Natural beauty product review x 4

It’s about freakin’ time. I’ve held off on this post for quite some time because I wanted to wait until I reviewed all four types of soaps I’d bought since summertime. So here we go:

1) FOREUE Soap

Foreue is a natural skincare brand I learned about via EthicalDeal. For half off + $10 in shipping, I got 12 bars of soap valued at about $48 CDN. I chose four scented bars and now I know what the difference is between soap soap and the handmade soap all the hippies go to LUSH for.

(clockwise from left)
Lavender Fields – I don’t know what possessed me to get this one, since I always associate lavender with products you smell in the bathrooms of old people. But this one is pleasantly nice. Subtle, but not overpowering of flowers. I really don’t dig the scent of flowers. Nice lather on it too.
Infinite Almond – I found this a good scent for a bathroom shared by a couple – almond has a good ‘manly’ scent to it. Also quite subtle.
Rosemary Peppermint – This is the oddest of colours, and kind of stained the others a bit during shipping, but it doesn’t have a strong smell of mint. Almost a salty smell, but the afterscent has a really nice aroma.
Lemongrass with herbs: My favourite scent of the bunch (I guess I like citrus and vanillas the best) and this baby exfoliates skin like crazy. When they said herbs, they meant it – because as the soap dissipates, you can see the herbs washing down the sink. My hands ended up a bit drier than the others because of the exfoliation factor, but there was still a moisturizing element to all of them.

I probably wouldn’t buy these again just because they shipped from the USA and I always promote buying local products. But if you’re in the USA and are looking for a trusty, natural skincare line, FOREUE isn’t a bad choice.

2) Josie Maran Instant Natural Volume Argan Mascara

I learned about Josie Maran’s natural makeup line from Donna Bishop of Greenbeauty.ca. I was perfectly content on tarte cosmetics‘ waterproof mascara, but wasn’t 100% sure if it was non-toxic. While tarte’s cost $28 for .24oz, Josie Maran’s was only $26 for .34oz. You do the math. I did a toxin check before I purchased it at SEPHORA, and the box said that for every mascara purchased, Josie Maran’s Get One Give One Campaign donates to a City of Hope cancer patient or survivor. So how can you go wrong with that?

While tarte’s mascara really pumped up the volume, it was waterproof, which tends to stay on at night, especially if you use a mild cleanser like I am. While Josie Maran’s consistency is much thinner, I really like the fact that it doesn’t clump. The brush is fat, but there really isn’t a lot on the brush when you take it out of the tube – and less is best when applying, because you can always add more. In fact, I learned a new skill as a result of this mascara: how to apply while squinting, because I found that I was getting some of it on my contact lens, which can really make your day suck. Try squinting next time in front of the mirror!

3) AVEDA Pure Comfort Eye Makeup Remover

So after having switched to a milder natural cleanser, I had to get a makeup remover to take my eye makeup off before going to bed. AVEDA is never my first choice because I know the products aren’t made locally, but this product passed the toxin check and I have no complaints about it. No stinging, really nice scent; a little expensive at $23, so I’d appreciate suggestions on any other natural alternatives or brands.

4) AVEDA Pure Abundance Volumizing Hair Spray

Forever on the search for the perfect natural hair spray, I went this this one at $28. Like the others I’ve tried, this one is liquid. The scent is great, but because it’s hard to get perfect spray coverage, my curls will still come out after about 1.5-2 hours. AVEDA has a different aerosol spray – which I’ll probably go for next and will be the only one that works in the end – but it is more expensive at $34. What I DO love about this particular hair spray I bought, is the bottle. The spout never gets clogged because you need only twist the top cap to unlock and lock it. Nice job, AVEDA!

Next up: MuLondon Foaming Face Wash. It’s coming in the mail, so once I try her out, the review will come.

Triple natural beauty product review

Heeeere we go!

