How sustainable are the products you use on your skin and in your home? It’s good to be super conscious of ingredients, to avoid synthetics where possible, and to harness the power of plants, herbs, essences and even foods in our everyday products. These steps also make for good Valentine’s Day presents, says Janey Lee Grace.
Most of us are conscientious about taking our probiotic supplements, but how about using a probiotic cleaner? Nookary offers sustainable and ethical products for the home, and it’s a unique brand with great packaging and refills.
The company’s Bacillus probiotic cleaner features an essential oil-based fragrance. You can use the good bacteria to combat the bad stuff on kitchen surfaces as well as on windows and mirrors.
The all-purpose cleaner contains no palm oil, is vegan and cruelty free, and has an earthy yet sweet aroma.
The Calm Expression hand and body lotion contains lavender and chamomile, wonderful for relaxation and stress relief.
This collection is vegan and sustainable and contains Vetiver and Palmarosa oils, which are good for mood. They also contain hyaluronic acid, which is known to help with skin elasticity, and almost every ingredient is of natural origin with totally natural fragrance. Best of all, a little goes a long way as the lotion absorbs quickly and is non-greasy.
handmadenaturals.co.uk
After the last couple of years of using hand sanitizers, we could be forgiven for forgetting just how lovely natural soap bars can be. They aren’t just for washing hands, either.
This lovely gift box from Handmade Naturals lets you customize the gift with three handmade soap bars. You can choose from Ylang & Geranium, Cinnamon & Orange, Lavender & Rosemary, Oat Manuka, Lavender & Geranium, and many more.
Louise Allen, the founder of Rhythm of Beauty, is a true alchemist. She claims to work with the seasons and use “moon energies” to create beautiful handmade skincare.
Celestial Boho Glow has some unique ingredients, including pearl, a skin tonic that Rhythm of Beauty says can “help to brighten, smooth and enhance skin luminosity.” Pearl contains powerful antioxidants, trace minerals and amino acids that enhance collagen and elastin synthesis. It’s revered in Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine for its ability to regenerate skin.
The treatment even contains gold, which is thought to calm inflamed skin, help it regenerate and prevent damage to skin cells.
Besides all this, it also contains hyaluronic acid, which is excellent for boosting collagen and leaving the skin feeling lifted and illuminated. You can use it nightly or as a facial mask weekly.
When people become aware of the toxicity of many everyday skincare products, they often realize that a natural deodorant can be a good place to start switching to non-toxic options. It’s a good idea to avoid parabens and aluminum in that sensitive area, and Pit-Tastic! deo is loved by breastfeeding mothers, athletes, menopausal women, those who travel (no need for liquids!) and just about anyone who wants fresh armpits without too many synthetic ingredients on their body.
It’s also eco-friendly; it doesn’t come in bottles, is 100 percent biodegradable and is also available in sensitive and vegan versions. You can choose from four fragrances—I love the Orange & Grapefruit in particular—and buy a hand-embossed travel tin to store it, too.
We can use herbs and botanicals in our diet, but also in products for well-being. Natural Herb Remedies creates wonderful botanical mists that contain pure essential oils and Bach Flower Remedies.
You can spritz this CALM mist onto your skin, your pillow or even your yoga mat.
It’s vegan with a unisex scent and contains only natural fragrance.
Keep your hair products vegan and sustainable with the sustainable brand FFØR, which stands for “Free From, Original, Real.” These products fuse nature and science, and best of all, they are vegan, gluten-free and free of sulfates and mineral oils. Ingredients include organic cinnamon bark oil, organic orange peel oil and sunflower seed oil, so you can imagine how nice they smell!
The RE:Nourish Gift Set is great for all hair types but especially for dry, damaged hair that needs a hydration boost or may have split ends.
The set includes RE:Nourish Shampoo, RE:Nourish Conditioner and RE:Plenish Mask.
Keep love your focus during this Valentine’s Day month and stand out with these large, funky heart earrings from one of the funkiest yet most ethical fashion brands, Vendula London. These earrings for pierced ears are made from 85 percent glass beads, with velvet backing and iron hardware. What’s not to love?
