Here are the beauty & wellbeing brands that the oh team have been enjoying this month – proffering a welcome daily dose of mindfulness. If you’d like to dive deeper into the ethics of beauty and conscious consumerism, we’ve written a more detailed post here on the blog, and you can also pick up a copy of issue 61, where we dive into green beauty with Jessie Johnson.
Magic Organic Apothecary (MOA)
This all-natural brand is handmade in England and celebrates the herbal wisdom of those wise women of the past: a welcome blend of ritualistic magic and botanical power. The range lauds one herb most of all: yarrow. The yarrow in question is grown on a certified-organic farm in Somerset, England; yarrow is wonderfully healing and steeped in myth (it was the herb used to heal Achilles, hence its Latin name: achillea millefolium), and provides a soothing, calming base to these gentle, botanic products. Our editor has been using the Aphrodite Facial Oil and loves the rosehip base, which brightens and strengthens skin. Learn about MOA here.
GAIA
The GAIA range is 100% natural with certified organic plant extracts, many of which are fair trade and sourced from small farms and producers. The products are all small-batch and handmade in Britain, created using traditional artisan methods of production, that maintain practices to minimise any adverse effect of the environment, without compromising on the consistency and quality of the range. Products are houses in pleasing glass jars & bottles that can be reused or recycles, with bamboo caps and tops. Find the range here.
Weleda
Weleda are the original ‘green beauty’ pioneers, creating natural wellbeing products and cosmetics, based on anthroposophy, since their birth in 1921. Every single product is NATRUE certified and their sourcing, sustainability and longterm partnership policies are second to none. ‘We are nature’ is the tagline, and this extends to their brilliant biodiversity roadmaps and work with organisations such as Tree Sisters (whose founder, Claire DuBois we profiled all the back in issue 53). Recent big hits with the team have been the Weleda Prickly Pear Cactus Hydrating Mist and the extensive range of wonderfully effective natural medicines including Fragaria Vitis for digestion and Rhinodorn Nasal Spray for allergies and rhinitis.
Subtle Energies
Australian brand Subtle Energies was founded in 1993 by Farida Irani as a clinic of natural therapies. The clinic is still operated by Farida and her daughter Khursheed. This clinical & education background, underpins the pioneering clinical research and development of the Subtle Energies brand, allowing authentic results-based formulas and treatments to be developed. With qualifications in clinical aromatherapy, aromatic medicine, Bowen therapy, and a post graduate diploma in Ayurveda studies with world renowned Ayurveda guru, Prof Dr PH Kulkarni, Irani brings a wonderfully holistic approach to these highly effective and wonderfully pleasurable products. The range has been certified by Cruelty Free International and does not contain parabens, mineral oils, silicones or artificial fragrances, and the brand prides itself on sourcing the highest grade of oils, through sustainable and ethical trade with small-scale artisan distillers. There is also an extensive section on their website – ‘What’s in our products’ – whereby you can read about every single ingredients, including preservatives used.
Aviela
The Aviela product range consists of the Pure Shea Butter, Shea Body Butter, Shea Body Lotion, Shea Foot Butter, Shea Hand Butter and the African Shea Black Soap, each with delicate, light and airy textures that feel wonderfully soothing on the most sensitive skin. The shea used is raw and unrefined in order to preserve the natural minerals, proteins and essential fatty acids. Unrefined Shea Butter has been used for centuries in parts of Africa as a natural remedy to help hydrate, protect, heal, soften the skin as well as to help control inflammatory conditions such as eczema, psoriasis and rosacea. Aviela ethically source their unrefined Shea Butter directly from the fields of Northern Ghana from a Women’s Cooperative that is very close to Aviela's heart and the range is 100% natural, cruelty free, vegan where possible and packaged in fully recyclable materials. Learn more here.
Ilody
Ilody founder Deepika Patel’s mother was a doctor, and she grew up above her GP surgery. Each night her mother would cook Indian dishes for her from scratch, made with fresh and traditional ingredients. So, from an early age she was equally influenced by eastern and western principles of health, combining tradition and science. Ilody’s two skin serums contain highest grade natural actives, many of which are certified organic, and all of which are clearly labelled so that it’s easy to know what you are putting on your skin. There is also a clear list of what is never included in these products on the website. Also in line with their transparent ethos, their preservative, though not natural, is approved by Ecocert for use within natural cosmetics. The Hydrating Radiance Serum in particular, really won the oh team over – the scent, texture and deeply hydrating results a big hit with our two testers. Learn more at Ilody.
Tabitha James Kraan
Instead of the traditional oil-stripping ‘rinse & repeat’ approach to skincare, with TJK the emphasis is on treating the scalp as an extension of your skin (which of course it is) and protecting hair’s own crucial natural oils. Almost all of the issues we have with our hair, argues founder Tabitha, comes to the harsh, over-cleansing approach we take to our hair – washing it too often, with harsh foaming products, which leave hair susceptible to greater damage. The entire range focuses, instead, on balancing oil production for long lasting hair health. The brand’s 100% natural formulations are 100% silicone free, and rather than encourage the usage of more and more products, their 4 in 1 conditioner works as both a rinse-out and leave in conditioner, plus a heat protecting styling aid, or a co-wash cream for curly hair. Explore the brand here.