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!

LA Press Interviews

I’m spending a few days in Los Angeles for press interviews and to scout the local beauty stores on the West Coast of America. I haven’t been to LA for about ten years – the last time was a trip with GMTV when I was their fashion and beauty correspondent and covered the glamorous run-up to the Oscars. My co-host was the irrepressible Marc Freden, then the Hollywood correspondent and a real industry insider. I’m hoping to catch up with my old friend Marc a little later in the week, but my first meeting was with Los Angeles Magazine – in their stylish offices overlooking the famous white Hollywood sign that overlooks the city. In a town obsessed with youth and good looks, the editor was most interested in our new Superskin Moisturiser, (UK), (US) and the impressive data from the independent tests showing that it dramatically improves plumpness, smoothness and overall skin rejuvenation. Couldn’t be any more perfect for the Hollywood elite as well as mere mortals like me. After many months of using this botanical wonder-cream and seeing the amazing results on my own skin, I certainly wouldn’t use any other moisturiser now.

Back at the beautiful Bel-Air hotel I booked a manicure with their star therapist, Fabiola. Formerly from Iran, Fabiola escaped the oppressive Islamic regime and came to America, bringing traditional beauty skills with her. These include threading, taught to her by her mother, who was taught by her grandmother before her. This natural form of hair removal involves sliding a simple length of cotton in a scissor-like action over the skin. The technique removes hair quickly and (fairly) painlessly, leaving no redness – unlike waxing or plucking. Fabiola asked me if I’d like my eyebrows ‘tidied’ by this technique, so feeling bold, I decided to give it a go. No sooner had Fabiola started on my eyebrows than she was ‘threading’ the rest of my face – whisking off the superfine baby hairs that we all have on our skin. Apparently, this is the latest beauty trick that movie stars use to look flawlessly smooth on the big-screen close-ups. I was amazed to find afterwards that my skin wasn’t red at all, just unnaturally smooth. I have to say that bald skin feels just a little bit weird, so don’t think I’ll be rushing back – although I was impressed with the eyebrow technique and it works very well on sensitive areas such as the chin and upper lip. A few beauty salons in the UK are now offering threading as a natural form of hair removal. With no chemical depilators, resources or waste, (other than a simple piece of cotton thread) I would also describe it as the most eco-friendly beauty treatment there is.

Meeting the Press

This week, we've been meeting beauty journalists and showing them around our new London shop. It's been wonderful watching them interacting with our customers, and hearing their feedback. Alice at Instyle Magazine raved: 'The perfect location to house all the lovely Liz Earle products. It definitely makes shopping for skincare a more enjoyable experience'. Very exciting to see both customers and beauty industry experts are such fans already! It's also unusual to successfully persuade busy journalists away from their desks, but the pull of the Liz Earle experience in-store was too much for them - and we were thrilled to welcome so many happy faces. Many use Cleanse & Polish religiously - and their glowing skins were of course testament to our hero product.

On another note, it is fascinating to hear both customers and journalists questioning the Channel 4 programme on beauty last night. The press are delighted to read Liz's blog entry last night, and to hear about a more 'balanced' view - they feel that there is too much scaremongering going on generally in the industry, and many are musing over writing their own responses, as skincare experts. Customers have similarly questioned the purpose of the programme - and have come to us for our advice and thoughts. It's refreshing to hear their positive feedback on what we try to achieve and where our focus lies. Today, a lady told me how much she valued our open and genuine approach to making skincare more transparent, helping to dispel common beauty myths. What struck me personally was that there is often little balance when hot topics are up for debate - hopefully, we can help offer a more balanced view. It was also wonderful to hear that our customers are also taking a more cautious view of the programme - everyone is so much more knowledgeable about skincare now, and I really enjoy discussing these sorts of issues with a wide variety of customers.

Sunday Times – 10 of the Best in the Style

Wow, what a good start to the week! This weekend, in the Sunday Times – 10 of the Best in the Style section rated Cleanse & Polish as one of the top ten beauty products – ever! Can’t say I’m surprised as I’m a total addict myself and would never, never switch – I started as a customer and this was one of my first purchases nearly 10 years ago. Alongside other cult products, it is also good to see a hard-working, effective product like C&P (as we affectionately call it) that’s genuinely affordable. I hope that this introduces the multi-award winning cleanser to more people, who can share in the experience.

Today, we launched our US virtual chat room – at 10pm UK time. My Customer Care colleague Andrea and I went online to chat to a variety of new friends in the US, from right across the States. The chat room sessions in the UK are weekly, lasting an hour, and it’s a great chance to chat to customers, help answer their queries and for them to talk to one another in a safe, virtual environment – a bit like one of our talks, but online! Customers in the US chat room were still talking about the article in US Vogue that appeared earlier this year and were commenting on what they valued – that the products worked, the botanicals were premium and effective, and the philosophy was just the ticket apparently. Great to hear their stories – our next chat room is due in September, so more then!

