New Skincare - New Skin Hopes - New Arrivals Featuring MuLondon and Melvita

My epic and ever-growing skincare collection has welcomed a significant amount of new hopeful products in the past month or so. Some of these are re-purchases and essential in my beauty routine as is the case with the MuLondon Organic Skincare while others were impulse purchases and gifts from the people in my life that enable my cosmetic addiction quite regularly.

The fact that most of these new-additions are natural and organic in nature is no coincidence since I have been making a gallant effort to transition most of my personal care towards a cleaner ingredient direction. As a matter of fact this change has been translated in other areas of my life as well, in an effort to improve my health and lifestyle in general. There are a lot of things to consider and pay attention to during these alterations but at the end of the day this kind of diligence and determination will and already is proving to be worthwhile. The expression "no pain - no gain" often comes to mind!

The change of seasons can do a number on your skin if precautions and appropriate skincare isn't utilized (see here!), which coupled with over-reactive, sensitive skin types can cause all kinds of trouble for the complexion. Whenever my skin "freaks out" my natural impulse always points me in the new purchase direction, meaning that my haulage can sometimes get out of hand due to desperation alone. Seeing how this time I had a clear cut goal to natural skincare options I was forced to consider, research and think through the new candidates a little bit more, resulting in smarter and more appropriate selections.

My MuLondon purchase was a no brainer! I have fallen in love with the Organic White Chocolate Truffle Moisturizer ($25.00 for 2 oz) (see review here!) which needed to be re-purchased so I took advantage of that instance and invested in a few other skincare products I had been lusting over. I truly believe in Boris and his vision so its my personal goal to spread his genius and his products to anyone who cares to listen (or read!). 

As a huge fan of true rose scents I knew that I wanted to try the Organic Rose Collection which led me to order the MuLondon Organic Rose Foaming Face Cleanser ($27.00 for 5 oz) and the MuLondon Organic Rose, Rosehip & Rosemary Moisturizer ($20.00 for 1 oz). The moisturizer is made with 100% organic Rose otto oil, Rosehip Extract and Rosemary Antioxidant and the fragrance itself is true to its origin completely. You will not smell a more genuine rose scent anywhere else! Both the cleanser and the cream are recommended for dry, irritated and sensitive skin so in theory this should fit my needs perfectly. 

Boris was kind enough to include the MuLondon Organic Marigold, Frankincense & Myrrh Moisturizer ($15.00 for 1 oz) with my order but that particular jar was already confiscated by my mother. Not surprisingly she hasn't stopped raving about it ever since! 

My devotion to the Organic White Chocolate Truffle Moisturizer meant that ordering the MuLondon LE Organic White Chocolate Elbow, Knee & Heal Cream ($32.00 for 2 oz) was pretty much a given, especially since colder, drier weather is approaching and my dry skin will be in need of some major pampering and care very soon. Once again the scent has me intoxicated with its realness - there is absolutely nothing artificial about the White Chocolate fragrance! 

Melvita is yet another French organic skincare company that has been on my radar for a little while now so receiving the Melvita Foaming Facial Scrub ($27.00 for 2.5 oz) and Melvita Essential Oil - Soothing Care ($48.00 for 1 oz) as a birthday gift was especially delightful. The French are well known for their skincare (as evident on this blog) and Melvita is no exception to that statement. I have only used the products a few times so its too early to be specific about the yielded results however I can already tell that the Soothing Care Oil is a definite standout! Full reviews will follow once I have a chance to properly test them out for at least a few weeks.   

I first discovered the Organic Surge Skincare lineup through my love of various UK Beauty Blogs where their products receive huge rave reviews not just for their efficiency and ingredients but also for their reasonable prices as well. I was pretty bummed out to discover that they weren't available in Canada and that online orders were the only means of me getting my hands on their genius formulas. Imagine my surprise when I spotted the Organic Surge First Class Face Mask ($15.00 for 1.66 oz) at my local Winners - Homesense store. I snatched it up without even a second thought and seeing how masks are huge when it comes to my skincare routines I am very excited to see how Organic Surge Skincare compares to the masks I already have in my arsenal. 

