Ok mamas.  Are you beginning to feel the post-Thanksgiving, pre-Christmas crunch?  If you're like me, you have visions of being immortalized in family photo albums with flawless skin, timeless clothes, and a constant smile.  If you're like me, you currently have Rudolph's nose, have more than your share of blemishes, and smell like...ummm... let's not go there.  Please enjoy the following review written by my sister, Marianne, and giveaway hosted by Etsy crafter:  PICNIC BASKET CRAFTS.  Some problems are solvable :)

Hey There, I'm the Lazy Green Mama's even lazier (but quite green if I do say so myself) sister. I've had some products to use and review sitting in my bathroom cupboard for about 2 months. Oops. I guess with starting the school year and having a baby, I've had other things on my mind.

Until today.

I just looked in the mirror and thought, "Ooh. Where did those two zits come from? Are you really going out in public like that?" Answer: Yes, I am. And I'm wearing sweatpants AND crocs. Ouch. This new mama has some serious pimping-up to do. This is a dangerous road that I don't want to go down any further. Fortunately, Julie saw the writing on the wall before this all happened and had already arranged to help me before it even began.
 
So, I pulled out my samples of beauty treatments by picnicbasketcrafts on etsy, and got busy giving myself a mini-makeover.

I started with the Walnut and Tea Tree Facial Creme Cleanser. (I'm a sucker for tea tree oil. It's all I use to treat the occasional break-out and so far, it's working for me. I'm a Burt's Bee fan when it comes to this, but that's just a side-note; it has nothing to do with picnicbasketcrafts.)   This cleanser went on really nicely. The walnut gives gentle exfoliation and it washed off afterwards quite easily. The only down-side was that afterwards, my face felt "squeaky."  Do you know what I mean by that?  My facial movements came to a stand-still as I searched the baggie of samples for some serious moisturizer.
 
Enter: Facial Moisturizer fro Acne-Prone Skin
Remember those zits? Yuck. So, I used this moisturizer. It feels wonderful and smells great. Again, there's tea tree oil in it, so I'm happy. I fully expect to be zit-free in no time. (I'm working on the sweats and crocs. If anyone has a solution for this, I'll happily take a free sample of that, too!)  My face feels smooth, has a nice gentle smell to it, and I like it.
 
Since I was having so much fun with this stuff, I explored further in the bag. (The owner of the company, Tiffany, sent about 8 items to try, but there's only so much face-washing that I can do to write this review. . . )

The next intriguing item was the Super Healing Skin Creme for Seriously Sensitive Skin.  I do have seriously sensitive skin. And really dry skin. Now that it's winter in Alaska and we've got our wood stove heating our house, things are dry around here. My elbows have never been nice, but at the moment, they remind me of elephant knees. Who wants elephant knees on their elbows? Not me? So, I pushed up my sweatshirt sleeves, and generously lathered up those arm-hinges. This stuff is great! I like it so much, that I went to her website to see what it was made of: http://www.etsy.com/listing/58486646/super-healing-skin-creme-for-seriously  It has all sorts of magic in it- and I want to buy myself a jar. It is so smooth and moisturizing, but not greasy at all. I really like the smell, too. I wish I could describe it, but I can't really put a finger on it. Maybe it's a mixture of apricots in the sun and a fresh-cut piece of wood?  It's yummy. Gentle and homey.
 
Finally, because I've been sitting for three weeks in sweats and crocs, as mentioned before, (since the birth of my daughter,) I was curious about the hand and body lotion called Love Spell.  Let's just say, that although I love my husband dearly, I haven't exactly been enchanting to him lately. (I mean, who is, right after giving birth? But still- I could put forth some effort. Some. Not a lot, but some.)  So, I lathered up. I went straight back to her website to add this to my cart, but there isn't any in stock. Tiffany, if you're reading this, please make more of this product. I'm not sure what's in it, but it's delightful. It feels great on my hands and has such a wonderful spicey, citrus-y, feminine scent to it. A friend of mine stopped by to see the baby and picked this up from the side of the sink and tried it out. She came right out and asked where she could get some. I'm telling you- this is the winner so far. I'm not one for scents, but this is so natural.
 
This was fun to try out these products. I feel that they're healthy for my skin and when I read her descriptions on etsy, they seem pretty natural to me. Thanks for letting me try them out. I hope that my review has been at least entertaining. Now, I've got to go. Now that I've outted myself for my lack-of-fashion, I'm feeling self-conscious. I think I'll go change my outfit- you know- into jeans and slippers or something. ;-)

WIN IT:
One lucky reader will win a $10 gift card to Picnic Basket Crafts!  Simply leave a comment stating one PBC item that you'd like to buy!

That’s it…easy peasy.  No extra entries… who has time for those anyway?
Winner will be chosen by random.org.  All entries must be completed by 11:59pm December 13th, 2010.  Winners will be notified via email and will have 48 hours to respond before another winner is chosen.