If you are struggling to keep focussed and your mind keeps wandering to your summer holiday plans, why not make a start on getting your toiletries organised?

Sensible packing of multi tasking products can make life so much easier when you are away, and of course save on weight allowing you to squeeze in that extra pair (or two!) of shoes.

There are the obvious must haves such as sunscreen and insect repellent, many of which now come in 100ml sized bottles, so even if you are going hand luggage only, with a few sensible choices and sharing your plastic bag allowances among the family, you can easily squeeze in everything you all need.

Super useful items you might not immediately think of include:

Hand Sanitizer – travelling involves a lot of handrails and door handles, eating on the go and not always enough opportunities to wash your hands. Pop one of these in your bag and you always have a fall back option.
(£3.50 for 50ml)

Baby Wipes – not just for people with children, these are brilliant for wiping tables, airline trays, taking your make up off (emergencies only please!), cleaning shoes, and just general freshening up when you feel grubby from all that travelling.
(£3.25 for 72 wipes)

Soap Bars – Even if you usually use shower gel at home, pop a long lasting soap bar in your bag for holidays and you will have plenty for a week or two’s use for the whole family. The equivalent amount of shower gel weighs far too much.
(£2.99 for 100g)

Pure Shea Butter – Intensely moisturising and very long lasting, one lightweight pot will sort you out for body lotion, lip balm, hand cream, foot balm, and you can even use it to fight the frizz on the tips of very dry hair.
(£3.50 for 30g)

Waxing Strips –If like many you always find yourself shaving you legs the night before you go on holiday because despite the best laid plans you never actually made it to the salon for waxing, you NEED a packet of these at home. They are super easy to use, mess free and cost less than the price of an underarm wax to do your whole body.
If you use these once, you will never spend money on beauty salon waxing ever again. They are sol lightweight you can even pop them in your suitcase or carry on and sort out your waxing once you arrive in resort. They really are a MUST have.  Available in specific packs for legs, underarms and bikini too.
(£9.49 for Complete Body Kit)

Mineral Foundation – Excellent for use on holiday as you can have as much or as little coverage as you like. Build it up to cover areas that have seen too much sun or simply dust over to tone down sheen and mattify your complexion. It gives spf 15 sun protection too, so if you wear it during the day it will help protect your skin too.
(£14.99 for 10g)

Happy Summer! 

Now the sun is out we have been receiving lots of questions about why our organic sunscreens don't have the UVA star rating system widely found on conventional sunscreen brands. There's no need to worry, these products do still protect against UVA rays and UVB too, but it's a complex area. Read on and we'll try to help make things clearer.

It is important that sunscreens protect against both UVB and UVA radiation to give protection from the burning (UVB) & the cancer causing / ageing (UVA) rays. The cosmetics industry considers that the UVA protection of a product should be in relation to its SPF.  This means that that the level of UVA protection provided by a product is at least 1/3 ratio of its SPF.

The star rating system was created by Boots and is only licensed to brands that are stocked by Boots in exchange for a license fee and is therefore not something that the organic brands can take part in. That is why you don't see the stars on their packaging. There is a very telling article about this here.

The industry wide symbol for UVA protection in a sunscreen product is a small circle with the word UVA inside it.

We have obtained statements from our 3 main sunscreens brands regarding their UVA rating and these are as follows:

Lovea: “The Lovea sunscreens have the highest possible rating for UVA protection.  This is because the UV screening ingredients are made up entirely of zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. Both these ingredients offer the highest possible protection from UVA & UVB.”

Lavera: “Our UVA filter is a 1:3 ratio, so for every 3 UVB rays the sun product protects you from it will also protect you against 1 UVA ray.  There is also a UVA logo on the front of the sun product to show that it protects against UVA as well.”

Green People: “Our UVA protection is equivalent to 3 stars but unlike the conventional brands our products are packed with great ingredients and help sensitive skin. They are extremely well tolerated by eczema & allergy sufferers too.

• Under testing our SPF30 sun lotions filtered out 81.6% of UVA rays and gave a UVA/UVB ratio in excess of 0.60 of the claimed SPF level which is the standard set in the EU Recommendations.


• SPF15 filtered out 78.2% of UVA rays under testing. Because the SPF is lower, this still exceeded the 0.60 ratio and came in at 3-Star protection under the Boots system”

The advice in the media is to look for the highest SPF possible to protect ourselves and our families. But many people are surprised to find that an SPF50 does not in fact offer double the sun protection of an SPF25. The reality is that an SPF30 sunscreen already offers 97% protection against UVB rays, moving up to an SPF50 only offers 98% just 1% more. 

For some people wearing a high factor such as an SPF50 gives a false sense of security and tempts them to reapply less often and stay in the sun longer than is really sensible. Something they won’t do if they are wearing a lower SPF.

Staying out too long without reapplying seriously increases the risk of UVA sun damage because in order to achieve efficacy of the UVA protection the most important thing you can do is reapply frequently and liberally no matter how high the SPF factor.

We highly recommend the sunscreens we stock at So Organic and we use them on ourselves and our children. If you need any advice or help in choosing the right product please don’t hesitate to get in touch or call us on 020 8465 5600.

