Sunday, March 28, 2010

New products from Primal Earth

NZ men’s skincare brand Primal Earth have a couple of new products:

Aloe Hydrate Facewash 125ml $11.99
Aloe Hydrate Moisturiser 50ml $17.99

Available at Foodtown, New World, and Countdown stores.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Five cult natural beauty products

There are some beauty products, including natural/organic ones, that are so popular that they have achieved ‘cult’ status. Here are five of them.

Weleda Skinfood 75g $21.90 – This is great for dry, rough skin. I like to use it on my feet.



Burt’s Bees Beeswax Lip Balm $12.95 – Super popular, and now available at Farmers as well as Kirkaldies.




Trilogy 100% Pure Certified Organic Rosehip Oil 20ml $22.90 and 45ml $38.90 – I find this great to use on dry skin and scars.





Dr Bronner’s Magic Soap 236ml $14.90 and 944ml $34.9 – This has 18 different uses. I’m not quite sure what they all are, but apparently this soap is quite the multi-tasker. Available in Peppermint, Eucalyptus, Almond, Rose, Baby Mild, Citrus, Lavender, and Tea Tree. Also, the writing on the bottles is quite interesting.


Dr Hauschka Rose Day Cream 30ml $60 – An extremely popular biodynamic moisturiser.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Elemental Herbology

It sounds like a textbook that Harry Potter would read to help him deal with those strange plants in the Hogwarts’ greenhouse – Elemental Herbology. Actually, that would probably be more Hermione’s thing: ‘You two really need to read Elemental Herbology...’ Anyway, it’s really a skincare brand that has recently become available at Mecca Cosmetica. The body products are divided into different seasons, which is an interesting concept that makes sense. There are quite a lot of products in the range, and I’m feeling a bit too lazy to list them, so if you want to check them out, go to www.meccacosmetica.co.nz.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

More info on the Karen Murell range

Karen Murrell sent me her awesome new range of products in January, and I have been having fun trying them out. You may remember me
mentioning this range a few months ago. Karen launched Skinfood in 2002, and this new range late last year. The products are certified by Ecocert (the first New Zealand brand to have this certification), and the Organic Food Chain. The boxes, tubes and bottles all have the percentage of organic ingredients printed on them. The packaging is pretty cool – the boxes, bottles, and squeezy tubes are recyclable, (the boxes are made from recyclable, renewable paper using soy inks) and the lipstick and lip balm tubes are biodegradable – you bury them. That’s cool, and not something I’ve come across before. The packaging is also very stylish and eye-catching, with funky artwork on the boxes.

They are available at Farmers stores, as well as some other stores. For more information on stockists, as well as more information about the products, check out http://www.karenmurrell.com/.

I think this new range is great. It’s hard for me to pick a favourite out of all the products, but if I had to pick one, it would be the moisturiser. More on it (and all the other products) below).

Here’s the lowdown on the products:

Pure Honesty Cleansing Gel
Size: 100ml
Price: $34
Packaging: A recyclable (HDPE 2) squeezy tube inside a recyclable two-piece cardboard box.
The verdict: It’s gentle, but cleanses thoroughly. I only need to use a little bit, so I can see the tube lasting for a long time. Any skin type could use it, but it contains seaweed and witch hazel, which are both beneficial to oily and combination skin. Using it in combination with the moisturiser has helped my skin clear up (I had previously been getting a few pimples). It smells nice and fresh.

Absolute Luxury Face Moisturiser
Size: 50ml
Price: $45
Packaging: A recyclable (PETE 1) pump-top bottle inside a recyclable two-piece cardboard box.
The verdict: A nice, light moisturiser with a lovely scent. It moisturises well, but doesn’t clog pores, and I find I only need to use a small amount. I have combination skin, and it’s good to have a moisturiser that is non pore-clogging, but still, well, moisturises! It contains tamanu oil, a ‘miracle ingredient’ which accelerates new tissue growth.

Aqua River Face Cream for Men
Size: 50ml
Price: $36
Packaging: A recyclable (PETE 1) pump-top bottle inside a recyclable two-piece cardboard box.
The verdict: I gave this to my brother-in-law, and he likes it. This also contains tamanu oil.

True Miracle Intense Balm
Size: 50ml
Price: $39
Packaging: A recyclable (HDPE 2) squeezy tube inside a recyclable two-piece cardboard box.
The verdict: This is really good for dry cuticles, lips, or dry skin, really. Smells and tastes great too. Ingredients include cocoa butter.

Nature’s Essense Body Scrub
Size: 200ml
Price: $45
Packaging: A recyclable (HDPE 2) squeezy tube inside a recyclable two-piece cardboard box.
The verdict: This is a great moisturising scrub, ideal for using before applying fake tan. Contains tamanu oil, salt and oat flakes.

Moisture Stick Lip Balm
Size: 4g
Price: $24.99
Packaging: A biodegradable tube inside a recyclable two-piece cardboard box.
The verdict: A good, nourishing lip balm that smells great, thanks to the sweet orange essential oil. I find that I don’t need to apply it all that often. Contains jojoba and castor oil.

Lipstick
Size: 4g
Price: $24.99
Packaging: A biodegradable tube inside a recyclable two-piece cardboard box.
The verdict: The lipstick is available in four shades: Cordovan Natural (beige nude), pink starlet (bright pink), Red Shimmer (bright red), Violet Mousse (nudey pink). The shades are fairly matte, but the lipsticks are moisturising, including ingredients such as jojoba and castor oil. The lipsticks smell really amazing, probably due to the cinnamon oil in them. I really like all the colours, but my favourite is Violet Mousse.

I very much recommend the Karen Murrell range, it’s good to have another great New Zealand natural skincare range available.