Tam Tam's Creations Review: Natural Beauty Bonanza

Recently a good friend of mine started her own Etsy shop, TamTam's Creations, so today I have a few of her products to review for you! Unless noted otherwise, these products were purchased by me, and friend or foe, I always provide only honest product reviews.

Before I get into telling you about the products, I have to take advantage of my insider knowledge to tell you more about the company itself. Tamra, the owner, is one of my oldest friends. I've always known her to be someone who takes her health seriously and isn't interested in fads, so when I heard she was starting a natural product company, I knew there was more to it than cashing in on the organic trend. Tamra explained that when she looked for products that weren't loaded with chemicals, heavily processed, or packed in pounds of plastic, she came up empty. Likewise, even the "natural" products were often padded with fillers that she couldn't pronounce. Long story short, she did some research and started making all kinds of organic beauty products on her own. TamTam's Creations was born when she realized that other people wanted the same thing she did: to know what was in their beauty products and how those ingredients work. I had a chance to see some of her processes, and I can personally vouch for her claims that all of her products are made in small batches with only Young Living essential oils, the brand she uses personally. I only ordered lip balm, but by the time I got to see, smell, and touch her products, I came home with lip balm plus a body whip and sugar scrub.

So now for the part you came for: the reviews! First up-lavender peppermint body whip. From the minute I smelled it, I called this "Thin Mint body whip." Tamra put a tiny dab on the back of my hand, and when I felt how soft it left my hands, I knew it had to come home with me. It has a sweet homey smell that reminds me of Thin Mint cookies. I've been using it primarily as a hand cream, and I love this stuff. In the tin it feels almost hard to the touch at room temperature, so I run my finger over the top to produce a little "curl" of product, which quickly melts to the texture of a light oil in your hands as you rub it in. I've been using it obsessively for about 2 weeks now, and my hands and cuticles look amazing, especially considering how dry I normally am at this time of year. I can't stand the greasy skin that usually comes with heavy hand creams, but don't like how thin body lotions on my hands either. This body whip is the perfect compromise-the thickness of a cream with the lightness of a lotion.

Tamra also gave me a sample of her shea butter body butter to try. The consistency was similar on my hands to the body whip, but in the container it had a lighter, softer consistency than the heartier body whip. It comes in several scents. Mine was unscented, but it has a very light, nutty smell from the shea butter. Really nice! I think I prefer the whip overall, but the body butter would be better for spreading over large areas versus as a hand cream or spot treatment for rough patches.

"Thin Mint" body whip (left) and shea butter body butter (right)

The other unplanned purchase was the brown sugar and vanilla scrub. I'd never used a sugar scrub before, so I decided to give it a shot. This scrub isn't sticky (one of the things that had dissuaded me from trying them in the past), and it has a heady, rich scent that reminded me of a good bourbon. Surprisingly, body isn't where I expect to use this most. It's been stupid cold, and my lips have been flaky, so I used it as a lip scrub. I figured all of the ingredients were natural, so what would it hurt to try?

Lip balm and sugar scrub

This was a fine idea, and I'm still pretty pleased with myself for coming up with it. The sunflower oil, which you don't particularly notice in the overall scent, is more pronounced on the lips, giving it a somewhat odd taste. It's not bad-just a strange combination. Otherwise, it's perfect. I rubbed it over my lips for a few seconds, then rinsed off, dabbed with a towel, and layered the lavender and peppermint lip balm over it. The lip balm is a good, solid balm with the same Thin Mint scent and minimal flavor, which is a plus for me. I like my balms to smell good, but I don't like to taste them constantly. The two together, though, were magical. The sugar scrub is 8 whole ounces; it's hard to tell in photos, but this a good sized jar. It does separate a bit, as organics tend to do, but is easy to mix back up.

Look at this adorable little jar!

Sorry for the length of this post-without even trying, I managed to end up with almost the whole line! But that means that I can, in full confidence, recommend that you give TamTam's Creations a try. All of these products are great quality and are extremely well priced ($12-20 is normal for comparable brown sugar scrubs on Etsy, and $7-12 is typical for body whips while hers are $5 each, with the shea butter body butter slightly more expensive but still at the low end of normal at $9). And it gets better: I suggested that Tamra add a cuticle oil to her offerings, and she was one step ahead of me. That's right, a cuticle oil is on its way to me as we speak! If it's as good as these products, I can't wait! For more pictures, sizes, and full descriptions with ingredient lists, check out the TamTamsNaturals Etsy shop.