Intelligent Nutrients comes to the UK!

Another exciting new organic brand has hit our shelves. Intelligent Nutrients arrived here in the UK in September and is already causing quite a stir. Horst Rechelbacher, the brains behind the brand, is no stranger to making waves in the beauty industry; he founded Aveda back in 1978 by combining his hairdressing skills with his extensive knowledge of the plant world. He began with hair care products and went on to develop skincare and make-up, choosing ingredients that respected skin along with his strong green ethics.

After building the company for twenty years he sold it to Estee Lauder, a controversial move to say the least. Horst consulted for Aveda for a short while before continuing on with his own environmental work. It is this that led him to his new venture, Intelligent Nutrients. Spurred on by the belief that anything you put on your skin should be pure enough to eat, all products are certified organic and food grade. The whole range encompasses a lifestyle choice and even extends to pet care, looking after our fury friends too. Only a small selection is currently available in the UK to tickle our taste buds.

The anti-aging skincare range consists of just four products – a cleanser, mist, serum and moisturizer. Each one contains the brand’s signature Antioxidant Intellimune Seed Oil Complex as well as other nutritious ingredients to boost, nourish and protect. Delicious caramel, raspberry, vanilla and coconut make the lip care products good enough to eat (which technically you could, but that would make quite an expensive habit!) The haircare range includes one shampoo, one conditioner and four multi-tasking styling products, which should cover most hair requirements.

We really like the simplicity of the range as it makes it easy to use and helps to stop the over use of products. The sleek packaging would look just as at home in a male or female bathroom cabinet, so it’s good for all to try, and of course we love the clean hard-working ingredients. To make things even better Intelligent Nutrients is a non-profit making organization with all profits being put into cancer and medical research as well as organic and sustainable foundations. What is there not to like?!

Find Intelligent Nutrients at Whole Foods, Kensington and online  – Lovelula, Naturisimo, Feelunique.com, Beauty Bazaar and Being Content.

One for the boys…

Boys can often be neglected when it comes to grooming products, but we know you like to look after yourselves as well! Male skin can suffer with acne, dryness and sensitivity, as well as battling against the elements and general living. To top it off, many high street brands are full of synthetic ingredients, which can make matters worse. Step in Organic Homme by Green People, with their 10-strong range of products designed with the modern man in mind.  Each one is packed full of goodness to tackle any skin concerns and help keep you looking ship-shape.

The ‘Good To Go’ Travel Pack is a brilliant introduction to the range, with 50ml versions of four hero products.  The Scrub It Exfoliator will help smooth skin out by sloughing off dead skin cells and is great to use before shaving.  Follow it up with the Shave Now Wash and Shave, a simultaneous face wash and shave gel.  The Cool Style Shower Wash is also in the pack along with the Itch Away Shampoo which can really help calm a dry flaky scalp.  The pack is £20 and is limited edition so don’t miss out!

Junky Styling have created a bespoke sustainable washbag to go with the travel pack so you can look stylish on the move.  You can buy the two together for £35.

Organic September

It’s that time again: time to get our your muddy carrots and wave them around to celebrate The Soil Association’s Organic September. Why? Well, shopping organic means less chemicals in your system, a happier environment, better animal welfare, protected wildlife and no GMs. And you can’t say fairer than that. Here are EggMag’s picks for enjoying organic in all aspects of your life.

PLANET ORGANIC
Having just popped in to visit their new store in Devonshire Square, London, Planet Organic have indelibly inked themselves in as our favourite whole foods retailer. This new shoppy, in particular, tickles our fancy with its amazingly clean water bar courtesy of Pure H2O and it’s large selection of organic beers and wines. Try the Sam Smiths Organic Lager (£2.19 per bottle). They also have a large beauty section, selling such delights as John Masters hair care. (The Honey and Hibiscus Hair Reconstructing Shampoo, £27 for 177ml is a dream for post-holiday hair). And, of course, you can peruse their large selection of food or have a meal from their astonishingly good lunch bar (hot and cold).

THE HARVEST COCOA CLUB POP-UP DINING CLUB
Niko B Organic Chocolates are hosting this desserts only pop-up dining experience. Teaming up with Stoke Newington’s Growing Communities Farmer’s Market, they will offer a four course, totally organic, locally-grown menu including such lip-lickers as Cocoa Cake and Chocolate and Raspberry Mint Truffle Cocktails. Wow. Click here for more.

LOVE LULA
This organic apothecary stocks all sorts of wonderful natural beauty, skin care and health products. You won’t go far wrong filling your bathroom cabinet up here. We love Evolve’s Mega Omega Moisture Cream (200ml for £12.99) and Dr Hauschka’s Volume Mascara (£19.95 for 10ml)

THE DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE
This is the UK’s only certified organic gastropub. Everything you buy here is organic and it’s a treat. Set in the residential backstreets of Islington (London) enjoy the large airy space, an incredible selection of natural drinks and a mouth-watering seasonal menu to boot. Find it here.

