Green Beauty

Phew! No sooner had we arrived back from our exhilarating West Coast launch in LA then it was straight off to do three special beauty evening shows on QVC. Just in time for this I received a review copy of the new, much anticipated Green Beauty Bible  (available on our UK website), out today. Written by top beauty duo Sarah Stacey and Jo Fairley, this eco-edition of the best-selling Beauty Bible series records the feedback of over 1000 individual testers to uncover which of the ‘more natural’ and ‘eco’ brands score the highest. Not only covering ranges that include natural ingredients in their formulations (like us), but also those that try to reduce their carbon footprint, minimise packaging, print with ‘green’ inks, have a genuine commitment to cruelty-free and all the rest. You know, when Kim and I started putting our range together 13 years ago, we didn’t set out to be a ‘natural’ brand – we set out to be the ‘best’ brand. This included a heavy dose of potent plant ingredients, a strong commitment to cruelty-free, minimum fuss-free packaging etc. long before it was seen as fashionable and certainly before the words ‘green,’ ‘eco’ or ‘carbon-neutral’ had entered the beauty dictionary. Being a ‘greener’ beauty brand is only one part of what makes us tick, which also includes a genuine commitment to outstanding customer service, research into product safety and efficacy and always aiming to be an affordable luxury.

As a brand, we fared so well in the original Beauty Bible that I did wonder quite how we would compete now with many of the newer ranges to hit the shelves in recent years. After all, 13 years on and we still stick to our founding principles and our formulations are pretty much the same as they were when launched. So you can imagine the delight/relief to discover our multi-tasking Cleanse & Polish is still top of the Cleansers section (more than 80 were trialled). With 9.5 out of a possible 10, C&P as we affectionately call it, remains the number 1 highest scoring product of all time! WOW!  It was also rated one of the book’s ‘Star Buys’ because of its price and the fact that it lasts for ages.

Alongside the tester’s favourites of Cleanse & Polish and Skin Repair (which came tops again in Neck Creams) the book includes many of our as-yet unsung ‘heroines’; those Cinderella products that sometimes get overlooked yet give amazing, reliable results as well. Little gems such as Eyebright Soothing Eye Lotion (UK , US), Intensive Nourishing Treatment Mask, Energising Body Scrub and Energising Hip and Thigh Gel have all received their first ever awards. Eyebright is also a ‘star buy’ in the Treats for Tired and Puffy Eyes category as well as gaining 2nd place in the Eye Make-up Removers section, and really is fantastic for me at this time of year as I battle the annual onslaught of pollen-polluted eyes. One tester raved that it’s “a fab pick-me-up for mornings when your eyes are really sore and tired, also helped with moisturising dry under-eyes”. We receive good feedback from other hayfever sufferers who swear by it for reducing itchiness too. At this time of year, I always keep one in the fridge and a mini in my make-up bag for itchy-eye emergencies. 

Our moisture mask, Intensive Nourishing Treatment, is another of my seasonal essentials as it works wonders for rehydrating and restoring skin that’s feeling dry and tight after too much travelling, sun or simply over doing it…  With GLA-rich borage oil – one of my favourite natural oils which works both topically and internally to help keep the complexion supple and strong – plus moisturising shea butter and soothing St John’s wort. A thick layer of this replenishing cream is deeply nourishing and calming – a comfort blanket for poorly skins. If you’re looking for visibly velvety skin, one tester said her “skin felt like a soft, ripe peach”… and that’s good enough for me too.

With summer holidays and the promise of more warm weather approaching, I’m definitely beginning to become more conscious of my legs and arms once hemlines (and sleeves) start reducing. That’s why it’s such great news that two of our body energisers made the headlines too. Ideal for sloughing away dull, dingy and dry skin cells our invigorating Energising Body Scrub leaves skin smooth -and perfectly prepped for a spritz of golden self-tan. Massaged in afterwards, its partner Energising Hip and Thigh Gel – loaded with circulation-boosting botanicals such as ginkgo biloba, ivy, horse chestnut and butcher’s broom – really can help improve the tone and appearance of your skin. I’m also a big fan of dry skin body brushing, having first written about it in a book I wrote on cellulite nearly twenty years ago. I find the most effective way to incorporate this into my beauty routine is to use a natural bristle brush before I jump into the shower, always working upwards towards my heart with long, sweeping movements. Then I revitalise, slough and smooth with my Energising body trio. If you’re anything like me, you’ll find there’s nothing like it for helping to get mind and body going on those far-too-early mornings.

