Weleda Cleaner Beauty Campaign
I know many of us are becoming more aware of what is in our body and beauty products and are choosing to buy products with natural ingredients. It seems an easy choice to make really but is it? So many of the companies which claim to make natural products are in fact not as natural as they seem.
Some may use mainly natural ingredients while others proudly list the natural ingredient such as argan oil on the front of the product and then when you look more closely argan is actually way down the list after a number of far from natural ingredients.
While Europe has banned any animal testing on beauty products there are still some companies whch allow some ingredients to be tested on animals and others which allow products to be tested on animals “Where that country insists on this”.
While some companies may use natural ingredients they may not source these ethically or pay fair prices to the suppliers. Other companies seem to over package their products going along the lines that the more expensive the packaging looks the more we can charge for it. Packaging needs to be as eco friendly as possible and fit for purpose. There is no need for boxes around tubes and heavy ornate packing which is three times the size it needs to be to hold the contents. This is wasteful of resources and also costs more to create and ship.
Weleda is a company that I am a huge fan of because they are such a wonderful ethical company that makes products that are 100% natural and that work. Many people know Weleda for the natural baby products and beauty body and face creams but they were originally a natural pharmaceutical company and indeed when Rudolph Steiner started the company in Austria in 1921 that was his focus. Weleda's products are created using the principles of principles of anthroposophic medicine. This is a holistic approach based on products made using ingredients grown in balance and harmony with nature.
Everything about Weleda is ethical, upfront and honest from their sourcing of ingredients to the manufacture of the products, the way they look after their staff, how they use and create energy for use in their factories, the packing and transportation of their products and finally the products themselves are just wonderful.
I have a number of other companies that I use to buy beauty products that are ethical and 100% natural but these are mainly smaller UK based companies. I will mention a few here that I love MuLondon, Pink& Green and also Bodhi & Birch, Nourish, Opulentia Organics, Dr Botanicals, The Beauty Kitchen and Dr Organics are all companies that make great natural products. If you follow my beauty blog I have written about products from all these brands in the past.
If you are serious about being more aware of what is in your skin care and bath products then do read the labels. If you are careful with what you eat in order to stay healthy then b aware that your skin is your largest organ and it does absorb what is put on it. This is also the case with your hair too so check the ingredients of that shampoo that claims to have argan oii and see what is in it!
#Cleaner beauty Campaign aims to raise awareness of the ingredients of our beauty products and just take a few of the more chemical sounding ones and look up what issues you might be storing up. Some cause skin rashes and eczema while others have even been linked to cancer. So many of our beauty products include petroleum based oils and these are really not good for you to put on the skin.
Another major issue is microbeads. So many exfoliating products and even toothpastes contain these and they don't break down ever. They go into the water then the ocean to be consumed by all those animals that live in the sea and then we catch some and eat them in turn ingesting plastic micro beads. Check your exfoliator uses something natural like ground almonds, bamboo, charcoal or other natural,mineral based product like pumice rather than these micro beads.
If you would like to know more then I urge you to take a look at this video : https://www.weleda.co.uk/cleanerbeauty.
There is also an interesting interview in YOU magazine which you can read here: https://www.you.co.uk/clean-beauty
So off you go and check out what you are using in your beauty regime and then promise yourself that your next purchase will be a natural #cleanerbeauty product . It will not only be better for you and your skin but will also be better for the environment and future generations
I know many of us are becoming more aware of what is in our body and beauty products and are choosing to buy products with natural ingredients. It seems an easy choice to make really but is it? So many of the companies which claim to make natural products are in fact not as natural as they seem.
Some may use mainly natural ingredients while others proudly list the natural ingredient such as argan oil on the front of the product and then when you look more closely argan is actually way down the list after a number of far from natural ingredients.
While Europe has banned any animal testing on beauty products there are still some companies whch allow some ingredients to be tested on animals and others which allow products to be tested on animals “Where that country insists on this”.
While some companies may use natural ingredients they may not source these ethically or pay fair prices to the suppliers. Other companies seem to over package their products going along the lines that the more expensive the packaging looks the more we can charge for it. Packaging needs to be as eco friendly as possible and fit for purpose. There is no need for boxes around tubes and heavy ornate packing which is three times the size it needs to be to hold the contents. This is wasteful of resources and also costs more to create and ship.