I am very happy with all the additions to my overflowing skincare cabinet and for once I can say that my choices this time around were a little more calculated and useful this time around. The fact that its all more or less in the nature department makes me even happier :-)

Have you tried any of these products? What was you last skincare haul?

Thank you reading

XOXO

ANJA

Review - Antipodes Divine Face Oil (Organic Avocado Oil & Rosehip)

As a skin care enthusiast there is nothing I love more than discovering a new brand whose philosophy, origins, products and ingredients I can genuinely connect with. The beauty market is saturated by great brands that are thriving to be "clean" and closer to nature with every aspect of the products they put out. Chemical-based skincare might be completely on its way out, especially if brands like Antipodes continue creating potent natural formulas that provide the results we are all looking for but in a "safer" way. It feels good using holistic-natural skincare products whose ingredient list doesnt require an Organic Chemistry degree to decipher. 

Antipodes is definitively a front-runner when it comes to natural skincare and I for one am smitten with more than a few of their formulas. The Divine Face Oil is definitively my favorite and I cant rave about it enough! 

Official Description;

Give a lift to tired, stressed and sun-damaged skin with this nutrient-rich face oil that helps to deliver antioxidants and essential nourishment for fresh, healthy skin. Superior collagen-boosting action of avocado oil helps reduce the appearance of lines, age spots and scars. Perfect as an essential daily nutrient treatment for skin. 

Directions for Use;
Apply in gentle upward strokes to your face and neck. Pay loving attention to blemishes, lines, sun damage and scars. Use prior to your moisturizer and makeup.

Ingredients;

Persea gratissima (avocado oil)*, Macadamia ternifolia (macadamia oil)*, Buxus chinensis (jojoba oil)*, Rosa canina (rosehip oil)*, Canaga odorata (ylang ylang oil), Amyris balsamifera (torchwood), Santalum album (sandalwood oil), Jasminum officinale (jasmine oil), Citrus sinensis (orange oil), Tocopherol acetate (vitamin e), Benzyl benzoate+, Benzyl salicylate+, Citronellol+, D-limonene+, Farnesol+, Geraniol+, Isoeugenol+, Linalool+.

*100% of total ingredients from natural origin.
*95% of total ingredients from organic cultivation.

The Antipodes Divine Face Oil (Organic Avocado Oil & Rosehip) is basically a unique blend of oils like avocado, macadamia and rose-hips, meant to re-hydrate, boost, brighten, nourish and regenerate your complexion almost overnight. On top of that the avocado oil is known for its superior collagen-boosting properties (by 51%) so it packs a strong anti-aging streak as well. This oil combination renews the natural fatty acids found in everyone's skin so in theory regular use should lead to a re-balancing phenomenon, allowing your skin to go back to its full potential. 

The Divine Oil texture is light and silky so I can see this working for all skin types but those fighting pesky dry patches will benefit the most. With only a few drops I can literally feel the re-hydration of my skin each time I use it and unlike other facial oils I abandoned, this "potion" does not leave me greasy or shiny one bit. The scent is more herbal than flowery and dissipates quickly so those sensitive to fragrances would still be able to use this with ease. 

I am using the Divine Face Oil primarily in the evenings on its own or mixed in with my night cream when my skin feels particularly dehydrated or parched. Its absorbed into the skin fairly quickly but it does give you enough time to enjoy a facial massage as well. The healing signs are visible the very next morning and I cant argue with results like that. 

My final conclusion is extremely positive and I am on a mission to tell everyone about it! Some people are not very "keen" on using oils on their face but the benefits are so magnificent that if you don't try it - you are really are missing out. Give Antipodes oils a try - I am sure you wont regret it!

