April's Empties

This month has been a normal empties month:

• Pai daycream in Macademia & Rose has not been finished yet, but it reached the expiry date. I quite like the neutral texture but I opened it too late 

•  De Mamiel Spring oil is nice, but I'm not too fond of it's lemony, home-cleansing scent. I added some neroli & geranium to perk it up: that worked 

•  Nourish Revital-eye made it to my Best of 2013 List. I've emptied my 2nd tube & keep on loving its effect on my eyes.

• Avene eau Thermale had been on my wishlist for a while. I got the samplesize and like it, but I cannot really distinguish between this one and La Roche Posay: I just like both types.
•  Ren Evercalm cleanser is lovely, but these days I'm more partial to either cleansing oils or micellar waters. But it's nice to try
• Kris dAmour makes some lovely oils. The soothing faceoil, is everything it promises, delightfully soo
• Estelle & Child lifting Eyecream was a bit of a miss for me. It gave me an irritation: the saleswoman told me it was because the eyec  re am contained too many actives but I don, t have yhis promblem with either Pai Echium nor Nourish Revital-Eyes. It's just not working for me.

Both of my pot eyeliners dried out.  

I really liked RMS Unpowder which explained why I finished in 4 months

• Nexxus Emergencee changed into Polymedic: the formula is still similarly brilliant and givesmhair a good dose of protein.
• Trilogy Refresh and Shine is an excellent, organic conditioner with light but effective detangling properties
• Less is MORE Lindengloss shampoo smells amazing and cleanses light but effectively. I want themfull size now!
• Ila Nourish body lotion is light and has that hwrbal scent. Lovely, but the full size would be a tad too pricy for me
• Last but not least has been Timothy Dunn Mille Fleurs candle: so good that it should become a perfume.

Organic Skincare Trend: #black 'n #minimalistic

This will probably be under the 1st World-problems tag: someone discussing her heap of skincare being #so-prettily-bottled-but-quite-difficult-to-distinguish...[Pjew, long tag]

That explains the hashtag in the middle: Organic skincare seems to have a certain trend into packaging:

 All of them have black labels, mostly white lettering (De Mamiel in Spring green) and looking sleek and minimalistic.

Let's list them up: 

• The Little Alchemist Pineapple & Zeolite Micro Polish is a wholesome scrub.
• De Mamiel Spring Oil is for the face, specialised for springtime
• Kahina Brightening Serum is really a serum without oil, and it actually lightens hyperpigmentation.
• The Little Alchemist Ultra Radiance Serum. I haven't used it that much yet.
• French Girl Organics Rose Noir Cleansing Oil. I honestly have to get used to organic cleansing oils knowing the Japanese versions: the Japanese lather/foam and these stay oily.

I think it looks really polished, but sometimes I have a bit of problem when I reach for one in my shaded cabinet: the labels help ofcourse.

I wonder how this trend started as quite some different brands from different countries do this right now. A possible reason: a darker bottle protects ingredients of faster perishable products better. Most organic brands do no use the chemical stabilizers as the non-organic counterparts. However, there is dark blue and dark green too, or an opaque white (other colour) bottle. 

So somehow I think it's a kind of trend these days.

BirkinBagBeauty's Best of 2013: Face Care

It's my last section of the "BEST of 2013"-list and I have found some gorgeous face-care newbies last year.

Serum:

Serums are my babies because they are the most effective and potent in targeting a 'problem'. Hence, if you would tell be beginning '13 that I would pick a cheap serum as my favourite, I'd probably laugh: I need a sure investment and normally that means €€€. Still, this 'baby'  has been my favourite all-rounder so far for an affordable price (review Nourish Hydrating Peptide serum here).

[Winter] Daycream: 

Trevano Organic Day Cream is a balmy daycream (think soft cream cheese) that melts easily into the skin. It absorbs within 2 minutes: not every balmy cream does that. Hence, my skin feels hydrated, calmed and is ready for makeup in a short time, perfect for fast mornings. Cons: No sunblock but I get that from specialised suncreens.

Face Oil:

 

I was on par between De Mamiel Autumn Oil & Bodhi Desert Rose Facial Oil. The total blend of aromatherapy & flower remedy made this oil so special that De Mamiel has gotten my vote (more here). 

Night Cream:

You might think I am doing a 'best of Organic' section, but I truly enjoyed the organic bunch the most. Aurelia Cell Revitalise Night Moisturizer is used as the topping over my nightoil. I see the results when I do: dewier, less flakies, more relaxed skin, and I miss it when I don't. 

Eyecream:

Eyecreams start to get important at 'a certain age' and they have quite the list to fullfill: tightening, hydrating, depuffing, combatting undereye circles etc. My favourite is Nourish Revital-Eye Kale Anti-Ageing Eye Cream. [recently reviewed  here]

Selftan:

There hasn't been another face-selftan that live up to Collistar Face Magic Drops Selftan (original review here). I've dabbled into promoted-by-Kate [Moss, not the Driveller] St. Tropez but what's up with the scent? So as Madonna once said, "Italians do it Better"

Mads not the selftan-type but she sure knows to preserve a t-shirt!

Multitasker:

Manuka honey has been a multitasker for cleansing the face (how to here), dabbing on pimples, healing small wounds, adding to masks, a hair lightener (see here) and for a antibacterial sweetener internally.

~ Those are my selections for 'Face Care' ~

My 'Makeup' favourites have been discussed over here and my 'Body'-pampering over here.

De Mamiel Autumn Facial Oil

Autumn is officially over and I'm about to discuss my De Mamiel Autumn oil. I'm still going to because seasons are not always bound to dates, so there you go:

 

 I adore this oil right now in autumn-like weather, but that is not how it started...

When I got this oil, the season-date was offically autumn, but felt like an Indian Summer. I opened it and found the fragance to be too warm, too obtrusive, so I went back to my Bodhi Face Oil.

Then it started to get colder, leaves where falling and the rain kicked in. I tried this oil again and the blend of warming and soothing oils felt like bliss.

I will not elaborate too much about this oil as De Mamiel is already brilliant in that (see here). The ingredient list proves that it is not only a couple of oils blended together: it is a long and beautiful list and it is not merely bound to aromatherapy. 

 

The Flower essences even go deeper into treating a specific target: perhaps Bach Flower Remedies might sound familiar, especially their Rescue Remedy.  For example, they addded "Yerba Santa – helps encourage healthy breathing, helps release trauma and promotes positive thought" & "Snowdrop – helps the mind accept transition". Both healthy breathing (during flu season) and acceptance for the seasonal transition is key for autumn.

Shortly, De Mamiel season oils combine both aromatherapy, beautiful base oils and the flower remedy powers to target the [possible] physical and emotional reaction that is attacted to the season.

I am often slightly cynical about 'the latest thing' but I have to notice that I love using this oil. The blend and the fragance (that I found obtrusive during summer weather) feels like the most harmonic blend at night when weather is autumn-like.

golden oil

Also, "next morning skin"! If my skin gotten sensitive (read: patchy) during the day, this oil has the properties to balance it over night. I wake up with less patches and a dewy & more radiant complexion.

I can't hardly think that De Mamiel Winter oil will be better. However, my curiosity and my almost empty bottle of Autumn made me order Winter too.

The 'Autumn' blend is still on sale at cultbeauty.com & victoriahealth.com. I'm waiting for 'Winter' that I bought from beingcontent, partly because I ordered their sample set (£3) that will include May Lindstrom the Blue Cocoon too.

previous sample set

I'm so curious if that one lives up to the already created hype. 

ps: Happy winter (summer for southern Hemisphere) and happy preparation for Xmas...