Product Review: Pangea Organics Italian Green Mandarin with Sweet Lime Facial Toner

By: Megan
Cost: $26

   Yes, it’s another Pangea Organics product review, what can I say I really love this brand.  This time its there toner, for normal to combination skin (they also have one for oily to blemish prone skin) that is up for evaluation. Now let me start off by saying, before reading “No More Dirty Looks”, I was never, EVER a toner user.  I just couldn’t wrap my head around putting alcohol directly on my face, no matter what it claimed to do.  So when my go-to gurus praised toner so highly, I was a little skeptical.  What a toner is supposed to do, is balance your faces ph and prep it for moisturizer.  The great thing about using a clean toner is it should actually do that for you and not end up drying you out.  I started using this toner along with Pangea Organics Moroccan Argan Facial Cream, so some of these results could be from the combination of products, but believe me, the toner definitely holds it's own.
   When I started using this toner my skin was already behaving pretty darn well, with a few break outs every now and then that cleared up lickedy- split.  For about the first week of using the toner (and lotion), my face freaked out. It did not like the change.  I was devastated; I had fallen so quickly for Pangea Organics and assumed that they could do no wrong.  Plus the thought of having to give up any of my new products (which I had just dropped money on) did not sit well with me at all. I tried my best to be positive while sticking it out, in hopes my skin was just in shock.  Boy am I glad I did!  My skin tone is more even, clearer, and black heads are non existent.  Breakouts are pretty much a thing of the past and if they happen,  they disappear over night.
   I tend to base how well my skin looks by how much makeup I have to use in the morning.  For the past 2 weeks, I have been able to simply cover any small red spots and my dark circles and feel confident with how I look.  Before adding this to my routine I didn’t like to leave my house until I had applied multiple layers to my entire face.
  Okay, now more details about this toner specifically. Typically, when I  thought of toner,  I pictured a liquid you put on a cotton pad and then apply to your face.  This is a little different as it comes packaged with a spritzer top.  I was nervous to blindly spray my face with a new product but ended up loving the feeling.  I always take some waking up in the morning and the cool mist definitely helps do the trick.  Oh, and the smell, it just might be my favorite part!  It has no artificial fragrances (thank goodness) and smells crisp and refreshing, reminds me of summer.  I also use the toner for more then just the step between cleansing and moisturizing.  I have taken a tip from the ladies atnomoredirtylooks.com and have stopped washing my face everyday, yes you read that right. I know it sounds crazy, but I suggest giving it a try.  On the days I skip the face wash, I rinse my face with warm water in the shower and instead of spraying toner directly to my face I give a cotton pad a sprits and wipe over my face.  My face always feels clean after and I still get to receive the benefits of the toner.  Similarly, I’m horrible about washing my face at night and I can use the toner almost like a makeup remover, which I figure, is better than doing nothing, gives me the same clean feeling before I go to bed and takes very little effort.  There is one last use for this toner, and it was the one I was scared to try the most.  The packing on the toner and according to our clean product bible (No More Dirty Looks, if you haven’t figure that out) suggests using toner to refresh your mineral make up. To me that sounds insane.  All day I try and keep my makeup looking perfect and now you want me to mist my face, I don’t think so.  But as always I took a deep breath and misted away, and the results were very good.  First time I tried this was at the end of a busy work day, when I had no plans after, because I was scared.  What it is supposed to do, is reduce the powdery or chalky look that can sometimes happen with mineral make up.  That is exactly what it did, plus it provided that refreshing feeling that I am now obsessed with.  Overall, this is a phenomenal product and has become one of my favorite products that as come from this clean quest, and I wonder what I did before it came into my life.  And as excited as I get about trying new products when my current one runs out, I don’t think this one will be leaving me any time soon!