Weleda is a company that I am a huge fan of because they are such a wonderful ethical company that makes products that are 100% natural and that work. Many people know Weleda for the natural baby products and beauty body and face creams but they were originally a natural pharmaceutical company and indeed when Rudolph Steiner started the company in Austria in 1921 that was his focus. Weleda's products are created using the principles of principles of anthroposophic medicine. This is a holistic approach based on products made using ingredients grown in balance and harmony with nature.
Everything about Weleda is ethical, upfront and honest from their sourcing of ingredients to the manufacture of the products, the way they look after their staff, how they use and create energy for use in their factories, the packing and transportation of their products and finally the products themselves are just wonderful.
I have a number of other companies that I use to buy beauty products that are ethical and 100% natural but these are mainly smaller UK based companies. I will mention a few here that I love MuLondon, Pink& Green and also Bodhi & Birch, Nourish, Opulentia Organics, Dr Botanicals, The Beauty Kitchen and Dr Organics are all companies that make great natural products. If you follow my beauty blog I have written about products from all these brands in the past.
If you are serious about being more aware of what is in your skin care and bath products then do read the labels. If you are careful with what you eat in order to stay healthy then b aware that your skin is your largest organ and it does absorb what is put on it. This is also the case with your hair too so check the ingredients of that shampoo that claims to have argan oii and see what is in it!
Cleaner beauty Campaign aims to raise awareness of the ingredients of our beauty products and just take a few of the more chemical sounding ones and look up what issues you might be storing up. Some cause skin rashes and eczema while others have even been linked to cancer. So many of our beauty products include petroleum based oils and these are really not good for you to put on the skin.
Another major issue is microbeads. So many exfoliating products and even toothpastes contain these and they don't break down ever. They go into the water then the ocean to be consumed by all those animals that live in the sea and then we catch some and eat them in turn ingesting plastic micro beads. Check your exfoliator uses something natural like ground almonds, bamboo, charcoal or other natural,mineral based product like pumice rather than these micro beads.
If you would like to know more then I urge you to take a look at this video : https://www.weleda.co.uk/cleanerbeauty. There is also an interesting interview in YOU magazine which you can read here: https://www.you.co.uk/clean-beauty
So off you go and check out what you are using in your beauty regime and then promise yourself that your next purchase will be a natural #cleanerbeauty product . It will not only be better for you and your skin but will also be better for the environment and future generations
THANAKHA
While we were on holiday in Myanmar I noticed most of the women and and children as well as number of men had a yellow patch of something on their faces. I asked our local guide what it was. He explained that it was called Thanakha and was a make up which also worked as a sun protection and as a bonus smelled good too.
We saw this for sale as a piece of wood that needed to be ground which looked like hard work so I asked where I could buy it as a powder. He said that it was available in markets in some places but the wood that you ground yourself was better. I decided I would go for the powder regardless and was lucky enough to find some in pots in one of the hotels we stayed at and then again in a market so I have two lots.
Thanakha cools the skin, prevents sun damage, clears up acne and can even reduce fevers and headaches if swallowed. I haven't tried that though. There is virtually no research to prove any of these claims but the Burmese people certainly all have beautiful skin and look really young for their age. One 2010 Thai study found that “extracts from thanaka bark showed strong anti-inflammatory, significant antioxidation, mild tyrosinase inhibition and slight antibacterial activities.”
Some women managed to produce the most amazing art with their thanakha while others just put a splodge of the stuff on each cheek which looked a bit random. Some applied it to their arms as well as sun protection and for the scent.
You can buy this on amazon and also there are some beauty products made using thanakha sold under the name shwe pwi nann which are apparently available through ebay.
Apparently thanakha powder mixed with kusumba oil which is also from Myanmar is effective in hair removal making the hair root become weak and loose its strength and then after a time the hair will fall off a bit like men going bald. For hair removal you ned to make sure you get grade A thanakha as it is stronger while grades B and c are okay to use in cosmetics.
The kusumba oil can also be bought on ebay. The oil comes from the seeds of the kusumb tree grown in India, Pakistan and other countries in Asia like Myanmar. It is said that this oil Kusum oil is used in hairdressing and to promote hair growth it seems to counter the idea of using for hair removal ! The oil is also used for cooking and lighting as well as in traditional medicine for skin problems such as acne, itching, and burns and even as massage oil to relieve the pain of rheumatism.