The price ($33.00 for 30 ml) is more than fair for such a luxe, natural product and since you are literally using a few drops at a time, this little green bottle will last a very long time :-)

All Antipodes products can be purchased directly from their website here or Feelunique here

Have you tried Antipodes yet? What is your favorite facial oil?

XOXO 

ANJA

P.S. If you enjoyed this post and want some more Princeza Beauty Musings, please consider following me through GFC, Bloglovin, Pinterest or Twitter! Insert "happy dance" here :-) 

Sensitive Skin Club REN Hydra-Calm Line

Its no secret that I love REN. Its probably one of my top 5 all time favorite brands and I honestly can't say anything bad about them, their amazing customer service or any of their products. There aren't too many companies out there that I can stand behind completely and REN's Clean philosophy is a pretty awesome approach on how everyone should take care of themselves and their surroundings at the same time.

And please don't worry, it might sound like it but this is not a sponsored post in any way! I purchased all of my REN products myself and would gladly repurchase (and have!) again - I have nothing to gain by this review and all my thoughts and conclusions are my own. 

The Hydra-Calm line in the REN magic apothecary is designed and meant for those of us that did not win the genetic skin-care jack pot of normal people skin. What i mean is if your face gets red and blotchy for no apparent reason, if it feels tight and dry in the morning but sometimes magically transforms to weirdly oily by the afternoon, or if you are known to blush equally by looking at cute things and by the sight of plain baby carrots...your skin is not normal, right? Plus if you are completely comfortable with words such as rosacia, dermatitis, psoriasis and dermatitis; then that means you are in the super exclusive Sensitive Skin Club. 

REN describes the Hydra-Calm glory as;

REN's best selling Sensitive Skin range avoids known allergens and detrimental skincare ingredients, protects against environmental aggression pollution and is formulated with a range of bio actives that calm, strengthen and "train" sensitive skin to be less reactive.

With REN, you'll forget you have sensitive skin!

The two products i want to talk about are the REN Hydro-Calm Cleansing Milk and the the REN Hydro-Calm Global Protection Day Cream. I have used both of these for several months and I don't know if my skin is "trained" to be less sensitive but I can definitively say that my skin was a whole lot calmer whenever i stuck to this regiment. 

REN describes this cleanser as;
A gentle, cleansing milk designed to leave more sensitive or delicate skin purified, fresh, calm and soothed. 

When I first started using this cleanser I was once again put off due to my obviously deep-ridden addiction to bubbles. Apparently I cant seem to feel clean unless things foam up and my first impression of this milk was obviously tainted by this. However I was pleasantly surprised by REN (again!) and once i rinsed my face did feel clean and i didn't feel any of the dreaded filmy residue. My face was left soft, hydrated, smooth but still clean, maybe not deep clean but the feeling was definitively very different from what i was expecting. Cleansing milks usually make me feel pampered and girly but never completely clean, which is an issue of course so REN definitively got bonus points on that end.

The regular daily grime melted easily but as usual I would recommend a double cleanse on makeup days just to make sure that everything is properly removed. The last thing we want is congested skin due to to something we sensitive skin girls can actually control. The texture of this really helped as well since its thicker than traditional cleansing milks and feels almost like a a facial cream when its massaged in. The scent exudes freshness albeit its very mild, almost non-existent so if that's an issue you don't need to worry. There isn't even a trace of greasiness, which was important to me since i am kind of a stickler when it comes to needing my cleansers to be easy to rinse-off and even though its not required I actually liked using a muslin cloth with it it to help things along even more. I was even able to use it with my Clarisonic Mia 2.

Ultimately I liked the way my face felt afterwards so even though there were no bubbles I was comfortable enough in feeling that i was cleaning my face sufficiently without stripping it like usual. Therefore I would happily recommend this to any members of the Sensitive Skin Club or anyone looking for a great, gentle non-foaming cleanser.

This is what REN has to say;
A moisturizer formulated to leave more sensitive skin optimally hydrated, calmed, soothed, protected and looking beautifully healthy. 

