The Natural Beauty Life - Pure Anada Review

Inspired by a friend who sent me a message the other night to ask what natural facial cleanser & toner I use; I've decided to share my secrets with the world!

Pure Anada: http://www.pureanada.ca/

A Canadian company out of Manitoba that I first discovered last year while on a trip to visit my sister who was living in Winnipeg at the time. After picking up my first product of theirs; a moisturizer, I was hooked. I did some research and found where I could buy more of their products and I tried some samples. 

I buy my Pure Anada products via the Pure Boutique: http://www.thepureboutique.com/ that sells all sorts of natural, organic, vegan and cruelty-free beauty products. It's a great site because it has a lot of different products that I like using and they ship so fast; I usually receive my products within a few days of ordering. It's also a great site because you can get cheap samples of almost all the products they carry so you can try before you buy. That's what I did with many of the Pure Anada products that I now love. 

My favorite Pure Anada products:

Fruit Enzyme Exfoliating Cleanser:

I love this cleanser because it's a gentle exfoliant that works to clean up my skin without being too harsh. It doesn't lather like a typical cleanser containing SLS does, but it still works great. It's made with basic natural ingredients and biodegradable beads.

Purity Treatment Toner:

This toner is part of a line formulated specifically for acne-prone skin types and it's been great in helping me deal with my most recent breakout. It contains witch hazel, chamomile and willow bark and it smells like a margarita! Along with the toner I also use the Calm Hydrator from the Purity line and these two in combination are great for when I have breakouts.

Scentless Hydra Lotion: 

This product has a special place in my heart because it was my first Pure Anada purchase and I still use this as my daily moisturizer. It's light enough to go on under makeup and sunscreen and its scentless which is great.

Revive Serum:

This is an anti-aging moisturizer that I primarily use at night. 

Awake Eye Gel:

This product is great for those bags under the eyes and I use it in the morning and at night.

This is just the skincare products that I use from Pure Anada and they have many more all natural and cruelty-free products that are great, especially makeup: more on that later. 

What are some of your favourite all-natural, organic, vegan and/or cruelty-free beauty products?

Thanks for reading and as always here's to your uncommonly wealthy life! :)

****Disclaimer: I am NOT receiving any kind of compensation from Pure Anada for writing this post. I will always inform you if such an arrangement is made.****

What I'm Thinking About Today - Health

I started a healthy eating challenge that I talked about earlier this week on the blog. In doing so my primary goal is to lose weight and feel healthy. The problem is that I sometimes make myself feel bad about the fact that I'm not seeing faster weight loss.

This is not cool and I have to remind myself that I've embarked on a lifelong journey of eating healthy and taking care of myself and it's not just about the vanity of losing weight. I try not to get seduced by the media and social messages of skinny is better. I just want to be my best self everyday and if that includes some fat on my body, so be it.

So here are some reminders that help me, and will hopefully help you as well, when I'm feeling discouraged in my health journey:

Fat doesn't automatically equal bad:

I'm on a journey to be healthier and it's an unfair assumption to think that anyone who has fat on their body is somehow out of shape or lazy. I know a lot of fit, athletic and in great shape people who have fat on their bodies. There is nothing wrong with fat; it's a natural part of all bodies.

It's about more than the image in the mirror:

I'm building a strong and healthy body and that's a good thing no matter what it looks like. I'm eating food that will lead to better digestion, skin and a boosted immune system and these are all great things.  My body is beautiful and wonderful just the way it is, even with fat, just like all bodies. Who I am is not my body.

Take stock of how far I've come so far:

There are measurable changes like the fact that I've lost 10 lbs and a full dress size as well as the non-quantifiable changes like how great I feel now compared to when I started. I've gotten stronger, I'm in better shape and my digestion has normalized; all things that help in many different areas of my life. Another huge benefit is that I'm happier than ever before and it feels good to have a goal to work towards.

Self-love and acceptance is much more powerful than criticism:

I've never had success in making life changes by being highly critical of myself and berating myself with negative self-talk. On the contrary, when I finally accepted my life and body just as it was and decided to love myself for the imperfect person that I am, is when I finally changed. I started making healthy life changes as an act of self-love because I now know that I deserve it, no matter what my current circumstances.

Reminder to be thankful:

As human beings we have a natural tendency to focus on the negative and this can lead to some negative views on ourselves and our lives. I must remind myself that I already have so much to be thankful for. I'm thankful that I have the ability and access to a gym and food on the regular basis. These may seem like basics but they are huge privileges that a large proportion of the world does not have. I'm thankful everyday that I'm alive, healthy and free. What else could one ask for?

I'm enjoying the journey of eating well, working out, loving my life, doing what I love and spreading my message. I can't wait to see what life has in store for me in the future but life is real only happening right now and that is the part that I'm enjoying right now in this very moment. Life is grand. What is one small thing you can be thankful for right now?

Remember you are uncommonly beautiful no matter what the scale or media or society says. Spread the love and share your unique and truly wonderful self with the world.

As always here's to your uncommonly wealthy life! <3 :)