Made from Earth

Ok, so you may all be wondering if I’m still here, given that I haven’t posted in a while...sorry about that. I’m still here, and I have a great brand to tell you about!

Made from Earth is an American company that makes organic skincare products. Check them out at www.madefromearth.com. They kindly sent me some of their lovely products to try. The products I tried were:

Rooibos Tea Facial Scrub

Size: 2 oz (about 57g; I had a smaller sample size)

Price: USD$24.99

Packaging: A plastic jar with a screw-on lid.

The verdict: This is a nice gentle scrub containing key ingredients jojoba beads, aloe vera, and rooibos tea. It’s detoxifying without being harsh, and it smells good too.

Pure Aloe Vera Skin Treatment

Size: 2 oz (I had a smaller sample size)

Price: $14.99

Packaging: A plastic jar with a screw-on lid.

The verdict: Soothing, moisturising, and non-greasy, containing healing ingredients including aloe vera, witch hazel, and neem . Great smell too. Very nice!

Rosehip + Hibiscus Facial Serum (pictured above)

Size: 2 oz

Price: USD$12.50 (Currently on sale from $24.99)

Packaging: A plastic bottle with a pump-top, and lid.

The verdict: This is nice and moisturising, without being greasy. Nice subtle smell. Contains hibiscus flower extract, rosehip seed oil, and glycerine, among other things. Love it!

Blueberry Organic Lip Balm with Vitamin E

Size: 0.15oz (4.25g)

Price: USD$3.99

Packaging: A windup plastic tube with a lid.

The verdict: This has a yummy but subtle taste and smell, and it’s very moisturising too, with sunflower and jojoba oils.

Citrus Fresh Organic Lip Balm with Vitamin E

Size: 0.15oz (4.25g)

Price: USD$3.99

Packaging: A windup plastic tube with a lid.

The verdict: I really like citrus scents and tastes, so loved this. It’s like a glass of orange juice in a tube! A dry-lip quenching one, that is.

I really like that there are so many great natural and organic ingredients in these products. I think it is great how much aloe vera is used in the products – very good for sensitive skin! The packaging is also really pretty. Plus, it is a cruelty free brand, which is a must for me.

To risk sounding like an infomercial, but wait, there’s more! Readers of this blog can get a 5% discount on Made from Earth products when you purchase them from www.madefromearth.com. Just enter the code 'TheMeanGreenBeautyMachine’. No minimum.

Favourite product of winter

Spring has begun, but it has got off to a shaky start, literally. New Zealand’s second largest city, Christchurch, has been struck by a major earthquake, causing severe damage to the city. There have also been a lot of aftershocks. People in Christchurch have been helping each other out, and several charity appeals have been launched. To anyone reading this who is from Christchurch, I wish you all the best, stay strong.

Anyway, my favourite product of winter is The Body Shop Delipscious Tinted Lip Balm in Papaya, $24, made from 100% food grade ingredients. It is super moisturising, thanks to the Community Trade Cocoa Butter, and it gives a subtle nude/peachy tint and shimmer to the lips. It’s also great to layer on top of a matte nude-coloured lipstick for some sparkle and shine.

Indah

Indah is a natural body care range founded in 2009 in Bali, Indonesia, by Australian Teisha Lowry. The word Indah means ‘beautiful’ in Balinese. The products are handmade in Bali, using ingredients such as honey, coconut oil, fennel, seaweed, cloves, and patchouli. Teisha travels to Bali to farm ingredients for the products, which are extracted from natural, organic flowers, fruits, and plants, which are sustainably grown and harvested. Most of the ingredients are cold-pressed, which means that they are extracted without the use of chemicals and heat. Indah products are free from artificial colours, artificial fragrances, fillers, parabens, sulphates, phlatates and petrochemicals.

The products are free from palm oil, and Teisha supports the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation. The packaging is recyclable, made from aluminium, recycled paper, and soy-based inks. A Balinese artist was commissioned to do the designs on the Indah packaging. Indah products are not tested on animals, and the company is an advocate of IDEP (Indonesian Development of Education and Permaculture). They encourage and support Fair Trade, and Mitra Bali, a non-profit, non-government organisation, which helps to improve conditions for Balinese farmers and their families.

The range is primarily targeted towards surfers, snow bunnies, and sun seekers, although is not only for those who enjoy the outdoors, but also who enjoy natural therapies. Indah adheres to the traditional Balinese cultural concept of Tri Hita Karana. This means that the company is committed to working harmoniously with, and respecting, the environment, humanity, and the divine.

The products are:

Surfer’s Body Balm AUD$19.95 in Fresh Soul
Lip Balm AUD$12.95 in Sweet Spice, Wellkiss, and Coco Love
Traditional Body Butter AUD$32.95 in Lovina Beach, Coco Love, and Dreamland
Body Bar AUD$9.95 in Uluwatu, Medewi, and Sanur Reef

Indah products can be bought on Indah’s website, www.indah.com.au, a variety of stores around Australia, and a number of Australian websites. Stockists are listed on the Indah website. There is also a link on the website to the Indah blog.

