We are officially at the beginning of Spring! And hasn’t it been glorious to feel the warmer temperatures for a moment there and see the seasonal change? My skin fared the winter months well – no dry patches and dark circles for once! – and I put it down to the brilliant products I’ve been using. Let’s take a look…
Odacité & Allies of Skin
First up, the first to run out! I’ve been using the Odacité Creme de la Nuit and Allies of Skin Vitamin C Brighten + Firm Serum religiously everyday since December and my skin now craves them both.
Odacité is a gorgeous vegan and cruelty free, no toxins brand I got to know a few years ago through their fabulous face oil range which addresses all sort of skin issues. Founder Valerie Grandury developed uplifting, skin-loving products to remove toxins from her lifestyle while supporting her recovery from breast cancer. While I love oils, on a cold winter’s night I will always be drawn to a nourishing night cream to replenish and protect my face.
Allies of Skin is a fantastic new brand I’ve been trying out – creator Nicholas Travis was looking for products to treat his acne and ended up creating his own range for problematic, stressed-out skin. The product I have really fallen for is the Allies of Skin Vitamin C Brighten + Firm Serum (I’ve been wanting to use Vitamin C on my skin for ages, but never found a product I liked!). I love the way this one applies: it has a pleasing ‘grip’ to your skin as you smooth it on and feels like it’s creating a protective barrier. I really have noticed an improved brightness to my skin since using it and have squeezed out every last drop from the bottle as a result!
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Cult of Treehouse
I’ve completely fallen for new brand Cult of Treehouse. Its incredibly scented serums and oils are made from an intriguing mix of forest and tree ingredients which combine to create an aromatic experience that immediately stops you in your tracks for a full reset.
Based in Topanga in California, founder Amelia Rynkowska describes herself as “… a self-taught botanical cosmetic alchemist with a penchant for wildcrafting, foraging and trees” which is so wonderfully inspiring.
Inhaling the Restorative Perfume Oil (above) is my go-to when I need to take a moment out and just breathe out any stress and tension. It’s quite unlike anything I’ve smelt before and transports you to a woody, magical place deep in the forest.
The Cult Complexion Transformative Essence (below) has a similar, gentler effect and is a beautifully protective serum for the face – I pop this on before heading out for a run or on cold days outside. The entire range comprises of just a few products and they are extremely special. Skincare at its magical, soul-nourishing best! (You can order from the US but available in the UK in the summer.)
Volition
Volition is a really interesting US brand, which stands out, not only for its cruelty free clean skincare products (no parabens, no sulphates) but for the fact that it crowd-sources product ideas from its customer base, the most popular of which it goes on to develop!
I’ve been loving using the skin brightening Strawberry C Brightening Serum (strawberries contain really high Vitamin C levels) as an extra layer this winter – I use pre moisturising – and I’ve also been using the the Hisbiscus Unspottable Correcting Oil (see below) in the evenings, great for evening out skin tone and easing fine lines.
Oskia
Oskia is another wonderful brand I’ve been using on and off for the last few years. Created by Georgie Cleeve, who fell in love with the collagen boosting powers of MSM – a natural form of organic sulphur and which is a key ingredient in every product in the range. Cruelty free and free from parabans & silicones, they describe themselves as 98% natural and explain that they use synthetic Ecocert approved preservatives.
I’ve been testing out the new Isotonic Hydra-Serum which is about as skin hydrating as they come. A very fluid formulation that sinks right in and keeps your skin in a state of next-level supple hydration all day, and with regular use improves overall moisture.
Pure Skin Lab
It’s so exciting how much more available natural and vegan skincare is these days. When I was first looking for natural and organic products back in early 2000s, the only place to go was health shops.
These days you can find so many wonderful brands online – (Content Beauty is a real go-to for me) and I’m really thrilled to have recently discovered Pure Skin Lab which also stocks some of my favourite brands, including Dr Hauschka, Aromatherapy Associates, Kiin Living, Bamford, Weleda and lots of lovely new ones to explore.
And the jade face roller below from Pure Skin Lab is such a brilliant tool which I’ve just started using (I know, I’m late to the game on this!) but it has become part of nightly wind-down ritual and I seeing amazing results from it!
So this is my routine: I roll the muscles under my cheekbones which are always very tense from my jaw, as well as the the bags under my eyes (I do this very gently!) and the drainage points down the side of my face and neck. I’ve really noticed how much better my face looks in the morning and during the day as a result!
It’s also a great mental wind-down and the perfect prelude to my 20-minute nighttime breathing meditation with the brilliant non-digital sleep aid I’m using – more on this next week, in a special Sleep Edition blog post! – while popping on a soothing eyemask; I love this beautiful silk seashell print one from La Belle Liberté.
