Adventures at the mall: Origins vs Aveda

Last Friday I grabbed two of my friends and headed to the mall. First we started with a cocktail, appetizers and dinner so we could catch up with each other and visit. It was a night out that we all needed so I am happy we were able to make it happen. I was also excited that they were interested in trying out two department store lines that were recommended to me. I was an Origins user before I started with Sensaria so I was pretty familiar with it but it has been 7 years since I looked at it. Aveda was another line that people raved about over the years and my friend's SIL is a huge fan and wanted her to check it out.

We hit the Aveda store first because my friend had already checked it out (due to her SIL recommendation) and we all wanted to see what the fuss was about. We started out in the hair care section and found a Rosemary Mint Shampoo. We miss the shampoos Sensaria had to offer and we really liked the scent of the Aveda one. It was definitely more minty than the Sensaria one which we liked. Next we hit the essential oil section and it was definitely a bit strong for us so we didn't linger long. They did have a really yummy tea that we sampled! Next up was some of their body care products and I really liked their Caribbean Therapy Body Scrub. It was very much like Sensaria's Sweet & Smooth as it is a sugar and salt scrub and you have to stir it up before using it. It didn't smell as wonderful as the Sweet & Smooth but it was a pleasant, soft, tropical smell that I liked. Again, they had a nice minty Rosemary Mint Body/Hand Wash but we were disappointed how much it cost. I am not sure I would pay $16 for just 8.5 oz of body wash? I guess I am just spoiled! Finally, we headed over to the skin care section and started playing around with that. It was nice to see familiar lines like "Sensitive", "Acne", "Anti-aging", etc. It was a bit confusing because there were quite a few lines that seemed to overlap each other. The products felt nice but there was definitely a strong essential oil scent to most of their skin care products. It wasn't a smell that appealed to us.

After the Aveda store we headed over to the Origins store which was right around the corner. The gal there was very perky and helpful. Maybe a bit too helpful? We headed right over to the skin care items and looking over the lines I remembered all the different products I used way back when. There were of course some new anti-aging things too. We were all much more excited about the smells of these products and they also felt really nice too. Our favorite cleanser was Checks and Balances and my friend almost bought one but took home a sample instead. I really have to get her to try Beauty Society! We did a price check and the Origins line is a little more expensive ($3.90/oz) than Beauty Society ($3.69/oz) and plus you can't get Origins on sale or earn it for free for having a party. ;) After the skin care we checked out the body care items. We really liked the apricot smell of the A Perfect World line but didn't like their prices. The shampoo line was yummy smelling too but again the prices seemed high.

Bottom line? We liked a lot of products in both lines but I think our preference was Origins in how things smelled and the skin care line was more reasonable than Aveda.

Read more...

Even more research!

I swear this list never seems to end! I was barely through my second week of trying new product lines. It was so crazy that it is no wonder my head was starting to spin! Here goes the final four lines...

First up was Noevir which to be fair I only tested one product because I had picked up a free sample at one of the many events I did last year. The sample was the Quick Recovery Mask which I tried one day in the shower. This is supposed to cleanse, mask and exfoliate. It smelled ok so I slathered it on my face then let it sit and do it's job. It did feel heavy and perhaps made for people with dry skin? It also reminded me of when I used to play with my grandmother's makeup. She used to use some sort of cold cream and some Shiseido products and this is what this mask reminded me of. It also started to sting my eyes. I now see that you are supposed to avoid the eyes (which I did) but when I was rinsing some got in there anyway. It must have been the menthol or eucalyptus which is probably why I liked the smell. However, I really didn't care for how it felt on my face. I just wasn't wowed by this product and for $52 I better feel some wow. I didn't so I moved on.

Next up was NouVara which a friend of mine recommended to me. She recently joined this company and knows the owners of the company so she really believes in this company. However, it is a brand new company which concerned me. They also only had a skin care line available which was not very big. They do have plans for more products but this is the one they launched with. This company was looked at by the Sensaria leaders ... or at least I think so since there is another company with a similar name with very few products in their line. I did like the fact that the samples came with a personal letter to me explaining a bit about the company and the products. They also sent a good amount to sample. The products were nice and I liked the smell of it all. They did recommend that I try it for a week or two before I see dramatic results. I just couldn't wait that long but I did try it for a few days. Unfortunately, I was already wowed by the Beauty Society products so if that hadn't happened maybe I would have stuck with it more. I also saw the high prices and the comp plan didn't excite me so again I moved on.