It’s great to see such a natural, ethical, eco-friendly, affordable brand. The products look amazing. If you live in Australia, then during July, if you spend $30 on the Indah website, you get free shipping and handling.

The Body Shop Delipscious

In her lifetime, the average woman may ingest more than four pounds of lipstick! Bearing that in mind, The Body Shop’s new range of lip colours, Delipscious, contain 100% food grade ingredients. The Delipscious Sheer Lip Color, $28, is available in six shades, and the Delipscious Tinted Lip Balm, $24, is available in two shades. They are infused with blueberry and pomegranate fruit seed oils, and contain Community Trade cocoa butter, Community Trade organic beeswax, and Community trade organic virgin cold-pressed coconut oil. They do not contain any artificial colours. Plus, the packaging is great – silver tubes with pictures of cute little apples!

I already have quite a few lipsticks and tinted lip balms, but I’m majorly tempted to get one (or more!) of these...

Stuff that smells like lemon

For a tangy burst of citrus, try these lemon-scented products.

Vrindavan Lemon Certified Organic Lip Balm 5g $9.00






Avalon Organics Lemon Hand and Body Lotion 350ml $25

Dr Hauschka Lemon Body Wash 150ml $29

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.

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.

Five products for $10 and under

Some cool products which won’t leave you skint.

Ecostore Conditioner, $9.95 for 220ml – Available in Normal, Fine and Fragile, Dry and Damaged, and Anti-Dandruff

Viola Organics Liquid Soap, $6.50 for 250ml - Available in Lavender, Summer Fresh, and Unscented Mild/Baby

Alba Botanica Terra Tints with SPF 8, $8.99 for 4.2g – Available in six shades

Primal Earth Shave Gel, $8.49 for 175ml – Available in Menthol Cool, Aloe Hydrate, and Extra Sensitive

Blue Earth soap block large $9 – Available in 18 different scents (including Lemongrass, Orange & Lime Swirl, and Rhapsody of Roses), and also a shampoo bar – see http://www.blueearth.co.nz/ for details

Karen Murrell range

A new brand has popped up at Farmers recently – Karen Murrell. I’m not sure if this is the same Karen Murrell who founded the Skinfood brand (there is an Auckland address on the bottom of the product boxes, so it’s therefore a New Zealand brand, and could well be the same Karen), but the products look pretty good. They are:

Nature’s Essense Body Scrub 200ml $45
Pure Honesty Cleansing Gel 100ml $34
Absolute Luxury Moisturiser 50ml $45
True Miracle Moisture Balm 50ml $39
Aqua River Face Cream for Men 50ml $36
Moisture Stick Lip Balm $24.99
Lipstick in four shades $24.99

All the products are 99.5% natural, and have EcoCert certification and environmentally friendly packaging. Nice!

Stuff that smells like mandarin

Mandarin smells yummy and fresh. Try these products to smell like a mandarin!

Evolu Refreshing Face and Body Mist 100ml $25 – to vitalise and hydrate skin






Global Soap Lip Smoothie in Carrot and Mandarin 10ml $5 – contains olive and castor oil to moisturise






Akin Mandarin Shampoo 225ml $14.50 and 500ml $27.50 – for all hair types

For every budget – Lip colours

Colour your lips, whatever amount you choose to spend.

Low-cost: Alba Botanica Terra Tints Tinted Lip Balm with SPF $8.99 – available in six shades




Mid-range: Living Nature Lipstick $38 – available in ten shades










High-end: Aveda Uruku Lip Pigment $44 – available in six shades

Stuff that smells like lime

I like the smell of lime, it smells refreshing and juicy. Check out these lime-scented products.

Antipodes Hallelujah Lime & Patchouli Cleanser 200ml $42 - a gorgeous cream cleanser.

Blue Earth Lime Lip Balm $11 - contains shea butter, cocoa butter, and vitamin E to moisturise.

Alba Coconut and Lime Shave Cream 225g $13.50 - moisturising for a smooth shave.

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.

Lip balm from Antipodes

I forgot to mention in my post of many new products, but New Zealand brand Antipodes has added a lip balm to their range of products, $14.50 for 4.5g. It contains some nice moisturising ingredients such as jojoba oil, shea butter, olive oil, and cocoa butter, and most of the ingredients are certified organic by Asurequality.

I bought it last night; it’s nice and moisturising, and it smells divine!

MORE new products!

Yes, it’s another post about lots of new products from fantastic Australian and New Zealand brands!

