Going Green: Unpaper Napkins and Make-up Rounds

Okay, so you guys might be reading this title and saying to yourselves "what the heck are unpaper napkins and make-up rounds!" Well, my Internet friends, unpaper napkins and make-up rounds are simple just the most amazing thing I have found online, in the history of forever! Basically, what these are, are eco-friendly, reusable, washable, versions of napkins and make-up rounds. You can wash them and reuse them over and over, saving both the planet and your money!!!

So here is a picture of my Internet haul of amazing eco-friendly items. I purchased all of these from Green Little Nest on etsy.com. Yes, this is a product review however, I contacted this shop about doing a review only after I had purchased these items (full price) and used them, so that should tell you how extremely happy I was with all of these items.  So, back to Green Little Nest the owner, and sewer of these items, Makisha, was AMAZING! She was very quick to respond to my questions and very patient with me. Because when I first contacted her about making a possible order I really had no idea what I wanted these items to look like. She was so kind, helpful, and PATIENT with me as I asked her TONS of questions.

After spending a couple days figuring out what I wanted, I placed my order and let me tell you this was one of the fastest turnarounds I've had on any online order, let alone an Etsy order! I placed my order (which was 20 Organic make-up rounds, 20 Patterned & Minky make-up rounds, and 20 mixed print unpaper napkins) on July 8th and I received it on my doorstep on July 12th!! Seriously, I was so impressed with how quick my order was filled, especially since this was a custom made order! So let me get into it and show you all my eco-friendly goodies!

Unpaper Napkins:

I LOVE these napkins! They are absolutely adorable and really well made! I purchase a total of 20 napkins and I am sure I will purchase more because they are very durable, soft, and decorative, which in my personal opinion is the trifecta of kitchen textiles.  Below you will see the napkins I ordered, I decided to go with a mixed set of patterns and just told the Green Little Nest the types of patterns I liked and she put these together.  If you want something more uniform just let her know and she will work with you to find something you will LOVE.  OH, FYI if the set on the right looks a little "off" it's because these are the napkins that I have already used in the four days since I purchased them...I told you I loved them.  And a huge plus, my three year old daughter thinks they are amazing and LOVES to use them, she's the first one during meals to grab one. Also, my HUSBAND (who isn't the biggest planet defender out there) likes them too! He told me that they were very soft, and he was surprised with how well they cleaned up everything from his hands and face after we at SLOPPY JOE'S, yet people, these napkins took on some hard core sloppy joe's with jalapenos, pasta sauce, and melted cheese and they removed EVERYTHING! The best part is because they are made of double layers of fabric they won't tear, so you only need to use ONE for your entire meal...unless you are a very messy eater.

Not only are these napkins really soft and very durable and absorbent, but they are also very well made. As you can see from the two pictures below, all of the lines are very straight and even, each napkin measures 8 X 7 inches, the exact same size as regular, wasteful napkins, so they will fit nicely in your napkin holder. All of the stitching is secure and strong, I have washed these twice already and I haven't had any fraying or bunching, and none of the stitches have come undone. When I first took them out of the packaging I really examined all of the stitching at it truly does seem very strong. I searched for any fraying or loose stitches and I couldn't find any. I also pulled and tugged on the seam all around each napkin and again, there wasn't any give, or loosening of the thread. From what I have seen so far, these are very strong and will last me a very long time.

Unpaper Make-up Rounds 

I don't know about you all, but I go through make-up rounds SO quickly. Between removing eye make-up and putting on toner I can go through one of those big rolls from the grocery story in less than a month! I hated using them, because I felt so guilty, I knew how wasteful I was being and I tried every option I could think of. Cotton balls were just as bad, I used wash cloths but they were too rough and irritated my eyes, and if I didn't use anything, I couldn't get all of the eye make-up off and I didn't feel like my toner really got all over my face. So when I saw that Green Little Nest had cloth make-up rounds I was so excited, and when I saw that she had the option to make them MINKY I knew I had to buy them!

