LPN's March Faves: Natural Beauty & A Good Read

Welcome to the Easter holiday, beauties!

With a few days of downtime, it felt like a good time to round up last month’s favourites and share with you all the new goodies with which I’ve been playing. I have a couple old faves on the list, as well as some new additions that I have had the chance to try out these past few weeks :)

Hoping you have a beautiful, healthy, relaxing and love-packed holiday <3

May Lindstrom’s Blue Cocoon

It’s no secret that the beautiful May Lindstrom has captured my heart. You’ve seen her products grace the LPN pages before. This time, I am got the privilege – yes, I’m going to call it a privilege – to try this product. As we transition out of winter and into a new climate, our skin is in need of some extra tender love and care. This product is Queen when it comes to luxury beauty balm. Soothing for the skin (great for sensitive skin types) and full of beauty-enhancing ingredients, May does it again and again.

The highly moisturizing oils (camellia, coconut, shea, marula, yangu, baobab & blue tansy) combine to sooth redness, dryness, soreness and many other irritating skin conditions. Beyond that, it’s decadently luxurious – in it’s texture, it’s smell, it’s feel on your skin. It melts on contact with your fingertips, and is best applied after cleansing. Another lifelong love. Le sigh…

Where to Buy:

US/Canada: Online at Eco Diva Beauty for $160 USD
Norway: Pureskin.no for 1329 NOK
Australia: I am a Natural Store for $170 AUD

Logona Naturkosmetik Double Eyeliner 01 in Coffee

This one is an old, old fave. I’ve been using this on the daily for well over a year. It is easily my favourite day to evening eye liner. The double duty colours are great also for different seasons – I love the lighter shade in the summer months when darker pencil can be a bit too harsh, but I love the darker shade for daily wear as well. This eye liner is a kohl, meaning it blends easily – great for use with an eye lining brush to lightly blend it into the lash line, giving a more natural look.

In any of my Instagram posts, chances are I was wearing this eye kohl in the last 12 months. Love it.

Where to Buy:

Global: find online at Amazon.com for $18 USD
US: Natural Solutions for $15 USD
UK: Logona UK for 9.95 GBP

Heritage Store Rose Petals Rosewater

On my last trip to New York, I spent a few days with my bestie. After a long flight over the Atlantic, I cleansed my face and borrowed her rose water. This product was literally the most beautiful “punch in the face” of roses. I couldn’t get over the absolutely beautiful and intoxicating scent that came out of the bottle. The most potent and pure rose water I’ve tried to date. The next day I joined her to her local organic market and picked up an 8 oz bottle to tote with me back to Scandinavia. It now sits by my bed, my couch or my sink and is used religiously. I am already worried for when I run out.

The perfect spritz post facial oil application, mid-day pick-me-up or heck, anything really.

Where to Buy:

Find online globally at iHerb.com for $6.97 USD.

**Use code MEP206 on your first order and get $10 USD off

Kjaer Weis Blush in Embrace

Fair skinned beauties, you have met your match. Nay, soul mate… or at least skin mate. Embrace is a perfectly pretty light blush made for those of us who have been blessed with skin made for fairy tale characters (I’m looking at you, Snow White). This is the lightest shade on Kjaer Weis’ blush spectrum, and I have to say it’s the most perfect compliment to the coming of Spring. It is so natural, light and the nude pink gives off a perfect healthy glow. I am loving it.

As with anything Kjaer does, the packaging is perfection, the product is pure and the colour palette is made for you. Beyond that, you have her regular design: you can refill her products as you go through them. Keep that beautiful heavy duty stainless steel compact and replace it with the perfect cardboard covered (and cheaper) refillable product later.

Where to Buy:

US/Canada: Eco Diva Beauty for $56 USD for original compact
*For refills, shop for $40 USD
Norway: Shop Pureskin.no for 459 NOK
Australia: I am a Natural Store $79 AUD
UK: Naturisimo for 39 GBP

Skin Cleanse: The Simple, All-Natural Program for Clean, Calm, Happy Skin by Adina Grigore

Ready for a skin-saving Easter holiday read? Get your hands on Adina Grigore’s book. Adina is not just a skincare expert – she’s also the founder of the organic skincare line S.W. Basics. Skin Cleanse is the perfect read for those of us both old and new into the natural skincare lifestyle. For those of us that have been interested for a while, it provides some reminders and many new tidbits + recipes to add to our toolbox, and for new comers it will inspire and provide actionable ways for you to get to your best skin ever.

