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subscribe to beauty counter blog via RSSEXCLUSIVE: The Kiwis Are Coming! The Kiwis Are Coming!
February 9, 2012 6:39 pm
As New Zealand native Soraya Hendesi tells it, the rationale behind launching her own skincare brand was fairly simple. “I [was] horrified that some so-called ’skincare’ can, over time, actually do more damage than good.” A trained cosmetologist, Hendesi was “determined to create something better.” Enter Snowberry, her collection of face-savers formulated with homegrown natural oils and clinically proven bioactives that launched down under in 2007 and is poised to make its grand entrée into the U.S. market this month. And we don’t use the word homegrown lightly. A host of the range’s most effective ingredients are not only indigenous to New Zealand but grown on Snowberry’s independently run 50-acre farm. “Most people know that New Zealand is a land of small islands, but only those who have come here know that it extends from glacial fjords in the south to subtropical beaches in the north, and that throughout there is magnificent and unique rain forest. It seemed obvious to me that we needed to explore the potential of this natural bounty to find new ingredients.” Over 9,000 native plants are cultivated as part of Snowberry’s bio-discovery program and combine to create its lineup of products, which includes the Pro Collagen collection and the Bright Defence Collection, each of which contains day and night creams as well as face serums. There’s also a separate selection of toners and sun care.
In addition to adorable packaging and the fact that nothing is bigger than 3.4 oz—which will be a godsend when we start packing for the Europe shows—every product we tried in the range was an exercise in new ingredient know-how: Harakeke seed, which is loaded with beneficial phytosterols, is incorporated throughout the Bright Defence line, while the wood of the totara tree is apparently a remarkable natural preservative with antimicrobial powers—”it’s part of how we avoid the use of parabens,” says Hendesi. Currently, our reigning favorites are the Smoothing Eye Serum, a super-lightweight cream-gel hybrid that hydrates and promotes collagen renewal without ever being too heavy, and the neem oil-rich Deep Cleanser, an oil cleanser that removes impurities without drying out skin. And so, without further ado, let us be the first to issue a hearty “welcome to America” to Hendesi and her “labor of love.”
Snowberry will be available in the U.S. beginning February 2012 at Henri Bendel, Dermstore.com, BeautyBar.com, and TheLookStore.com.
tags: Skincare, Snowberry, Soraya Hendesi
One Love’s Early Riser
February 9, 2012 3:27 pm
While we usually prefer to reserve fragrance for our pulse points, a subtly scented skincare product never fails to woo us. Linda Rodin’s exceptional, jasmine-heavy Olio Lusso immediately comes to mind but others have struck our fancy, including One Love Organic’s latest concoction. The niche-brand-that-could’s new Morning Glory Brightening Complexion Booster is an aromatic gem: a blend of lemon, ylang ylang and peppermint essential oils, plus organic sweet mint and wild raspberry leaf, it is quite literally a breath of fresh air—and it feels good too! A lightweight anti-inflammatory salve, it’s packed with polypeptides, which give your complexion a dose of moisture and a natural-looking radiant glow. The label designates the elixir for morning use—and we have certainly been enjoying a few drops of it beneath our AM moisturizer—but it also happens to be just as lovely when used a nighttime treatment; the scent has an almost calming effect, which should be a welcomed piece of news for those of you who, like us, are facing non-stop fashion week action for the next seven days. We bid you good luck—and good skin.
tags: Morning Glory Brightening Complexion Booster, One Love Organics, Skincare
The Leave-In You’ll Believe In
February 7, 2012 12:45 pm
My haircare regimen has been the same since I was in high school, and it includes a six-step program that hasn’t failed me yet: First I shampoo and condition, then I comb through a styling cream and add a top coat of frizz serum before pulling my damp strands into a tight, low-lying bun that I repeatedly take out and re-secure—while scrunching—until my lengths are dry, slightly wavy, and very smooth. The process always remains the same, but the products tend to alternate. Key to the success of this system, I’ve found, is the styling cream. My hair is kind of thick and kind of curly, so it needs something nourishing that will leave it soft and languid rather than stiff and overly textured. I’ve had many past loves in this category—Fresh Sake Hair Cream, Morrocanoil Hydrating Styling Cream—but lately, my affections belong to Liz Earle. The Brit botanical brand entered the haircare category last year with a coconut-based cleansing shampoo and three corresponding conditioners, and just last month it launched its first treatment product, a shine-enhancing cream formulated with red algae to flatten the cuticle, cotton extract to impart a glossy finish, and sumac wax, a hair-taming agent popular with Japanese sumo wrestlers and traditional geishas. Here’s the twist: While the vanilla and sweet orange fruit-scented balm works wonders at adding glisten when used as directed as a conditioning treatment that gets rinsed out, it is also a fantastic leave-in styling tool when applied after hair is cleansed, conditioned, and towel-dried. Liz Earle has yet to debut a proper styling line, but I’m happy to multitask this super salve while I wait for that day to come.