The next line I tried was from BeautiControl and I agreed to try it since the lady contacted me from an online forum I have been a member of for a few years now. I had tried some of their makeup a few years ago and it was just okay for me. Since I never tried their skin care I thought I would give it a try. She sent me quite a few samples to try but I just tried their SPA line products. Their products smelled good and were reasonably priced but the line left my skin feeling a bit tight after using it. They did have these really neat skin sensors that you just touch to your face and it tells you what products to use on your skin type. It wasn't news to me to see that I had combination skin with lots of oil in the t-zone. It was a long survey to tell me what I already knew. Still, I thought it was interesting! I looked through the catalog and it looked kind of Avon-esque to me and since the products didn't wow me ... I moved on.

Last up was a line that many Sensaria reps were raving about which was Lemongrass Spa. It wasn't on the leaders list to consider but there was a whole group of reps in Florida who fell in love. I had my doubts as I sampled just a few items at the Jordan Essentials party and it seemed very similar to JE. I got the travel facial care set for normal skin. I didn't like the smell of the cleanser, toner, or moisturizer. I did like the pomegranate mask and face polish but I really don't like the feel of jojoba beads which have been used in some other products I tried. I didn't feel like the mask did anything for me other than smell nice. I also tried the body polish which is a sugar scrub with some oils in it. The scent I got was pink grapefruit and while it was nice at first, the scent really lingers after using the scrub and I didn't like the after smell. The scrub was also very hard to scoop out of the jar. It was dense and just packed in really well. I got a sample of their whipped body butter which had a nice vanilla-orange scent but it was way too greasy for my skin. Nothing like Sensaria's body butters! They also included a Pink Shimmer lip balm but it was very sweet and it seemed to just sit on top of my lips. My 3 year old daughter loved it so guess who has it now? This line was very inexpensive and great for anyone looking for a line that is really natural. This wasn't a line for me but lots of Sensaria gals did like it so maybe if you are into the all natural thing then it could be for you too?

Now on to my adventures at the mall with some friends!

Read more...

The research continues!

As I mentioned before, I tried a LOT of different skin care lines after I got home from Sweden. The previous blog post was about my first week back and now I will now tell you about my second week. Also, if I can squeeze it in I will include a little excursion my girlfriends and I took to the mall to check out a few department store brands too. Although, I have a feeling I will need to make a separate blog post about that trip.

My week started off with evaluating a company called Pink Papaya. It is not a new line to me as I have heard about it online and at least one rep of mine joined their company only to call me back a few months later to join Sensaria. I am pretty sure she liked the products but there wasn't enough training and support for her with Pink Papaya. Also, a good friend of mine was invited to a party a few months ago and gave me her opinion plus shared her samples with me. Neither one of us liked the lotion samples she had. Both in the smell and how they felt. She really liked the Cranberry Orange hand scrub but she was really hoping for more products available in that scent. She also didn't like the skin care line but she is also a die-hard Sensaria customer of mine. Anyway, I got an invitation from a former Sensaria rep to attend a Pink Papaya team meeting which was held in Bothell. It was just literally a few minutes away and while I was really burned out from trying new skin care products, I figured I had to go and make sure for myself. There were probably about 10 people there and most of the evening was spent sampling the new products that just got announced at their convention. It was a LOT of new products and they seemed to be mostly body products and a new skin care line for men. I still didn't care for most of their scents but there were 1or 2 that I did like. However, I really wanted to try the skin care so the leader sent me home with some samples. I got a cleanser, toner, am moisturizer and a pm moisturizer. The products did smell pretty good to me but I thought they left my skin feeling a bit tight. I also looked through their catalog and saw very few skin care items and the ingredients that I saw weren't all that impressive to me in regards to anti-aging. Most of the catalog was on body products and lots of scents. They also had a large selection of makeup which didn't interest me that much either. Price wise they seem fairly similar to Sensaria with some items slightly more expensive. When I priced a few items it worked out to be more per ounce but their body wash was double Sensaria's! Otherwise, if you like the scents of this product line then this would be a reasonable alternative to Sensaria in regards to the body care line. Maybe if you were using the Signature line with Sensaria then maybe Pink Papaya's skin care would appeal to you too. It just didn't appeal to me so I moved on.