This Hydra-Calm Global Protection Day Cream lived up to everything REN promised and more. Honestly if this had SPF protection built in I would say it was 100% perfect. I have used this on and off for about a year and my over-reactive skin feels great each and every time i smooth this on. The texture is thick, creamy, fresh and luxurious to say the least, it smooths on easily, absorbs quickly without any greasy residue and almost seems to soothe the redness on my cheeks. After a few minutes my entire face feels moisturized, soothed, smooth and yes CALM.
Along with the fact that my skin is annoyingly sensitive, its also dry which is why I can vouch for the Hydra-Calm cream performance in dry-skin hell - Canadian Winters. I am happy to say that REN worked wonders during the daytime under a good makeup base or tinted moisturizer but fell a bit short at night, when I needed something a little richer, with a bit more hydration to avoid the tight parched feeling the next day. I was able to fix that by adding the Rose O¹² Moisture Defence Serum underneath so I guess you could say REN still worked, I just needed to do a bit of customizing which is something I love the most about skincare in the first place.

The conclusion is quite easy for me - I loved the Hydro-Calm picks and I love REN so I would recommend it to the Sensitive Skin Club wholeheartedly but also to anyone looking for a no-nonsense, no-frills, full performance moisturizer.


Ren Hydra-Calm can be purchased at their site here or at Sephora here


I hope someone finds this helpful!

Have you tried REN before? Any favorite skincare products?


XOXO

ANJA

P.S. If you enjoyed this post and want some more Princeza Beauty Musings, please consider following me through GFC, Bloglovin, Pinterest or Twitter! Insert "happy dance" here :-) 

Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate

It wasn't so long ago that the thought of putting oil on my face brought visions of grease balls, pimples and other unpleasantries. Even though my skin is essentially combination-dry I believed that hydration should come solely from a conventional moisturizers and/or hydrating serums. That being said I have loved body and bath oils for years but never even considered such a product to my facial beauty routine. 

Fast forward to the present and I am now a proud owner of multiple facial oils that have benefited my skin so much that i couldn't really imagine a regiment without one. 

One of my favorite facial oils comes from a tried and true North American brand - Kiehl's. This is a true apothecary old-fashioned New York brand that has consistently been on the top of its game when it comes to combining natural ingredients with the latest scientific innovations, thereby coming up with products that deliver what they promise (for the most part!).  

The Midnight Recovery Concentrate is oil-based elixir that is to transform and deliver skin health virtually over-night! The ingredients included in the formulation: squalane, evening primrose oil, lavender oil and omega-6 fatty acids are all supposed to aid hydration, renew skin surface and repair the damage caused by everyday environmental factors. 

Those are some mighty big promises for a few drops of oil! So does it deliver? 

I have used the Midnight Concentrate sporadically for the past 4 months and I have to say that I definitively notice some encouraging results each time i use it. My skin never feels or looks greasy the next day and my entire complexion looks significantly more radiant. I have also noticed that my skin tone and texture always improve the next morning, giving me that "plumped up" soft appearance. It may be my wish-full thinking but I can almost say that i look more rested and fresh in the morning. Pretty impressive for just a couple of drops, I say! 

The texture of the elixir itself is very light but that means that it spreads very easily and absorbs almost instantly. Some nights it almost reminds me of the consistency of a dry oil, which I love. Kiehl's classifies this as fragrance-free but I have to disagree, however the scent is very light and it gives it kind of an aromatherapy feel of pampering. I can mix it with my moisturizer or just use it as that extra treatment step after cleansing & toning but regardless of method the results are the same. My skin glows!

The price tag may seem high at first ($48 for 30 ml here) but if you consider that each use only requires a few droplets, this bottle will last a very long time. I for one consider this Kiehl's product to be one of my skin care investments 

Have you tried this before? What is your favorite oil?

XOXO 

ANJA

P.S. If you enjoyed this post and want some more Princeza Beauty Musings, please consider following me through GFC, Bloglovin, Pinterest or Twitter! Insert "happy dance" here :-)