I recently posted on Kat's Travel about my lovely experience at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Western Massachusetts. I was thinking of editing it and posting it here on Natural Beautee but then I figured that I was doing you the reader a discredit. You're all internet savvy and know how links work!
Click here to read about my amazing R&R Retreat at Kripalu.

Now for everything else I've been up to, here's a update in Beauty Schooled Pretty Price Check style (which is now by the way Virginia Sole-Smith’s fabulous all-encompassing blog):

500: the number of hours that I've already put into my Aromatherapy qualification at ITHMA attending classes, massaging, writing assignments, and studying for exams

60: the mark I got my anatomy and physiology exam which coincidently was also the passing mark (I mean why put in any more effort than absolutely necessary? Of course I'm kidding. I was relieved to pass but gosh it was too close!)

44: the number of remaining massages I have to complete to become a qualified aromatherapist.

38: the number of trails in the ski area of Madonna di Campiglio, Italy where I went skiing over New Years

Too many to count - the number of products I have to review but I will review them soon!  Promise.

With the Neal's Yard Kings Road Spa being a 25-minute walk from my flat (and whose products I was familiar with since they contain a high percentage of organic ingredients) I decided to see what they had on offer. I booked a Detox and Glow package with Aya. Perfect! And it was, about 98% perfect.

The treatment started with a full body brush to stimulate lymphatic drainage and help remove the toxins from my body, of which I imagined there was a lot.  Aya brushed my skin very gently, much more gently than I brush my own skin, not soft enough to be ticklish, but soft enough to be distracting. But maybe I'm not being too kind to my skin if I'm brushing it too hard?

Whenever I review a skincare product I make sure to use it for at least a month. Your skin renews itself every 28 days or so to know the real deal you have to use a product at least that long.  After the month is up I choose to blog about the product after one of the following three triggers:

1)      I’m so excited about it that I have to blog about it straight away

2)      I’ve used up the entire bottle and want to blog about it while it’s still fresh in my mind

3)      I’ve decided to stop using it because I don’t really like it that much

The Anti-Aging Soothing Emulsion for sensitive normal, or combination skin by Bio Beauté by Nuxe fell into the 3^rd scenario for me.  I bought it in the summer at Monoprix in Avignon, France.  The summer months are so nice for dehydrated skin.  Hydration takes a back seat to sun protection worries.  This is why I picked a lighter product than normal .  The emulsion is a bit watery and it separates easily which I guess is why it was called an emulsion and not a cream.  However by definition creams are an emulsion (binding water and oil and getting them to stay together) so I’m not really sure what the marketers were trying to achieve there.  Plus if there is water in the product then you’ll need preservatives which will hopefully be of the naturally-derived, more expensive, non-paraben kind.

courtesy of Echemist

For a while now (almost a year) I’ve been working on my own natural hair remover recipe but I haven’t quite nailed it yet.  It’s extremely infuriating as the ingredient list is so short and simple: water, sugar, lemon juice and a few drops of essential oil if you’re feeling like it.  The reason why it’s so difficult to make a natural hair remover at home is because to get the perfect consistency (sticky enough and soft enough that it spreads well after the mixture cools down) it’s a matter of the perfect temperature and the perfect timing.  So when I don’t have the luxury of the time to experiment and my body hair is getting out of control then desperate times call for desperate measures.  I go out and buy something.

Enter stage left Acorelle 100% Natural Oriental Wax for face and body.  I’m not sure what makes it “oriental” per say.  Ingredients are simply sugar, water, and lemon juice.  The sugar and lemon juice are organic and the product carries the ECOCERT label.  I couldn’t find information on the Acorelle website specifically about the “oriental” wax that I used so I suspect it might have been replaced by a newer product “royal wax” which uses natural pine resin, organic beeswax, and white lily extract.  I’ll be sure to try that next, although hopefully I’ll have mastered my own recipe before then!

My skin has been having a bit of a ho-hum time over the last month.  It’s always my belief that where there is bad skin, there is something else bad going on (e.g. stress, poor eating, dehydration, illness, etc).  I’ll admit I’ve been way too busy to even think about what my skin is trying to tell me and I think all of the above external factors are probably at play.  I’ve had a few bad breakouts, and overall my skin has looked dull, and maybe even a touch grey.  So that’s my disclaimer as I launch into my review of Latte di Pulizia per il Viso al Cetriolo e all’Amamelide by L’Erbolario.  I picked up a bottle of the facial cleanser in an erboristeria in Italy last Christmas because I had forgotten to pack a cleanser. 

