FASHION Magazine

How many times have you ordered the newest addition to your favourite skincare line, and then upon arrival and unboxing, wondered, ‘how much more packaging do they need for this little thing?!’ ? Unfortunateluy, many beauty products today are cocooned in the excessive material, like plastic, cellophane, and foam. And many come with their own […]

The post Skincare Brands To Consider If You’re Sick of Excessive Packaging appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

While visiting Austin, Texas, recently, I spotted a beauty brand I hadn’t seen before, called Stop the Water While Using Me! The German body-care line, which includes everything from shampoo to toothpaste, wears the heart of its mission—to conserve a non-renewable resource—on its recyclable sleeve. Its name cheekily calls out one of the First World’s […]

The post Why Waterless Products Are the Future of the Beauty Industry appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

These days, natural beauty products are full of outstanding ingredients sourced from every part of nature imaginable. Researchers and formulators are going to the ends of the earth and as deep into organic fruits and vegetables as possible to extract high-performing ingredients. The good news is, all of this research means that you don’t need to turn to synthetic products in your own quest to find the fountain of youth. Ranging from basic single-ingredient-wonders to sophisticated product blends, natural anti-aging products take the form of masks, cremes, serums, treatments, oils and cleansers, with key ingredients to plump, refresh and refine skin naturally. The shelves are brimming with options, but here are six faves to stock up on to beat the clock.

One of the most common complaints on the green beauty front is the struggle to find natural hair care products that work as well as their non-natural counterparts. Natural beauty aficionados are keen to toss away their conventional skincare and stock up on organic makeup, but that light fluffy feeling of freshly washed hair isn’t easy to concede. Though some green beauty converts opt for the baking soda wash and apple cider vinegar rinse and swear by it, not everyone can be expected to go to the same lengths for clean locks. No worries, there are green solutions out there for soft and silky strands—no kitchen concoctions required.

What’s a hydrosol? Commonly called floral waters, hydrosols are becoming increasingly popular in all-natural and organic beauty products. Less concentrated and more mellow than essential oils, hydrosols still possess the healing and aromatic applications of aromatherapy and are often used in place of water in natural products. By boiling plant materials (petals, roots, leaves, you name it) with water, oils and essences are released into the steam as it rises and collects in a separate container. Once cooled, the oil that remains is essential oil, and the steam that settles becomes a hydrosol. 

Ever wonder why your super strong deodorant gives off a kind of sweat-mixed-with-fragrance smell on stressful or hot days? It’s not your sweat that smells: it’s the bacteria that’s mixing with it. Add to that the strong fragrance of a deodorant—which does little more than attempt to mask the smell—and you may find that by the end of the day your shirt is soaking and you’re keeping your arms as close to your sides as possible to avoid blasting co-workers with your own Eau de Ew.

However, given that there’s a pretty common misconception about how effective natural deodorants are, it’s hard to convince naysayers to give non-chemical options a try. If you think that you could never replace your drugstore antiperspirant or deodorant because you simply sweat too much, you’re in for a surprise.

Natural beauty is more than the sum of a few drops of the hottest new ingredient. The real stuff—the good stuff—is about freshness; using products designed with active ingredients within a particular timespan so that the ingredients retain all of their freshness and efficiency.

Consider it as you would your food: The fresher the product, the more beneficial the results. However, food obviously differs from cosmetic concoctions—it’s unlikely you’d be eating the same banana over six months. Products containing organic, raw, and pure ingredients need to last longer than the average head of lettuce, but to keep the formulation free of chemicals, it often means removing many mainstream preservatives and replacing them with natural ones. It also means a shorter use-by date. Hence, refrigeration.

Normally we would have blown through at least a few bottles of sunscreen by now, but with the constant rain and cloudiness this summer, we’ve been reaching for the self-tanner instead. Even if we aren’t busting out a bikini every weekend, we still want our limbs looking bronzed and healthy.

There is quite the range of self tanner options available that offer different finishes depending on your skin tone and the level of bronze you’re looking for. But what we’re fixated on right now is growing number of natural and organic tanners geared toward those of us who want to green our beauty routine.

While faux glow and all-natural products may not seem like the most obvious pairing, it’s one that makes sense. After all, if you’re avoiding damage from the sun, it’s just as important to avoid the harmful chemicals and additives that many self-tanners can contain. But before we share our paraben- and silicone-free picks, some self-tanning 101: don’t forget to exfoliate. We can’t stress enough how important it is to polish your skin before you apply any self tanner—it will be the difference between achieving a gorgeous golden versus blotchy butterscotch.