It’s a blurry picture because I took it with camera on one hand and eyes closed at the same time…. Sorry ^^”

Hi Stella!

Thank you for answering all my questions even though you’re super busy preparing for your trade show on Indie Beauty Rocks! I wasn’t sure how to position this blog post because I seldom post information about a specific product on my blog.

You’ve not asked me to post anything, but I want to do it because I can see how hard working you are in building this brand, how transparent you are in supplying information, and also because your oil works for me. To be honest, I am quite sceptical posting this because I don’t want my readers to think that my blog has turned commercial, but I think that being transparent and honest about my intentions here will be worth the risk. :)

I’ve noticed that you’ve now started to focus your entire shop on your champion product — the Rejuvenating Radiant Serum (fancy name, huh? haha), which you’ve shared with me 3 months ago, and I can’t believe it’s finally out in the market!

I still remember that day when you’d shown me the prototype of your eco-friendly packaging. I was so excited to see that seed paper can be folded into a paper box. It wasn’t sturdy, but I think it serves its purpose. I love that I can bury the box in the soil and watch the seeds grow! What I had just discovered is that you’re donating 1% of your sales to Cool Earth to help alleviate deforestation.

Probably my readers will roll their eyes because ‘who cares about the packaging’? Well, they don’t know how much of a pain sourcing and experimenting packaging can be. They won’t know that it probably takes 50% of the time working on the design, labelling and printing. I know, I need to do that too for work.

See their 'philosophy' page

My review

I waited until it’s dry enough to use it. I just have to be honest — it just wasn’t for me in the summer! I have pretty normal skin on my cheeks, nose was oily, so my usual cream was enough weeks ago. I use 1 drop on my cheeks after I put on my face cream. That’s it. Skin feels moisturized enough (that’s what I want).

We took the same organic skincare foundation course (I didn’t complete the course but you did!! :P) so I thought I could start asking challenging (or maybe annoying) questions such as:

Q: I want to know some ‘insider’ information about the formulation.

Why did you use all these ‘fancy’ oils, but not the traditional coconut, almond, or avocado oil? (My hidden question was: is this just for the ‘hype’?)

A: I love those common carrier oils too, such as avacado oil, almond oil and coconut oil too. But we have tested the texture. Avocado oil is heavy in texture, so it isn’t suitable my oil serum, since I don’t want the serum to have a greasy feel to it. Also, some of the oils will clog pores (such as coconut oil), and we also will not consider them to be our ingredients.

I’ve decided to use prickly pear seed oil as one of the main ingredients. I’ve tried many different kinds of oil, but I seldom find an oil that can give such smooth and silky feeling after application on the skin.

After that, I did in-depth research on many potential ingredients and I started to formulate the serum with different ratios. I wanted to create a serum using as few ingredients (Less is more) as possible. It ideally provides potent healing power, but it can also give anti-ageing and glowing results.

To be honest, it is so hard for me to choose the ingredients for the serum, as you know that our mother nature provide abundant nature resources for us and there are many excellent plant oil in the market. I’ve formulated over 20 times before the serum had born.

Q: I follow a 3 + 1 template in all my reviews, meaning that I will always talk about ONE downside that the product fails to do/achieve.

The downside is the bottle cap isn’t recyclable but you’re working on the recycled paper packaging showing you’re trying. What do you want to add on this?

We are concerned about our planet. We know that she is very sick now and we want to do something for her. The bottle we are using is miron glass which is a premium packaging for skin care products. It can extend the product shelf life and it can also preserve the product from the lights.

The down side is the bottle cap is made of plastic. It’s so hard to find a good quality glass bottle but at the same time a zero waste packaging. But I've thought that we can run a recycle bottle in the future, and I'll keep looking for alternatives for our packaging at the same time.

Q: I love that you said “less is more”, so what’s so special about your ingredients?

A:

Prickly Pear Seed Oil

INCI：Opuntia ficus indica Seed Oil

Prickly pear seed oil is one of the most expensive plant oils in the world. It is light, non-greasy and quickly absorbed and penetrates easily to skin. This beauty elixir is first cold-pressed from the tiny seeds of the prickly pear cactus fruit, which contains high levels of Vitamin E, Omega 6, Omega 9, and Vitamin K. These high amount of essential fatty acids and antioxidant content stimulates cell renewal, keeping your pores tight and brighten the skin, which is very suitable for matured skin. Containing Vitamin K, this oil is very suitable to use under the eyes in order to lighten your dark circles. We choose cold pressed, virgin and unrefined prickly pear seed oil from Morocco, which is famous for its high quality prickly pear seed oil.

Maracuja Oil

INCI: Passiflora Incarnata Seed Oil

Maracuja oil is also called passionfruit oil. This oil comes from the seeds of the passion fruit (Passiflora Incarnata) found in South America. Maracuja oil contains rich of essential fatty acid, such as linoleic acid, oleic acid, stearic acid and palmitic acid. Also, a high amount of vitamin C is packed in the maracuja oil as well, which can stimulates collagen production and help to increase skin elasticity.

Rosehip Seed Oil

INCI: Rosa Moschata seed oil

Rosehip Seed Oil is a light weight oil that can deeply penetrate the skin, so that even the deepest layers of skin receive moisture and other benefits. It contains high amount of vitamin A, beta-carotene, omega 3 and omega 6 which can help regenerates the skin, reduces scars and wrinkles, prevents the advancement of wrinkles and aging, fights the free radical and even the skin tone.

Argan Oil

INCI: Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil

Argan oil is popularly known as “Liquid Gold” traditionally used in Morocco for both culinary and skincare. This light oil is non-greasy and will not clog your pores. Packed with various fatty acids like oleic, linoleic, palmitic and others, vitamin E, carotene and squalene. All these compounds help to reduce depth and severity of wrinkles, restore elasticity, lighten the brown spots and strengthen the regenerative rate of healthy skin cells. Anti-inflammatory nature along with its healing and skin moisturising properties make this oil a much sought after natural cure for difference inflammatory skin conditions.

Postscript:

For me, I don’t care too much about the potential effects such as anti-ageing or restoring elasticity because the secret to healthy skin is a healthy lifestyle. Diet, sleep and exercising. It’s important that the product works to moisturize my skin. Anything extra is just a bonus. :)

What matters is that I am using my dollar to vote for causes that I support — that it is a female entrepreneur who is super hardworking, a brand which also gives back to the world, and also is trying its best to adopt eco-friendly packaging.

What is Indie Beauty Rocks:

(Reposting what Stella shared with me)

Indie Beauty Rocks is a community where indie beauty fans can discover the newest and freshest natural and organic brands from across the world.

The community is run by a team of fierce beauty founders who are ripping up the rule book and turning the industry on its head.

On Facebook and Instagram they share beauty and wellness tips direct from the founders themselves. On 8th November 2018, they will be hosting an online pop up shop showcasing awesome gifts, limited editions and special offers.

Indie Beauty Rocks Social Media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IndieBeautyRocks/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/indiebeautyrocks/

My letter to a beauty brand - Awareness Organics