CONSONANT ORGANIC FACE WASH

The search for my new cleanser was an interesting one. I swear by the Belmondo Organics line made by Daniela Belmondo right here in Vancity, but when I tried her face cleanser “The Rain” I went through it like *that* and also had to buy tons of cotton pads to apply it. It’s more of a cleanser that wipes away surface stuff rather than a facewash where you wash your face with water. I understand that water contains impurities, but I just couldn’t do with only using The Rain to take off the junk that I put on my face daily, so I went on a search for another facewash.

I considered AVEDA’s cleansers and also discovered Juice Beauty’s Green Apple Cleansing Gel from Murale at Oakridge ($26  for 4oz.). But I remembered GreenBeauty.ca from Twitter (thank god for Twitter!) and checked out the selection there. It was here that I found Consonant’s Organic Foaming Face Wash ($18 for 125 ml). At this price – and without a trace of toxins – I couldn’t resist.

The shipping cost ($18) would have taken me to a $36 purchase so I was going to just leave it altogether. Because I was already in contact with the CEO Donna Bishop due to tech issues in purchasing, she let me pay without the shipping – then hand delivered the product to me when she was in Vancouver for Eco Fashion Week! (Greenbeauty.ca is based in Toronto.)

The cleanser is mild: LOVE. Unscented: LOVE. The only things I might mention are that it’s a bit on the drying side. So I find my face oily in T-zone area in the afternoon. But I still experienced this with my other cleansers. It’s also not strong enough to take off my eye makeup, so I had to get a makeup remover to do the job (which will be in another post).

Other than that, Consonant is great. I hear the UK-based line just opened a store in Toronto. Now to find a local supplier…

HATHOR APHRODISIA LUBRICANT PURE
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Lace, silk & corsets – Dreamy formal at EFW

Last Friday night I went to the Magnolia-Shefelt-Anna Talbot show which was a great grouping of formal and boudoir-ish designs by ladies from right here at home.

Photo credits: Peter Holst for Pure Magnolia, Peter Jensen for Anna Talbot, and Shefelt
Big thank you to Anna Talbot for the leads on the photos.

PURE MAGNOLIA

I’m a huge fan of Patty Nayel‘s designs, which range from traditional to edgy. I loved the blue-laced and the dark purple silk bodices, which were much more dramatic than the traditional white.

Bridesmaid’s dress

There were also some really low-cut, strapless necklines, which only models could probably sport. But I’d never go for that style anyway.

Cocktail-style dress

SHEFELT

Shefelt is the brainchild of a designer named Hamideh who is a friend of a friend. I don’t really know how to describe her line – but the vision of the collection was definitely there. There was one ghostly soundtrack that kept playing over and over again while the models walked excruciatingly slow to it. Then the track changed to something more upbeat, but they weren’t walking any faster. So that kind of threw me off. But you weren’t bored by any of it.

Some of the models came out with masks, echoing the ghostly ambiance.

Formal dress

Dress
(I would totally wear this as a wedding dress outdoors in a field)

It sucked that I couldn’t see most of the bottom halves of the dresses, because what I saw on top was completely different than anything I’ve ever seen. Upon visiting the Shefelt website, I’ve learned that her primary technique is felting: “Felt refers to a non-woven cloth that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing woollen fibres and that is the main medium for my designs.” So Shefelt refers both to the technique and the emotion that the collections convey. Nice!

Though there were not nearly enough pieces to see, there were lots of things going on in each piece – ruching of different materials form wool to silk; corset work; torn fabric for a touch of imperfection; wisps of soft fabric that reminded me of pussy willows; and extremely intricate sewing.

The standout piece for me was this one collar.

And one of the models came out with a black feathered outfit and did a bird dance thing at the end.

It’s hard to see this line selling in Vancouver because it’s so different from the lines that people buy here, but if Shefelt can attract the same crowd that are fans of Jeff Garner, I could see it working.

ANNA TALBOT

Emily Carr University grad Anna Talbot has a bright future ahead of her. Unlike the first two lines, her work was very simple, soft, airy, and incorporated some interesting photography and typography work I’ve never seen before aside from t-shirt printing. I only knew after receiving the photos that the models were not wearing shoes. And very minimal hair and makeup as well – very fitting for this collection.

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