Naturalla Beauty

I have a lot of love for the many fabulous serums and oil blends out there, but sometimes - particularly if my skin is acting up - I appreciate the simplicity of individual oils.  They tend to be fairly inexpensive and I love the option of being able to use one by itself or mix and match a few to maximize the specific properties I'm looking for.  Let's talk about the four I've been head over heels for this summer...


Hazelnut Oil
I picked this up out of curiosity, after I noticed hazelnut oil in the ingredients lists of more than one of my favorite serums.  Hazelnut oil has astringent properties, so it's excellent for oilier complexions and balancing oil production.  That said, my skin is more normal-to-dry and I adore it.  It's light and absorbs quickly, but also provides a good amount of moisture.  

Marula Oil
Marula is a wonderful, multi-purpose oil that's especially high in essential fatty acids and Vitamins C and E.  It has a pretty light texture, but I do find it takes a couple minutes to fully sink into my skin.  I also like using it on the ends of my hair.

Tamanu Oil
I'm pretty sure Nicole of EcoChicBeautyDiva has been urging me to try tamanu oil for years, but I never got around to it.  In the end, it was a clumsy twist of fate that I got my hands on a partial bottle after it got damaged in the health food store I used to work in.  I've had it for several months now and I just wish I'd picked it up sooner!  Tamanu is known for healing virtually any kind of skin ailment - everything from acne to burns, rashes, fungus, cuts, and more.  The scent is pretty pungent, but if my skin starts breaking out, it's become one of the first things I reach for.  One application before bed, and I wake up to visibly clearer skin.  As an everyday oil, the results are less spectacular - or at least less noticeable - so I usually reserve it for just those times when my skin is acting up.

Jojoba Oil
Jojoba has been a staple in my cabinet for quite some time.  Technically a liquid wax, not an oil, jojoba closely resembles the natural sebum your skin produces and is one of the most gentle oils you can use.  If I ever need to completely scale back and simplify my routine, I use plain jojoba oil.  Otherwise, I often mix it with others - both individual oils and oils blends and serums.  It's great for removing makeup too and I also like to mix a few drops into face masks.

What are your favorite oils?

I first connected with HoneyColony on Twitter back in December and was immediately curious to learn more.  HoneyColony is a fairly new magazine and marketplace geared towards people interested in adopting healthier lifestyles.  Through an interesting mix of articles and community contribution, HoneyColony offers a wealth of healthy living information as well as a marketplace where you can purchase carefully curated products.  

In their own words -
Sounds pretty great, right?  As an added perk, HoneyColony also awards BeeBucks for sharing articles, reviewing products, and referring friends.  Once the BeeBucks add up, you can redeem them for discounts off any product for sale in the shop.  This short video further explains the full HoneyColony concept:



HoneyColony also generously offered to send me a product to review and I chose to try PurO3's Ozonated Organic Jojoba Oil.  

Let's start off with some science.  (Not too much, I promise.)

Ozone contains three oxygen atoms, as opposed to the two in the oxygen we breathe.  The extra oxygen atom becomes a scavenger, destroying pollutants, bacteria, viruses, odors, free radicals and more.  For this reason, ozone has historically been used to disinfect operating rooms, sterilize surgical instruments, purify water, and kill bacteria and viruses.  Today, ozone is also used in a variety of applications in holistic dentistry and alternative medicine.  I was curious to see how this would translate into skincare!



PurO3's oils were a new concept to me, whereby pure ozone is bubbled through and slowly infused into raw oils.  The oil captures and preserves the ozone and takes on a gel or cream consistency that is easily applied to the skin.  The creamy oil is kind of a halfway point between a liquid oil and a cream.  Different oils hold more or less ozone, depending on the oil's percentage of Omega 3, 6, and 9 fatty acids.  Oils on the lower end of the spectrum, like coconut and jojoba, typically absorb better, while ozonated hemp oil, which holds the most ozone, absorbs poorly and tends to act as more of a water-resistant salve.  According to PurO3, ozonated oils have been used extensively in Europe for decades and can help the appearance of blemishes, age spots, fine lines and wrinkles, and soothe minor skin irritations, dry skin, redness, bug bites and more.  

Since I'm already a huge fan of regular jojoba oil, I expected to love the ozonated version.  I really wanted to love it.  Unfortunately, the smell really does this product in for me.  As HoneyColony writes, "since [the oil] is saturated with oxygen and ozone, when you open the lid, it smells like a lightning bolt just went off nearby."  Now I've never actually smelled a lightning bolt, but reading that description conjured up an idea of a light, clean scent.  Instead, the ozone is, to me anyways, quite heavy and overpowering.  It's also not a smell that dissipates quickly.  

Bearing that in mind, when I use the ozonated oil on my face, the results are glowing, hydrated, plump skin, just as promised.  The oil is a cream consistency in the jar, but it melts into the skin and, much like liquid jojoba, absorbs easily, without any greasy residue.  The problem is, because of the smell, it's a product I really have to force myself to use.  HoneyColony also sells a lavender-scented jojoba oil, but I'm not sure ozone is the kind of scent that can be covered up.  My attempts at layering other scented products (and even straight essential oils) on top of the unscented jojoba did very little to counteract the ozone smell.



The Bottom Line
HoneyColony is a great resource that successfully straddles the line between magazine, social media, and online store.  The site has a lot of quality content and good information to share and I love the emphasis on community engagement! 

I was somewhat less enamored with PurO3's Ozonated Jojoba Oil, though only because of the strong smell.  If you're familiar with how ozone smells and don't think you'd be bothered by it, I do think PurO3's ozonated oils are worth trying.  If you're more sensitive to smells or just not sure, I recommend sniffing the oils in person or trying to track down samples.

Are you familiar with HoneyColony or ozonated oils?  Let me know in the comments!



