Bringing a child into the world is meant to be one of the most special things in the world. When people speak of the beauty of childbirth, women who have had a particularly traumatic experience whilst giving birth may be inclined to disagree! Whether the birth of your child was routine or the single worst experience of your life, your body is still ravaged by pregnancy and childbirth.
Your skin will be stretched to capacity, you’ll be unbelievably tired and ‘intimate areas’ will be sore at best... unspeakable at worst. Everything will be starting to improve when you bring baby home but your body will be on the road to recovery but there is still a long way to go.
Mother is often ignored in favour of baby by well-meaning and excited relatives. Many women feel as though they have lost their identity and the constant pressure and scrutiny is often too hard to bear. It’s too early for exercise but you’re keen to start working on getting your body back. Breastfeeding can burn up to 500 calories a day so dieting isn’t the best of ideas as baby needs all the nutrients it can get. What you CAN do however, is take good care of your skin. Too many new mothers cannot find time to even wash their hair. Natural grease is good for the condition of your hair but your skin needs a bit more attention. Not only can the right skincare moisturise your skin, the action of massaging your skin can drain excess fluid and make it appear firmer. This will clearly take time but once you incorporate it into your daily routine, the benefits will soon become apparent.
buyOrganics has released a small range of gift sets especially for mum and baby. Whether you have just had your first or fifth baby, you will appreciate the richness and luxury of these products. Every pregnancy is different and every baby is different. Some cry uncontrollably and need lots of attention whereas others are delightfully quiet and sleep blissfully throughout the night.
One of the most popular products in the gift sets in the Calendula olive nipple butter. Meant for women who suffer from chapped and sore nipples during breastfeeding, this treatment is thick, glossy and gives an immensely cooling relief.
Organic products are not just available for mummy, if you truly believe in the benefits of organic skincare, and wish to encourage your children to always choose organic over products laced with potentially dangerous chemicals, we have organic baby wipes, cotton wool as well as organic baby sun cream.
First Impressions
The Miessence Deodorants
don’t differ in packaging, style and performance to any other deodorant
on the market, they are however certified organic and completely free
of any nasty parabens, phthalates, synthetic fragrances and most
importantly the dreaded Aluminum Oxide which has been linked to Breast
Cancer. The packaging is not flash or sophisticated- more functional.
And it’s all recyclable (plastic though) but safe to use in the
bathroom. It won’t break if it slips out of your hand. The lid removes
easily to reveal an easy to use roll on which works without sticking,
jamming or clogging. I’ve used these for about 2 years now, and haven’t
had a problem to date.
Performance
The
Aroma free deodorant is just as it says, Aroma free. It literally
smells of nothing and feedback from many customers is positive with no
reported irritation. The Tahitian Breeze Miessence Deodorant, smells
slightly sweet and spicy, and I love it, again no irritation although
I’m using it regularly. The Ancient Spice deodorant smells a lot
spicier like warm cloves. I have had a few reports, not many, but still
have had a few that the Ancient Spice one can cause irritation in some
people. So if you are particularly sensitive, I would stick to the
Aroma free or Tahitian. My husband uses the Tahitian and is happy with
the scent, so I would recommend them all for either sex.
Purity
The ingredients in all the Miessence Deodorants
are really simple, consisting of a base of Aloe Vera, Sodium
Bicarbonate, non gmo xantham gum and bitter orange fruit extract. The
Scented versions contain essential oil extracts to give them their
scent, such as Patchouli, Geranium and Ylang Ylang in the Tahitian.
How to Use
When
you roll them on, they do leave a wet residue, which for best results
you need to flap your arms around to help dry. When dry, all of these organic deodorants
are particularly effective at destroying and preventing odour, but need
to be used regularly to be effective (at least once a day, especially
after showering). They will not stop you sweating if you do sweat a lot
as they are not anti-perspirants. Antiperspirants are actually not good
for the body as it is important for our body to sweat out the toxins
within our system.
The Good
A
good reliable deodorant, nicely scented with aroma free versions for
the extremely sensitive, totally pure. Customers normally order this
item in bulk from me and continue to order it once they’ve tried it
once. Excellent shelf life, the sell by date is about a year ahead, so
its not going off in a hurry, unless you leave it in the heat/sunlight.
Keeps you smelling good all day, unless you’re doing very strenuous
work, then you may need to apply again in the day.
