At last! A post Kermit would approve of – for it’s not easy being green – but it IS easy to love these green-coloured beauty and skincare products. This month in our ON MY DESK column for March 2015 we take a look at exciting new releases to cross my path and things we’re loving in the colour green.
Hand Chemistry
The top selling brand of handcream at Boots chemists in UK, Hand Chemistry, is now available in New Zealand, exclusive to Caci clinics. It’s a concentrated handcream with an active complex to soften and hydrate and encourages younger-looking hands by firming and brightening skin. If you’re someone who deals with a lot of water in their job such as hospitality and so on, you need to protect and repair your skin well. This is 19.5% Antarctic marine complex (and how good do penguins look, right? Jokes.) This active complex hydrates the cracked skin layer on the surface and improves the skin texture and moisture levels. There’s a heel cream too formulated for softening tough heels. The creams are $39.99 each at Caci.
Anatomicals Skincare
The innuendo-driven named of Anatomicals Skincare are so funny. “Be good with your hands in bed” night time hand cream and “Not another rough day please” vanilla body lotion treat your hands and body respectively. The handcream even smells “green”, with a cucumber-fresh scent and it says it is avocado-rich. I notice the body lotion, which is a thinner consistency than the handcream as one would expect it to be, uses vanilla planiforia extract from real vanilla rather than synthetic vanilla. They are reasonably priced and the tongue in cheek products can be bought at selected Pak’n’Saves, New World and Countdown supermarkets, pharmacies and Bin Inns nationwide.
L’Oreal EVERSTRONG Haircare
No, Everstrong is NOT the name of a new Brit boyband nor is it the title of a gym: rather, it is a haircare range that will keep your tresses ever strong. L’Oreal Paris has released four ranges of hair expertise haircare products in colour-coded groups to problem solve your coloured hair, fragile hair, dry hair, and frizzy hair dramas. For coloured hair, there is Pure Colour, infused with juniper botanical oil for vibrancy; for fragile hair there is Ever Strong (pictured) with rosemary to strengthen; for dry hair there is Ultra Rich with camelina to nourish; and for frizzy hair there is Super Sleek to tame and smooth. The packaging is also really pretty and has a cool sheen to it that will look lovely in your shower.
Manuka Doctor 3-in-1 Purity Facial Wipes
I used these to take off my makeup after a late night out at the Hopt soda birthday party last night and they were incredibly soft and gentle, without an astringent tight feel that some wipes can give you. Will definitely use again. Manuka Doctor 3-in-1 Purity Facial Wipes retail for $9.95 for 25 wipes from www.manukadr.co.nz at 1 Quay Street Auckland city or at selected pharmacies and department stores nationwide.
Savar Sugar Scrub
NZ skincare brand Savar by Vicky Woolford now has a spa line, with delicious and nourishing spa body treatments. Savar Spa has this amazing new Ginger & Lime Sugar Scrub which is the best sugar scrub I have tried. The smell is out of this world. The luxury sugar scrub retails for $51 from www.savaronline.com and leading retailers, department stores and beauty therapists; see the Savar website for stockist details.
Plantae Serum
The second of three brands that feature amazing New Zealand women who have begun skincare brands (joining Savar above, and Antipodes below), Plantae was founded by Carol Priest who has a background in pharmaceutical compounding and more than 26 years in formulating natural skincare products. She ensures that each step of production is free from environmental toxins and contaminants and nano-particles. The rosehip is one little powerhouse of a fruit and its whole fruit extracts are utlised in this potent serum by New Zealand skincare brand, Plantae. Using a non-toxic extraction process called CO2 supercritical extraction, EFAs, Vitamins A, C and E and other powerful bio-actives are harvested. Use a few drops at night to aid skin regeneration and healing. Plantae Rosehip fruit and seed Serum retails for $44.90 from www.plantae.co.nz and selected pharmacies and health food stores nationwide.
Moroccanoil Root Boost
I am a huge fan of Moroccanoil and its range of haircare products – from the way they look, they feel, and the way they perform. This tall, good looking metal can is a joy and wonder for limp hair: Root Boost does what it says on the tin and boosts roots to give height and lift. Like all Moroccnoil products, it also adds condition and shine, using antioxidant-rich Argan oil. It is like high heels for your hair. Root Boost is $60 from selected salons.
Schick Hydrosilk
We attended a ‘Schick Lady Garden’ lunch on Monday at Odette’s Eatery at City Works Depot, to make terrariums with amazing florist Annie Oxborough, and launch the Schick Hydro Silk TrimStyle bikini line razor. Almost half of all women aged 18 – 34 years old remove bikini hair two or more times each week, year round – proving that bikini area maintenance is not just a summer-time habit!
GO Healthy Go Chlorophyll Cleanse
I definitely need this one after a summer of excesses: GO Healthy Go Chlorophyll Cleanse alkalising and cleansing liquid, in spearmint flavour. It helps balance the body’s acid-alkaline levels for health and wellbeing and detoxifies blood, aids with body odours, and digestive function. You simply add 1-3 teaspoons of the liquid straight or diluted in water or juice. It retails for $29.90 from major pharmacies and health stores nationwide or see www.gohealthy.co.nz or call toll free 0508 466 9327.
Antipodes Worship
Daily exposure to the elements is ageing and dehydrating to skin. Antipodes Skincare Worship superfruit antioxidant serum with Vinanza Oxifend Plus superfruit complex includes certified organic ingredients of boysenberry, blackcurrant, kiwifruit, and Vinanza grape, as well as coffeeberry and acai to re-energise skin. “It’s a daily shot of youth” says Antipodes CEO and founder, Elizabeth Barbalich. The serum retails for $54.50 from www.antipodesnature.com and selected stockists and department stores.
Megan Robinson
3rd March 2015
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