One minute it’s Happy New Year, the next it’s Hello (blue) Monday. With mini mountains of work to get through (clashing with our “live more, work less” step-away-from-the-screen holiday) the first Monday of the year has rolled around already!
We’re not doing any New Year, New You detox stuff this month, there are way too many new beauty stars on the horizon (some of which haven’t even launched yet at retail)
Instead we’re sharing our best finds all month, including a generous sprinkling of the judges’ best-loved entries (so far, still a bit of judging to go) for our 5th Awards on Tuesday 15 March.
So here’s Monday 4 January’s “Stash of the Day”:
BRANDS FEATURED:
NEOM Organics, Pure & Light, Nuori, John Tsagaris’ SkinPointEight, Caudalie, Spiezia, De Mamiel (the little black pot of Rosey Balm at the front!) and a new natural candle by Esprit de Nature.
Reading left to right…
THE BATH OIL: NEOM ORGANICS
Real Luxury Bath & Shower (yes!) Oil with Lavender, Jasmine and Brazilian Rosewood.
Why we love it: It’s a big, effusive floral bouquet of lavender and rosewood, with the pretty sensuality of jasmine, brightened by cheerful notes of of orange and lemon peel oil, nicely warmed up and “grounded” by juniper and vanilla. There are so many oils in this, too many to list here. The whole Real Luxury blend just works beautifully! 70% certified organic ingredients and it disperses well. As with any bath oil, you’ll want to clean the bath afterwards (you can also use it in the shower) but you won’t be slipping around on an oil slick. 100% NATURAL. Ethically sourced, no petrochemicals or artificial perfumes.
NEOM have a SALE on right now, with items at 30,40 & 50% OFF. Brilliant time to get a Reed Diffuser/refill!
www.neomorganics.com
THE JAM-PACKED ANTIOXIDANTS & OMEGAS HAND & FACE CREAM
PURE & LIGHT ORGANIC (top left)
Why we like them: The ingredients read like a dream. This Essential Face Cream is light, white and feels so clean on skin. It absorbed in an instant, leaving a silky feel. Organic oils include Rosehip, grapeseed, carrot seed, borage, argan, evening primrose, macadamia, tamau and sweet almond, plus you get a hit of sandalwood and orange blossom essential oils. Pure & Light have come up with star line up of wonderful, natural oils in one balancing face cream…hello new love? The Hand Cream has yarrow, calendula and lavender essences and top quality cold-pressed organic oils of argan, apricot kernel, sweet almond and shea butter with a hit of botanical antioxidants, Vitamins A, C and E and omega fatty acids to hydrate, “elasticate” and protect hands. Hands are such an “age giveaway” (along with turkey necks) – hydrate, protect, hydrate.
A good number of Pure & Light’s products are under £20 so this is an affordable brand to dive into if you’re in the mood for something new, “fresh and clean”. As featured in Birchbox.
Pure and Light is available at
www.lovelula.com
PureandLightOrganic
Speaking of fresh…
THE KEEP-IT-FRESH ORGANIC BRAND FRESH OUT OF DENMARK
Hello NUORI!
Why we like it: You can’t miss the bright yellow and white packaging and stamped right on the front is a FRESH SKINCARE START USING BY DATE (in our case 21 Feb 2016) with the expiry date at the bottom (underneath). NUORI has landed at London’s organic beauty haven Content www.beingcontent.com
So what’s the USP here? The NUORI difference is that every product is blended in small batches every 12 weeks to keep it fresh and devoid of artificial preservatives. Brand founder Jasmi Bonnen has designed a range that’s pure, super-fresh and enhanced with plant extracts, oils, vitamins and amino acids. You can almost feel the “fresh energy” when it’s on, and so far our favourites are the Vital Hand Cream and hyaluronic-infused Vital Face Cream. You don’t have to fly to Copenhagen to get it now that NUORI’s landed at Content.
www.NUORI.com
Traditional Chinese Medicine meets modern Western…SkinPointEight – now at Harrods
THE NEW AGE-ADAPT GAMECHANGER: SkinPointEight by John Tsagaris
Why we love it: London’s most sought-after acupuncturist John Tsagaris has done something different. Harnessing the unique abilities of certain botanicals called Adaptogens (they create optimal equilibrium so the body – and skin – functions at its very best) John has launched his first every skincare collection, SkinPointEight (at Harrods).
Skin’s needs change through the years – we all know that (or should!) but what makes this such an intriguing range is its synergistic, full spectrum blend of Chinese herbs, cutting edge “western” ingredients. The natural adaptogens in SkinPointEight include those used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) – goji berries, ginseng and licorice, for example.
This is a true “future of beauty” range, and it targets six main skin-enhancing factors:
Collagen support and protection + firmness/elasticity + antioxidant aid + irritation control + skin soothing support + deep nourishment.
We’ve been testing the Age Adapt Daily Moisturiser and Age Adapt Night Concentrate (Skin Recovery and Restore) and these are good! Not only is this a superb preventative range, it’s one of those rarer “skin SOS” collections when tiredness, environmental factors, big nutritional gaps, too much drinking, smoking, stress, sugar and sun (yep – all the “S”‘s!) etc. are sabotaging the state of your skin. Balance is the key to good health, skin (and life) and SkinPointEight is one of the most impressive skincare launches in years – it’s intelligent, cutting edge, “best of east meets west”…there’s nothing like it in the UK market (or anywhere, for that matter).
