Christina Alyce Beauty

Today I'll be exploring the brand that has made me ditch shower gel. I spoke about my newfound appreciation of bar soap in my brand focus of Lather of The Land, and it has only continued to grow after being introduced to a wonderful Oklahoma based brand called Dulce de Donke. What began as a quest to find a cure for a little girl's autoimmune disease, blossomed into a handmade soap company and conservation effort of the critically endangered American Mammoth Donkey. Dulce de Donke soaps feature donkey milk as their star ingredient, sourced from their very own American Mammoth Donkeys. The family behind Dulce De Donke breeds the wonderful animals to bring up their population, utilizes their precious milk to keep their little girl healthy, and then every remaining drop of milk goes straight into the decadent soaps.

I was sent two bars of soap, Rosemary Mint and Charcoal. Each contain a base of saponified olive oil, coconut oil, and of course, donkey milk. These rich oils and soothing donkey milk are hydrating on the skin, and don't strip you of your natural oils. My dry skin loves such a gentle soap, and donkey milk is wonderful for psoriasis and eczema. Because of the donkey milk and oils, this these soaps are high in fatty acids which help to keep the skin plump and youthful.



With such skin loving ingredients, some of these soaps are fabulous to use on the face, as well as the body. I personally don't do very well with coconut oil products on my face, but if you don't have such a sensitivity, acne and oily prone skin would probably adore the Charcoal soap. Activated charcoal gives this black bar it's drawing properties. Charcoal can bind with the impurities in your pores, drawing them out and clearing your complexion. Combined with the antimicrobial and antiseptic properties of clove and lavender essential oils, this soap makes for a simple yet effective acne cleanser. Though I don't use this on my face, I have had great success in clearing the acne on my back and shoulders.

Rosemary Mint is probably a soap best designated to the body (or at least not rubbed directly on the face) because it is very scrubby, and has strong but refreshing rosemary and mint scent. This soap is perfect if you're trying to streamline your shower routine and nix the sugar scrub - it's wonderfully exfoliating on it's own. I also really enjoyed the scent of this soap for the summer because the peppermint is so cooling on hot days, it makes your body tingle! The rosemary oil is also a fabulous antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, making this the perfect soap to do some repair work on your skin after a long day in the sun.

Both of these soaps lathered beautifully, cleansed effectively without stripping, and had absolutely heavenly aromas. They felt like a truly luxurious shower product, while being ecofriendly and low waste. I am totally prepared to ditch plastic shower gel bottles after trying out these soaps, and I cannot wait to explore more of the scents! Saundra has done some wonderful work on these soaps, and I highly recommend them!

I was lucky enough to win my very first Instagram giveaway a few months ago, and came away with a fantastic travel set from Florapothecarie. The Deluxe Travel Gift Set retails for $55, and contains 5 handmade, all natural, and vegan beauty products, as well as a beautiful handmade makeup bag. The packaging is beautiful- sleek labels, and clear glass jars which are my personal favorite. The set is semi-customizable, with your choice in scent of body scrub, type of mask, and a choice of either a facial toner or hair spray. The set always comes with Florapothecarie's best-selling deodorant cream and body butter, and you will not be disappointed with those two, trust me.


For my body scrub, I chose the Orange Sugar Scrub, and the sweet tropical orange aroma is absolutely mouthwatering, and the perfect pick-me-up this winter. The ingredients are simple- just cane sugar, jojoba oil, coconut oil, orange peel powder, vitamin , and orange essential oil - but it is so effective at sloughing off dry skin and leaving your body soft, smooth (it helps with cellulite!) and hydrated. I love sugar scrubs because they are just coarse enough to get the job done. I would definitely purchase a full size of this product in this scent, and I am curious to try out the Green Tea salt version as well.


