free Trial of Diapers Bundle.  I'm considering doing a NB bundle before cloth diapering so I'm trying out the big ones on J before he is fully potty trained (more on that later!).  Looking at the price it's almost as expensive as just buying NB sized cloth diapers so we'll see.

July Update:  The diapers leaked every time Jack wore them.  The customer service rep was extremely nice and offered to send me a new size to try out, but cleaning up pee in the middle of the night was enough for me.  They are also insanely expensive...adding to my cloth diaper stash instead of doing this makes more sense. If I need disposables for the first couple of weeks, I will use regular disposables.

Coming Soon: An Honest Review of The Honest Company

This is what happens when I find a crazy coupon code online.  I join things.  So after I scored a 10 dollars off your first month and free shipping, I joined Honest.  I was already on the search for new, healthier cleaning options for our family, so the coupon came at the right time.   Also just in time for me to finish The Honest Life!



I enjoyed most of The Honest Life.  While I don't care that she has an obsession with retinol and that she organizes her scarves according to color, the book was an enjoyable, informative read... especially if you have kids.  Her index at the back is very helpful when investigating product labels for ingredients you don't want present in your products (but you can find those here too for free)  She was pretty honest about the things she just can't or doesn't want to go Eco on.  I found that refreshing.  I wouldn't run out and buy it, but definitely give it a whirl as a library or borrowed book!

We got our first month shipment yesterday.  Yay for new Stain Remover, Dishwasher Detergent, Shampoo, Hand Sanitizer, and Fruit and Veggie Wash.  I'm not sure why I picked Fruit and Veggie Wash.  I already know that filling the sink full of water and adding vinegar probably works just fine...

Cloth Diapering Updates: 1 Month In

We are a month into cloth diapering and I couldn't be happier we made the switch.  It is a little more laundry but you don't have to fold and put it away so it's not that big of a deal.  I told you about my essentials list in my last post.  Well, that has changed a little bit.

Updated Essentials:
1.  The cloth wipes just weren't working for me.  Back to disposable wipes.  Maybe we'll use them before we start solids with the next bambino.  For now, they are collecting dust on my closet shelf.

2.  Upping the Number of Diapers.  I'm going to add a couple more to the stash so I don't run out completely when I do laundry.  This will put us at 14 bumgenius freetimes and 16 diapers total.  (we have 1 bumgenius 4.0 and 1 best bottom from attempts #'s 1 and 2 and I detest when I have to actually use them)

3.  Diaper Sprayer.  I waffled on this purchase.  It seemed kind of pricey to me.  Let me tell you it's an absolute must for us.  That thing really gets the poop off of the diapers.  It makes me feel better that the diapers are free of most of the poop.  Let's just be honest here, I am basically washing poop in the same machine that I do my clothes in.


My washing method is pretty simple and it works really well for us.  I do the diapers at the very end of the day so I can get them hung up to dry overnight on my handy drying rack.

Washing Steps

1.  Cold Rinse on normal setting with "water plus" button pushed.  No detergent in this cycle.  I've found that this works best and the extra water allows the diapers to get super soaked and rid of all of the pee.

2.  Hot Wash on normal with "extra rinse" button pushed.  Country Save detergent on this cycle.  This sanitizes them.

3.  Cold Rinse on speed wash.  This really isn't necessary, but it's 15 minutes and makes me feel like they're cleaner so I'm going with it.

4.  Hang overnight to dry.  Take time to admire your cute little colorful diapers!

Summer Sun

I confess, I would lay out all day in the sun with absolutely nothing on if I could.  I love the feeling of warmth on my skin and the heat in the middle of the day in July.  When I was in high school I would slather myself up with SPF 4 (yes you read that right FOUR) and sit in the sun for hours on end.  I was life guarding or at the dunes almost every day.  I knew the dangers and went tanning anyways.  Then things changed.

My mom had spots of skin cancer removed from her face and neck when I was in college. That hit pretty close to home.  I wised up and started wearing SPF 30 in my later college years.  A good change.

I posted a while back about getting rid of the chemicals and choosing safer products for our family.   After Jack was born I learned that you really shouldn't use sun screen on a baby under 6 months old because of the chemicals found in a lot of sunscreens.  Wow news to me!

According to the environmental working group's website "very few sunscreens provide adequate sun protection without harmful chemicals".  So I had a little digging to do.

After investigating a few different brands, I settled on Badger Sunscreen for Jack and I am using it too.  As I'm getting things organized for Hawaii, the hats and sunscreen are the only items crossed off of my "to pack" list so far.

We are still active and out and about in the sun, but we are hat and sunscreen people now...most of the time ;)

Earth Day!

In honor of Earth Day I thought I would post about some of the eco and health conscious changes I've been making over the past 2 years.

Cloth Diapering

We're a little late to the game here.  This is our third attempt to cloth diaper.  The first two did not go well.  I'll blame it on too many choices, too many steps, and not enough brain capacity due to lack of sleep.  I did a lot of research before this third and final attempt and I'm happy to say we've found our diapers:  NO stuffing and velcro tabs.  This makes it EXACTLY like disposables (except you don't throw the diapers away, you wash them instead!).   Better for the environment and most importantly good for baby!

We have spent so much money on diapers in the past year so I was glad to make a one time investment on our cloth diapers that will hopefully be used with the next bambino too!

Our essentials for cloth diapering:

1.  10 BumGenius Freetimes-- $175 (bulk discount and 5% coupon code at Nicki's )

2.  2 PlanetWise Pail Liners-- $34 (17 a piece at amazon)
3.  1 PlanetWise Wet Bag- Free already had it!

4.  Flannel Wipes-  $11 (Set of 12 on amazon)

5.  Country Save Detergent-- $22 (10 lb box will last for 160 loads)

6.  BumGenius Diaper Sprayer-- $59 (couldn't find it anywhere cheaper)

We've been cloth diapering for about a week now and I have to say it's pretty easy!  I really like it, Jack seems to like his lack of diaper rash, and they are pretty simple to take care of.