We've all put a foot in it from time to time - but if you're going to embarrass the pants off yourself wouldn't you rather do it with pretty feet?

Now I've never been proud of showing off my feet. In fact I find feet a little hard to tolerate at times - mine or anyone elses. But I have noticed the kinder (in attitude) and more caring (in polishing) I am to my curly toed feet, the happier I am to let them out into the world for a walk in the open air.

Here are a few tips on how to get a lovely pair of walkers so that, like me, you'll be brave to bare.
1. Soak your feet in warm oil with a few drops of your favourite bath oil. The Kneipp Stress Free Herbal Bath is a gorgeous oil with an uplifting mandarin and organic fragrance that will help to soften and restore tired, hard feet. Soaking will help to ease the removal of polish and grit between the toes that you may not catch with soap in the shower.

2. Scrub Scrub Scrub for smooth dry and cracked heels. Tropical Bergamot Body Scrub by Organic Surge is excellent for removing dead skin cells. An added bonus - it helps to stimulate the circulation to the feet.

3. Look after your cuticles by pushing back the dead skin that has accumulated in the corners of and under your toenails. With the edge of a nail file and a little Badger Balm Cuticle Care; this is quite easy and rewarding as your toes look like they've had an instant pedicure.

4. Massage with a little intensive moisturiser every night and you're sure to notice the difference in foot loveliness within the week. The best organic foot specific creams we know are the Hydrating Foot Cream by Dr Hauschka, the Reviving Foot Balm by Bentley Organic, the Basis Foot Cream by Lavera and the Foot Balm by Badger.

Buy organic over conventional products for the feet is better for the environment also because of the lack of petro-chemical (oil) based pesticides used to grow ingredients in non-organic products. Reducing your footprint and beautifying your feet naturally - now that's gotta give your feet a nice touch of fineness indeed!

Treat yourself to some new home pedicure products and when you spend £20 or more on anything in our hand and foot department (handwash, foot cream, nail oil, nail polish etc). We include a small pot of the delightful Kneipp Foot Repair Balm completely FREE. Better be quick, its only while stocks last.

So Organic shows us how to update our look for the coming season with spring with make up tips to leave you feeling in the pink.

Step 1. Create the perfect base.

Getting flawless looking skin doesn’t always mean piling on tonnes of heavy products. A tinted moisturiser to even out skin tone and give you a glow will create a natural fresh faced look just right for spring, without looking caked.

Step2. Enhance what you have.

If you have beautiful almond shaped eyes or a perfectly shaped lips, work with that feature and choose products to accentuate it. Allow either your eyes or your lips to lead the look, if you go for both you’re in danger of looking far too heavily made up.

Step 3. Try something different.

It’s all too easy to get stuck in a make up rut, using the same products day after day, year after year. But seasons change, and so do we. As we age we need to update our make up to ensure it still flatters our skin tone and style. Change one small thing and feel like a new woman. A gorgeous shade of eye shadow or a fabulous new lip gloss will give you a huge confidence boost without breaking the bank.

Step 4. Nurture your nails.

Taking a little extra care of your hands, by remembering to use a good hand cream and perhaps having the occasional manicure will pay dividends. Well groomed hands and nails complete your look and now the weathers warming up and it’s time for the gloves to come off, if you’ve been neglecting yours now’s the time to put things right.

Browse all of our spring make up selections...

If you need any help in choosing products, or have any questions on concerns about any aspect of beauty and skin care, drop us an email. We’d love to help.

Give yourself a mini facial at home with our easy to follow step by step guide and reap the skin care benefits. The products we recommend all use certified organic ingredients and are free from parabens, SLS, synthetic fragrance and other undesirable ingredients.

Paying a little extra care to your skin care is a simple way to pamper yourself and eliminating harsh ingredients from your routine often brings comfort and harmony to skin that  is stressed, sensitive or out of balance.

This mini home facial treatment is perfect to help you wind down after a long day, use slow gentle movements as you apply and inhale gently after each stage of the facial to calm the mind.

Mini Facial  - Step by Step:

1) Prepare a warm basin of water; two drops of Lavender essential oil or Dr Hauschka lavender bath gives a wonderful fragrance and helps hard water feel gentler on the skin.

2) Warm face with flannel or muslin cloth; when face is warm apply cleanser in upward circular movements, then remove with the warm cloth for a mild exfoliation.

3) Apply your favourite mask, and relax for a few minutes while it does its work.

4) Remove with a fresh muslin cloth and warm water.

5) Apply facial toner; either spray on the whole face or apply to cotton wool pads for deep hydration.

6) Make sure skin is dry; apply an appropriate moisturiser in upwards smoothing movements, avoiding the eyes.

7) Tapping your eye cream on gently relieves puffiness and swelling, ensure you do not put too close to the eye, on the bone is perfect.

8) Take a couple of minutes to massage in your facial oil. Oils are deeply nourishing and give the skin a real glow.

9) Finally relax wile you sip a warm cup of organic herbal tea, (we like organic hibiscus which is packed with antioxidants to boost skin function), before getting an early night and topping up on your beauty sleep.

If you have any questions or need help choosing the products that would be right for your skin we are here to help. Take our online skin consultation to help you discover your skin type and email or call us on 020 8465 5600 for one to one advice.