I got the chance to try out some lovely natural products from Hugo Naturals. I had heard wonderful things about Hugo’s products. Reading the labels I can tell the ingredients seem really high quality. Hugo’s values are similar to my own- natural, free of harmful toxic ingredients, and even vegan! I gave a friend of mine a baby shower gift basket chock full of Hugo Baby collection last year and got glowing reviews on the products from her.

Needless to say, I was pretty excited to try these products, especially the Brown Sugar Body Polish. Because, let’s face it, what girl doesn’t love to do a really thorough sugar scrub, slather herself in a silky moisturizer and get dressed up? I know this girl does.

I was a little confused initially by the name of “Kumquat” Brown Sugar Body Polish. I had to retrace my memories to determine what a Kumquat actually was. A gentle giant? A silly looking dog mix? A rare type of orangutan? Luckily it vaguely reminded me of something that grew on a tree so I wasn’t too turned off from testing it out. I still resorted to the internet to look up the actual plant. (Apparently it’s a fruiting plant that resembles an orange. Who knew?)   

I’m so glad I tried it. The appearance and scent of the sugar body polish was like brown sugar, sweet maple syrup, Grandma’s cooking, and warm pumpkin pie…  

It was a delight to start scrubbing it gently onto my skin. The sugar granules felt almost smooth but invigorating. My skin felt rejuvenated and alive. I didn’t even need to use body wash or soap by the end of the scrub because the plant oils (mmmm, sweet almond oil!) from the scrub absorbed into my skin, leaving it feeling like it was glowing. Ahhhhhhh….


Side note: I also noticed that Arnica Montana Flower is listed in the ingredients of the sugar scrub. If you're not familiar with this term, you should be! From my experience I've learned Arnica Montana, aka marigold flower, is amazing for soothing sore muscles and aches and pains. I was surprised to see this in a sugar scrub but truly impressed nonetheless.

As I stepped out of the shower I decided this would be the perfect chance to try out the Grapefruit All Over Lotion. The cream itself was thick, almost like a body butter. It went on smoothly and felt luxurious. It  smelled like babies rolling around on a picnic blanket on a summer morning. With ice tea. And lemonade. And happy thoughts. 

The scent was gentle but lightly lingering. The non-chemically produced fragrance (much to my skin’s delight), didn’t overwhelm, but drifted softly and pleasantly into my nostrils and my thoughts.  It’s the kind of scent that my husband would lean in softly and say, “You smell nice.” And that, my friends, brings a smile to my face.  

I found myself going back to the lotion frequently the days that followed for quick touch ups. My elbows and knees greatly appreciated the creamy TLC I found in the Grapefruit Lotion. The funny thing is I don’t even like grapefruit. Hmm. Maybe I should give the fruit another chance after trying this lotion. 

Lastly, I was able to test drive the Hand-Crafted Vanilla & Sweet Orange Soap. Let me preface this by saying I have not been a soap person for a very long time. When body washes took over the world, I rapidly jumped on the band wagon and have not looked back. I didn’t even remember how to use soap! (Do I just rub it on? Do I use a wash cloth? What’s a wash cloth?) I have to say I was a bit nervous. 

Upon opening up the soap,I noticed, to my delight, it contained an actual orange peel hiding just below the surface of the soap. I’ve seen natural soaps before but not many so visibly contain the ingredients they claim they do. That was pretty impressive. Not remembering how to use soap I grabbed my trusty loofah and rubbed the soap on there for a lather. It actually lathered nicely. Not the big sodium lauryl sulfate-esque bubbles from the terrible body washes that are out there. It was more of a dense creamy lather, like a conditioner. The scent was mild but oh, so pleasant. Whoever in their right mind thought to combine the scents of juicy oranges and mild, sweet vanilla was slightly genius.  

Overall, the soap felt pretty nice. I don’t know if I’m a convert yet to the soap side, but if I were, this soap would be my gateway soap.  If there is a body wash in this scent (which I’m pretty sure there is) I would gratefully be, well, all over that.

As I write, despite living in sunny, gorgeous, typically picturesque Hawaii, my crazy little island has somehow undergone some not-very-normal-for-Hawaii weather episodes. Tornadoes and hail and flooding, oh my!  

Since we Hawaii residents are so accustomed to our warm summery weather we tend to shiver visibly and complain loudly when the thermometer drops below 70. The Hugo Naturals products I was so lucky to sample were a nice reminder of warmer times (last week) and trips to the beach (last month).  It’s good to know that even in sub-zero environments (or below 70 in Hawaii weather) you can still take a time traveling adventure to the beach in summertime by using these products. Or at least have a really enjoyable shower. I’m a fan.

Disclaimer: These products were provided to me by Hugo Naturals. 

October is the beginnings of fall, which usually means the changing of the color of leaves and the air starting to get a little bit chillier. Not so much in Hawaii.

We did have a little bit of rain the last few days. Which, considering it actually rained on my side of the island (which gets less than 20 inches per year) is a pretty big deal. Of course, by rain I mean drizzle. But to Hawaii it really is a big deal. The reporters were out on roofs with their umbrellas describing the weather as "wet" and pointing out all the clouds to the camera. Too funny. They acted as though a hurricane was touching down.

October brings us closer and closer to the end of deployment too, thank goodness. I'm counting the days down. I have been counting since he left, but the number is starting to seem less depressing at this point.
I feel really lucky to have made friends with the other wives from Nick's boat- who are just SUCH a blast to hang out with. One of the girls had an idea to go to an Oktoberfest event at the Hale Koa hotel in Waikiki last night.

Oktoberfest was always a big deal to me and my mother's side of the family when I lived in Maryland. It was a yearly tradition to go to the Maryland State Oktoberfest in downtown Baltimore. Since I'm about half German, my family really got into it. I wore leather lederhosen as a little girl, and as I got older I graduated to wearing traditional German dresses each year. You know, the ones that look like the St Pauli girl but not as short. :) My grandma bought me one of the dresses of my very own the second to last Oktoberfest I went to in Maryland. I wore it there once, but shortly afterward they stopped having Oktoberfest in Maryland. My grandmother also passed away not too long after.I asked my friends if I should wear my German dress to Oktoberfest last night- I wasn't exactly sure how crazy that would look at an Oktoberfest in Hawaii, or how into it people get here.

I had to really squeeze to fit into it (hey, I first got it 5 years ago!) but I'm glad I wore it.

The night was a blast. I don't know a lot of German other than one through ten (which isn't very conversational), but quickly learned "hello" was "Gutentag."  I also remembered my Grandpop always calling people "Dummkopf" (dumb head), so I spent a lot of time yelling "Gutentag, dummkopf!"  and of course goodbye, which is "auf wiedersehen." (I think I was singing that "So long, Farewell" song from The Sound of Music a LOT by the end of the night.)

Then upon arriving it didn't take long for me to remember "Zicke Zacke Zicke Zacke, Hoi Hoi Hoi!" which is an awesome drinking chant I never appreciated when I was little. Mainly my early Oktoberfest memories were of weird old guys in lederhosen with really bad beer breath doing the polka.

I even ended up partaking in a beer drinking contest with four other ladies (three of whom were other wives from the boat) with a big mug of beer with multiple  straws coming out of it. We somehow didn't win (I think it was fixed). There's no way those wimpy guys beat us. I got a lot of compliments on my dress, and it was even fun walking to another bar afterward still wearing it.

Hands down, Grandma would have been proud I wore the dress. And my Grandpop would have been proud I was in a beer drinking contest. Good times.