 I decided to go with some more natural colors to match my bathroom, I ordered brown, blue, and green patterns with corresponding minky backs. It is seriously the perfect combination! I use the flannel patterned side to remove my eye make-up and any stubborn facial make-up because it is just tough enough to get everything off, but it is still very soft (it's flannel) and doesn't irritate my eyes.

I then use the minky side to put on my toner. I simply spray the toner directly onto the fabric and brush across my face.  The minky holds the toner fluid nicely and doesn't absorb it too much so a lot of what I put on the pad still goes on my face.  The minky is super soft so it literally feels like I am using a feather to put on my toner...SO comfortable!

Here is a close up of one of the minky sides.

 As part of my order I also purchased this mesh wash bag (I believe it was an extra $5 so not bad. It cinches up very securely, and the holes allow for water to move through. So what I do, is as I use a round I just throw it in the bag, and once I have used all of my rounds I just throw it into the washer (usually with the napkins) and wash them. I then lay them out to dry, the instructions that were sent with the rounds said I could either lay them out to dry or put them in the dryer, but I decided to lay them out since I have the minky side.  I highly recommend the bag, especially if you're going to wash the rounds with your regular laundry because that way you won't lose them.  Also, you're not supposed to use fabric softener on the rounds (or napkins) because it reduces absorbency, so the bag would be very hand if you are washing with your regular laundry, so you don't have to pick out all the rounds before you put in your liquid fabric softener.

Organic Make-up Rounds 

The next part of my order from Green Little Nest  was 20 organic make-up rounds to use for my soon to be born son. Now you are probably asking "why would you need make-up round for a baby boy?" Well the answer is quite simple, we have decided to circumcise our son AND we are going to cloth diaper.  I have done some research on how to take care of a freshly circumcised little boy and everything I found says to use Vaseline.  Now, if you're familiar with cloth diapers you know that Vaseline is NOT a friend of the cloth diaper, so I am going to use these make-up rounds as a barrier (stay tuned for an easy tutorial on how to do this).

Now I don't know what happened to my picture, but all the rounds are a nice pretty white, so I don't know if that color is a reflection of my shirt or what. But they are all pristine and beautiful.  I ordered twenty of them and I plan to wash them with the cloth diapers because the wash recommendations are the same, so I don't have to worry about fabric softener or anything like that.  Once my little man is fully healed I am probably going to use them as breast pads to help with leakage of breast milk...I love to reuse! I was planning on using them as additional make-up rounds, of course after I had stripped and sterilized them, but my hubby convinced me not to. LOL.

 Again, like the napkins, both sets of make-up rounds are amazingly well made.  All of the stitching is strong and tight, with no fraying or loosening threads...and I have also washed both sets of make-up rounds twice.  I also tugged on all of them and inspected the hems with scrutiny and I couldn't find any imperfections. I love how the rounds, like the napkins, are double layered so you don't have to worry about make-up, water, or anything else leaking through the round. Again, I am so impressed with not just the quality of these items but how quickly they were made and sent out, all while having such amazing quality!

So that is my review of my new eco-friendly household products. I hope you enjoyed it and found it helpful. It is simply amazing all of the amazing eco-friendly products that are out there that we don't know about.  If you are interested in any of these items PLEASE check out Green Little Nest. The quality of work, quickness of service, and amazing customer service is outstanding. And the best part is she does other amazing eco-friendly items! She also makes reusable cloth wipes and reusable snack and sandwich bags, which are great for little kids, or little ones going to school this year.

OH! I lied, the extra items are not the best part (although they are pretty darn cool), the best part is that Green Little Nest has ever so generously offered a coupon for everyone that comes from my blog and places an order! If you place an order with Green Little Nest, all you need to do is type in BUSYMOM15 at check out and you will receive 15% off ANYTHING in the shop! AND, to make it even better, this coupon is valid until the END OF NOVEMBER 2014!!! So head on over and start going green! Let me know if you have any other cool ways to go green in your home!