Disclosure: Product provided for review.  I was under no obligation to write a positive review in return for free product, nor was I compensated for this post.  All opinions are my own.

Even though I've fallen hard for face oils over the last several months, there are still times when I want that familiar, comforting feel of rubbing in a cream moisturizer.  On my nightstand recently: Nürish Organics' Rejuven-EIGHT Day Cream.  

Photo from Nürish Organics

Rejuven-EIGHT is, if you'll excuse the pun, a nürishing moisturizer that's packed with ingredients that protect and regenerate your skin.  A combination of pomegranate seed extract and anti-oxidant rich oils of red grape, carrot seed, raspberry seed, blueberry seed, cranberry seed, and broccoli seed deeply hydrates your skin and minimizes free radical damage.  These ingredients also protect against future environmental stress and sun damage.  Manuka honey (OMA 16+) moisturizes and is antibacterial and anti-inflammatory.  It's also known to repair damaged skin and support skin cell regeneration.  Last but not least, rhassoul clay - rich in silica, magnesium, iron, calcium, potassium, and sodium - evens skin tone and improves skin clarity, texture, and elasticity.

As the name suggests, Rejuven-EIGHT is intended as a day moisturizer, but I actually prefer using it at night. It's lightweight, sinks in quickly and provides a good base for applying makeup on top of, but I found that my skin ended up more shiny than usual midway through the afternoon on days when I used Rejuven-EIGHT as a morning moisturizer.  Nighttime use, on the other hand, means I can liberally slather on as much cream as I want and my skin has a full eight or more hours to soak up all the antioxidants and other nutrients the moisturizer has to offer.  Despite it's light feel, I gather it was just a little too much moisture for my skin during the day, as I've had no further issues with excess oil or shine since switching to using it at night.  

The Bottom Line
Rejuven-EIGHT may not have worked as well as I'd hoped as a day cream, but I love using it as a nighttime moisturizer!  It smooths on easily and works well, both on its own or in combination with a face oil, and in the morning, I wake up with glowy, soft skin.  I've also noticed less redness since I started using this product.  The ingredients are predominantly organic and it smells lovely - sweet and a little fruity.  It's a subtle scent that's never overpowering and dissipates within a few minutes of application.  Definitely a hit in my book!

Where to Buy: $49 from Nürish/Saffron Rouge

Ingredients: Purified Water, Prunus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oleosomes*, Decaglyceryl Decaoleate (Vegetable Source), Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Fruit Butter*, Cetyl Alcohol (Vegetable Source), Leptospermum Scoparium (Active Manuka) Honey*, Moroccan Lava (Rhassoul) Clay, Glycerin (Vegetable Source), Stearic Acid (Vegetable Source), Beeswax Wax*, Punica Granatum (Pomegranate Seed) Extract*, Vitis Vinifera (Ruby Red Grape) Seed Oil*, Daucus Carota Sativa (Carrot) Seed Oil*, Rubus Idaeus (Raspberry) Seed Oil*, Vaccinium Corymbosum (Blueberry) Seed Oil*, Vaccinium Macrocarpon (Cranberry) Seed Oil, Brassica Oleracea Italica (Broccoli) Seed Oil*, Tocopherols (Full Spectrum Naturally Sourced Vitamin E), Sclerotium Gum, Cananga Odorata (Ylang Ylang) Flower Oil*, Citrus Sinensis (Sweet Orange) Oil*, Benzyl Alcohol, Dehydroacetic Acid. (*Denotes Organic Ingredient)



Disclosure: Product provided for review.  I was under no obligation to write a positive review in return for free product, nor was I compensated for this post.  All opinions are my own.

It's no secret that I've become slightly obsessed with face masks recently.  There's just something lovely and luxurious about taking the time to pamper, treat, and nourish your skin, and any awesome skin results that come afterwards are just icing on the cake!  Clay masks are some of my favorites, but if left on too long, they can sometimes leave my face feeling tight, stripped, or sensitive.  Which is why I'm so happy to have discovered EvanHealy's French Rose Clay.  A simple blend of pink kaolin and Moroccan rhassoul clays, it's remarkably effective but also very gentle and never leaves my skin in any distress.

The powdered clay is extremely soft and velvety.  It's more finely milled than most clays I've encountered, which produces a slightly thinner consistency of mask.  I usually like to mix in a couple drops each of jojoba and frankincense oils, and then just enough water to hold it all together.  The mask feels cool and refreshing as you apply it and it's amazing at sucking all the gunk and oil out of your pores.  In fact, one of the gross-but-awesome things about EvanHealy's mask is that you can actually see the stuff that is being pulled out of your pores as the clay absorbs it, so there's no question as to whether or not it's doing something.

After washing the mask off, my skin feels soft, clean, and refreshed.  My pores look clear, any blackheads are gone, and I don't experience any redness or dry skin.  I still follow up with an oil and/or moisturizer, but that's as a regular part of my routine, not because I'm feeling a desperate need to infuse as much moisture back into my skin as possible.

The Bottom Line
If you're looking for an effective clay mask that's suitable for all skin types (even sensitive!), I don't think you can do any better than EvanHealy's French Rose Clay.  It's excellent at decongesting the skin and great for keeping pores clean and skin looking vibrant.  Even my Mom - who is usually pretty low maintenance with her skincare - is a recent convert.  The results speak for themselves and she's a fan now too!

Where to Buy: $21.95 from EvanHealy

What are your favorite masks?

What I got: Zuzu Luxe Mascara in Onyx, Zuzu Luxe Lipstick in Sazerac, Zuzu Luxe Lip Liner in Fraise, Gabriel Color Eye Liner in Black and Samples of Zuzu Luxe Lipstick in Starlet and Indulgence [swatches and reviews to follow]