The whole area of ‘green’ beauty has grown and developed significantly over the last decade, with a panoply of new products and ranges to choose from, ranging in eco-shade from eau-de-nil to bottle green. It’s a complex and frequently confusing area. I wouldn’t say I agree with every aspect of the greenest eco-warrior’s footpath, but I travel pretty much in the same direction. To this end, the Green Beauty Bible book is a very useful addition to my bookshelves and well worth a read.

With all things botanical as the theme, I was able to spend a rare few minutes of tranquillity amongst the hustle and bustle of London’s King’s Road when I stopped inside our Duke of York Square store earlier today. As part of the ‘Sloane In Bloom’ competition, run in homage to the nearby Chelsea Flower Show, shops in the Sloane Square area (of which we are one) are invited to transform themselves with a floral theme. Our inspiration came from a traditional English garden and so I caught a few moments outside on a weathered wooden bench and breathed in the sweet scent of early lavender and headily-scented climbing roses. Put together for us by the wonderfully talented Jane Packer, who Kim and I worked with twenty or so years ago – even before she had her first shop - it’s well worth a visit if you’re in town, as the whole area is bedecked in stunning spring flora. I finished the evening by giving a talk on some of our botanical ingredients to complement the surrounding theme, soon to be available as an audio download on our website. I hope you enjoy.

L.A. Story

What a great week we’ve had in Los Angeles, launching our range into the top fashion store Fred Segal on Ocean Drive, Santa Monica. We were invited to join the fab beauty area, STUDIO, by its Co-Founder and Creative Director Robin Coe-Hutshing – a stylish woman with huge flair who brings wonderful top beauty ‘finds’ to the West Coast of America. Our week started with a reviving body massage and ‘mani-pedi’ at Hollywood day-spa, Kinara, where many ‘leading ladies’ head for their famous red carpet beauty treatments. Somewhat revived from our inevitable jetlag we returned to the store to have a good look around and I was especially interested to see anything unusual and new. I love Robin’s own creation, a personalised perfume set-up called Memoire Liquide Bespoke Perfumery. Here, with the help of a fragrance guide, you can literally create your own scent by blending together two or three single fragrance notes or unusual pre-blends. I chose a mix of my fragrant favourites, vetiver and patchouli, together with a musky blend called ‘soft leather’. The resulting aroma is a soft, warm and sensual scent which I like because it doesn’t dominate but gives a hint of subtle aromatics. Not only is the idea and service good, it’s reasonably priced too – just $30 (around £15) for a totally individual custom-blend, which has to be one of the best beauty bargains around. If you’re holidaying or passing through LA in the future I highly recommend you drop in and try this out for yourself. It would also make a memorable and special present for a friend, mother or daughter.

Having revived ourselves from our lengthy journey, we spent the following day helping the team at Fred Segal set up our display areas and prop our promotional site, which was where I was to meet many of the local and national beauty journalists this week. These included a meeting with Allure, possibly the most influential of all the American beauty magazines, and the Los Angeles Times. Here we discussed hot topics such as preservatives, as some American brands are now touting themselves as ‘parabens-free’ - as if this is a good thing (see my previous Blogs on this and other ingredient research stories).Later, we hosted a VIP customer event, which Robin Coe-Hutshing introduced. She declared herself to be a huge fan of Naturally Active Skincare – notably Cleanse & Polish and Superskin Moisturiser, and I then gave a short talk to introduce our philosophy and skincare secrets. We obviously hit the spot, as before we left the ladies were literally sweeping the shelves bare and loading up with armfuls of products. The only problem is going to be keeping the shelves fully stocked as word spreads – how exciting!

Sun Awareness Week

Hoorah! Moving on from my last entry I actually do have my suitcase back home, full of unworn holiday clothes it spent a total of 32 days in the ‘care’ of good old British Airways. Just in time, in fact, for me to repack for our trip to Los Angeles. Kim, the team and I are heading out to Santa Monica for the Liz Earle Naturally Active Skincare launch in the famous beauty STUDIO at Fred Segal. This Mecca of innovative beauty boutiques is a prime shopping destination for many of the Hollywood elite and will be our first stockist on the West Coast of America –how very exciting! I’ve already checked the online weather forecast and it’s gloriously sunny, which partly makes up for having to travel on a (wet) bank holiday. Needless to say I’ll be taking plenty of our Sun Shade with me and - as we’re travelling from Terminal 5 – again - I’m loading lots of  travel sizes into my hand luggage (along with other emergency ‘essentials’ just in case!). So here’s to a less ‘eventful’ flight…