The Not So Good
Pricier
obviously than cheap high street versions, but that’s understandable
given the purity and organic certification of the ingredients. But
still cheaper than Green People,
and its come all the way from Australia (they do carbon offset the
shipping). Won’t stop the sweaty wet patch developing under your arms
if you normally suffer from that, but no organic deodorant will. Not
the longest lasting bottle of roll on, but not the shortest either -
about average in relation to other deodorants really.
In Summary
A good solid entry into the organic underarm deodorant market; the Miessence underarm deodorant
slots perfectly into the not-too-cheap, nor-too-expensive area but
provides great resultsa and keeps you feeling (and smelling) fresh!
You may wonder why I am blogging about an organic beauty salon that’s just opened in Newmarket USA when it’s a million miles from my home in London UK. The reason is because its one of a growing trend of salons that are deciding to go green.
The beauty industry professionals are the ones who are at the delivering end of beauty to people on an everyday basis. They’re the ones, who pluck and wax and tong and curl and straighten. For so many years now, they have been limited by the performance of regular products being superior over organic products which were unsophisticated and not performance orientated. Or maybe its just been ignorance about health and concern for glamour that has put organic on the back shelves until now. Now we see a change beginning to happen, the market is being flooded by organic and natural beauty products that are glamorous, science based and have superiority over their predecessors by far, and hence the slow infiltration into salons is beginning.
I for one am desperate for a facial. Not because my skins terrible but because I love being pampered, and it is really good for your skin and complexion to have the attention. But I feel so guilty. Every salon I go to has products that I would never use at home. Actually more than guilt it’s a feeling of it being not good enough. Having said that I wouldn’t want to pay £100 pounds for a facial. I tried that with a natural beauty salon not so long ago and although I loved the facial, lets get real, I’m a mum, with growing kids and bills to pay, supported by my ever forgiving husband who tolerates my need for green and lack of cash!
This beauty salon in Newmarket, Organic Bonita is led by ever inspiring people -Tammy Pierce to be precise, who realises that natural and organic beauty products are more healthy, she wants the looks, and the performance but she wants to be healthy and green.
“The entire well-being approach to life doesn't have to end with going to the grocery store and buying organic food” said Pierce. “That approach can be applied to everything that goes into your hair and onto your skin.”
“My goal is to get the word out there that organic products are so good for you and yet so cost-effective and, in this time of our economy, we all want something that's good for us, long-lasting and most importantly cost-effective.”
“It's not all about making money” said Pierce. “It's a business and I have to make a living and I'm happy with that and I want to be successful, but I also want to be a part of the community by giving something back.”
Now why can’t I find more salons and beauty therapists like that in North West London? The woman is an inspiration. I’m sure that my wait won’t last very long and bit by bit more salons are going to catch on. What do I love about this Newmarket salon – they don’t see healthy as an excuse to rip people off!!
It was reported today that a young lady from Greater Manchester has endured horrific burns due to using a home hair colouring product. The young lady involved is just 22 and is now recovering at home after three days in hospital. There has been no indication of whether her injuries have rendered her scarred for life.
This poor woman is unfortunately serving as a grave warning to all women who wish to change the colour of their hair. She claims to have done a patch test although general opinion appears to be split. Either she DID do a patch test and it was insufficient or she did not do a patch test as she claimed.
The lady who works in a call centre became increasingly blistered over a matter of days. In my opinion, she should have sought medical advice immediately, I do wonder if her lovely face could have been saved if she had been more assertive. Mothers across the world want to keep their children safe and out of pain, I can imagine this story will prompt many women to warn their younger daughters about the perils of home hair colouring.
At buyOrganics, we will soon be stocking organic hair dye. However, this does not mean that people who choose to use this product will not have to do a patch test. People can be allergic to odd things or develop an allergy over time. When it comes to hair dye, whether it is organic or not I would always advise someone to test a product out on their skin beforehand. It may be inconvenient but it could be the difference between a slight inconvenience or a shocking allergic reaction.
2,008 readers and a panel of dermatologists helped select the 25 winners of the 5th Annual Beauty Awards.
Votes were cast at www.naturalhealthmag.com for their favorite products. Out of the mass of nominations and submissions, 25 of the year’s best beauty products were chosen.
Some of the submissions and winners may seem suspect to those who appreciate products that are organic and natural from start to finish.
I’m not sure what the deciding factors were but I think they could have done with some help from Stacey and Jo Fairley and their Green Beauty Bible!
