It’s Spring time & I’ve been busily cleaning! I’ve mentioned in my previous beauty blog posts that I’m on a mission to reduce (and ultimately remove) chemical products from my bathroom & beauty regimen, I’m succeeding. The key for me was not placing unrealistic expectations on myself, and simply being pragmatic about my approach to switching products – every time I finish a product I think consciously about what I want to replace it with.
It’s nearly the end of the year and my goal by the end of twenty-seventeen was to have a line up of products that I can honestly say I LOVE, and which I know are doing my body good. I’m nearly there, and I’m sure I’ll never stop trying new products, but it’s nice to think this is another area of my life which is now feeling simplified. Tick.
So, here are a few of my most recently trialled products. As always, I encourage everyone to research products on their own, and think about the ingredients & brands for themselves.
OCINIUM Vitamin B3 ‘Immortelle’ & Vitamin C ‘Luminosity’ Serums
What I love about this brand is that Ocinium ‘adopts a strong eco-logical mindset with ethically sourced ingredients, sustainable manufacturing and packaging and a rigorous science-based approach to formulations free from parabens, phthalates, sulphates, artificial colours, fragrances and any animal testing’ and are completely transparent with their ingredients.
These serums are beautifully packaged in black glass bottles, and a beautiful addition to my bathroom. But what do they do? Well the B3 Serum rebalances and hydrates skin to brighten & protect from UV damage & pigmentation, while the Vitamin C Serum promotes cell regeneration and increases the production of collagen and elastin. I have combination skin, and breakout regularly, which I now put down to being hormonal (and which I’ll continue to work on from the inside out), so I’m very careful about what I use on my face. If I use nothing I get really dry, if I use too much I break out. So, my daily routine is morning and night, a simple cleanse and then followed with application of one of the two of these products. So far I’m really loving Ocinium.
ANTIPODES Mineral Powder Foundation
I’ve long been a user of mineral foundations (like I jumped on that bandwagon early, for a change, over 10 years ago in fact), but not all are equal. I can tell you this Antipodes mineral foundation is brilliant, and coverage stacks up with the best I’ve used to date and it’s fragrance free. It has a natural SPF 15+ and comes in beautiful shades which I’ve been layering to achieve the perfect tone to match my pre-and-post holiday skin. I’ll definitely be continuing to use this one.
TOM Organic Tampons
Not something I usually talk about but an important one… by switching to organic cotton tampons I’m moving to a product free from perfumes, chemicals, pesticides (used in conventional cotton farming), bleach and other genetically modified materials. I know there are new products on the market too which are even better for our health and the environment, and it’s on the to-do list, but for now it’s baby steps in the right direction.
As always there will be more to come on the topic of natural beauty, so stay posted.
N x
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