On the West Coast, sun protection is pretty much an all year round obsession but interestingly, many are only just beginning to realise the importance of checking the ingredients in their suncare and not just the SPF. Last year, researchers at the University of California found that three of the most widely used synthetic suncare UV filters (octylmethoxycinnamate, benzophenone-3 and octocrylene) all generate free-radicals when exposed to sunlight, thus increasing the overall potential for skin damage within the skin. This is obviously not good news for products specifically designed to protect the skin and is another reason to choose your suncare carefully. For us this is nothing new. Last year I gave a talk at our King’s Road store for Sun Awareness Week, the British Association of Dermatologists’ annual drive to promote sun safety. My ‘Sun Safety’ talk, which focused on the mineral vs. synthetic chemical sunscreen research, as well as the best ways to fight photo-ageing and free-radical skin damage, is still available to listen to online.

This year’s Sun Awareness Week begins today to coincide with Euromelanoma Day - a Europe-wide day of action on skin cancer prevention.  Early detection of this disease is key to survival and with new statistics showing that skin cancer is now the fastest growing cancer in the UK. The Association is highlighting its ABCD-Easy guide to checking moles, which could help detect the signs of this deadliest form of skin cancer. I actually went to the doctor last week to have a small mole on my leg checked out. It was slightly darker than I remembered it being and I was reassured to have it looked at by an expert, who thankfully pronounced it OK.The British Association of Dermatologists is also using the week to draw attention to the dangers of using sunbeds, some of which are now shown to carry the same cancer risk as the midday sun in southern Europe. The Association is therefore calling for a ban on sunbed use for under 18s and on coin-operated, unmanned sunbeds as well as their removal from sports centres and gyms which subliminally imply that they are somehow ‘healthy’. Rather alarmingly, a recent study published by the British Journal of Dermatology showed scientists found that 83% of sunbeds produced UVB radiation levels that exceeded the European standard. If  you are determined to use a sunbed, find a salon that has the latest type that cleverly adapt their output according to your skintype, limit the amount of minutes they can be used for and even allow you to switch off the face and neck areas, which is far less ageing.

Less damaging than tanned skin (from the sun or sunbed) is a natural looking self-tan treatment. There’s nothing like golden legs and arms to boost our confidence levels for summer’s invariably skimpier fashions and my favourite way to gain a touch of sun-kissed glamour is with our Sun Shade Botanical Self-Tan Spray (UK, US). I remember when I first started writing and researching for magazines in the early ‘80s that self-tans were a bit of a messy, rather hit and miss affair - you never knew quite how orange you would end up – or how streaky! I’m glad to say that today’s formulations are nothing like their forerunners and can give such a healthy, outdoorsy glow it’s hard for the sun to compete, apart from its glorious feel-fab factor of course. Our own Botanical Self-Tan Spray contains melanin from sunflower seeds and plant-derived dihydroxyacetone - or DHA – an ingredient that reacts with amino acids in the epidermis to lightly kiss skin on faces and bodies with summery gold. Aside from the super-natural colour it is also hydrating thanks to organic aloe vera leaf juice - and best of all, it smells lovely. This is because we use luxurious pure essential oils such as rosemary, patchouli and lavandin to impart it with a lovely fresh, floral fragrance, which leaves skin deliciously scented too. If you’re still in need of reassurance, Marie Claire.com recently raved about just how pleasant the smell of our Self-Tan is compared to most other brands - "this fake tan stands apart, using a sweet orange and geranium scent that is a much more pleasant aroma than the majority on the market."

When it comes to application I find practise really does make perfect and a few simple tried and tested tips can help you get the most gorgeous, golden sunless tan. I always begin by exfoliating to get a really smooth and even base for the most even, natural looking colour. That means Gentle Face Exfoliator (UK, US) on my face then Energising Body Scrub (UK, US) from the neck down, concentrating on areas prone to dryness like elbows, knees and heels. A double bonus: the eucalyptus in both gentle buffers is incredibly uplifting and stimulating too. Next I slather my skin in my absolute body-favourite Nourishing Botanical Body Cream to intensively moisturise any flaky bits before spritzing the self-tan all over. Blend quickly and evenly using long, sweeping strokes and don’t forget to make sure you wash your hands thoroughly afterwards. You’ll notice a sun-kissed glow appearing in just a couple of hours. Another of my tips is to build up a very gradual colour on your face and neck simply by mixing a little self-tan in with your daily Skin Repair or Superskin Moisturiser. I could go on but I’ve just checked the time and I’ll be late for the flight if I don’t scoot now. Wish us luck! - I’ll be in touch again soon with the very latest from our LA launch.