After ink 50ml $19.30 – This is a salve made in New Zealand, designed to soothe tattooed skin. I am pretty keen to get a tattoo at some point. I won’t rush into it, but if/when I do get one, I’ll try this stuff to soothe my skin afterwards.

Also made in New Zealand are: Pot of Gold Skin Balm and Pot of Gold Baby Balm, each $12.10 for 15g, $22.60 for 50g, and $40.10 for 100g. Both have multiple uses – the Skin Balm is good for Psoriasis, Eczema, burns, Dermatitis, cold sores, bruises, cuts, wounds, and dry cracked skin. The Baby Balm is good for nappy rash, dry cracked nipples, prevention and reduction of stretch marks, and chapping or chafing. I have these listed as new products, but actually the Skin Balm has been used in the company’s family for five generations! Bonus: the palm oil used in the products (and also in After Ink, which I believe is made by the same people) is guilt free (comes from a sustainable source).

Australian brand Sukin has a new product – Antioxidant Eye Serum, $23.99 for 35ml. This looks good. It contains some great ingredients including aloe vera, vitamin E, rosehip oil, and cucumber extract. I am a big fan of Sukin products, so I may try this.

Adding to their mineral makeup range, Australian brand Bloom has a new range of Lip Butters, $31. Minerals Plus Lip Butter contains natural mineral pigments, moisturising ingredients including beeswax, shea butter, and rosehip, and also contain pomegranate oil to act as anti-oxidant. They come with a built-in mirror, and are available in eight shades. They look nice; I’m keen to try them!

New from New Zealand brand Evolu is the Rehydrating Facial Masque 50ml $44.50 - I think this replaces the Quenching Hydramask which doesn’t seem to be available on the Evolu website anymore. It’s a moisturising treatment for any skin type.

Stuff that smells like coconut

Coconut smells yummy, and makes me think of tropical islands! Try these products for a scent of the tropics.

Trilogy Botanical Moisture Masque for Dry Hair 95ml $29.95 – A thick moisturising hair treatment with a divine coconut scent.


Ecostore Coconut Soap 80g $3.70 – A gentle soap with natural coconut fragrance.



Alba Botanica Hawaiian Coconut Cream Lip Balm 4.2g $8 – A yummy-tasting vegan lip balm.

Organic range from Pacifica Skincare

Up until recently the Pacifica Organics line has online been available on Air New Zealand planes for business premier and pacific premier class passengers (therefore only on international flights – New Zealand is too small to have business class on domestic flights – domestic flights are no more than an hour long, because we’re a small country, and our planes are pretty small too).

Ok, end of lesson on NZ. Pacifica Organics has been supplying Air New Zealand planes for the last few years (previously Living Nature products were used). Anyway, the line contains a lot of native New Zealand plant extracts such as Pohutukawa, Harekeke, Kawakawa, and Manuka Honey. The products are:

Nourishing Lip Balm 10ml $11.99
Eye Cream 20ml $34.99
Replenishing Serum 30ml $42.99
Gentle Facial Cleanser 100ml $29.99
Refreshing Toner 50ml $24.99
Hydrating Facial Day Cream 100ml $44.99
Hydrating Facial Moisturiser for Men 100ml $44.99
Nourishing Hand and Nail Cream 60ml $23.99

The range is available at Life Pharmacy stores. It looks very nice, good to see another NZ natural skincare brand on the market.

Stuff that smells like peppermint

Peppermint smells yummy and refreshing. It’s quite a popular scent for beauty and personal care products, particularly for toothpastes, lip balms, and foot scrubs and creams. Some minty products:

Avalon Organics Moisturizing Cream Shave in Peppermint $13.90 for 225ml - keep your legs hair-free with this shaving cream.


Lush Running to the Embassy Body Butter $16 for 95g - Exfoliates and moisturises feet.

Viola Organics Lip Balm Mint $6 for 4.5g - A blend of moisturising oils plus shea butter and essential oils.

Stuff that smells like vanilla

Vanilla smells yummy and comforting. It’s quite a popular scent for beauty products. To name just a few:

Antipodes Vanilla Pod Hydrating Day Cream 60ml $45 – Smells amazingly yummy. Contains shea butter

Tui Vanilla Lip Balme $6.50 12g – With certified organic New Zealand beeswax

Ecostore Vanilla Soap 80g $2.50 – Affordable, lasts a while, and smells good.

Lip balms with SPF

Your lips need protecting from the sun as well as your skin. For the colder months I like Apicare Protect Me Beeswax Lip Balm SF 15, $7.20 for 4.5g. It moisturises really well.

Alba Botanica Sun Lipcare SPF 18 Lip Balm is also good. It's $8 for 4.2g. So is Evolu Healing Lip Treatment SPF 15, $19 for 10ml.

For a higher SPF, I like Comvita Lip Balm SPF 30, $11 for 5g. Or try Dr Hauschka Sunscreen Stick SPF 30, $26 for 4.9g.