Next up was Jordan Essentials. Another Sensaria rep had joined this company and invited me to her launch party. It wasn't too far away so I decided to go. Sometimes it is easier to try it in person than asking for a bunch of samples from all these companies. She had a great turnout at her home and she even had a few items to sample from other lines she had tried. One was Lemongrass Spa which I was getting samples from them soon and the other was L'Bri which I had samples for but hadn't had a chance to try it yet. So, I went around and sampled Jordan Essentials. It looked like they had about 15 or so different scents that were available in all their products. I didn't like most of these scents again but there were a few that appealed to me. The scents reminded me a lot of Bath & Body Works. I tried the body wash, body scrub and a lotion at the sink. The scent was really nice which was Oatmeal, Milk & Honey. However, the wash seemed very thick and sticky and the lotion was a bit tacky after using it too. There were a few other Sensaria reps there too and they wanted to try the products on their face. I smelled the face products and didn't like it enough to put on my face so I watched them try the products and see what they thought. They liked the way the products smelled but after putting them on it also seemed to have that tacky feeling that I got at the sink. Perhaps they just used too much of the product? The gal hosting the party said the skin care products were coming out unscented at the end of August but then I wondered how they would smell. I don't really like unscented items either and I wonder how bad they smell if they had to make them with a scent added to it? The product prices were very reasonable and they definitely cater to those people who are looking for natural, made in the USA products. They just didn't appeal to me.

Next up was L'Bri which I actually had in my house for about a week before I realized that box was for me! I had asked for samples to be sent and I was expecting a small box to come in the mail. I thought that this huge 20lb box belonged to my husband until I looked at the label and it was addressed to me! I couldn't believe the amount of stuff they sent me! It looked like a consultant's kit with many full size items, catalogs, books, samples and more. I was really overwhelmed by the amount of products sent! I took out some skin care samples and some body care items like the shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and body butter. I couldn't stand the smell of the body butter so that item stayed in the kit. I wasn't crazy about the shampoo and conditioner either but a friend raved about them so I thought I would give it a try. I have to say that the shampoo and conditioner were very nice but I still couldn't stand the smell. It felt like it lingered after my hair was dry and that meant that it was a no go for me. As for the skin care, it also had a scent that didn't appeal to me either. In fact, most of their products had a similar smell which frankly reminded me of an old lady scent. I tried the skin care anyway but thought it left me feeling tight. There was a product that I did like the scent of which was the Facial Peel but I admit that I haven't tried it yet. I really didn't like most of what I saw with this line including the smell, packaging, and products offered that it was off my list right away.

Ok, what was next? I see three more lines sitting on my table but it is time to get dinner ready so I will save those for another blog post!

Read more...

The research begins!

I got home from our trip from Sweden on Saturday 7/30 and Monday Aug 1st I tuned into as many conference calls as I could. I think there were three that day ... Beauty Society, Chartreuse and Joan's call. Joan is one of Sensaria's top leaders and she had a call to announce who she tried and who she went with. It was a popular call and very informative. All these calls were wonderfully informative but it sure made my head spin. I was still tired and jet lagged from the trip and it didn't help that my son was going through some medical issues that we thought were more serious than what it actually turned out to be. My whole week was quite the whirlwind and this is what I checked out during this time.

During the last two weeks of July I had been reading about what other leaders in Sensaria were considering and I followed their progress. One that surprised me was Private Quarters because it was so radically different than anything else. It was high quality bed and bath linens plus other things too. I dismissed this company at first but then heard what great things the leaders were saying and then Sensaria's Training Director got hired on there so that started to peek my interest. The more I read about them the more I liked what I heard. I could see myself fitting right in with their message and it seemed like a wonderful company with heart. More on this later! :)

