Santa, take note. As far as I’m concerned there is nothing better than giving (or getting) the gift of a truly beautiful, natural smell. I was thinking about this whole gifting thing, and how the holidays are a great time to help spread the clean beauty experience to the women we love. But aromatherapy—instead of say, face wash—is a particularly great place to start because you’re not telling people to replace anything in their current routine, you’re just adding a new element and helping expand their senses.

I mean, who here remembers the first time they fell for a natural smell over a synthetic one? I often go back to my early experience…

At any rate, I’ve gifted my share of natural beauty products, and can say with confidence that—while a small vile of Hope Gillerman or Tata Harper or a Lotus Wei energy mist may not have the wow factor of a new iPad—these gifts have had the most longterm impact. And here’s how I know: Every time I have given one of these magical formulas, the receiver has continued to buy it themselves. (And in my case that often means Canadians who have to jump through hoops, beg me to send them re-ups, or pay all kinds of shipping to get their hands on this stuff.)

And if scented oils and mists feel too pricey or risky—natural scented candles like these and these, or room diffusers like these, or the more affordable and awesome Essence of Vali products are all wonderful too.

Here’s why I think aromatherapy is so perfect to give…

1. It’s thoughtful and personal.

You have to choose carefully when it comes to smells. So even if the person is not into naturals or aromatherapy, you need to have a sense of what kind of scents appeal to them. (Though if you’re totally stumped I’ve included a list of crowd-pleasers at the end of the post.)

2. It’s powerful.

This stuff works, and science concurs. Most everyone in your life is probably stressed out, and smells like jasmine, rose, and lavender are proven to help people calm down. Is anything better than that?

3. People don’t get it for themselves.

Some people prefer getting practical gifts, but I do think there’s something really nice about giving a gift you know will be enjoyed that someone would never think to get for themselves.

Now for the cheat sheet. According to one study these are the top 10 most universally beloved smells: 1. lime (fruit) 2. grapefruit (fruit) 3. bergamot (similar to an orange in scent) 4. orange (fruit) 5. peppermint 6. freesia (flower) 7. amyl acetate (a molecule that smells like apples and bananas) 8. cassia (similar to cinnamon) 9. mimosa (flowering tree) 10. fir (tree)

Are you gifting any wellness products or DIY concoctions this year? Is aromatherapy on the list?

P.S. In slightly unrelated gifting news… If you’re a mom, or gifting one, obviously clean kids’ products are a boon. But I wanted to engage in some shameless nepotism here, and point the mom set to my sister-in-law’s awesome illustrated poster site South and Summer. She’s created these very cool posters inspired by the toys of our childhood, and I just think they’d make a great gift for parents who like design and have a hard time finding cool kid’s decor. You’re welcome!

Flower grid image from the Lotus Wei site.

Holy moly, you guys. Has NuboNau ever done one of these?? Today, in honor of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, and in celebration of their Instyle Magazine “Best of the Web” Award (much deserved, congrats!), these guys are offering a deep discount across their entire site. As you probably know, NuboNau carries just about all of our favorite luxe clean beauty brands. They also have stunning packaging, in case you want to get a head start here on your gift buying—or is that just a normal start? The important things to know…

This deal is only running until Monday, so no dilly-dallying. NuboNau is offering 20% off their entire site, when you use the promo code NMDL20. Orders over $95 also get free shipping.

Now let’s talk shop, what will you buy?

We’ve got our eye on that Ilia mascara, has anyone tried it? Also some new lip colors—oh, and Alexandra needs new Intelligent Nutrients products like the desert needs the rain at this point. She’s been filling her spray bottle with water to pretend she still has some!

As always, you will earn loyalty points with purchase and get pretty little samples to test out when you buy. Enjoy this special deal, and have a wonderful weekend!

After un petit hiatus, we have a Friday Deal to make up for lost time. Not only are the superstars at NuboNau offering a killer offer on PAI, a brand we lovelovelove. They are also telling NMDL readers first about their big End of Summer Sale—which means you guys get first dibs.