Product Review: Yes To Cucumbers Body Wash

By: Meg
Cost: 10.00

As I mentioned in my previous post, the first all natural product I purchased after committing to clean up my beauty act, was a body wash I was not thrilled with. I pur based Yes To Cucumbers body was because the packaging was appealing and the ingredients looked pretty good as well. I used it that night for the first time and was so disappointed. The smell was nice enough, not intense or overpowering at all. I lathered up and soon felt a mild stinging all over! I rinsed off and jumped out of the shower. My arms and legs felt very dry, like the wash had zapped all the moisture out of them. I checked the back of the bottle again, looking for some horrible chemical that was the culprit in my dry irritation. I could find nothing suspicious on the label. I slathered lotion on my poor dry arms and legs and have not used that item again. What this made me realize, is that everyone has a different make-up and reacts a little different to ingredients.
I remebered about a year ago, buying Burt's Bee's lip balm for my winter chapped lips. My lips ballooned into Angelina Jolie lips (a look that Ms. Jolie pulls off much better than I do). They became more chapped and irritated the more I applied. As soon as I switched lip balm the inflammation went away. Burt's Bee's a d the Yes To line both do a good job of keepin chemicals out of their products for the most part, but it's still possible to have a negative reaction to these natural ingredients. I recommend that you keep trying different products until you find one you really love. If you don't love it, move on! I also recommend buying sample sizes when trying new items, so if you have to ditch it, you won't have dropped a load of cash on something you won't use.

Message from the Megs:

 We thought that since we are the new bloggers on the block, we might give everyone a peek at what is to come from Meggsquared. We have a ton of products that we are excited to recommend (and a few that we are excited to tell you to steer clear of). We will be reviewing several products from our favorite all natural lines. We have reviews coming up for Josie Maran, 100% pure, Juice Beauty, John Masters, Couleur Caramel, Better Botanicals, Giovanni, Pangea Organics, and more! We will be sharing our stories of cleaning up our acts with you and letting you know where to get all these products. We really want this natural beauty thing to catch fire because it is SO MUCH BETTER -you'll see! Please email us if you have any questions or need a personal recommendation, we would love to help!

Product Review: Josie Maran Argan Oil

By: Meg
Cost: 48.00
Josie Maran has become my newest indulgence in natural beauty. Her line is filled with fantastic skincare and Makeup. This line is full of ingredients that are great for your skin, but her main focus is something called Argan oil. This is the rare oil found in the Moroccan oil brand you find in your salon (the Moroccan Oil brand, just as an FYI, is not all natural at all). This oil has a high concentration of vitamin E which our skin and hair just love!
 I decided to try out the Josie Maran pure Argan Oil. This is a pretty pricey item at 48.00 for 1.7oz, but so little goes such a long way, I think it is worth it. I have tried this oil for a number of different uses and so far I am thrilled with the results.
 I already knew that my hair would respond well to the Argan, so I used a very tiny couple drops to smooth through my hair the first couple days to get rid of flyways and add a little shine. After a few days, I became more bold and began using it as a split end treatment. I used about a dime sized amount and rubbed it into the ends of my hair and let it sit for about 30 min. Then, I washed my hair as usual. The normally split-dead looking ends looked much smoother and healthier (note be sure to shampoo your ends pretty well because the oil hangs on pretty good).
 I had read that people used Argan oil on their face as a moisturizer, so I thought I better give that a go. Secretly, I was terrified about the massive break-out that was sure to ensue from putting oil directly on my face.....but that never happened! I use it as a night moisturizer (because it does give me a little shine I don't normally wear it for day time, also it contains no SPF). When I wake up in the morning my skin looks and feels SO GREAT! I also think it has helped balance my skin so that I don't produce as much oil the more I use it, so my face gets less shiny as I continue to use it. I have had this same bottle for about a month and am not even halfway through it even though I feel like I use it A LOT. Bottom line girls you can't put a price on quality so this is worth how fantastic you will look!

Product Review: Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps in Peppermint