One of my favourites is an easy do-it yourself dry shampoo receipt which is based on one of my favourite dry shampoos by Skinny Skinny. This is a simple version of their best selling dry shampoo:

Combine:

10 – 15 drops of your essential oil of choice
1 tablespoon of baking soda (for odour reduction)
4 tablespoons of cornstarch (for oil soaking)
Empty & clean glass dry spice jar (with shaker cap)

Directions:

Mix the baking soda and essential oil with a fork and get rid of any lumps, then add cornstarch and mix completely.
Pour into the spice jar with a seal, then sprinkle a small amount as needed on the roots of your hair.

For many more quick tips and tricks on natural beauty, natural products and your best skin – get your hands on this fab book.

Where to Buy:

Harper Collins Publishers for $24.99

Beauty Counter Lustro Face Oil #2

My first experience with Beauty Counter products happened this past month. I’ve always been a bit skeptical as I noticed quite a few synthetic ingredients mixed in with their natural ones; however, I had a really wonderful experience with this oil – Lustro Face Oil #2.

As a lover of facial oils, it’s always nice to find another that makes you want to talk about it. Beauty Counter’s Lustro Face Oil #2, which is scented with jasmine, is a divine addition to almost any skincare regimen. A luxe blend of rose hip (anti-aging love right here), grapeseed, sea buckthorn, argan, marula (hyperpigmentation helper), meadowfoam seed, rose otto and jasmine oils makes this a treat for your skin. The vitamin rich oils are great for morning or night and perfect for dry and mature skin.

While the oils are potent ones, this oil blend is light and can be a great daywear oil. It sinks in quickly and leaves a light scent of jasmine on your skin for a little while. Do note, however, some people can get sensitive to jasmine oil – so something to keep in mind if you’re a sensitive skinned gal.

Where to Buy:

Online at Beauty Counter for $64 USD

Kaeng Raeng Cleansing Detoxifying Charcoal Face Mask

Detox anyone? This brilliant Cleansing Clay by Kaeng Raeng is a wonderful skin detox. The blend of bentonite clay, french green clay, activated charcoal, pink himalayan salt and kelp powder are just a few of the powerhouses that are cleaning your skin. Clays like bentonite, actually help draw out and absorb toxins and dirt – activated charcoal is an “absorptive carbon” that can attract and hold 200 times its volume in impurities.The additional aloe vera, calendula and honeysuckle are there to heal and cool the skin.

It’s pitch black, so be careful with your white towels. I used this mask once a week and enjoyed the light exfoliation it provided when you removed it post drying. I left the mask on for 15 minutes and removed with warm water. Packaging states that you could experience some tingling. I didn’t, but my skin was feeling beautifully clean after usage of this mask.

Where to Buy:

US: Kaeng Raeng Online for $25 USD

Lewin & Reilly Cocoa Butter & Kakadu Plum Lip Salve

It should never be a surprise when a lip salve or balm makes it onto my monthly favourites list. I am a slave to lip products and love them (but not all thes same). Today’s addition comes from Australian and husband and wife skincare founders, Kim & Andi, who specialize in handcrafting women’s and men’s facial skin care products. They use certified organic & wild harvested ingredients grown throughout Australia and the islands of the South Pacific. This beautiful blend in their lip salve contains coconut oil, beeswax, cocoa seed butter, macadamia seed oil, olive oil, jojoba oil and kakadu plum seed oil (kakadu is high in Vitamin C, which can lessen the appearance of fine lines around the mouth).

It is a seriously perfect (and edible?) lip salve for anyone who is in love with naturally soft lips (everyone?). I have this one sitting next to my couch and find I am always reaching for it – not because I need more but because I’m just kind of addicted. It’s super pure and ethically sourced ingredients (people are paid fair trade prices for their work) make this a new lip fave of mine.