Get your face together, girl! Sayonara La Mer face cream, and your overpriced and chemical filled silicone sisters. Lettuce introduce you to our favorite green face creams. These lines that not only deliver, but are completely eco, natural, plant-based, and vegan. This is a question we get asked a lot: What is your favorite all-natural/ vegan moisturizer? Obviously, that depends on your budget! Sometimes you do get what you pay for, and when it comes to our beauty regime, we (for the most part) don’t skimp. There are certain things we find it okay to spend less on (cleanser, shampoo, blush) and certain things (moisturizer!) that we simply don’t skimp on.
The Duchess Marden and Clairvoyant Beauty oils cannot be beat in terms of effectiveness. And the smells of them are so divine, they literally transport you to fields of roses or honeysuckle. You’ll find leaves in your pants. That good. So for them, we would happily skip a meal or two out to buy a bottle every few Months.
We are particularly obsessed with Duchess Marden’s Anti-Wrinkle Serum, and love the whole story behind the company. Though it’s touted as an anti-wrinkle serum, we use it all over our face for the ultimate moisturizing experience. The Duchess claims it; “Hydrates dry, delicate eye tissue and facial skin, with no oily residue, diminishes fine lines and wrinkles, reduces puffiness, fades discoloration, enhances and fortifies cell growth, acts as a free-radical scavenger, reducing appearance of aging, and increases moisture retention” and we are sure it does do all that ‘cuz since we’ve been using this product, we have gotten carded at least 5 times. It’s worth every dime when you see and feel the difference from your regular moisturizer. Nary could a line be more aptly named – these products are sheer royalty. Not only do they smell like Aphrodite herself (the line prides itself on being a “scentuous” experience), the bottles are beautiful and elegant to display. On another note; their Rose Water Spritz is just heavenly, and so worth buying. You’ll want to have an errand boy spritzing it in front of you as you walk. Yea, we said it. Errand boy.
Under $30, the Lavera is really fantastic. It’s nice and thick, but not too ooey gooey, and the little bottle is perfect for your purse. The whole line is incredibly nice smelling, works beautifully, and is remarkably affordable for a truly all-natural line. The Desert Essence (which you can get at any health food store or Whole Foods) is nice and rich for a night cream. And we like dipping our fingers into the tub because we never take too much that way.
On a terribly small budget? DIY.
Buy a bottle of jojoba or coconut oil at the health food store and drop in a few drips of your favorite (all-natural) essential oils to make it smell yummy. Then mix well, and use on your punim at night. Oils during the day are hard because you need to let them dry after application which makes putting make up on and getting out of the door a pain in the ass with time management. Best to use a basic moisturizer during the day, and an oil at night. Unless you can afford the Duchess Marden oil, which absorbs into the skin really quickly.
Go on and give your skin a good drink!