The company that Joan picked was Votre Vu and my Sensaria leader had a get-to-know Votre Vu party with Joan to sample the products. So, I made the 1.5 - 2 hour drive like I often do to attend the team meetings. I figured there wasn't any more team meetings and I already planned on going before Sensaria closed its doors so why not? It was a good opportunity to find out more about why Sensaria shut down so suddenly and also to see what the fuss was all about. I knew about the company of course because Sensaria's former President joined their team a few years ago. I had also tried some Votre Vu products before but only lotions and things like that. I wasn't impressed with what I tried before but I wanted to see if the skin care was as good as they say it is. We sampled all the products and heard about how they are marketing the products too. I didn't like most of the skin care scents and didn't feel compelled to try it on my face. It reminded me of an expensive department store brand and some of the products felt very heavy to me. The prices seemed a bit high too and I didn't like the fact that hardly anyone pays retail for the product. Most people join their preferred customer plan to save 30-50% or they become a Brand Ambassador and sell the product. Why inflate the prices to give a false sense of getting a good deal? I am not a fan of binary compensation plans so all of these things ruled out Votre Vu for me. However, it did appeal to a lot of people in that room as most of my upline team decided to join.

Another consideration for me was Beauty Society which a few leaders decided to join. They seemed to be the most similar to Sensaria's skin care and their compensation plan was similar too. I was put off by all the hot pink and cutesy tongue-in-cheek product names but if some of these die-hard Sensaria leaders picked this company then I had to try them myself. I called their home office and asked for samples and waited for them to arrive. In the meantime, a few gals were getting together to talk about Beauty Society so I went. After seeing the products in person and touching and smelling everything I had a better feeling about this company. I was definitely willing to put them on my face to test them out. I just wish I didn't have to wait a week before getting my samples but they did come at last. It was a bit confusing to figure out all the product names and what to use when but they told me to call back when I got the products so I did. It really helped and I must say I was super impressed after the very first use. I remember touching my face like that 7 years ago when I first tried Sensaria's products! I liked the way they smelled with the exception of the Anytime Anywhere moisturizer. It was a soft fragrance but maybe I would use the oil free moisturizer instead? Overall, it was an immediate and fabulous feeling that I had! Definitely a top contender! It is too bad they didn't have any body care products ... just a little makeup and lash growing serum which looked pretty cool.

Ok, next (I don't know the order I tried everything but let's just go with it) I tried Chartreuse which is a small company based out of California. This company came recommended from another Sensaria rep that I have known for years and it was a company she considered before going with a non-skin care company. They were very eco-friendly and had lots of nice sounding items. I really wanted to like their products. I really did! The prices seemed affordable but after listening to a info call from the founder I got a funny feeling. She was a little too green and eco-friendly for my tastes. Also, they were the only company who was not willing to send me free samples. We had to order them ourselves and the shipping was rather high on a small box of samples that didn't weigh very much. The discount code they gave me only paid for the shipping so it didn't feel like I was getting any sort of deal. Then when the stuff arrived the eye cream had totally separated which wasn't appealing at all. I think perhaps I ordered the wrong samples for the skin care as I don't like creamy cleansers but it said it was for combo/sensitive skin. It smelled very natural (which wasn't always good) and it looked like someone made it in their kitchen. I had to wash my face again with my Sensaria cleanser to feel like my face was clean. I also didn't like their moisturizer either as it was too greasy and didn't soak in. I also tried some body washes and lotions too and I actually liked the Vanilla Almond Shea Butter body wash. I loved the smell and it was wonderfully moisturizing without being sticky. I tried the kid's body wash and it was just okay for me. I wish the smell was more appealing as it was an odd combination for me. Sweet orange, aloe and rosemary? I didn't like the Lemongrass body wash as it was very runny and I just don't think the scent meshes well with my body chemistry. I even tried the Lemongrass lotion and it was the same. It feels nice however but I just didn't like the smell. I also really liked the Vanilla Almond Shea Lotion but it needs to come in a tub or something as it was very thick. I would consider ordering lotions and body wash from this company and maybe the high shipping is more justified if they are heavier items?

Next up on my sampling list was NYR Organics. A networking friend had suggested them and gave me a local gal's name. Not too long after that very same gal found me on Facebook. I thought it was definitely a sign for me to try out this product line! I had heard of other people in Sensaria trying it too so I thought I would give it a shot. I met up with the gal and she was extremely nice and very helpful. It seems like a nice company and it is one of the few certified organic companies out there. They came from an apothecary background and their product line is heavily based on essential oils. Yes, the products were strongly scented but at least they weren't heavily perfumed. It was just different. I did take some samples home and try them out but I would rather see great results than have an organic, essential oil skin care. I love what they are doing and how much they care about the environment! I am just not organic enough to truly love these products.