KINBUN/KINPUN
The kinpun I have looks and even smells a bit like ground coffee beans. The Kinpun is the tree grown in dry regions, and its botanical name is Acacia cocinna. First, dry hard and dark-brown Kinpun beans are boiled, cooled down and sieved and to make a shampoo from Myanmar dark hir this liquid is mixed with the liquid collected from soaking the tayaw bark. I cannot use this shampoo as it is for dark hair and makes dark hair darker and shiny.
Ground kinbun seeds 
I have kinpun beans ground which I have use as a body scrub and I add this to my natural shower gels or soap. It is quite a gentle scrub as my kinpun is quite finely ground. If I had ground it myself I guess I could have left it coarser.
I mixed mine with my coconut oil too and a little shower gel and this made a lovely moisturising scrub which left my skin feeling clean and smooth and looking very well cared for. I usually make my on body scrub with ground coffee beans and coconut oil – with or without shower gel and so I just replaced the coffee with kinpun and it worked well.
TAYAW
The Tayaw is a kind of small tree or shrub and its botanical name is Grewia Polygama. For the shampoo they use just the bark in small pieces. This is soaked in water for around 15 to 20 minutes then you mix it up with your fingers to get a slippery slightly frothy mix and this is then the shampoo you use for washing your hair.
The bark is beaten till flat and the flatter the bark the more foamy your shampoo mix becomes . If you have dark hair then you can add the kinpun but if like me your hair is light then they suggest adding some lime juice to lighten it , cure and prevent dandruff and any itchy scalp.
Personally as I can't used the kinbun which is the soapier I found that using a good natural shampoo then the tayaw worked best for me and the Tayaw worked well as a natural hair conditioner making the hair soft and pliant and therefore easy to comb.
Although this shampoo is still widely made at home by many Burmese people these days you can also buy it ready made in plastic bags in the markets. There are also small modern packets of Tayaw-Kinbun shampoo made with modern machines by local manufacturers sold in bottles. I didn't buy any as it was the one with kinbun so only good for dark hair.
Traditionally Burmese people consider hair washing to be auspicious and so on the Myanmar New Year Day, the young people pay their respects to the aged by washing their hair and cutting their nails.
I love finding out about natural beauty products traditionally used by other cultures and we have started to learn from these over recent years. If you think about argan oil, shea butter and tea tree to name just a few that are now used widely in beauty and toiletries world wide.
I was lucky enough to win this wonderful 12 Days of Christmas Advent calendar from BEAUTYONTRIAL and thought I would share my experience with you.
On the First Day of Christmas my calendar gave to me…
Today my door number 1 opened to reveal 50 ml Roger & Gallet shower cream in a fleur de figuier scent.
This is a lovely sweet fruity smelling creamy shower product. It is a white colour creamy texture that dos lather up when applied with a bath sponge or scrubby thing. My skin smelled fresh and the scent did linger subtly on my skin after drying. My skin feels soft, clean and not at all tight or dried out.
This is a sulfate and soap free product that has shea butter t moisturise the skin as well. All their products are made with up to 95% natural ingredients and 100% distilled precious essences with beneficial properties.
On the Second Day of Christmas my calendar gave to me…
Day two door presented me with a Decleor Hydra Floral medium multi protection BB cream with SPF 15. The tube holds 10 ml but a full sized tube is 40 ml and costs around £20 so this is good amount to try it out.
Luckily the colour matched my skin tone perfectly and gave a good balance coverage. I applied this after cleansing, toning and moisturising and it spread easily and stayed put all day long after I applied a little loose powder.It smells gorgeous, sweetly floral and makes my skin smell lovely. I can smell it for a while on my face but after a short time it does fade. I like the coverage and also like the fact you get sun protection of SPF15 which all helps to keep those damaging rays away.
It has five benefits: 1. Moisturises skin for 24 hours, 2. Illuminates and evens out the complexion, 3. Refines the skin’s texture and corrects blemishes, 4. Contains SPF15 to protect against UVA/UVB rays and 5. Protects against pollution and environmental factors.
On the Third Day of Christmas my calendar gave to me…
Door three's offering was a 50 ml Coconut Oil Body lotion from Palmer's. This has no sulphates, phthalates mineral oils, gluten, parabens or dyes.This is a lovely creamy coconut smelling body lotion that makes my skin feels lovely soft, smooth and well moisturised. It says it keeps skin moisturised for 24 hours and I would say that is true as my legs still look moisturised and feel soft the next day after I have applied this in the evening after my bath.