I’ve been busying buying up some of Liz’s out of print books on Amazon – such a fab way to find and sell hard to find books, via their marketplace. I also love the way that they recommend books / films to you, once you’ve popped something into your basket – I find it hugely helpful when buying presents too. A cold day today, after some stunning weekend weather.

My younger sister and I visited the IOW for the weekend – I live in London, and spread my working life between our London shop and the island. We stayed with Vintage Vacations, owned and run by an island-based stylist and her fashion photographer husband – who swapped crazy London life for the peace of the beautiful island, a few years ago. One night, after a few glasses of wine, she bid for a stunning vintage American trailer on EBay – made from the 1930s onwards by Getty, the airline carrier manufacturers. The rest is history – she has now bought six and all are based in a green English field, on a rural working farm just outside Newport. It’s very much ‘back to basics’, but with a rather kitsch edge – such as the original wet room bathroom! It made me appreciate the comforts of home, in a way, as you fire up the burner for your hot water shower and nip outside with your wellies at 5am to visit the outside loo! But very authentic and beautifully styled with vintage memorabilia, magazines and board games – as well as a couple of bottles of Babycham (love it!) and a cream tea upon arrival. We stayed in the 1951 Spartanette and, as the owner says, she truly was the ‘Cadillac’ of trailers!

The island is just such a varied and stunning place – perfect for a long weekend or for a week or two away with the kids. Everything is catered for – all tastes and budgets. This time, as a regular hunter down of fab IOW things to do, my sister insisted that we did new things that I’d never done before. We weren’t disappointed – a long walk on Tennyson Downs rewarded us with stunning views, and we even ventured on to the National Trust’s Old Battery by the Needles. I felt very proud to see the recognizable IOW symbol – I think, not immodestly, that we really have helped put this beautiful gem of an isle on the map for many mainlanders who only have vague Enid Blyton memories from their childhood…. I love the old churches here too, and my sister indulged me in a return to my favourite island haunt, the old church on the seafront at Bonchurch. So old and so charming – very romantic for a stroll. I must bring my husband back soon!

Hot off the press news today – our TVSN presenter in Australia, Carla King Turner, has just had a baby boy and he looks adorable! She will be using Orange Flower Botanical Body Wash for his baby baths apparently. Wonderful news – mother & baby are both grand.

In New York city today for press appointments, including meetings at the offices of Vanity Fair magazine and Allure, the leading beauty magazine in America. I also met with an interesting journalist who is launching a new eco-website in the States, called Sprig. It sounds very good and aims to be the biggest and best resource site in the States. I did a very lengthy and detailed interview for one of their launch pages, all about trying to be ‘green’ and what we’re doing as a company towards being part of the solution and not part of the problem. I also included lots of hints and tips about what I do at home to. You can take a look by logging on to www.sprig.com

Great to meet the new team and spend quality time training this week. The challenge for us is remaining relevant and personal to our new US customers, so they feel part of our world, but so we are also speaking to them in their own language (so to speak). It’s great to hear the team’s competitor study feedback – they called some big mail order skincare companies out here for advice, and experienced a rather mixed bag of responses. Their passion and energy is very motivating, and they seem to adore what they call ‘our English charm’. The article about Liz’s research and our brand in American ‘Vogue Magazine’ this month has hit home what a British success story we are – the team have been spreading the word amongst friends & family, in much the same way as we have grown back in the UK over the past twelve years… Product training today was fun – we all tied our hair back and experienced what our customers call being ‘Liz Earled’ (trying all the products in a girly home-spa session). Not quite sure what the teams in the other local buildings thought as they walked past, with our faces covered in Deep Cleansing Mask, Intensive Nourishing Treatment and Brightening Treatment! I love product training – it reminds one afresh of all the products, and I always find it a great way to give my skin a spring clean. I leave looking radiant with the softest hands – and vow to start using body wash every day as my handwash.

Meet top Beauty Director from American Vogue, Sarah Green, for lunch today. We went to Fred’s (her choice) on the 9th floor of uber-chic department store Barneys on Madison Avenue. Famed for never having time for lunch, she said she was pleased to meet as she’d been in London recently and whenever she asked what skincare someone was using, every reply had been “Liz Earle”. Clearly something is going on, she remarked. We had a good chat and I told her all about our recent skincare expert forum and promised to send her the symposium notes. She had also heard the myth about 60% of what we put on our skins getting through into the bloodstream (not true, see my November 9th entry) and so was especially interested in Professor Hadgraft’s research in dermal absorption. I left promising to send her a bag of goodies to try – fingers X’d she likes it.