Almost everyone I’ve talked with for the past few weeks has sounded overwhelmed and exhausted, so although this week’s post was supposed to be about planning, I’m going to postpone that for something a bit lighter—a review and giveaway of some lovely natural skin care products from Third Day Naturals, a family owned and operated business in the beautiful Hudson Valley of New York.

I have spent the last couple of months testing handmade lotions, soaps, a fabulous scrub, a soothing balm, and a plant-based substitute for petroleum jelly, all with lovely essential oil fragrances such as Citrus Sunshine, Lavender and Bergamot, Mint Rosemary, Unscented, and Vanilla. My skin is somewhat dry and does not like chemicals, so I tend to be cautious, even while testing products with completely natural ingredients. I’ve been delighted to find that each of these products was gentle and pleasant, and I have a couple of new favorites.

Review of Third Day Naturals Soap and Skin Care

Soaps: I started out by trying the two handmade soaps, which I received in Lavender and the Head-to-Toe blend. What I loved most about both of these is that the fragrance was pleasant but not overwhelming. The H-to-T Soap was the most distinctive, with a minty-fresh scent that was almost tingly. I really loved it.

Lavender has always been a favorite, and the lavender fragrance of this bar is soft and well-balanced, not astringent as some lavender products can be. It was tempting to tuck it into a dresser drawer for a few months, just to enjoy its fragrance a little longer. Both bars were sudsy and soft, and both were gentle and not drying.

Lotion bars and sticks: How did I miss the invention of lotion bars? I had never heard of them until I received this box, but now I have a non-spillable lotion in my briefcase, suitcase, and on my desk, and I am loving it. The lotion bars, in both regular and travel size, look similar to soap bars, and they come in useful little tins that make them easily accessible. The lotion stick twists up like a smooth and creamy lip balm (which I also tested).

I did discover that if I want to use it when I’m in a cold place, I need to warm the bar between my hands to soften it. What I like best is that it goes on without any mess and doesn’t leave my hands feeling damp and lotiony. Like the soaps, the scents are soft, not overwhelming. The travel size is my favorite.

Body Butter: The body butter is described on the Third Day Naturals website as decadent, and the description is perfect for it. I don’t mind sharing everything else with the rest of the family, but this is definitely mine. The texture is smooth and silky rather than light and fluffy, and I like that because it feels as if it melts deeply into the skin. The Mint Rosemary scent is light and lovely.

Herbal Peppermint Lip Balm: Lip balms seem hard to get right—some are so waxy they won’t glide, while others are so soft they go on easily but vanish within minutes. This lightly scented balm was a nice balance between smoothness and staying power. It went directly into my bag and has been in regular use since the day I got it. It’s not flashy or fancy, but is instead a workhorse product for everyday, especially in cold, dry weather.

Healthy Jelly and Wonder Balm: I completely missed the opportunity to let my son test these two products when he came home with an unpleasant cut on his hand (I’m sorry, Craig!), so I’ve just tested the Wonder Balm, described as “a general ‘boo-boo’ ointment” on my own small items—a cat scratch and a small stove burn. If your mom put Cloverine or Rosebud Salve on you when you were young, this is for the same purposes, and it’s completely petroleum-free and healthy. I found it super soothing, and I love that it includes olive and coconut oils as well as healing essential oils.

The Healthy Jelly is completely unscented plant-based jelly for anything you would use old-fashioned petroleum jelly for (why did people ever think it was a good idea to put petroleum products on their skin, anyway?). It has only four healthy ingredients, including vitamin E, which makes it extra soothing for chapped or chafed skin.

And my favorite product? The Mint Rosemary Sugar Scrub. I have had many other scrubs, and even made my own, but this was far and away the best one I have ever tried. Ingredients include almond oil, rice bran oil, organic evaporated cane juice crystals, and essential oils. I don’t know which is responsible for it’s extreme “scrubbiness,” but it leaves skin looking silky and feeling amazing.

Best of all, I was able to use this healthy scrub to remove oil-based wood stain from my hands, allowing me to avoid using paint thinner on my skin. Since I often forget to use gloves, I was very happy to discover this. My other favorites are the travel size lotion bars and the H-to-T soap. But honestly, everything I tried was beautifully crafted and presented, and would be a lovely choice for a gift or for personal care.

The Giveaway

Third Day Naturals Giveaway: One each soap, lotion, lip balm, and scrub in your choice of fragrance.

Happily, Third Day Naturals has offered to give away a lovely package worth over $25. The winner will get one each full-size lotion, lip balm, soap, and the amazing sugar scrub. Best of all, you get to pick which scents you want!

To enter, leave a comment below. For a bonus entry, visit the Third Day Naturals home page and sign up for their newsletter (they don’t send a lot), and let us know in your comment here that you did so. The contest ends Sunday, December 20, at 11:59 p.m., and we will post the winner here on Monday. Ready, set, GO!

The Sale

If you are not the lucky winner, you will still want to visit the sale they are running through the end of the year. They are offering 15% off all orders with the sale code “TDNgift,” and as always, free priority shipping on orders $35 and up. You can find them at TDNaturals.com and on Facebook.

In full disclosure, I received these products for free in exchange for my review. I don’t review a lot of non-book items, but this seemed perfect for this time of year. I hope you enjoyed both the review and giveaway.