The next product I chose was the Rose Clay mask. I had three masks to choose from, but I already have the Chocolate one which was featured in a Goddess Provisions box (and is totally dreamy), and I passed on the Charcoal option because I already own a handful of charcoal masks from other brands. So, I settled on the pretty pink-tinted Rose mask. The Rose Clay Mask is intended for all skin types, but is a particularly good choice for sensitive skin. It contains just three ingredients, rose kaolin clay, dehydrated coconut milk, and powdered rose hips. The ingredients gently exfoliate, cleanse, and mineralize the skin, leaving you with a radiant complexion. The mask is very simple to use, just scoop some out, mix with water until it forms a paste and apply. After 10-15 minutes, it's ready to rinse off. I did not have any irritation with this product like I do with other clay-based masks, nor did I have any breakouts. I do prefer the chocolate version though, because my skin did feel brighter and more hydrated after that one. The chocolate mask is a great option for those with mature skin.


The final of the 3 customizable options is the Rose + Tea Facial Toner, which I had to pick over the hair spray, only because I am a complete toner addict! I go through toner like water, so I will never pass one up when offered. Florapothecarie's toner is intended to balance and hydrate the skin with ingredients like rosewater, aloe, and witch hazel, while green tea gives the skin a boost of antioxidants. Toners are so important after cleansing to return the skin's pH to a healthy level, and before moisturizing to help products absorb more easily into the skin. I love that this formula uses classic and time-tested ingredients like witch hazel and rosewater to accomplish that. It leaves the skin feeling balanced and prepped for products to follow.



The fourth product in this set is the best-selling Deodorant-Cream, which shares it's gorgeous scent with the Orange body scrub. I am very hard to please when it comes to deodorant, because many just don't do the job. Luckily, this one preforms just as well as brands like Schmidts in regard to odor control, and I much prefer Florapothecarie's deodorant when it comes to the scent, and how it feels. My underarms can be sensitive to baking soda in deodorants, but I find that with Florapothecarie's product, I have no irritation whatsoever. I love that this product contains essential oils like tea tree combined with arrowroot powder to fight bacteria, and the coconut oil and shea butter base is incredibly moisturizing.


The fifth and final product of the bunch is the Whipped Body Butter, and this is by far the stand out product for me. I absolutely adore the natural cocoa butter scent, it is so simple and comforting. The combination of cocoa butter, shea butter, jojoba oil, and coconut oil is perfect. A small scoop of product instantly melts into a luxurious oil and spreads easily onto the skin. I reserve my little jar for the worst of my dry skin days, because it packs quite the punch, and dry patches are soothed and moisturized instantly. I always keep plenty of lotions and creams on hand, but this one out- preforms them all. I will absolutely be purchasing a big 8oz jar of this when I finish mine!
I am so thankful to have won such a fantastic variety of products (and adorable travel pouch!), and I am so excited that I have discovered some new all-time favorites. This set is such a treat, and I love that it can be customized to suit anybody. I think it makes a great introduction to not only Florapothecarie's brand, but to natural skin and bodycare as a whole because the ingredients are pure and the resulting products are truly top-notch.

Out of all the different categories of bath products out there, I tend to find soaking halts are my favorite, and have the most noticeable effect on me physically, and when it comes to relaxation. This little jar is jam packed with three different salts: Pacific sea salt, Celtic sea salt, and pink Himalayan salt. This combination is excellent for treating muscle soreness, and drawing out impurities. I also find that with soaking salts, I leave the tub with the same feeling one gets after spending the day at the beach, content, relaxed, and renewed by the sea.
Rhassoul Clay also has a hand in that cleansed and renewed feeling, because it is best known for effectively unblocking pores, and it contains many softening and nutritive vitamins and minerals, such as silicon, magnesium, iron, sodium, potassium, and lithium.
Combined with the lemongrass, chamomile, and vanilla essential oils, these ingredients relax the body and mind, and leave your skin feeling incredibly soft. I also added Fig + Yarrow's Woods Bath and Body Oil to my bath, and the combination resulted in one of the best smelling, most moisturizing baths I've taken. I really love these salts, and will certainly be purchasing them once I run out, and I would love to try the Wood Fired version as well.

Size: 9oz
Price $14