On the Fourth Day of Christmas my calendar gave to me…
Behind door four was a hair product from Percy & Reed. This was a tube holding 30 ml of Perfecting Wonder balm which is a lovely leave in balm, conditioner that helps to make your hair style more easily, smooth it and also condition it. The full sized product holds 75 ml and costs £18. The product looks a bit cloudy but colourless like some face serums but it is the consistency of a lotion. It smells lovely fresh and slightly floral so make my hair smell nice too. It is not sticky or tacky at all and my hair combs through still and it does feel as though there is only conditioner in my hair and not heavy at all. According to the company it will add moisture, shine, smoothness, definition, softness, light hold, high humidity protection and manageability to your hair and I am certainly happy with mine.
On the Fifth Day of Christmas my calendar gave to me…
Opening door five and I saw a neat little glass jar with screw top lid. This was tricky to get out and once I managed to get it out I found something from a brand I had never heard of. This was Ole Hendriksen – Truth Sugar glow polishing mask in jar that held 15 mls. The full sized product comes in the same jar but bigger and holds 100 ml and costs around £30.
I think this is a polishing mask for the face but may be wrong. It has lost of lovely natural ingredients including, Raw Sugar for polishing,Pomegranate seeds to deeply cleanse and exfoliate ,Honey which is a natural humectant and soothes the skin,Rosehips full of Vitamins A and C & omegas 3,6 and finally Pumpkin extract with natural enzymes which exfoliate dull skin and help to smooth skin's texture.
It looks the colour of honey and is a similar consistency but it smells fruity and fresh. It feels really gentle on my skin and after using it my skin felt smooth, looked more alive and felt clean and fresh.
On the Sixth Day of Christmas my calendar gave to me…
Day six door was hiding a Balance Me Instant Lift Pore Minimiser in a small 5 ml tube which sells for £10. The full sized version holds 15 ml and costs £22. This is a 99% natural product that is a kind of primer which minimises pores and smooths fine lines so giving you a smoother pallet to apply your make up on to. It also boosts the skin's collagen giving a plumper smoother look. You can use this alone or use it before applying your make up. It doesn't fill pores but the Acacia Gum helps to plump and tighten the skin and blur enlarged pores. The Acemlla Oleracea Extract relaxes muscle contractions so helping to reduce the look of fine lines and wrinkles. The Hyaluronic Acid instantly smooths and plumps for a smoother skin surface. I found this really did give my skin a smother look and made my make up last better and stopped it going into the pores and fine lines on my face.
On the Seventh Day of Christmas my calendar gave to me…
Behind door number seven was a golden coloured box with a glass screw top jar inside. This was a jar of Nuxe “Reve de miel” lip balm with 15 g of this honey coloured rich fruity scented balm. This is the full sized product and usually costs around £9.50. I love this balm as it feels rich and healing on my lips. It doesn't slip off after a short time so is perfect for when out and about in cold weather to keep your lips from the cold. When you apply it to your lips you get a slight tingle and really feel like it is feeding my lips and returning them to smooth chap free state. I love this and will certainly be buying this again.
On the Eighth Day of Christmas my calendar gave to me…
Moving on to door eight I found an golden coloured eye shadow which is perfect for Christmas social events. This is a Laura Mercer eye shadow and the official name for the eye shadow shade I have is “Gilded Honey”. I see on the House of Fraser site these eye shadows cost £21 so this is a great little gift.I found that this eye shadow goes on best with a brush and gives a lovely sheen to the part of my eyes just under my eye brows while I wear a darker colour closer to my eye lashes.The colour lasted well and didn't go into the creases of my eyes at all so I was very happy with this door's prize.
On the Ninth Day of Christmas my calendar gave to me…
Behind door nine was full sized Rimmel lipstick in a beautiful deep red colour. The shade is number 510 and is called “The Best of the Best” .These sell on Boots for £6.99 and it is a current shade too.I love the slanted or pointed end as it allows me to get a nice finish. The colour lasts well on my lips and it feels nice and soft and smooth, leaving my lips looking healthy, well coloured but it doesn't feel gloopy or sticky at all. This is a perfect colour for Christmas and gives a good strong colour, not subtle at all.
On the Tenth Day of Christmas my calendar gave to me…
This was not the best door for me as this opened to give me a couple of hair ties. My hair is short so despite the fact that these were seasonal colours of red and white I won't get any use from these. I think my granddaughter will be befitting from these Popbands. They are soft and stretchy and hold your hair but don't leave it with kinks.