Here’s what’s shaking: Order $40 worth of PAI products and get their cleanser—in it’s new 50ml travel size, valued at $24—for FREE with your purchase. As per, use the NMDL code, automatically collect loyalty points to put towards future purchases, AND get a luxey little sample set of goodies.

You’ll also receive a full 50% off any of their summer sale items. So, it’s double trouble.

If you’re not familiar with PAI, it’s been reviewed and mentioned in SO many Morning Routines—and if you are, tell your fellow readers what you’ve tried and what you think.

The PAI deal will run until next Friday, or while supplies last (so don’t tarry!) Here’s what we love: All of their moisturizers, their muslin cloth, their face oil, and their cleanser. They basically have perfect track record with us—we just haven’t tried quite everything yet—so we’ll be hopping on this deal too.

In other news, it’s the weekend! Have a great one. xx

Update: If you tried the other code earlier with no luck, we have a NEW code for a site-wide 15% off!

Ahhhh, summer just got a little bit better for us clean girls. This fine Friday we have beloved NuboNau here, offering a discount across ALL of their makeup brands–AND THE REST OF THE SITE. Because they are excellent curators that means a deal on RMS, La Bella Donna, Juice Beauty, Living Nature, Dr Hauschka, Mai Couture, Intelligent Nutrients (lip glosses) Vapour, ILIA, Butter London, Piggy Paint, as well as makeup tools and brushes and more. Boom!

Just browse NuboNau’s goodies here, and choose whatever you like and the discount will be applied at checkout. Just use the NN15 promo code, and ta-da.

The deal runs from today all the way to next Thursday—it’s open to US and Canada—and as always you get points with every purchase and a lovely sample set…plus you can use the code as often as you like during the week. Don’t forget to tell fellow readers what brands you’ve tried, and include your own reviews in the comments.

We promise that in the not-too-distant future our reviews are going to be organized in their own section—never cry wolf over here, we know—but they will! Until then you can visit some of our past makeup reviews (including some Morning Routines) here, or search in the tool bar. And while we’re at it, do you follow us on Facebook and get our newsletter? Cause you should. We’re way too busy to be spammy—you’ll get a single email a week at most—so look to the right and sign up there.

And just to get sappy for a second: We were pretty stoked when we last checked our readership stats, so we also just want to say thank you for being a part of the community. And thanks also to NuboNau and the other stores and brands that are helping further the cause for clean beauty.

Have a sunny summer weekend.

xo

your devoted clean girls

Happy 4th of July everyone! I’m actually celebrating it in Canada—I know, not exactly patriotic, but very enjoyable nonetheless. How are you making the most of this midweek break? We have some ideas…

1. Don’t do any work.

Says the girl writing a blog post, I know. But really, when I moved stateside I discovered that the 4th is second only to Christmas and Thanksgiving in its holiday holiness. Everybody takes today off. So whether or not you have big plans for the day, we think you should do exactly what pleases you.

2. Turn off your phone…

And maybe your computer too (when you’re done reading this post). We’re big advocates of unplugging, and most of us don’t do it nearly as much as we should. So if you’re not coordinating today, give it a whirl. And if you need extra convincing, you can revisit this WHO report.

3. Check your veggie burgers.

Grassfed hamburgers were my gateway drug into eating meat again, but I know that we have many vegetarians in the audience who just won’t go there. Good thing veggie burgers taste so darn good, but don’t just grab any brand: You may recall a study from a few years ago revealing that many popular veggie burgers contained the neurotoxin hexane. Avoid that scary stuff by making your own burgers from scratch, or find out here which are safer than others.

4. Wear a good sunscreen.

Sunscreen continues to be a hotly debated issue here on the site. But one thing we can all agree upon: If you’re planning to spend a day cooking in the sun, you need the stuff. You can revisit some of our clean favorites here.

5. Don’t get too drunk…

But if you do, remember these natural hangover remedies tomorrow morning.

And groggy girls might also want to try the 100% Pure Coffee Bean Eye Cream deal we’ve got going (review forthcoming, but we love this stuff and so do a lot of you… and it’s a sweet $18).

P.S. We’re also still running NuboNau’s special Independence Day 4 for the 4th deal. So if you’re looking to pamper yourself this holiday, hit that.