SkinPointEight, now at Harrods.com
Read up on SkinPointEight at
www.johntsagaris.com
Caudalie’s award-winning, top of the line Premier Cru Huile Anti-Age (far right)
THE LUXE 50-50 OIL/SERUM ELIXIR
Caudalie’s Premier Cru Huile Anti-Age (all skin types)
Why we like it: Caudalie’s rich-but-light facial oil feels and acts like a hybrid serum-oil isn’t new but it’s a wonderful oil to switch to if you’re in the mood for new skincare for a bit of a January mood lift! 99.5% of the label is natural and you just need 4 drops, morning and night (face and don’t forget that neck!). It sinks in nicely and the wonder workers in this product include Coriander, Jojoba and Barbary Fig (also known as Cactus Seed or Prickly Pear, which is giving argan a bit of a run for its money as it’s another rich, concentrated, omega-packed oil from Morocco).
Barbary fig seeds are tiny, encased in the orange flesh of the “pears” which are about the size of large apricots. I ate one in Morocco and it tasted like a very washed-out fruit but its lack of taste belies its powerhouse properties for skin. There’s also grapeseed oil and Padina Pavonica Thallus Extract (get the Latin dictionaries out) which is a brown sea algae that flourishes in the Mediterranean.
This isn’t one of those facial oils that leaves you looking like you tripped and fell into a vat of olive oil, it sinks in pretty quickly and it’s got those signature vine-sourced Caudalie factors: Reservatrol (antioxidant), Viniferine and Polyphenols. Without going into the botanical/scientific details, if you’re looking for a suits-all-skins facial oil which fees very luxe and not overly oily, this one’s a winner. (We also really love Caudalie’s Overnight Detox Oil).
Premier Cru L’Elixir is £49 and there’s a 3-piece free travel size party clutch set when you spend £49 or over (while stocks last) at the UK website.
www.caudalie.com
THE “YOUR LIPS WILL LOVE IT” LIP BALM
DeMamiel’s Rosey Lip Balm
Why we like it: There’s Vaseline and there’s Mother Nature and we’re on her keep it natural team. Is there a lip balm with more plant and flower oils and extracts in it on this planet? We don’t know but this has to be up there with the best of them. There’s no rose taste or scent, and this is a very clean feeling, ultra-concentrated solid balm (so your finger won’t swish around in it and you won’t have a “layer of butter” on your lips). Jam-packed with beneficial oils including mango, rose, camelia, gardenia, rosemary, rose geranium, harebell, alpine aster, grass of parnassus and beeswax among others.
Harebell, alpine aster and grass of parnassus? Get Googling. This concentrated, plant-powered lip balm is the kind that can help sort any extra dry lip issues or weird breakouts, a really nice one for winter.
Created by aromatherapist and botanical guru Annee de Mamiel who really knows her stuff.
£13 at
www.demamiel.com
(also available from Cult Beauty, Content, Net-A-Porter and Victoria Health)
Upfront: Cornish balm experts Spiezia’s delightful Facial Cleanser/Cleansing Balm and in the dark purple glass pot next to it, their Calendula Ointment – when you finish them pop a tealight in them #recycling
THE PERFECT BALMS FOR JANUARY
Spiezia’s Facial Cleanser balm and Calendula Ointment
OK, if you could take only ONE beauty product to a far-off sunny island with you what would you opt for?
We’d be in the balm department because a natural balm can do so many things (cuticles, split ends, dry patches, cracked heels, cleanser, insect bite relief, etc. etc. etc.) Two of the loveliest ones we know are, again, not technically new, they’re already best sellers. (Spiezia’s Body Balm is also rather fab and it comes in a huge green frosted glass pot). These pots by the way make great tealight holders for when you finally…finally…reach the bottom.
Soil Association certified Truro brand Spiezia pour gorgeous, botanical, organic ingredients into their pretty frosted pots and these two products are no exception.
First – the Facial Cleanser. Subtly scented by the clove, chamomile and clary sage on the ingredients label, this balm removes all types of makeup, purifying, cleansing and moisturising at the same time.
How to use: Massage it on to skin, leave for 2-3 mins and remove with warm water and a face cloth or a toner and cotton wool. Again – stellar ingredients! Coconut oil, jojoba seed oil, sesame, olive, beeswax, calendula flower extract, two kinds of chamomile, close bud oil, eucalyptus (which you can’t really smell)…there’s something wonderfully comforting and warming about this balm and you could use it on dry patches too, technically.
Speaking of which, the dark purple pot of Calendula Ointment is a lavender lover’s dream. This time it’s olive oil, beeswax and sesame seed oil based, and you get a gorgeous lavender flower oil hit. There’s also rose, the signature Calendula and St. John’s wort. Keep it on stand-by all year long, it’ll deal with overly dry or irritated skin, rashes, insect bites, sunburn and who knows what else – it’s lovely stuff. Mother Nature’s healing powers sealed in one pot.
Both balms are organic and nicely priced with absolutely zero synthetic chemicals in them, fresh from Cornish shores. New mums take note – Spiezia also do an Organic Baby Skin Salve full of good things, too.
Pick up a Spiezia organic balm or try a new year’s try-me set at
www.spieziaorganics.com
www.naturisimo.com
Finally, look out for L’Esprit De Nature candles in 2016. You can never have enough candles and this one’s made with 100% pure essential oils, in a soothing Rosewood and Geranium blend.
So that’s it for the first Monday of this year, hope you have a great week and a wonderful, happy, healthy year!
Share your new beauty finds with us at www.instagram.com/beautyshortlist and @BeautyShortlist on Twitter.
We’ll be sharing a lot of the best awards entries all through January on Instagram, too.