On the Eleventh Day of Christmas my calendar gave to me…
Behind door eleven was a Bourjois eye shadow in a very similar shade to the Laura Mercer one except this one is glitterier than that one. This once again is a full sized product and the shade is “Originale” 03 which once again is a great shade for parties so perfect for this time of year but just a shame it’s so similar to the Laura Mercer one.On Boots these little pots of Bourjois eye shadows sell for £5.99. Thy are beautifully packed with a silver knob on the front which you use to lift the lid which closes with a magnet nice and securely.Again this goes on easily using a brush and I find that if I layer this over another colour, I get a nice glittery finish over the colour blending to just using this under my eyebrows.
On the Twelfth Day of Christmas my calendar gave to me…
My final treat hidden behind door twelve was a tube of Pür correcting Primer in a 10 ml tube. I can only find this on a US site and find that a tube holding 30 ml costs $33 so it is not a chap one.I love this as it has a great radiance to it and apply this onto my cleansed, moisturised face and think it looks great alone with no foundation. I have taken to using his mixed with my BB cream so that I get the full benefit from the lovely sheen in this.This product is coloured and blends with most skin colours and it is a light texture so feels as though you are wearing nothing. It has a nice, pleasantly subtle clean sort of smell.
So there you have my Twelve Days of Christmas Advent calendar which I have thoroughly enjoyed. It was such fun to have a little treat each day and I have found myself some great new products that I will be buying again when these finish.
Vita Liberata Travel Tanning Kit
I was very lucky recently and won this in a beauty on trial competition. I have reviewed a few of the items on the site but struggled to find the others on line in order to list the products on the site to review so thought I would do a blog instead.
This set arrived packed in a lovely little bag with a zip closure. The bag is silky feeling outside but lined and quite sturdy so a very handy bag to use as a toilet bag after you have finished the products inside it. The bag has a nice handle too so easy to carry from room to room.
Inside the bag there were six items
The first was a Hand Mitt for applying the tanning lotions. This is quite small and stretchy nylon on one side and a kind of suede finish on the other. This needs to be washed between uses but does stop you getting tanned palms and fingers which is not a good look as it looks a bit like nicotine stains!!
The next item was a 30 ml brown tube with an exfoliator called a Super Fine Skin Polish. This is a white creamy consistency with ground shells as the scrubby bits. It doesn’t have much of a scent and personally I find it quite a gentle scrub and prefer something with salt or sugar to give a bit more scrubby action before I use a self tanning product. It doesn’t strip my skin as there seems to be some sort of moisturising ingredient which I believe is jojoba oil in it too. It costs £11.25 for 175ml.
The next item is Deep Untinted Self Tan Lotion which comes in a cylinder with a push pump dispenser. This hold 75 ml but on amazon this appears to be in a different tube and holds 200 m for £15 so maybe I have the older packaging as this does not appear anywhere I could find on line.
The fact this is untinted makes it quite hard to tell where you have applied it. I find it best to use a circular motion and go back and forth to make sure no bits are missed.
I then do not put any clothes on for around five to ten minutes to give it a chance to dry and settle otherwise I have found that I have got stripes on patches where my clothes have rubbed some off.
I didn’t find this had a strong scent at all and certainly not that false tan aroma that you can smell for days. It gave a nice deep yet natural colour and not tango orange at all and this lasted a good week using lots of moisturiser and having a shower every morning and bath at night too.
The next item was a Deep Face Untinted Self Tanning Gel which looked like a face moisturiser and again being untinted made it hard to know where you had applied this. This did give a deep tan which as I am fair made me look as though I had been to Tenerife for a holiday. It wasn’t shocking but did look as though I’d just come back from somewhere hot and sat in a beach lounger the whole time. This also lasted a good week and didn’t fade with that blotchy look that some do either.
My tube held 30 ml and I couldn’t find this on amazon or any other site.
Finally there were two tubes each holding 30 ml of a lovely moisture boost body treatment which is basically a nice moisturising body lotion. Mine comes in a brown plastic tube while the new one seems to be in a pale green tube. On amazon this sells for £11.25 for 175 ml.
This is a lovely nourishing lotion that contains certified organic botanicals for skin nourishment. It locks in moisture for amazingly soft and conditioned skin and a subtle shimmer to accentuate your tan.
This is a lovely set of products that I am enjoying using to give me that holiday look without sun damage. These products are from a company that makes more natural products so these are not full of parabens and chemicals