So that wraps up the first week!

Read more...

What I loved about Sensaria

It is hard to talk about Sensaria in the past tense but that is the reality. They are gone and I am sad I lost a lot of my favorite products. At least I stocked up on the ones I really can't go without! They closed their business while I was on vacation in Sweden but now that I am home and recovered from my jet lag, I have been researching other skin care companies like crazy! I have been reading and watching where other reps have gone so I had a good list to start with. Also, I have mostly focused on skin care as that was one of my main loves. I figured I could find a lotion, body wash and body scrub much easier than a good skin care line. I am done with my rigorous testing of many different product lines and found one that I really like. Before I go into why I like that company and their products, I feel it is necessary to explain why I loved Sensaria so here we go!

However, maybe I should go back a little further first? I was blessed to have been introduced to some good skin care in my teens as I started out with using Clinique. It was great for my skin at the time and established a good foundation for me. However, when I went to college it wasn't always in my budget so I tried other things. I even sold Mary Kay for a short while too but that ended up irritating my skin after a while so I stopped selling it. I don't remember having problems with bad acne in my teens but there certainly was a problem with breakouts like any normal teen I suppose. I do remember having oily skin. I know my acne problems developed as I got older and especially flared up when I had kids. In my mid-20's, it was bad enough that I tried Proactive but that didn't last long as it was too harsh on my skin. I ended up settling on Origins for a few years before I tried Sensaria. I liked that they were sort of natural and stuff smelled good and it also seemed to work well for my skin too.

So, I was in my early 30's when a friend invited me to my first Sensaria spa party. I had never heard of them nor did I know what exactly a "spa party" was. My friend told me we were going to get pampered, soak our feet and drink some wine. That was all I needed to know! I ended up going with very little expectations and was very pleasantly surprised how much I liked it. I really loved the mango body butter and the skin care which really shocked me! I couldn't stop touching my face as it felt so soft. I think my husband thought I was a bit crazy for asking if he could feel a difference too. I ended up trading parties with this friend for about 2 years before I decided to join Sensaria and sell the products myself.

That was 5 years ago and I still love the products. I loved the way the skin care products smelled and how soft they made my skin feel. I loved the Citrus Cleaner and it was one item that could do so much! I could use on everything from blood and ink stains to washing windows and veggies. I even did my laundry with it! I loved how the body butter was never greasy or sticky and hydrated my skin all day. I loved the Nourishing Moisturizer and how it helped my son's eczema. I loved the mango, coconut and rosemary mint scents. I miss that sweet orange scent too that they had for a while. It was the best shampoo & conditioner until they discontinued it. I loved the Sweet & Smooth body scrub because of that orange scent and it was great to shave with. You get to exfoliate with the sugar and salt and then shave with the remaining oil. I loved the Optimize Eye Serum for getting rid of any puffiness and dark circles. I loved the Men's Face Scrub as it was sort of citrus-y and foamed so it cleaned and exfoliated at the same time! I also loved the Microdermabrasion scrub too as it was the gentlest scrub I have ever used and it made my skin so soft. I loved the foot scrub too as it was so minty and fresh and it made my feet feel great too.

Honestly, I could go on and on and on about what I loved. However, since I focused mainly on skin care during my search maybe I should tell you exactly what I used so maybe you can get a better idea of what all the other companies had to compare with? Here goes!

- Balancing Cleanser (PM ~ I felt it took off my makeup better)
- Mineral Genesis Cleanser (AM)
- Mineral Genesis Conditioning Mist (AM/PM)
- Optimize Eye Serum (AM)
- Line Diminisher (AM ~ even though it was discontinued, I still love it)
- SPF 28 (AM)
- Night Cream (PM)
- Mineral Genesis Gold (AM/PM)

Also, every other day or so I would exfoliate with either the Men's Face Scrub or Microdermabrasion depending on what I felt like. I also tried to mask with the Sea Silk Mask in between the days I scrub but I fell out of habit with it and used it about once a week. So, I think that about covers it!

Read more...