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Safe Baby and Kids Products

March 28, 2016 by Ashley Hackshaw

First of all some great news: Beauty Counter is now available in Canada. I know many of you have been asking when it would move north and it has!

I use Beauty Counter products because I know they are safe. So many products labeled natural and safe these days aren’t really natural and safe if you look closely at the ingredients (see the never list at the bottom of this post).

The reason I trust Beauty Counter is because they are actually trying to bring about change in a largely unregulated industry.

“Skin care and beauty products are some of the least-regulated consumer products on the market. Consider this: The last time Congress passed a major law to regulate cosmetic ingredients was in 1938. The United States has only partially restricted 11 ingredients from use in the beauty industry; the European Union has banned nearly 1,400. It’s safe to say we’re dangerously behind the times.”

Boo loves the kids line and I love that they are all the same size and that I can buy the pumps to use over and over…it regulates how much product she uses. My sister is due to have a new baby in June so I’m excited that Beauty Counter has recently added a baby line to their products. An all-over gentle wash, a protective balm, and a soothing skin oil:

Here’s what Boo uses from Beauty Counter’s Kids Counter line:

This is Beauty Counter’s list of ingredients to never use on your skin. You can check your existing products against. I carry it in my wallet to check products if I’m out and about. I created a PDF you can print off onto card stock as well (click here to download or click the image to open and print):

You can read more posts about the products I use here! Thanks for reading!

Sorted Seashells

March 27, 2016 by Ashley Hackshaw

Just a few photos in this post of sorted seashells.

I love nothing more than having time to just look around for random found objects. As I scavenge I’m making little collages in my head, connecting shapes and color gradations. The seashells at the outer banks were like a treasure trove. I wasn’t looking for intact shells, just the interesting pieces and wow:

Color families:

Spiral shaped:

Heart shaped:

Eroded shells that look like they came from another planet:

And I left the best for last…my favorite shells are the inner core remnants of conch and other sea snail type shells. I’m sure they have a name…anyone know?

Brett says the Outer Banks might call soon to ask for all their shells back. Don’t worry, I didn’t take too many.

I had a few questions on Instagram about what I do with all my found objects. Sometimes I just dump them all in a jar once I’ve arranged them and taken a photo. Some things get put into large front loading shadow boxes that I keep on a table in our living room. Other things just get put right back out where I found them. I just enjoy the process!

Find more found objects here.

If you love secret collections make sure to check out this post about the archives at the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History. It’s amazing.

Spring Garden Planting

March 24, 2016 by Ashley Hackshaw

Spring garden planting time! Boo and I planted the first round yesterday. That little green pot holds the one wild onion she wouldn’t let me get rid of. She’s planting her own findings in random pots.

I’d made a plan for the garden so I would remember what I planted so that we can make notes on what we like and how it grew:

These cute little metal markers are from Michaels and I added black tape and wrote with gold Sharpie:

I never really knew about crop rotation or understood it but as we planted the sees it kind of clicked! The kale and broccoli seeds are round. The lettuces have long grass looking seeds. And the carrots have more of a dehydrated seed look. Maybe this won’t be so hard after all!

You can read more about how we made the raised beds and picket fence here!