Coconut Oil - A Beauty Must Have!

You know what, every now and then I like to try a bit of homespun beauty. I don't go crazy, like mixing my own shampoo in a vat over the bath or anything but I have been known to plaster porridge on my face (oats make a great exfoliator and are very soothing for dry skin).

This latest kitchen cupboard discovery is the endlessly useful coconut oil. I'm not talking cocoa butter or shea butter. This is more like the insides of a Bounty. Without the sugar. And organic. And virgin. *Blush*

It's a great ingredient and has been included in hundreds of skincare formulas I've come across before. It's also the 'healthiest fat in the world' (cue fanfare of silver hornets and trombones) with an amazing array of health promoting properties. Google it if you're interested but as a quick overview it acts differently to other saturated fats - this one is a medium chain triglyceride which means your body metabolises it right away and doesn't store it like it does other fats. It can reduce bad cholesterol, it's great for keeping your heart healthy, it's anti-microbial, ant-viral, anti-inflammatory and it has a whole host of anti-oxident action too. Seriously it's overwhelming stuff. I'm breathless just thinking about it!

But aside from eating it (I have yet to try it on my toast but I hear it's a great cooking oil too as it's stable at high temperatures) the reason I'm loving it so much is how good it is for the skin. I feel a little silly after declaring it can have boundless good effects on your health and then following it up with, "I use it to take my eye make up off!" but it's true. I do. And there's nothing better if I may be so bold.

Quick moan: I hate taking off my eye make up. Firstly, because it generally means the removal of my entire eye - without make up I look like a little blind mole that's been dug up from the soil and dangled in bright sunlight; pallid, squinty, shy. And secondly, it's just messy, my eyes sting, go red, get sore. Its just a faff isn't it?

So using something that is quick, uber-gentle and actually good for my skin instead of leaving me with nightmares of propylene glycol molecules dancing around my bloodstream in some kind of Wizard of Oz mash-up, well, it's just perfect really. I dampen cotton wool with warm water, squidge a bit onto the pad, it quickly turns into a liquid from the heat of the pad, I apply to my eye, hold a few seconds, circle my eye a couple times and then wipe away. DONE.

After using it to remove eye make up so successfully, well, one thing led to another and what can I say,  I began using it as a full face cleanser! Bam! Right now, I have to say, it's even made me put my Clarisonic down and reach for the hot cloth method once more. Yikes. It makes my skin look so clean, so much more even and I love that! (There will be updates on my progress with Mr. Clarisonic soon)

So then I went the whole hog and began using it as a body oil, it's LUSH! I was getting a pesky little eczemary patch on my arm, Lo! And Behold! it cleared that up in a matter of days, nay, hours. It instantly relieves dry skin and it works to generally improve skin tone and elasticity. It's blooming marvellous. I don't usually go in for a body lotion or such like, mostly because it's a bit of a bore applying it but I'm loving this and it smells all tropical and exciting.

I won't go on any more. You get the picture. Buy a jar of it from your health food shop for about £4 and quench that winter skin! 

Eve of St Agnes

What a wonderfully poetic name for a natural skincare brand and in case you didn't know (which I didn't) it is in fact from a poem by Keats, The Eve of Saint Agnes.

So then, what has a saint got to do with natural skincare? Well, Aggie is the patron saint of virginity and it is the purity of nature that is at the heart of this natural, British brand. Obvious really! The poem references the rituals a young maiden performs on the eve of the feast of St. Agnes which is supposed to reveal in her dreams the man she will marry. Now then, I have been using the Palmarosa Nurturing Body Cream for several weeks and I'm not saying it's true, but I've been dreaming about Sir Johnny of Depp a lot recently. (I wish!)

Anyway, whether or not this range has the power to reveal to you your future husband, it is still worth a look to discover a new, very reasonably priced natural brand. 

The Palmarosa Body Cream is a very light weight, creamy, moussey kind of texture that quickly absorbs leaving skin feeling like...well, like comfortable skin. It doesn't leave you sticky, and it doesn't leave you feeling like a slippery eel either. In fact I can't really tell I've used it after several minutes, but I don't think that is a bad thing. I think that means my skin has done what it wanted with it and that's that. See, I don't have excessively dry skin and I don't really feel the need for body creams since ditching the SLS, so I can't comment on its performance for such desperately dry condtitions. But I'll still use a body cream in the name of research and this one is a kind of 'does what it says on the recyclable plastic tub' cream.  

It contains shea butter, the darling of natural body moisturisers, very rich and nourishing. Borage oil for improving elasticity, hemp oil for soothing and calming inflammation and aloe vera for even more of the same. These ingredients are the top four listed on the product, after aqua (water) which means they are in highest concentration and are therefore the most active. It smells very calming, quite a powdery sweet smell, with top notes of something or other and a base note of stuff. I'm not very good at describing smells but there is vanilla extract in there and it is very pleasant. 

Going back to that recyclable plastic tub, I like that Eve of St Agnes have taken a stance on sustainability and have aims to make all their packaging recyclable later this year. They have also phased out their use of unsustainable palm oil, the manufacture of which is having a grave impact on the deforestation of the rainforest, and have sought out suitable, sustainable replacements, like babussa oil. Very commendable.

I have also been testing a lip balm which I really want to comment on. I love the balm, which comes in a little slide - top tin, very discreet and easy to carry in pockets etc... 

