Organic face oil could be just what your skin needs this winter...

If the changing seasons have left your skin feeling out of sorts, it could be time to add a little extra pampering to your routine.

When the temperature changes, skin can be left feeling parched. The featherweight serums of summer just don't have enough oomph to leave your skin comfortable once the colder weather arrives. One simple solution could be to boost to your skincare routine with the addition of organic facial oil.

Packed with essential fatty acids, which help to nourish the skin and protect the skin’s natural acid mantle, facial oils deliver an intense moisture hit to your skin. Applied to freshly cleansed damp skin they absorb beautifully, and will not leave your skin greasy. Go sparingly just 1 or 2 drops massaged in until absorbed, is usually enough.

Facial Oil can often be the perfect solution if you find your foundation is not sitting well on your skin too. Particularly if you find it absorbs too quickly and feels like its dragging as you try to blend it. Simply apply a couple of drops of facial oil and then put your foundation on top. it will help the foundation spread smoothly over the skin and then as the oil absorbs it will leave your foundation beautifully blended with a dewy finish.

Seed & kernel oils such as jojoba, rose hip, argan and borage, have a fine texture which make them absorb rapidly in to the skin without leaving feelings of greasiness, even on skin prone to oiliness.

Our organic face oils are packed with pure organic seed oils with amazing skincare benefits rather than highly refined and processed oils that contain additives and petroleum based by products. They really are a treat for your skin and are a sure fire way to give your summer skincare routine an upgrade. 

If your New Year’s resolutions involve getting yourself into shape and sorting out your diet then don’t underestimate the positive effects of caring for yourself on the outside too.

Rewarding all that exercise and healthy eating with a regular home spa session is the perfect way to give yourself a little treat that won’t pile on the pounds. Stuck to the diet all week? Pamper yourself with a gorgeous mask or new lipstick. Hit your exercise goals? Why not treat yourself to a new body brush or arnica massage oil to help soothe your muscles rather than rewarding yourself with a chunk of cake.

These are treats that will build on your progress to date and make you feel even better.

Body Brushing

Dry skin brushing is the perfect way to invigorate your skin. Long firm strokes towards the heart with a firm dry brush increase the blood flow; slough away dead skin cells, and leave skin glowing. Add dry skin brushing to your daily routine before your morning shower and be amazed at how quickly skin becomes softer and smoothed. 

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Massage

Much as we would love to have a personal massage therapist on hand, let’s be realistic, it’s just not going to be happening daily. However, that’s no reason to forget about massage altogether. Self massage with organic body oil can be extremely therapeutic.

Applied to damp skin after a shower organic body oil will help to trap hydration in the skin and because it’s pure oil, it delivers more intense moisture than a body lotion could ever do. Perfect if your skin is prone to dryness.

Take a little extra time to massage your feet, lower back and places where you hold tension and feel truly nurtured whenever you need it.

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Masks

Every time I eventually get around to using a face mask I wonder why I don’t do it more often. The best way is to cleanse thoroughly, use a face scrub and then apply the mask and let it do it's work while you lie back and relax in the bath for 15-20 minutes. Rinse off and moisturise all over before heading off for an early night – Sheer heaven!

Diary an appointment with your bathroom 1-2 times per week for a relaxing soak and mask session, it never fails to leave you feeling pampered.

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Just writing this makes me want to go out for a run and then come home for a pamper session.

Wishing you lots of motivation for your New Year, New You routine.  Stick with it and you will get there. Don’t try to overhaul your life overnight, instead focus on making one small change at a time. Over time those small changes will add up to a big transformation.

Don’t give up -and remember to reward yourself for your efforts along the way. Happy New Year!

Top tips for keeping your hands and nails in beautiful condition... naturally.

We use them all the time, but many of us fail to give our hands any sort of care and attention at all. We lovingly slather on the lotions and potions to keep our faces young and beautiful, protect them from the sun and dutifully use our scrubs and masks. But how often do we give our hands the same care? Make time for a little bit of home hand care and it will really pay dividends.

Little and often

It doesn’t have to be complicated, buy a few tubes of organic hand cream and leave them in strategic places; your desk, handbag, next to the sink and then just apply a little bit each time you notice the tube! It will pay off and in no time at all your hands will be looking better, feeling softer and you’ll be well on the way to improving your nails too.

 Intense moisture hit

At the very least keep a really rich organic hand cream or hand balm next to your bed and apply some each night before going to sleep. That way your hands will get a little care at least once a day.

File sparingly

Files your nails little and often with a gentle glass file or emery board (never use a metal file they’re just too harsh). Keep several around the house and in your desk and hand bag so that the minute you feel a snag or rough edge you can smooth it out properly rather than resorting to nibbling!

Scrub until smooth

Exfoliate your hands one or twice a week, pour about a teaspoonful of salt into the palm of your hand, mix in a little oil (either plain vegetable oil or your favourite body oil, either will do) and massage it all together. Rub over the backs of your hands and between the fingers as well as over the palms. Massage around the finger tips too (avoiding any cuts of course as it will sting) as this will help with softening and loosening your cuticles

Cuticle Care

If you care for your hands regularly, you’ll find that the cuticles stay looking great without much effort. If you do anything to them at all, simply massage in a few drops of cuticle oil and use an orange wood stick to gently push them back. Steer clear of tools to cut and clip your cuticles, leave that to the professionals as you risk introducing infections and damaging your nail bed if you get it wrong. 

