Beyond Beauty: Erbaviva

If you’ve been following along the blog this year, then you know that I’ve been on a mission to slowly weed out toxic products from my home. While tackling cleaning products, I’ve also been paying more attention to the products that I use on my body. Our skin is our largest organ. Everything we put on it is absorbed like a giant sponge – what goes on it, gets in it. I’m so excited to start sharing with you some amazing health and beauty brands that I’ve been testing out over the past few months. To kick this series off is Erbaviva. The packaging immediately caught my eye because it’s simple and monochrome. I love the dark amber bottles and minimalistic font. Most importantly, Erbaviva products have a USDA organic certification which means that their products are over 95% organic, so pure that they are edible. I love knowing that I am putting the best products on my skin. Their shaping oil products feed the skin nutrients that inspire the body’s natural ability to detoxify, shape and firm. I’ve been using this product for over 4 weeks now and love the way it smooths my skin and tightens my two+ year postpartum belly. This was my first time trying a deodorant spray and I was really impressed by their Jasmine Grapefruit Organic Deodorant. It’s different than a lot of the store brands sprays and feels more like a lightweight mist, almost like their body spray. The smell is clean, fresh, and energizing. Anything that uses essential oils is a must-have product for me. I apply both in the morning before toddler wrangling and again at night before bedtime. Speaking of bedtime, does anyone out there even have energy after dealing with kids, work, activities, cleaning, etc during the day?

As harmful as toxic chemicals are to your body, so are toxic thoughts, negative energy, and stress to your mind. While it’s never going to be possible to remove all negative things from your life, it’s important to slow down and take time for yourself, especially if you’re a mother, and focus on weeding out anything that may be bringing you down. We fill our days taking care of everyone else’s needs but often forget about finding time for ourselves. That is the biggest struggle I personally deal with: finding the time to actually want to do something for myself. With two young kids, a house full of pets, and working from home, I often feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day. By the time I am done in the evening all I want to do is veg out in bed and do nothing at all. Lately I’ve been willing myself to soak in the tub for at least 30 minutes after the kids go down. I light a candle, turn on relaxing music, and keep my phone in the other room. It’s amazing what a half hour of pure relaxation can do for the body and mind. Do you have any tips for relaxation? I would love to hear them in the comments below as I am always open to trying new methods!