Veludo Velvet by Christopher Drummond Beauty

Type: Beauty product- Natural foundation
From: Just Beauty Direct (UK)
Price: £50.00; $65.00 from CDB
Relationship with Brand/Store: None
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Do we recommend it: Only if you have extremely sensitive skin or feel like spending a lot of money.

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Veludo Velvet is Christopher Drummond Beauty's all natural, organic based vegan foundation. This is basically a mineral powder foundation, but the unique thing about it is that it contains no Zinc Oxide, Bismuth Oxychloride or Titanium Dioxide. These three things are known irritants in some people who can't even tolerate normal mineral foundation. There's also the added claims from the website:

* Sweat resistant, yet allows the skin to breathe.
* Contains plant extracts, exotic fruit infusions, and antioxidants to help improve skin texture.
* Helps protect against the sun with phyto ingredients.
* Cosmetic-grade ingredients will not clog pores,
* Ingredients help bind moisture to the skin, so it is not drying.

When you buy it you get 8grams of product in a dark jar, a little travel jar and a spatula so you can transfer a small amount at a time from the dark jar for use (this is because the powder is sensitive to UV light); and a flat top synthetic brush.


All these come in a large cylindrical container.


First of all mineral foundation is very good for the skin because of the lack of chemicals, healing properties etc. Also a product that can be created without including Zinc Oxide and Titanium Dioxide will be a welcome relief for all those who are sensitive to these ingredients. I like the idea of the little travel jar and using a little at a time. It stops you from contaminating the entire product and it also stops the product being degraded by UV light. You get a brush with it, which means you don't have to go out and buy a brush. The brush is synthetic, in keeping with the vegan theme.
Every time I've used it I found that it blends really well with my skin and a tiny amount is all I need.

If you know much about mineral foundation, you'll know that Zinc Oxide and Titanium Dioxide are the main natural sunscreens used. So this foundation compromises on sun protection to give you less ingredients. There is some 'sun protection' in it but there is no mention of the SPF, which is not a good thing. Sun exposure is itself a skin irritant and in this day and age of increasing sun damage, SPF is not something to compromise on. I also find it a bit ironic that other products from this brand in the same category (e.g. Saude Pele) have Zinc Oxide in them, because of its soothing properties. Hmm...
I would never pair a flat top brush with loose powder, simply because of the potential of packing too much on the brush. I also know that natural brushes are better for powder than synthetic ones, because of their ability to hold and release more particles evenly. However, I never really got to test my CDB brush properly because this is what happened after I took it out of the packaging for the third time:



Considering that this product cost £50, surely a better quality brush would have been more appropriate. I could not return it because you can only return within seven days of purchase. This foundation blends very well, but so does my Jane Iredale PurePressed base and Bare ID foundation. You get 8g of product here whereas with my JI one, I got 10.5g for half the price!

The conclusion: If you have the need for foundation that is absolutely rid of all irritants or you are a vegan through and through, then this is for you. Also if you are professional, this would be a good addition to your kit, because you might across one of those people. Otherwise, I recommend you get another brand of good mineral foundation. It will cost you a lot less and you will get better value for your money.

Stay beautiful...

Amarya.com- Organic beauty store review

Type: Website- UK based online store
Products/Services- Certified organic beauty products
Shipping- UK/EU/International
Relationship with Brand: None

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Do we recommend it: Yes!

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Finally we have a 100% certified organic beauty store in UK! Amarya is an online store that sells certified organic beauty products. They also have a store and salon in London, where they offer therapeutic services. I took advantage of a promotion which I saw on facebook and purchased a few products from them.

I had been searching for a particular lotion from Santa Verde for a very long time and was excited at discovering they stocked it. I don't have to pay €15.50 for shipping from Germany any more.
They have a wide variety of brands and I was very impressed with how my products arrived in 2 days, especially as I didn't pay a dime for shipping.This store offers free shipping on all UK orders and 28 days money back guarantee.

The downside of course is the cost of the products. Certified organic products tend to be more expensive than regular ones anyway. The Santa Verde Medium Aloe Vera cream cost €19.90 (£18.10) from SV and £28.00 from Amarya. It is still cheaper than buying from SV and paying the cost of shipping though. The cost may be justified by the purity of what you are buying. You know that extra care was taken when that product was being made and it has gone through a certification process and passed.

If you are a natural beauty freak I would certainly recommend you visit this store. Right now they are offering free gift wrapping services and a free gift when you spend £35.00 or more. Perfect timing for the festive season.

On the side: In my part of the world- Amarya means first time bride. It is a word associated with innocence :)


Stay beautiful...

Burt's Bees Citrus Scrub- Keep your skin dewy this winter

Its winter and your skin will not like it because the harsh cold weather does not do any justice to it. Cold air reduces the moisture content of your skin resulting in a dry flaky skin (also affects the elbows, heels, lips etc). Keeping yourself hydrated by drinking lots of fluids (avoid caffeine), moisturising reularly, avoiding the cold weather when you can and staying in a low humidity area are all ways of reducing this problem.

A fast and very effective way of keeping your skin healthy is exfoliation. When you exfoliate you remove the dead skin cells on the surface, leaving the skin looking dewy all year round. This is especially important in the winter when your skin is more vulnerable to accumulating dead cells than it would normally be.
Exfoliation is very easy and is something you can do as part of your morning routine. I usually do this twice a week, in the shower after I've cleansed my face. Try not to exfoliate too often because you then get rid of most of the protective layer of your skin and it becomes irritable/inflamed.
I know there are a lot of exfoliating agents out there but I am going to tell you about one that I believe really works.

Burt's Bees Citrus Scrub (£8.81 @ boots)









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Ingredients: glycerin, sweet almond oil, sweet almond seed meal, oat kernel flour, citrus sweet orange peel powder, rose flower powder, pecan shell powder, grapefruit extract, nutmeg fruit powder, clove flower powder, rosemary leaf extract, tocopherol (Vit E), soybean oil, water, glucose, fragrance, canola oil, sodium chloride, glucose oxidase, lactoperoxidase, geraniol, limonene.

As you may have guessed I am obsessed with natural products. I love this scrub very much. It comes dry in a 57g glass jar, which I suspect will last for months (at least 3 months I'd say). You only need a tiny amount to work into a paste. I've been using it for about 2 months now and when I use it I can feel it exfoliating away. Sometimes I get to the point where it starts to feel 'tingly' and I know I have to stop scrubbing away. This is why I would not recommend using it more than twice a week- it is quite strong. The orange oil is moisturising and gives it a kind of sweet scent. My skin always feels lighter and softer after I've used this, ready for toning and moisturising.

Do not exfoliate on a day where you use another pore cleansing product e.g a pore cleansing mask or a facial treatment. It will most likely be too harsh for your skin.



The problem with this scrub is that you have to work it into a paste and it takes a while to get going (about 30 secs, which is considerable time if you are rushing in the morning). Also, because of the way it is packaged dry in a glass jar, using it in the shower is a problem. Water can easily get into it and you must not allow that to happen.
If you want to have a ready made scrub then this is not for you, try the Peach and Willowbark Pore Scrub from Burt's Bees (I havn't tried this). There will be inevitably be many exfoliants if you walk into drugstore X or visit any cosmetic website. Find the one that works for you but I sincerely believe that exfoliation is an important step to include in your skin care regime and this is the exfoliant I would recommend.

If you do not live in the UK, I believe you can get this from most drugstores also. I got mine from ecohamster at 8.50 and 1.49 shipping.

Stay beautiful...