Here are the winners -
FACIAL CLEANSER
Olay Definity Penetrating Mousse Cleanser
FACIAL EXFOLIATOR
Skin 2 Skin Oatmeal & Pomegranate Scrub
EYE CREAM
Yes to Cucumbers Eye Love Cucumbers Soothing Eye Gel
FACIAL MOISTURIZER
AVEENO Positively Radiant Tinted Moisturizer
FACIAL NIGHT CREAM
Dr. Andrew Weil for Origins Night Health Bedtime Face Cream
ANTI-AGING FACIAL TREATMENT
Aveda Green Science Firming Face Creme
LIP BALM
Burt’s Bees Sun Protecting Lip Balm SPF 8 with Passionfruit
HAND CREAM
The Healing Seed Virgin Organic Hempseed Oil Hand Cream
BODY MOISTURIZER
Avalon Organics Grapefruit & Geranium Hand & Body Lotion
BODY SCRUB
Aura Cacia Nourishing Body Polishes Fair Trade Certified
SELF-TANNER
Pur Minerals Get a Little
BAR SOAP
Dove Go Fresh Burst Beauty Bar
BODY WASH
Nature’s Gate Pomegranate Sunflower Velvet Moisture Body Wash
SUN CARE
John Masters Organics SPF 30 Natural Mineral Sunscreen
SHAMPOO
Paul Mitchell Tea Tree Lavender Mint Moisturizing Shampoo
CONDITIONER
L’Oréal Paris EverPure Sulfate-Free Color Care Moisture Conditioner
HAIR COLOR
Natural Instincts Champagne Indulgence Collection
HAIR STYLING PRODUCT
Pantene Pro-V Nature Fusion Smooth Vitality Smoothing Crème
BLUSH
The Body Shop Nature’s Minerals Cheek Color
CONCEALER
Jane Iredale Zap & Hide
EYE SHADOW
Almay Pure Blends Eyeshadow
FOUNDATION
Physicians Formula Organic Wear 100% Natural Origin Liquid Foundation SPF 15
LIP COLOR
Aubrey Organics Natural Lips Sheer Tint
MASCARA
Kiehl’s Marvelous Mineral Mascara
NAIL POLISH
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Nail Color
Jo Fairley and Sarah Stacey, editors of the Green Beauty Bible showed the Ecologist today that they are not adverse to the mammoth task of having to wade through 'ethical' cosmetics, sorting the good from the bad, and have done just that in their new revised addition of their book the Green Beauty Bible.
Whereas only 4 years ago it was easy to track the main green brands, an explosion in the market has resulted in hundreds of green, eco, ethical and natural brands hitting the market causing confusion to many trying to check the ingredients labels. Some are professionally made whilst others are handmade balms made in cottage industry type settings with little or no testing.
This explosion is echoed when we look at the figures. According to Organic Monitor, the UK market is worth £110m and global sales of natural and organic cosmetics are increasing by over US $1 billion a year.
The time has now come when we need a bible to shop by, that goes through the brands and rates them in an easy to understand daisy rating format. The Green Beauty Bible has covered over 1850 products for you to inspect!
‘There are now an extraordinary number of products,’ says Sarah. ‘But just because a product has a tomato on the label it doesn’t mean it’s natural.’
Looking at the label is fine if you have a ‘list of ingredients to avoid’ list or a search engine on hand. But for most people it’s a complicated and confusing experience.
Intelligently, both of them point out the necessity to avoid scare mongering but concentrate instead on doing the best you can for your health, and that diet and sleep are still the cornerstones of beauty and wellbeing. No amount of cream can buy you that making a natural lifestyle hugely important.
The revised paperback edition of The Green Beauty Bible by Sarah Stacey & Josephine Fairley is out now (£14.99, Kyle Cathie)
For more information on natural beauty from The Beauty Bible website click here
At a Glance
When I received this product, straight off, I was really impressed that someone had finally done a luxury foaming face wash
without harsh chemicals in it. When I checked the ingredients list,
this was substantiated as the ingredients are pure and simple; there
are no SLS’s, no parabens or phthalates. The foaming element of this organic face wash
comes from Lauryl glucoside and Sodium lauroyl glutamate, on closer
inspection both of these surfactants are extremely low hazard with the
Environmental Working Group classing them as 1 and 0 toxicity
respectively, which is excellent. The other main ingredient is
Certified Organic Aloe Vera, (unlike luxury high street brands that
despite the high price still use water as the main ingredient). Other
ingredients include organic plant botanicals and extracts that have
excellent herbal properties and benefit for the skin such as ylang
ylang, aspen bark extract, plantain, rose damascena, glycerin and
citric acid (vit c).