About the product:

Loosely translated the name of the product means “Cleansing milk for the face with cucumber and witch hazel” and below the picture on the front of the bottle is the specification that the product is a skin purifier for oily and combination skin.  Unfortunately there is no ingredient list.  The instructions state to apply the milk to face and neck in the morning and at night in a uniform and careful way.   Remove it with a cotton pad spritzed with toner.  Then take a second pass with another cotton pad but this time with it soaked with toner.  Also the back of the bottle says that the active ingredients are: triglycerides, witch hazel, cucumber extract, and hydrating complex “NMF.”  Nice.

For the natural beauty or aromatherapy expert out there, you may note that there is a factually incorrect statement in my video.  Clue – I got the wrong burn victim who stuck his hand in a vat of lavender oil and was miraculously healed!  I’ll send a lavender sleepy time roller ball oil to the first person who can correctly name the person I’m referring to.

I really enjoyed using the shampoo and conditioner.  The grapefruit has a nice zingy scent which is uplifting and clears the mind.  The shampoo made my hair really soft and manageable and the conditioner allowed me get a comb through my tangled locks after my shower.

Shampoo ingredients as follows:

aqua, decyl glucoside, sucrose laurate, betaine, coco-glucoside, glycerin, glyceryl oleate, sodium cocoyl hydrolyzed soy protein, coco-betaine, lauryl glucoside, parfum (fragrance), citrus grandis (grapefruit) seed oil, citrus aurantium dulcis (sweet orange) peel oil, citrus nobilis (tangerine) oil, citrus medica limonum (lemon) oil, citrus aurantium amara (petitgrain) oil, hydroxypropyltrimonium honey, glucose, citric acid, xanthan gum, sodium chloride, glucose oxidase, lactoperoxidase, limonene

Conditioner ingredients as follows:

aqua, cetearyl alcohol, betaine, glycerin, cetrimonium bromide, sucrose polystearate, sucrose stearate, citrus grandis (grapefruit) seed oil, citrus aurantium dulcis (sweet orange) peel oil, citrus nobilis (tangerine) oil, citrus medica limonum (lemon) oil, citrus aurantium amara (petitgrain) oil, sclerocarya birrea oil, glucose, polysorbate 60, hydroxypropyltrimonium honey, parfum (fragrance), sodium chloride, glucose oxidase, lactoperoxidase, limonene

The Environmental Working Group rates these products 4/10 for toxicity which is the good side of average.  Looking up each ingredient individually, most ingredients came in 0 or 1/10.  Parfum was the biggest offender.  All in all, both solid products.  I would buy them myself if I was perusing the nearest Whole Foods store.

Pai Rosehip BioRegenerate fruit and seed oil blend with vitamin E is a nourishing facial oil packed with the omegas (3,6,7, and 9).  With a very simple formulation - rosa canina (rosehip) seed extract and rosa canina (rosehip) fruit extract both of which are organically produced and 99% organic certified with the Soil Association seal.  Plus some added mixed tocopherols (natural vitamin E) and you can’t go wrong!

My skin easily absorbed the golden amber oil which gets its color because of the caretonoids (which makes carrots orange in color too!)  I used 3-4 drops per night for almost 3 months and occasionally applied it under makeup if I was having a particularly dry day.  I found that if I waited about 10 minutes then I could easily apply makeup on top.  At the point of starting to use this product my skin was in pretty good shape.  It was clear and hydrated for the most part and this facial oil fitted in nice and neatly without disturbing the good state that I had achieved for my skin.  I can’t say that I noticed any improvements in terms of the sunspots I have on my cheeks which I was a little bit hoping for but then again I’ve never noticed a difference in my sun spots after using any product so this is a very tall order!  For me the smell was a little off putting.  It’s very seedy and earthy smelling.  But it smells like it’s very good and doing very nice things for your skin (which it is).