FASHION CONSCIENCE
Probably the biggest and best retailer specialising in ethical fashion, this online shop has plenty of pieces to choose from that are made with organic fabrics. From shirts to trousers via shoes and back, you name it, they stock it. We are loving this Mudd & Water organic cotton breton-style tee, £44.85.

For a list of UK-wide organic events taking place this month, click here.

 

Beauty newsflash: an exciting organic new brand hits our shelves…

This month we are very excited about the arrival of organic beauty brand Vapour to the UK.  Fresh from the States, this make-up line is pushing the capabilites of organic cosmetics.  A blend of 70% certified organic ingredients and 30% minerals and vitamins, teamed with responsible production and packaging, makes this range a winner in our books.

Organic make-up can still suffer with the reputation of not living up to its synthetic counterparts.  We think this line will help change that way of thinking.  Smooth textures glide onto the skin, making it look and feel great.  The colour range is superb with a foundation for all skin tones, making natural beauty accessible for all.  The Stratus Soft Focus Skin Perfector is becoming a firm favourite for glowing complexions along with the Plumping Gloss for a gorgeous pout.

Vapour Organic Beauty has already won awards in the US and is building a strong celebrity fan base including Gywneth Paltrow.  We’ve joined the fan club and we hope you will too!  The range is currently exclusive in the UK to Content Beauty/Wellbeing.

Elixir Lip Plumping Gloss £18 for 4.5ml

‘Tis the season…

EggMag’s fashion editor Zoe Robinson explains how to do nuptials, naturally

The royal wedding may be a distant memory, but for many of us, wedding season is in full swing. For the perfect wedding accessories look no further than the sublime creations of A Alicia who crafts beautiful pieces from vintage, organic and fair trade fabrics.  There is something for everyone, from blue vintage satin garters for the bride (something old, new and blue), stunning and simple fascinators for bridesmaids or wedding guests, and pinholes for the groom and ushers.

Oh, and she also runs workshops too – perfect for some stylish hen afternoon fun (and you get to come away with something beautiful, rather than just a hangover and hazy memories of drunken hen night exploits you’d really rather forget)

If you don’t happen to have any wedding invites this year, and listening to music in a muddy field is more your thing, A Alicia has got festival season covered too with a gorgeous array of colourful pieces that would stylishly accessorise a straw Trilby and wellingtons.

If you’re going to Lovebox next weekend, have a look for A Alicia’s stall where you’ll be lucky enough to get a sneaky peak of her A/W collection which doesn’t launch officially until September.

Tiny Blossoms Boutonniere / Button-hole in fair trade organic cotton £10

Large Camellia with Vintage Net Fascinator in Fairtrade Organic Cotton

Bangle Earrings in vintage kimono fabric £30

Crow Necklace in organic fair trade cotton £60

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See Zoe’s blog here and website here

Follow @zoerobinson1

Follow @eggmag

The right white stuff

If you were a child of the 70s or 80s, like myself, you’ll probably have similar memories of milk breaks. That Very Important time spent perched on your tiny, brightly-coloured plastic chair, nursing a mini milk bottle and sucking up watery cow-juice with all your might in order to earn a star. And, if you were well behaved, you got to clear away the empties (how did they ever fool us into thinking that was a privilege?) But the best thing that could happen in a milk break – the truly most brilliant reward for having to down the phlegm-making cow-juice like a rugby boy downs beer (but without the same enjoyment) was being given, simply, an unshaken bottle. Here, like a magnolia-coloured crown, the cream would sit. Oh, the joy of seeing that little piece of goodness resting precariously on top of the milk! The next move was to squash your straw, slip it down the inside edge of the bottle so as not to disturb your curdled prize, suck the bastard dry and savour the final, thick, sweet goodness left at the bottom and stuck to your straw. Remember?

These days, opinions on milk have changed somewhat. It is still seen as an important element in a person’s diet. It’s gone from being a national obsession to a bit of a controversial topic. Lactose intolerance is now widely acknowledged as a cause of thickened phlegm and mucus (nice), dry skin conditions like eczema – particularly in young children – and stomach complaints. The culling of male calves born into dairy farms is a serious issue, and the proposed US-style, in-humane super-dairies are a very real possibility.

Although milk is undoubtedly a good source of calcium and other nutrients, we consume so much of it, which is crazy when you think that the human digestive system is not massively efficient at breaking down lactose. The enzyme is also often hidden in processed foods as well, like soups and crisps and this is why some people react to it.

Luckily, there are plenty of other readily available options like goats milk (which naturally possesses lower levels of lactose – and is much tastier I find) and soya, rice and hemp milk too. I suppose, with all this contradictory information, the thing to do is to buy organic cow-juice where necessary, as it will most likely come from farms that are against the culling of male calves – and it’s proven to have higher nutritional value. Also, why not create your own mix-and-match milk menu? Rice milk is really good with cereal, hemp milk tastes decent in a cuppa, just as soya does in a coffee. But, all that said, there’s nothing – just nothing – like a bloody good spoon of cream. And whatever any health food bod says, that is one thing that CANNOT be replaced…