Here he is nestling on the corner of Mr. Macbook. The formula is quite a hard balm that quickly softens on contact with the skin and doesn't leave lips feeling too sticky or glossy. It's very nourishing, very softening and, as the name suggests, smells like pineapple and coconut. Yum. The absence of nasty mineral oils means this balm will actually keep your lips soft and happy, as oppsoed to drying them out even further when the initial slick has worn (or has been eaten) off as so many standard balms do. I was quite impressed to find out its vegan credentials, opting for a base of almond oil instead of the common beeswax, so if you're into that then you can sleep easy with this lip balm. And maybe, if you are lucky enough you'll dream of puckering up with your very own Mr. Depp!!

Eve of St Agnes Palmarosa Nurturing Body Cream £13.50 for 175ml (currently on sale at £9.95)

Pineapple and Coconut Lip Balm £2.95 for 7ml

Available on the Eve of St Agnes website.

Green and Spring

I just managed to delete a whole post on Green and Spring and now I have to re-write the damn thing. So I will try to write in a calm manner but you will understand if my enthusiasm is blighted by anger and my sentences are short with a general sense of annoyance and impatience for the whole tedious task of repeating myself.

So here goes... 

Ohh, look at the lovely little birds (this isn't how the original went, it was less sarcastic) Aren't they pretty sitting on the lovely packaging... (there was more of this, less flippant)

What a lovely range of natural products. No they really are and I'm not being fair to Green and Spring because they are a lovely company. Let's hear more... 

Green and Spring are a British company where only native plants and herbs are used in the chemical-free, natural formulations. The range is all hand-made and includes your usual bathroom products, skincare, hand and nail care and natural wax candles too. They also only use 100% natural plant material, without parabens, SLS, SLES, petrochemicals, PEGs, glycols, synthetic colours and fragrances. 

Most of the products are available in three fragrance blends, Relaxing with lavender, comfrey and rosemary, Indulging with rose, jasmine, elderflower and red clover, or Revitalising with peppermint, dandelion and fennel.

I have been using the Indulging Shower and Bath Foam which is just gorgeous. A great product, lathers very well, smells incredible, doesn't leave skin tight or dry after showering. 

Along with this I have been enjoying the Relaxing Body Lotion, another amazing fragrance, it's difficult to choose between them all. The lotion is light, easily absorbed and the fresh fragrance lingers a little which is nice so you feel like you've been rolling around in a fresh springtime meadow full of flowers and butterflies. (That wasn't in the original.)

I also have a teeny tiny travel candle also in Relaxing, its burning very happily (it was, I put it out days ago shortly after beginning this post) and although the fragrance isn't immediate I have on very firm recommendation that Green and Spring candles do deliver a good strong aroma. Some natural candles burn more fragrantly as they get lower because the essential oils sink down through the wax during the cooling process. Interesting.

There are also quite a variety of gift sets, including the bumper deluxe wooden birdhouse (nice) complete with 12 fullsize bestsellers nestling inside. All for £275! If you can't quite stretch to that!? there are loads of beautiful little sets that make really lovely gifts which won't require a remortgage or the selling of any organs. On the whole, the range is perhaps a little more than your average brand but it has by no means a super-luxe price tag for the quality and the ethos and the delightful packaging! It all makes a wonderful present or a well deserved treat for yourself in this dull, dreary winter. Roll on (Green and...) Spring! 

Clever.

Green and Spring Indulging Shower and Bath Foam £18 300ml (more in the bottle than your average brand too)

Green and Spring Relaxing Body Lotion £22 300ml

Green and Spring Home Candle £29 Travel Candle sets £18 for 3

All available at www.greenandspring.com and Liberty's

REN Moroccan Rose Otto Body Wash

My New Year's resolutions are going quite well. That blanket I told you about now has 1.75 squares ready to patchwork together when that momentous day comes. And I'm currently roasting potatoes. With rosemary and seasalt and crushed garlic. So I'm not doing too badly in all.

So then, naturally that brings me to the REN Moroccan Rose Otto Body Wash!!

I got a lovely set of REN body washes and lotions for Christmas from my sister. I've used these before but for some reason, this time around I love them so much more! The shower gel lathers beautifully, very creamy and nourishing and the smell from those Moroccan roses is gorgeous. After showering, it leaves your skin feeling comfortable, smooth, supple and without the desperate need to replace any moisture with body cream. (One of the very pleasant effects of an SLS-free formula!) However, in the set I have is a lovely Moroccan Rose Otto Body Cream and so I will happily use them together for that extra skin boomf! This is quite souffle-like, it's light, and quickly absorbed with the same delicate rose fragrance. Delicious. Rose Otto is an expensive and treasured essential oil, used in aromatherapy to ward away depression, it also soothes skin and aids deep relaxation.

The REN ethos is 'bio active skincare' and presented is a very interesting range of natural products with a scientific edge. They proudly declare on their packaging 'NO petrochemicals, sulfates, parabens, synthetic fragrances, synthetic colours, TEA, DEA, glycols, silicones, PEGS et al.' Good. You know what your getting here then. High quality, well researched skincare that works. A few of those naughty ingredients I haven't actually mentioned in my list of nasties to avoid but this will be researched and brought to your attention so we can all know why to avoid them and why REN is so good.

And just to mention there are three more fragrances to try out in the body wash range. Neroli and Grapefruit, Seaweed and Sage and Lavender and Bergamot. I know I will be...

REN Moroccan Rose Otto Body Wash £17.00 200ml

Available at Ren Skincare

John Lewis and loads of places actually so have a look.