Five products for $5 and under

Yeah, you read that right! Cool products for small change.

Phyto Shield Botanical Toothpaste, $5 for 100g – Available in Herbal, Lemon Myrtle, and Propolis.

Jeymar Lavender and Tea Tree Shampoo Bar, $2.90 for medium and $4.90 for large – A nourishing solid shampoo.

Kereru Lip Salve, $4.50 for 6.4g – Available in Calendula, Teatree & Lemon, Geranium – clear, Natural Rose – pink, and Clear Strawberry.

Clear as Mud Face Mud, $4 for one 10ml sachet – Purify your skin with this bentonite clay mask.

Ecostore Boxed Soap, $2.49 for 80g – Available in Coconut, Lemongrass, Manuka Honey & Kelp, and Vanilla.

Lots and lots and LOTS of new products!

There are a whole lot of cool new products out at the moment, mostly from New Zealand and Australian brands! They are coming out faster than I can write about them, so I’m doing a bulk post about heaps of them. So what have we got?

- Antipodes Grapeseed Butter Cleanser $45.90 for 75ml – contains cocoa butter, harakeke, and hibiscus flower. Another great product from this NZ brand.

- Bloom Pure Mineral Eye Shadow & Brush Set, $35 each – These mineral eye shadows each come with an eye shadow brush. They are part of the Australian brand’s mineral makeup range. I mentioned them in a post last year, and now they have arrived in NZ! There are six shades available, although the website lists eight. There are some pretty colours; I like the look of Crystal, a shimmering white, which would be great for highlighting the browbones.

- The Body Collection Plane Sense range – A set of eight products from an Australian brand, all 100ml, so they can be taken on the plane with you. Free from phthalates, propylene glycol, mineral oil, silicone, synthetic dyes, sodium lauryl sulphate, parabens, PEGs, and synthetic fragrances. The products are:

Body Wash
Body Lotion
Shampoo
Conditioner
Face Cleanser
Face Mist
Hand Lotion
Foot Lotion

There are also two gift packs. One contains Body Wash, Body Lotion, Shampoo, and Conditioner, and the other contains Face Cleanser, Face Mist, Hand Lotion, and Foot Lotion. The individual products are $8.50 each, and the gift packs are $28.99 each. They are pretty cute, and I’m keen to try the foot lotion.

- Various new products from Comvita Huni – This NZ brand recently expanded its skincare and body care range. The new products are:

All Day Hand and Nail Cream 75g $25.00
Every Day Body Wash 250ml $29.00
Intensive Hydrating Mask 75g $45
Every Day Eye Cream 15g $39.00
Anytime Lip Treatment 10g $15
Night and Day Serum 25ml $69

I think the serum has actually been around for a while, but it wasn’t part of the original range. I’d like to try the lip balm, it looks yummy!

- Tebe, a New Zealand range, whose products contains olive oil and olive leaf extract, have two new products:

Eye Cream 20ml $27.70
Face Polish 50ml $24

- Another new mineral makeup range is here! BYS (Be Yourself), an affordable Australian makeup brand now has a range called Minerals Naturalé. The products are:

Foundation 3.5g $12.90, available in nine shades
Concealer 3.5g $12.90, available in six shades
Blush 3.5g $12.90, available in three shades
Bronzer 10g $19.90, available in two shades

I have seen the foundations and bronzers at Glassons, and the full range of products at Cosmetics Plus. The website lists several other products, which don’t seem to be available here.

- Another new product from a great NZ brand! Ecostore Fabric Softener, 500ml for $7.95, 5L for $61.75 – Not a skincare product, but it does affect your skin – sensitive skin can be irritated by fabric softeners, but not this one! There are no dyes or perfumes in it, and it’s nice and gentle.

- New lip balms from Natio – Another Australian brand has some nice new lip balms:

Paw Paw Lip Balm 20ml $12
Men’s Lip Balm 20ml $12

- Weleda Body Washes – A change from all the NZ and Australian brands, Swiss brand Weleda has put out some new body washes. They are all $19.50 for 200ml, and there are three:

Wild Rose Body Wash
Sea Buckthorn Body Wash
Creamy Citrus Body Wash

Very nice, I’m keen on citrus scents, so I may try the citrus one at some point.

Sooo many new products! Awesome!

Ingredient Spotlight: Aloe Vera

Aloe vera is great for soothing skin, particularly burnt, irritated, or sunburnt skin. Having your own aloe plant is a great idea, because you can use the gel straight from the leaves.

Alternately, you can buy an aloe vera gel. A lot of aloe vera gels don't contain all that high a percentage of aloe vera, but Natural Instinct Aloe Vera Gel contains 98% aloe vera. It is $12 for 125ml. Sukin Aloe Vera Gel is also $12 for 125ml, but I prefer the Natural Instinct gel, because the Sukin one has alcohol in it, which can sting burnt skin.

I have recently been using the Natural Instinct Aloe Vera Gel as an eye makeup remover, and it works quite well. It does sting my eyes a bit, and I do have a bit of trouble with my contacts getting blurry and irritated, but usually rinsing them a bit more thorougly than I would have previously seems to help.

Celebrities - the products they like, and the brands they create

Yes, I know, it seems a bit shallow to be writing about what celebrities like. But, I'll admit, although I wouldn't buy something because, say, Jennifer Aniston, said she liked it, it's still interesting to hear what beauty products the rich and famous use.

Liv Tyler and Elijah Wood both like New Zealand brand Hema, which, I'm guessing, they tried when they were over here for the filming of Lord of the Rings.