Limit polish

There’s no such thing as totally natural nail varnish. In my experience water based ones don’t work and for me unless a product does its job properly there’s no point using it. The most natural finish for your nails is to gently buff them to a natural shine, which on well cared for nails looks like a beautiful French polish. If you must use nail varnish then go for one that is as free from nasties as possible, Orly is a good professional quality one which is 3 free (i.e. Free from DBP, Formaldehyde and Toluene). It gives a really long lasting professional finish. We have just added the Benecos Natural Nail Polish to our range too; these have a 5 free formula which means they don’t contain DBP, Formaldehyde, Toluene, Camphor or Colophony.

Home manicure essentials.

Skin Blossom Rose Geranium Hand Cream £5.95 for 75ml

Dr Hauschka Neem Nail Oil £16.25

Badger Balm Cuticle Care Balm £4.99 for 21g

Orly Nail Varnish £5.60 for 5.3ml or £10.50 for 18ml

Visit us online for all your organic beauty treats. For expert beauty advice call me and my team of products specialists on 0800 169 2579 or email us with your questions.

Why cleanse? It cleans your skin of the pollutants, oil, and other pore clogging toxins that you either release from the inside through perspiration or accumulate from the environment. It is perhaps the simplest beauty technique to keeping your skin vibrant and fresh, and it's takes less than a minute to do.

Cleansing is a no brainer for healthy looking skin. But, like any fine recipe for beauty, we must use the finest ingredients if we want to have the greatest effect. That's where organic cleansers come in.

Here are two of our best value natural cleansers and all you need is a little water and gentle fingertips to let these lovelies do their job.

The Cream Cleanser by New Zealand brand Trilogy is one of our most popular products. It contains organic rose hip oil which is an exceptional active ingredient to help with the regeneration process of our skin cells and the repair of damaged tissues.

The Green Beauty Bible said that this was one of the best products (of 80 different cleansers) they tested and that it had ‘perfect texture - creamy-rich but not greasy or too thick... skin felt very moisturised'. It comes in a recyclable 200ml pump container that seems to last far longer than most of our other cleansers.

The best organic budget buy is the 2 in 1 Cleansing Milk by Lavera Basis. It has been specially formulated for extra sensitive skin so is good to use around the eyes - great for removing eye make up. This vegan cleanser/eye make up remover is certified by Natrue. It contains pure plant oils, and herb extracts including organic jojoba, witch hazel and shea butter.

We find that the best way to cleanse is to massage the product into the skin and then remove with a warm, damp Muslin Face Cloth. This will get skin super clean and gently exfoliate at the same time. If you wear a lot of eye make up you might want to wipe with away with damp cotton wool pads to prevent your muslins getting too grubby, but it's not essential. The perfect finishing touch is a refreshing splash of cool water before you apply your toner (if you use one) and moisturiser. Cleanse properly every evening before bed and your skin with thank you with a healthy radiant glow. Enjoy.

New season skin care tips for Autumn.

Now’s the time to give your skin the boost it needs to cope with the heating being turned on and the arrival of the autumn chill in the air. Here are my top picks of new season skin care at its best. 

 Protect…
One of the pioneers of natural beauty, Dr Hauschka makes highly effective skincare whilst sticking to the strictest biodynamic principles, so I never need question the integrity of their ingredients. When confronted with cold weather reach for their Rose Day Cream £29.50 for immediate relief. This super rich moisturiser is excellent for protecting cheeks and noses from cold, wind and harsh weather. Don’t go on autumn walks without it. It’s made with organic Avocado and Shea Butter, rich moisturisers provided by nature to give intensive protection from the elements.

 Perfect…
For Autumn Organic Surge has a selection of products in their Extra Care range that is ideal for sorting out cold weather skincare woes. These truly are deeply luxurious products at a great value price.

The full range is in stock now and has been specially formulated to reveal a renewed, revived and radiant complexion.  Organic Surge’s clean skin care policy means that you can be sure that whilst being packed with bio actives and skin boosting ingredients; these products contain no parabens, synthetic fragrance or petrochemicals.  I absolutely love their Intensive Soothing Serum £23.50, for giving my skin a moisture boost and healthy, plumped glow. Team it with their Replenishing Facial Oil £23.50, and you have a powerful partnership of product to tackle both dryness and dehydration of the skin, the two main autumnal skin complaints.  Both are great boosts to your existing skin care regime; just apply under your usual day or night cream.

 Repair…
One last tip! Don’t wait for your lips to crack before you grab your new season lip balm. Choose a pure organic salve now and slick on regularly to keep your lips soft and kissably smooth whatever the weather. My must-have balm is by Dr Hauschka and comes in a pot (£10.25) or a stick (£9.25). Yes it’s pricey, but oh so worth it, your lips will thank you! Enjoy.

To make things easier, we've put lots of products ideal for the colder weather into one easy to shop department. 

If you have any questions on concerns about any aspect of natural skin care, drop me an email to help@SoOrganic.com. I’d love to help.