I’ve been using a facial oil as the last step in my nightly skin routine for at least 5 years now.  I highly recommend that you do too.  When I compare this facial oil with others it stacks up in terms of performance but purely for smell reasons I can’t rate it as my absolute favorite.  A few drops of essential oil could have made this facial oil more pleasant or indulgent-feeling to use but then again some people with really sensitive skin can’t use products with essential oils.  The pure gentleness  and simple formulation of the oil will mean that anyone anywhere with any skin type or condition can use it.

Interesting to note is on the shelves at Whole Foods this product is placed both in the beauty section and first aid sections of the store, or at least it was in the Kensington, London branch where I shop!  I was sent this product by a PR person so I didn’t have to purchase it myself but I could see how the oil could be used in first aid on damaged skin.  Overall this is a good product that I would recommend for those with really sensitive skin.  For me I would have liked a little more bells and whistles so I’ll probably add a few drops of lavender and geranium essential oils to the rest of my bottle.  If you want to have a go at making your own customized facial oil I would recommend the Pai Rosehip BioRegenerate as the carrier oil and then spruce it up with some essential oils according to your skin type.

One of the advantages of having a mineral makeup in liquid format rather than solid form (e.g. “powder” form although it’s not really powder) is that you can add some nice skin goodies like borage and avocado oils and essential fatty acids (e.g. the omegas).  When I asked Liz why they went with a liquid skin tint rather than solid she told me that the liquid form was better suited to all skin types. She herself has dry skin and solid mineral makeup can be drying or cakey for her.  Liz Earle Colour Sheer Skin Tint has only one formula for all skin types.  I was a bit worried that my oily-side-of-normal skin would look a bit greasy with the skin tint on but it doesn’t, it looks absolutely radiant.  Plus it feels absolutely gorgeous going on.  Although the skin tint sits on top of the skin (like all mineral makeup) and feels great to touch, it stood up well to the napkin test.  It stays put.  Liz herself wore it for 24 hours straight on a QVC show and didn’t need to reapply once (normally she does a full face 3 times for that kind of show!)  Speaking of Liz’s face, when she met with us bloggers she was sporting a full face of test makeup that she’s currently working on.  I’m very hopeful for future products because she looked fabulous, not at all like a make-up guinea pig!

You can be the first to know when this exciting product is going on sale by clicking here and filling in a form.  When you can finally order the product you’ll be sent your bottle of Liz Earle Colour Skin Tint along with a sample of each of the 3 shades.  That way you can try all 3 to make sure that you ordered the right shade.  In case that you didn’t, you can swap out your unopened bottle for the right shade which will help cut down on wastage, not to mention the fact that it comes in a recyclable bottle, yeah for the environment and for customers!  The 3 shades should be suitable for 90% of skin tones out there.  I found that the middle color – beige blended well with my own skin tone.  I would say that it provides a medium coverage.  It didn’t quite make my sun spots disappear even after 3 layers, but it did enhance my complexion and give me a dewy finish.

Another noteworthy thing about the Liz Earle Colour Skin Tint is that it’s cruelty-free.  That’s quite a feat not to use carmine (crushed up beetles) in a makeup range.  It’s a pretty standard practice among main stream beauty companies.  So there you have it, Liz Earle Colour Skin Tint SPF15 is good for customers, good for the environment, and good for the beetles.  Everyone wins!

Apart from being a gorgeous hotel steeped in history, I was very impressed with the complimentary bath and shower products from REN.  Glad to see a luxury hotel embrace natural beauty products!

Here's the list of what Ren products don't contain: Petrochemicals, sulphates, parabens, synthetic fragrance, synthetic colours, TEA, DEA, Glycols, silicones, PEGs, et al.  The lack of these synthetic nasties makes me very happy.

Oat and Bay Conditioning Shampoo left my hair very soft the first few times I used it although over time the effect faded.  The smell is light, fresh, and citrusy.  Towards the end of the bottle I started washing my hair twice with it to make sure it was really getting clean.  I was fine with this though because I really enjoyed using the shampoo.

Pro-Vitamin Hair Conditioner works well as a conditioner and also as a natural shaving cream.  Leaves hair and skin moisturized without silicon or petrochemical build up!

Neroli and Grapefruit Body Wash although I've long detested the way neroli smells, this body wash changed my mind. The pairing of neroli and grapefruit zest is a match made in heaven.  It's light and refreshing and a delight to use in the shower.  Afterwards I felt invigorated!