By: Meg
Cost: ~15.00 for 32 oz


When I put myself up for the challenge of ridding my beauty products of harsh chemicals, I decided to try a baby-step approach. The product I felt I was least attached to was body wash, so that would be the first thing to go. I usually bought whatever body wash smelled the best but was really inexpensive. My philosophy was that it was only on my skin for a few minutes and no matter what I bought, they left my skin feeling completely dried out when I got out of the shower, so why not just get the cheapest one?
 My first natural body wash pick was not a good one, it gave me the same results as my old cheapy chemical body wash (I'll save that negative review for next time). At this point I had almost resigned to believing that all body wash, natural or not, would give me the same dried out feeling. I decided to try one more all natural brand: Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap. I took one whiff of the Peppermint  body wash and decided to check it out.
 Now normally, I would not give this product a second glance. The packaging looks cheap, you can buy it in gallon size, and the brand has the word "Magic" in it's title, which I usually associate with infomercial type items (SHAM-WOW!). The scent was so great though, and a quick glance at the ingredients proved promising,  so I took it home.
 This body wash is so refreshing! The peppermint has a slightly cooling effect and it actually doesn't dry my skin out! It works great as a shave gel too, as it lathers pretty well, despite being free of sulfates. It contains a good amount of the oils your skin craves for moisture, like jojoba and Vitamin E.  As an added bonus, Dr. Bronner's items are all Fair Trade certified and USDA Organic certified. Their company website also provides a lot of information about how to determine if a product is actually organic or just claiming to be.
 I'm very happy I tried this product and perhaps next time I'll go for the gallon size!

Product Review: Pangea Organics Egyptian Calendula & Blood Orange Facial Cleanser

By: Megan
Cost: ~$28

This Facial Cleanser was the first clean product that I started using, and I didn’t even realize it!  I had received a sample of a Pangea Organics face mask from Sephora and loved it and at that time happened to be looking for a new facial cleanser (go figure clean and clear wasn’t cutting it).  On my next trip to Sephora, I was dead set on finding a facial cleanser by Pangea Organics, I made beeline to it, took a deep breath when I saw it was $28 and headed to the check out.
I don't ever remember being so exited about a face wash before this one. The whole drive back I just wanted to get home and wash my face.  As I looked on the box and ingredients (even without knowing everything I do now) I was surprise at how good the ingredients and the company seemed.  I was not disappointed when I started using it, and happy that I didn’t just flush $28 down the drain, and became very quickly addicted to the product.  My skin was clearer and softer then it had ever been.  If I do get a small breakout they are way less severe and clear up extremely quick.  It was everything I ever wanted out of a face wash!  So when we started out cleaning up our products was terrified to see what bad chems were lurking in my dream cleanser.  I was so relieved to see that I could keep using this cleanser, and that I could start using Pangea Organics to replace my other products!

The Quest for Clean

 Let me start out by saying that we are NOT tree hugging hippies. Not that there is anything wrong with that, activism and community involvement would not be what it is today if it weren't for hippies. I just feel it's important to make that distinction because our ultimate goal is looking (and smelling) our best and finding products that are natural AND work, not just natural for the sake of being natural. The fact that these products are environmentally safe is the icing on the cake for us. Beauty First!
 A quick intro to us girls: We are roommates and friends and we both happen to be named Meg. For the sake of our friends and our readers, my partner in crime goes my Megan (in our profile pic she is on the left) and I go by Meg.
 We both had extensive beauty regimens full of products that contained all kinds of nasty chemicals that promised to clear up everything from pimples to dark under eye circles....and don't even get me started on our hair products!
 Now for years we blindly kept using these products even though we never got the ideal results we were promised. Both of us had a sneaking suspicion that those long unpronounceable ingredients listed on the back of all our bottles may be part of the problem....but who knows what those are? These mysterious chemicals seem to be in just about everything in the beauty industry anyway, so they can't be that bad right? So we kept buying those products, occasionally upgrading to a more expensive version of what we were previously using which tended to yeild the same results.
  Then we read an intro to a book that changed my whole perspective. We immediately bought the book and devoured it. The book is "No More Dirty Looks." We recommend you go buy this book immediately! It is a comprehensive guide to all those nasty chemicals and their effect on your body (and beauty!). Turns out, those chemicals that are in most of your products are REALLY bad for you.
  We have both started the switch to all natural products and we have been shocked with the results. The natural skincare and hair care products work better than our old stand-bys! We look brighter and clearer and we smell great (not at all like a patchouli drenched drum circle...which is what I thought natural beauty usually smelled like).
  Now, we are completely fascinated by this industry and we have a mission to spread the word about how great these products are for you and how amazing the results can be.
  We invite you to join us as we make the switch and be your natural beauty guinea pigs. We are going to test all kinds of beauty products and review them here. We want everyone to make the switch with us and feel as great about it as we have! We also LOVE feedback so email us anytime! Here we go!