Tuesday, May 17, 2011

(Closed) Episencial Summer Essentials Skincare Review, Giveaway and Coupon! Ends 5/31 (Extended!)

Are you ready for the sun this summer? Make sure your family is protected with Episencial's natural summer skincare essentials. Episencial offers a line of safe skincare products, like mineral-based sunscreen, that are safe for babies, kids, and adults too. Free of parabens, phthalates, additives, fragrances, BPA and petroleum, you'll LOVE the entire line of all-natural skincare for your entire family!

First, I'm really excited to share with you Episencial's Sunny Sunscreen SPF 35. Just one month ago I was getting anxious about having to find a safe sunscreen this year. Turns out the one I thought was apparently "safe" last year, was not entirely true. It was still a chemical based sunscreen, loaded with toxins I learned about the summer season was over. Sunny Sunscreen still protects the skin from harmful UVA and UVB rays while using a natural blend of zinc and titanium minerals instead of harsh chemicals. The non-greasy, water-resistant formula is full of nourishing organics ingredients like shea butter, beeswax, green tea and sesame, safflower and avocado oils. It has a milky texture, and blended easily into my skin. Since it's safe enough for babies, that means I'll be using for myself this summer too! One sunscreen for the whole family!

Buddy has very fair skin like me, so I'm a nervous wreck when he's outside in the sun for more than a few minutes. Even with one of those hats that covers his entire head and neck, his arms and legs will are still exposed. While I still would never let him play in direct sun for hours at a time WITH sunscreen on, at least I have a little more peace of mind and Buddy can have some outdoor fun too!

 The Soothing Cream is AWESOME. It really does soothe the skin, and worked well on my super dry hands especially. While the other 2 products did leave a shiny look to the skin (although not greasy), the Soothing Cream blends completely and leaves just hydrated, smooth, soft skin. This multi-purpose moisturizer features an organic blend of calming calendula, oat extract and borage seed and is also great in helping treat rashes, and irritated or itchy skin as well. You'll also find organic green tea, neem oil along with the calendula extract that can naturally boost skin immunity and help heal from eczema. You all know from a prior review that I have some horrible eczema. I haven't used it on my eczema yet, but I fully intend on trying it and hoping for the best!

Guess what!?! Apparently the Soothing Cream great as a safe diaper cream for use with cloth diapers too!

We also tried the Protective Face Balm SPF 6. This also has a milky, lotion texture, and smoothed on without being greasy. It's a great choice for baby's chapped, dry face caused by runny noses and drool ravaged chins. Although Buddy's face isn't too dry this time of year, I know it will be great for winter months and his dry cheeks, especially after bath time. This balm is even safe for lips too! It contains ingredients like organic aloe vera, coco butter, shea butter, organic licorice extract and raspberry butter to soothe, protect, insulate, hydrate and relief chapped skin and lips.

Something for you to check out...

I've been a bit diligent lately in checking my skincare products at the EWG's Skin Deep Cosmetics Database to find their "hazard" score. EWG's Skin Deep is basically an online safety guide for cosmetics and personal care products and can help you determine if a product's ingredients are safe for you. I'm excited that Episencial's Soothing Cream rates at a 1 out of 10, and their Sunny Sunscreen and Protective Face Balm are only a 2 out of 10. So, all 3 products are considered to be of low hazard, which is fantastic compared to most products out there. In fact, Sunny Sunscreen was named one of the top sunscreens for safety and effectiveness!

Be sure to follow Episencial on Facebook and Twitter for news and the latest updates!

*Coupon Alert!* 
For Skin Cancer Awareness Month, get 15% off all Episencial products with the purchase of Episencial Sunny Sunscreen at Dermstore.com! Use coupon code DSSUNNY valid through May 23rd! Dermastore.com is also offering a special Episencial Skin Soothing Set ($26 value) with any Episencial purchase of $30!

Price: Sunny Sunscreen SPF 35 (4oz) - $14.99, Protective Face Balm SPF 6 (.75 oz) - $5.99, Soothing Cream (4oz.) - 10.99.

The Verdict: These 3 products are amazing just like the rest of the Episencial line! I feel so relieved to have found a completely safe sunscreen for my family this summer and I'm excited to continue using all the products whenever we need them. Yay for all-natural skincare that's also made is the USA! Thanks Episencial!

Buy It!
Check Episencial's Store Locator to find a store with Episencial products near you! You can also find Episencial at
Dermstore.com (and use the coupon code above!), or at one of my favorite natural online retailers, Ecomom.com.

Win It!
One winner will receive the same products I reviewed! The full-sized Sunny Sunscreen SPF 35 (4oz) and Protective Face Balm SPF 6 (.75 oz), as well as a travel sized Soothing Cream (.75 oz.)!!

Rules:
-Leave 1 comment per entry
-Include your email address in each entry
-For complete giveaway rules and help entering, please click HERE

To Enter:

Mandatory Entry: (must be done first)

-Tell me what Episencial product you would like to try! (1 entry)

Extra Entries:

-Follow The Reynolds Mom on Google Friend Connect (1 entry)

-"Like" me on Facebook (1 entry)

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-Follow me on Twitter (1 entry)

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-Tweet the following up to 2 times/day, at least one hour apart please. Please leave the URL of your tweets in separate entries.
#Win #free @Episencial #Natural Skincare products! #Summer Sunscreen & More! @TheReynoldsMom #Giveaway Ends 5/31 http://tinyurl.com/44ll3e3 (1 entry/tweet)

-Subscribe to my blog by email (3 entries) or RSS feed (1 entry)

-Post my button or post about this giveaway on your blog using at least 4 sentences. Please leave a link to your post (2 entries each)



Thanks for entering and good luck!



Open to US residents only. This giveaway will end on May 29, 2011 Extended! Ends May 31 at 10pm PST. Winner will be chosen by Random.org, emailed, and announced on my blog shortly after giveaway ends. The winner has 48 hours to respond to my email or I reserve the right to declare a new winner.

Disclosure: I received the above mentioned product(s) to facilitate this review. No other compensation was received. This is my completely honest opinion above and may be different from yours.

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