tags: Botanical Shine Treatment, Hair, Liz Earle
RMS Beauty Has Its Eyes On The Prize
February 2, 2012 5:23 pm
My first encounter with RMS Beauty’s Rose-Marie Swift was a memorable one. It was about three years ago, when the face painter’s brand of 100 percent natural makeup was just taking off and I met her at her apartment—her apartment!—to pick up product for a shoot. We got to talking about her impressive formulas that are packed with nourishing, all-organic ingredients, and she recommended I try her pure mineral Cream Eye Shadow in Seduce, a glistening chocolate brown. Also there: Miranda Kerr’s yorkie, who Swift was pet-sitting while the Victoria’s Secret model, a friend and client, was out of town. Like Kerr, I became a fast fan of Swift’s products—particularly the ultra-creamy shadows, which Swift is about to expand upon. This month, the green-leaning makeup artist will introduce two new shades of her multitasking lid enhancer, which doubles as an eye cream to moisturize as it imparts a gorgeous wash of color. Karma is a dark brown with silver undertones, and then there’s Solar, an antique gold that was so popular on its first run Swift is bringing it back. Apply liberally.
$28, available February 14 at www.rmsbeauty.com.
tags: Makeup, Miranda Kerr, RMS Beauty, Rose-Marie Swift
A Play For Clay
January 31, 2012 1:41 pm
Trying an exfoliating face masque in the dead of winter, when skin is probably at its most sensitive and flaky, is a risky endeavor, as the wrong constitution of chemical or physical sloughing materials can only exacerbate the problem. But on a lark, I decided to mix up the detoxifying Whole Truth Solutions Clay Therapy Masque in Cranberry Lemongrass and see what happened. Here’s what I have to report: My skin will never been the same, in the best possible way. The natural masque is made with a blend of soothing French yellow clay along with alpha hydroxy-rich orange peel, vitamin C-loaded cranberries, and calming lemongrass, all of which comes packed in dry—not wet—form in an adorable apothecary-style bottle with a mini bamboo spoon. As per the directions, I added water to the powder until it formed a paste (tip: Do your mixing in a bowl, not in the palm of your hand while standing in the shower on a morning you’re late for work). Unlike other clay masques that crack and peel while drying, this one only made my skin feel a tiny bit stretched, and I could adjust the intensity by adding more or less water. Even better, I could actually see little bits of dead skin pilling on my face (gross, yes, but also so, so satisfying). After ten minutes, I splashed the masque off with warm water, and gasped—literally! My skin looked polished, not a bit blotchy or dry, and so youthfully smooth I skipped the primer under my makeup. All told, I’m now 100 percent convinced that exfoliating with botanical extracts rather than abrasive, bumpy scrubs is the only way to go. The entire line of five custom-made clay masques is set to drop at green purveyor Spirit Beauty Lounge this month.
tags: Clay Therapy Masque, Skincare, Whole Truth
Tarte Puckers Up
January 30, 2012 6:35 pm
Since stumbling upon the many benefits of maracuja oil on a sourcing trip to the Amazon, Tarte founder Maureen Kelly has been putting the essential fatty acid-rich elixir into a bounty of her naturally minded makeup launches. Its latest cameo is in the company’s Divine Shine Lip Gloss. Branded as “health food for your lips,” the shine enhancers come in ten shades, each of which has been infused with conditioning sunflower seed oil, brightening and soothing vitamins C and E, and maracuja oil, which helps replenish and rebuild the delicate skin around the mouth. The resulting gloss is a bit thick for its click-pen applicator (editor’s note: Pump a bit out onto the back of your hand and use your finger rather than the brush tip to apply), but it wears impressively well; once the initial shine has dissipated, you’re left with a supple, smooth aftereffect that’s anything but sticky.
tags: Makeup, Maracuja Divine Shine Lip Gloss, Maureen Kelly, Tarte Cosmetics
An Eminence Intervention
January 20, 2012 12:25 pm
If Joanna Vargas told me to rub marshmallow Fluff all over my face to revitalize my skin, I would do it—and why wouldn’t I? Every facial treatment or bit of skincare advice I’ve ever gotten from the naturally minded, New York-based facialist has been pure gold. So when Vargas first introduced me to Eminence Organics, the green skincare line from Hungary that has been around since 1958, I quickly got hooked on products like its Tomato Sun Cream, Strawberry Rhubarb Exfoliant, and Probiotic Masque. As of this month, there are two new items in its already massive cache for me, er, you to enjoy. Both are centered around recovery and rejuvenation, which is fitting considering many of us are struggling with the drying winter weather (and the maleffects of post-holiday indulgence): The Herbal Recovery Oil is a rich, hydrating concoction of ylang ylang, clary sage, and olive oils that I’ve been slathering on at night for renewing effects in the morning, and the Cornflower Recovery Serum, which is bolstered by sea buckthorn and chamomile extracts, is soothing, nourishing, moisturizing, and lightweight enough for everyday wear. I’ve been using them in tandem with the hope that together, they will help me ride out the rest of winter 2012 and its fluctuating temperatures. So far, so good.