The packaging is really nice, natural high quality recyclable box, nicely printed, very classy and not at all tacky or cheap. The actual foaming face wash inside is in a brown glass bottle which looks really pretty in the bathroom, something you can definitely put on display. It’s not too big and bulky either so, easy to handle and it has a pump top which makes it easy to use last thing at night when you just want to go to bed!
The price is not bad, quite reasonable, at £22 it’s not the cheapest on the market but for what’s in the bottle it’s definitely not overpriced. Other organic skin care lines of this caliber would be charging £50 or more for this sized bottle.
So; what’s it like?
The
fragrance is absolutely divine, not nasty yukky or overpowering, just
divine. I felt really good after I had used the product, and have had
this backed up by other testers who have also said the same thing. You
only need a little bit as it lathers up really well, so it’s easy to
see that the product is going to last for a while. It leaves your face
feeling clean, not stripped bare but moisturized and soft. One of our
testers has extremely sensitive skin and eyes, and found that it didn’t
irritate her at all.
Leaves you feeling really pampered and like you’ve done something really good for your skin.
A week on, people have commented on how my skin looks good, skin clearer, pores are more refined and black heads reduced.
Good Points
Packaging, look, performance, quality, fragrance and wellbeing factor
Bad Points
Not suitable for people who like more traditional wipe off facial cleansers.
Doesn’t say anything on the packaging about removing eye makeup,
although it did take all my make up off and having checked with the
manufacturers they have said that it is safe for use around the eye
area also.
In Summary
A top performing luxury product you can use every day; very pure and worth every penny.
For more information on John Masters products and organic skin care in general visit www.buyorganics.co.uk
New in store, we are really excited about this 100% natural hair removal gel. Previously only available to therapists this amazing gel is now available to us at buyOrganics and to you, our customers.
Amber Gel, is made in the UK and contains only the purest natural ingredients; in total it contains Sugar, Water, Apple, Honey, Grape, Pineapple, Raspberry and Fruit Acids (Citrus Limonum). Amber Gel is also delightfully easy to use; we had a go in the office!! It needs no heat to put it on, and the spatulas, instructions and strips come with it.
Available in 3 sizes 15ml, 50ml and 100ml
To get your hands on some just click here, or visit www.buyorganics.co.uk
Sonia xx
Eselle Organics
products have been a bit hard to come by over the last month or so, as
they have been busy rebranding and packaging their line. Not that there
was anything wrong with the old packaging, I loved the bright orange,
but I’m sure Sarah McIntyre will have created something equally
exciting.
Even though August is traditionally the quiet time of year, die hard Eselle Organics fans will have found the dirth of products hard to swallow, but good news is here at last as Eselle have informed us that their new products will be available in the next 10 days or so.
One product we will surely welcome back with open arms will be the Men’s sensitive skin moisturiser; all those men out there must have really rough faces without it. Not good news for the girls either!
Extra good news, all the old branded stock is reduced from now to make way for the new products, not much left in stock, so it’s only until stock lasts!
We’ll let you know when we have an exact date and a sneak preview if possible.
TTFN!
Sonia
From concerns in our health to the environment, there are many reasons as to why we should use organic products. As more research is developing, it has been found that chemicals in many products we use can be dangerous to our health and put us at risk of developing diseases. Many people are beginning to switch over to using organic products because they are natural and better for the skin, and nothing spends more time against your skin than the clothes that you wear.
A
product that is considered to be organic is made of materials that have
been grown or raised without using chemicals, dyes, bleaches and is
also allergy free. Natural compost, soil and fertilizers are used and
natural pest controls have helped in growing the cotton. This has led
to clothing which utilises this organically grown cotton; organic clothing.
Within recent years, new technologies have allowed bamboo fibres to be used in many fashion and textile applications. Bamboo clothing is typically made of a organic cotton yarn or a mixture 100% bamboo. Bamboo can also be combined with other textile fibres like spandex and hemp. Almost all types of clothing are available in bamboo fabric and organic cotton.
When people think of organic clothing
they typically have visions of “eco-warriors” and “tree huggers”
wearing dowdy long skirts, hemp jumpers and sandals etc. But these
stereotypes are far from the actuality of it. Today organic clothing
manufacturers are making stylish and fashionable clothing from these
materials that rival many of the top fashion brands, and many are
designer brands unto themselves. So you can be eco conscious and still
look amazing.
Organic fashion
has become more available in high street stores, but it is still
something of a unique commodity and it is much easier to find online
with websites such as www.buyorganics.co.uk stocking a large range of styles for all the family.
So why not give organic clothing a style and feel better about yourself and feel safer knowing your skin is being cared for as well!
