I have a ton of new things to review for you, so for this week and the next several to come, I'll share with you my findings on a wide range of goodies. I hope you enjoy it!

Heavy Duty Pump 'n Serve Liquid Hand Soap ($7.50 for 8oz)
I've always enjoyed Heavy Duty's unique bath and body products, but none as much as their new liquid hand soap. It combines everything I look for in hand soap - antibacterial, easy on hands, and great smelling. It has gentle cleansers plus botanicals like chamomile, aloe vera juice, tea tree oil, sweet orange oil, lemon oil, and rosemary. This is definitely a favorite at my house.

You can find Heavy Duty products online at Sephora.com and heavydutyco.com (check heavydutyco.com for a list of physical store locations), or by calling toll-free 888-960-8900.

Avalon Organic Botanicals Therapeutic Lavender
While "natural" isn't always better, I admit there are times when I get tired of all the chemical goo I routinely put on my face. If you crave a break from mainstream drugstore or department store products, I enthusiastically recommend a look at these new lavender products from Avalon. Every product in the collection contains at least 56%, and up to 100%, certified organic ingredients. Most notably is the organic lavender, grown at a family-owned farm and then distilled to make the lavender floral water that is the primary ingredient in almost all the products. After just a few weeks of using a few things from the line, I can already tell my skin likes it :)

Exfoliating Enzyme Scrub ($9.95 for 4oz)
This scrub satisfies my daily morning scrub fix - just enough grit to feel like it's working, but also gentle so my face doesn't end up red and inflamed. This scrub has a gel base made of lavender floral water, aloe and extracts like chamomile, echinacea, ginkgo biloba, green tea, and sea kelp, plus multi-fruit enzymes, silica and powdered corn meal for exfoliation. The gel is thickened by the silica and corn meal, so it feels like a smooth paste on the skin. Since it's not too gritty or messy, you could use this at the sink at night just as easily as in the shower in the morning.

Hydrating Toner ($7.95 for 7oz)
Try this toner if for no other reason than it smells great! Like the scrub, it contains lavender floral water, aloe, chamomile, echinacea, ginkgo biloba, and green tea, plus papaya, cucumber, vegetable glycerin, salicylic acid, panthenol, and allantoin. It's a great choice if you want something alcohol-free and fairly natural (it contains 80% certified organic ingredients). I was using the toner both morning and evening but found my skin was getting a bit dry, so I've switched to just morning; I think the salicylic acid is too much for me twice a day.

Brightening Firming Serum ($19.95 for 1oz)
I like using a treatment product like an antioxidant, exfoliator or brightener every day, preferably twice a day, to keep my skin looking its best. This lightweight fluid has green tea, gotu kola, licorice and algae extracts, safflower, borage and jojoba oils, and vitamins A, C, and E. I like the healthy glow is gives my skin, and the fact that it absorbs quickly without feeling greasy. I can't vouch for the firming claims, but my skin does look brighter and more awake.

Avalon Organic Botanicals are available at health and natural food stores as well as online at avalonnaturalproducts.com. These new lavender products will be distributed through Whole Foods stores in mid-September and then go nationwide in October.

Doll Face Beauty Cocktails
One thing leads to another (as usual!) and I managed to stumble on this new brand of skin care. All the products are made with fresh ingredients with an emphasis on antioxidants, and they are cruelty free, packaged in recyclable glass, and do not contain artificial colors or fragrance.

Doll Face makes a handy mini cocktail kit ($29) with one-ounce sizes of cleanser and toner, and half-ounce sizes of moisturizer and mask. This was a great way to try a few of the products without committing to the full sizes. To see the full product line, visit beautycocktails.com, girlshop.com or gosoak.com. The prices on the product vary depending on where you shop; the best deal right now is direct from beautycocktails.com, where everything is 40% off!

Hoopla Enzyme Cleansing Wash is a light, foaming gel cleanser with an ingredient list that looks good enough to eat: organic apple juice, green tea, thyme, lemon juice, honey, organic raw cane sugar. Unlike most foaming cleansers that work with chemical foaming agents and harsh detergents, this one has natural soap bark and yucca extracts that don't dry or strip the skin. I can use it on my normal to dry skin even though it's designed for normal to oily.

Shanghai Conditioning Toner is a botanical salad for your face: elderflower, calendula, orange blossom, horsetail, chamomile, sea algae, sea kelp, cucumber, geranium, rosewood, clary sage, ylang ylang. It also has vegetable glycerin, almond glycerides, and antioxidant vitamins A, C and E. Toners aren't miracle workers, but this is a nice basic choice if you want something natural and alcohol free.

Also in the kit is Perpetual Rejuvenating Moisturizer for normal to sensitive skin. For the amount of plant oils this cream has, it's amazingly lightweight and non-greasy. Perpetual is full of goodies like sweet almond oil, jojoba oil, aloe vera, shea butter, oat beta glutens, lecithin liposomes (moisturizers), soy protein, calendula, chamomile, rose bud, St. John's Wort, grapefruit, rose hip seed oil, lavender, lemongrass, and antioxidant vitamins A, C and E. You definitely do not need to have sensitive skin to enjoy the benefits of this hydrating cream.

The one product I didn't get a chance to try was the Foxy Lady Vitamin C Mask. This pink cranberry and acerola berry juice mask smells yummy and is supposed to give the skin an instant glow. If only I had the time to try it! I will test it soon and add the review to the rest.