Summer of 2014 – Bronzed, healthy, glowing summer Tip #6: Stay Hydrated!

Tags

Caudalie, face mist, grape water, L'Occitane, Melvita, Omorovicza, review, rose water, skincare, summer 2014, thermal water, trio verde, Uriage

To maintain your skin looking healthy during the summer heat it is very important to keep yourself hydrated.

To do so you need to drink a lot of water have balanced meals with lots of vegetables and light meat and to eat more fresh fruits.

But you can also help your hydration process from outside by using face mists, face waters or thermal waters.

Here you have a few of my favourites!

From L’Occitane the Verveine Fresh Summer Mist is a face mist enriched with organic verbena  extract. It comes in a spray tube which you have to keep at a few cetimeters away from your face when you spitz it, to get the mist evenly on your face. The oil-free mist is very fine, and the verbena extract has a refreshing citrusy scent. After applying it, you instantly feel more comfortable and refreshed.

My next pick is another L’Occitane one, the Hydra Vital Face Mist à L’Eau d’Angelique Bio. It instantly refreshes and hydrates your skin. You can use it in the city, while traveling, at the beach or after exercise. It is a perfect step in your skin care routine or to achieve a long-lasting makeup finish.

The next one is the Omorovicza Queen of Hungary Mist a refreshing and calming rose water which originally comes in a luxurious glass bottle. Here I have the 30 ml, travel-sized one. I have a complete review about this and a few other Omorovicza best sellers here.

Another favourite of mine is the Melvita Damask Rose Floral Water. This is a hydrating and regenerating face water certified organic and with ingredients coming exclusively from fair trade. This floral water is obtained by steam distilation of fresh Rosa Damascena petals which makes it rich in active ingredients. It has a fresh, delicate rose scent and helps hydrate and regenerate the skin.

You can use it as a toner, for that cleansing step in your skincare routine. Highly tolerable, extremely beneficial for sensitive skins.

Next we have the Caudalie Grape Water and the most infamous in the beauty world, the Caudalie Beauty Elixir.

The Caudalie Grape Water comes in a spray can. It is a moisturizing, smoothing and refreshing water made of 100% organic grape extracts. It is preservative-free, fragrance-free. The mist is so fine and it has to be left to dry on its own and not to be rubbed onto the face after spraying.

The Caudalie Beauty Elixir, on the other hand is a more complex product. I am not going to give you too many details on this particular one, as I am sure you all used it or at least heard of it. It is a mixture of natural oils ( Grape, Orange blossom, Rose, Balm mint, Rosemary ) meant to help you achieve a smoother, glowing complexion. You can use it as a toner, to set your makeup with it or simply to refresh your face.

All Caudalie products are made of natural ingredients and they are cruelty-free.

The next two items are 100% natural. They are the Trio Verde Mint Water and Melissa Water. The Mint Water is calming and soothing and helps refresh your tired complexion. The Melissa Water calms and refreshes all skin types: the sensitive skin receives gentle and calming care and the mature skin receives hydration and smoothness.

They are good to use for face, body and hair and to remove makeup.

More on Trio Verde products on my previous posts here and here.

Last but not least, good to hydrate your skin during the hot summer heat is the good, old thermal water. The one I particularly love at the moment is the Uriage Eau Thermale d’Uriage an hypoallergenic formula excellent for sensitive skin which hydrates, soothes and it has an anti-free radicals action ( = prevents aging ), and an anti-inflammatory action. It is the thermal water with the highest concentration of minerals. It is also fragrance-free and easy to carry in your handbag. To use whenever you need a refresh!

These were my favourite face waters/mists to use during the summer to hydrate my skin! What are yours?

See you soon, beautiful!

xx, Annie

TRIO VERDE – coconut and apricot oils

Tags

apricot oil, coconut oil, cold pressed, eco oils, hair, help, mask, nature, organic, raw, review, romania, skincare, trio verde, winter

First of all HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY beautiful people!

I have been in a healthy kick lately. I exercise more, I’m more careful with WHAT and WHEN I’m eating and I’m drinking more water… Also, I’m trying to use more organic skincare and makeup products and I’ve discovered that even my hair likes better, shampoos without as many sulfates, even if there are less bubbles involved! And you should know that I have this thing for bubbles! They make me happy!

In my quest to be healthier I made a lot of research. But I remembered that the simple things work best! “Less is more”, they say… So I remembered I liked a page on Facebook that proposed healthy products: oils, body butters, natural waters enriched with plant extracts… It was TRIO VERDE‘s page.

I wanted some coconut and apricot oils. So I ordered some coconut oil and apricot oil. But on their website, they have a variety of bio oils: argan oil, avocado oil, apricot oil, coconut oil, jojoba and macadamia oils, almond oil and carrot oil with a helpful description for each product – what is it for, how was it made…

The package came in 48 hours ( Oh, joy! ) and when I opened it… There they were! My Cold Pressed Coconut Oil and my Apricot Oil.

The coconut oil smelled ah-mazing. The benefits of the coconut oil are well known: rich in saturated fats ( 90% concentration ), lauric acid and vitamin E it is a good antioxidant and prevents premature aging but also helps cure some skin affections like dermatitis, psoriasis, eczema and other skin infections. It’s a good hair treatment helping it regenerate, grow faster and ads shine to it. Helps with dandruff too.

But the apricot one smelled like a regular oil – this let me down a little. But not for too long because when I applied it on my face and lips, my skin felt so soft and smooth… I loved it! Enriched with vitamins A and E, this oil is found in almost every care product for children. It’s emollient, but not greasy. It has lots of linoleic acids that fight against aging, dryness and skin irritations. 

HOW I used this oils:

– COCONUT OIL: I incorporated it in a handmade hair mask. I took one tsp of coconut oil, heated it in the microwave to make it more “liquid” I added one tsp of castor oil ( or Palma Christi – Ricinus Communis ) and one egg yolk, mixed all together and applied it on my dry hair. You, guys, don’t want to see how ridiculous I looked!… After 30 minutes I washed my hair as I usually do and let it air dry by itself… My hair was soft, shiny and easy to brush. And the smell… OH! the smell… If you like coconut scented things like I do, you know what I’m talking about.

– APRICOT OIL: I used it as a treatment on my face, at night and also in a scrub I made myself. The scrub was made of a few tsp of grounded coffee, a pinch of sea salt, some olive oil and a lot of apricot oil… Rubbed everything on dump skin, rinsed it all clean and after that my skin didn’t felt dry nor itchy anymore.

I still use this scrub every other day and the hair mask once a week.

The retail price for these oils is 5-6 euros for a 100 ml of coconut oil and 4 euros for 50 of apricot oil. For the apricot oil I found an offer with buy one get one free so I got 100 ml of pure organic cold pressed oil for an infinitesimal price.

I hope you enjoyed my experience with these oils. Please tell me if you used it, and how…

Have fun today with your loved ones!

See you soon!

xx, Annie