Quite a few celebrities like Lush products. They have a gift pack called You're a Star, $99, and it has eight products in it, all of which have been bought by celebrities. The products are:

Therapy Massage Bar 65g - Julia Roberts

Sea Vegetable Soap 100g - Jude Law

Dreamtime 30g - Madonna

Ceridwen's Cauldron Luxury Bath Melt 80g - Gwyneth Paltrow

Lush Aqua Mirabilis Underwater Massage Bar 95g - Kylie Minogue

Dream Cream 240g - Halle Berry

Tisty Toasty 90g - Liv Tyler

Kylie's sister Danii likes Trilogy products, and Jennifer Aniston likes Dr Hauschka products.

Then there are celebrities who start up their own natural beauty product brands. Quite a few celebrities have done this (or are in the process of doing it), such as Stella McCartney, Josie Maran, and Kate Hudson. Most of these brands aren't available in New Zealand, but I have come across a couple which are.

SUNDARI was co-created by model Christy Turlington, along with Ayla Hussain and Cavan Mahony. Meaning 'a beautiful woman' in Sanskrit, SUNDARI is an Ayurvedic based skincare range.

Duchy Originals is an organic company created by Prince Charles. The company makes food, but they also have body care products. Good to hear that the future king is concerned about the enviroment!

Green and on a budget

Many of you may be thinking something like 'Ok, I want to use more natural beauty products, but I don't really want to spend $50 on moisturiser'. Yeah, I'm with you. While I realise that sometimes you will pay more for natural/organic beauty products, I still try to save money to a certain extent. Here are some tips on how you can too.

Tip 1: Work out what brands best suit your budget

There's a huge variety of brands out there which make natural/organic beauty products, and a huge range of prices. A rough guide to brands:

Super-duper low-priced brands: Sukin (skin care, body care and hair care, Natural Instinct (skin care, body care, hair care, sun care, baby care, and household cleaners)

Affordable brands: The Herb Farm (skin care, body care, hair care, mother and baby care, men's products, room sprays, essential oils, and healing products),Weleda (skin care, hair care, body care, mother and baby care, men's products, oral care, homeopathic ointments, and over-the-counter medications)

Mid-range brands: Living Nature (skin care, hair care, body care, mother and baby care, men's products, and makeup), Trilogy (skin care, hair care and body care), Evolu (skin care and body care)

More expensive brands: Dr Hauschka (skin care, hair care, body care, sun care, and makeup), Ayurda (skin care and hair care)

High-end brands: Aveda (skin care, hair care, body care, men's products, makeup, fragrances, and candles), MV Organic Skincare (skin care and body care)

Tip 2: Shop around

There are a lot of natural beauty brands available at health stores, but also check out pharmacies, supermarkets, gift shops and Farmers stores. Prices vary between stores as well, so if you see something you like, maybe check several stores to see if have it, so you can make sure you get the best deal. Also check out offers like gift with purchase, or buy one get one free. Look out for sales, but make sure you check the expiration dates on the products, because sometimes products which are nearing expiration will be sold at half price.

Tip 3: Make use of loyalty cards

Farmers stocks Giovanni, Trilogy, Natio, Living Nature, Evolu and Dr Hauschka. Any purchase from the beauty department will put points on your beauty club card (1 point per dollar), and after spending $200, you get a $20 voucher. I always use mine to put towards buying Dr Hauschka makeup. Life Pharmacy also has a loyalty card, and they stock Living Nature, Trilogy, Evolu, Antipodes, Comvita Huni, Tebe, Weleda baby products, Made 4 Baby, and Kosmea. Their loyalty card rules are slightly different from Farmers' (see http://www.lifepharmacy.co.nz/ for details), but it's good because anything purchase over $5 you make at their stores (with the exception of prescription medications and discount fragrances) will give you points.

Also, Onecard can be used at Foodtown and Woolworths supermarkets, which stock Skinfood, Pure Innosense, Primal Earth, and the Ecostore baby range. You have to spend, like $2000 before you get a voucher, but if you do your regular grocery shopping there, then you'll probably get points fairly quickly. Also, there are often a lot of discounts available for Onecard cardholders.

In addition to this, some brands have loyalty cards of their own, like the Evolu Eleven-for-ten card, and the Living Nature Truly Natural You card. Trilogy also has one, but it can only be used at Health 2000 stores, whereas the Evolu and Living Nature ones can be used at anywhere which stocks those brands.

Tip 4: Try samples, or buy travel/trial-size packs

Some stores have small samples (I think they're free - probably best to check before taking them though!) of Evolu and Living Nature products. These are a good way to test out the product without actually buying it.

A number of brands offer travel/trial packs. Living Nature has quite a few different ones - check them out at https://www.livingnature.com/catalog/main.cfm?t=c&r=vw&cid=1915. Trilogy has Trilogy Travelers - for $60 you get 50l Cream Cleanser, 50ml Hydrating Mist Toner, 50ml Energising Face Lotion, and 50ml Nourishing Body Lotion. Evolu has a Travel Tower, $39, which contains 10ml Creme Cleanser, 10ml Moisturising Day Cream, 10ml Night Cream, 10ml Soothing Eye Gel, 10ml Purifying Mask, and 10ml Hand+Cuticle Cream. Evolu also has the Travel Valet, $35, which consists of 10ml Refreshing Facial Mist, 20ml Day Cream with SPF15, 20ml Silkening Shampoo, 20ml Invigorating Body Lotion, 10ml Healing Lip Treatment, and a luxury facecloth, all in a zipup pouch.

If you want to try out a more affordable range, The Herb Farm has six different trial size packs. Check them out at http://www.herbfarm.co.nz/index.php?cPath=25_38.

Tip 5: Make your own

I tend to be too lazy to do this, but if you'd like to try making your own beauty products, there are plenty of recipes available at http://www.makeyourowncosmetics.com/. Sometimes this can cost a bit of money if you have to buy ingredients, but there are also things you can do, like using olive oil as a hair treatment, that will save a lot of money.