Eminence Organic Herbal Recovery Oil, $76, and Cornflower Recovery Serum, $58, www.eminenceorganics.com.
tags: Eminence Organics, Joanna Vargas, Skincare
Whip Your Lips Into Shape
January 19, 2012 4:20 pm
When Sula Beauty founder Susanne Langmuir launched Bite Beauty last year, her goal was simple: Start a revolution in the oft-overlooked lipcare category with a line of pout-centric products formulated using only food-grade ingredients bolstered by the antioxidant-fighting power of red wine resveratrol. All right; maybe it wasn’t that simple—but it was a great idea and it didn’t take long for Bite’s selection of Lip Rouges, Lip Shines, and High Pigment Matte Pencils to find fast fans with women looking for bold color without all the chemical additives. For its latest coup, Bite is tackling the treatment phase before color comes into play. It’s new Whipped Cherry Lip Scrub boasts cherry fruit acids and rice bran to exfoliate dry patches, while additional extracts of jojoba beads and vitamin C serve to soothe and brighten the newly exposed skin. Like the rest of the range, the scrub also has long-lasting results thanks to the addition of resveratrol, which helps to eliminate the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles around the lip area. We know what you may be thinking: lip scrubs? That sounds gratuitous. But we can tell you from personal experience that no amount of lip balm will completely remedy a truly chapped pout unless you exfoliate first. Your lips—and your lipstick—will thank you; you don’t want the statement your bright red or fuchsia bullet makes to be “flaky.”
Drugstore Discovery Of The Week: Beauty For The Greater Güd
January 11, 2012 6:44 pm
Shocking as this may be to believe, there are still consumers out there fighting the natural beauty movement’s ascendance into mainstream culture. Surely it’s not the promise of clean, chemical-free formulas and direct-from-nature extracts that’s turning these defectors off. So what, then, is preventing them from opening their arms wide to the wonder that is toxin-free skin, hair, and bodycare? The answer is scent, according to the good folks at Burt’s Bees, who have just debuted a new, 97 percent natural range with a little help from the master perfumers at Givaudan. Simply called Güd, the brand will be rolling out to a drugstore near you this month and features eight paraben-, phthalate-, petrochemical-free products—a nourishing shampoo, a softening conditioner, a body wash, a body butter, a body lotion, a body mist, a foaming hand wash, and a hand cream—in four different, highly aromatic fragrance families that are a complete departure from the more subdued scents that typically accompany more green-leaning offerings. Vanilla Flame features notes of sweet orange, coconut, tonka bean, vanilla, and rice milk; Pearanormal Activity showcases hints of Bartlett pear, raspberry, acai, apricot, and white flowers; Orange Petalooza is a citrus floral blend of blood orange, pomelo, rose, hyacinth, and sandalwood; and Floral Cherrynova—our favorite of the bunch—is centered around essences of Bing cherries, rosewood, and an almond milk accord. It packs a sweet, nostalgic olfactory punch and instantly reminds us of the scrupulous process of selecting just the right scented shampoo and conditioner for eight weeks of overnight camp (White Rain, anyone?). As you may have guessed from the fun branding, the positioning is skewed slightly younger, as is the packaging that features colorful caps and labels that boast origamilike bursts of fruits and flowers. But as far as we’re concerned, there’s nothing wrong with using a little whimsy to lure America’s youth—and their parents—towards the promise of better-for-you products.
Strange Invisible Body Care: It’s Baaack
December 28, 2011 1:32 pm
To truly love natural, bespoke fragrances is to know Strange Invisible Perfumes. Master perfumer Alexandra Balahoutis has been doling out personalized eaux made from organic, wild-crafted essences that are set in a base of 100-percent organic grape alcohol for over ten years and her Venice, California atelier is something of a Mecca for the truly obsessed olfactory aficionado. But fans of Balahoutis’ precise and unique hydro-distillation process, which captures an incredibly pure form of notes like gardenia, musk and an impressive variety of roses, have been without a complimentary body-care line with which to ensconce themselves in scent since Balahoutis pulled her original offering from shelves to reformulate and repackage its cleansing and moisturizing contents. Now, at long last, SIP’s new-and-improved body wash and body lotion collection is back. Debuting this week are five different opulent scent combinations, including bergamot, lemon and neroli, lavender and vetiver, sage and rose, and our personal favorite, frankincense and coriander, which has made the simple act of taking a shower an entirely decadent experience. Suffice it to say, a quick lather will help you start the new year off right.
From $35, available beginning this week at www.siperfumes.com.
tags: Alexandra Balahoutis, Fragrance, Skincare, Strange Invisible Perfumes
