Hasta La Ideas

Build your own all-natural skincare regimen online

As the concept of customizable skincare moves online with greater sophistication than what could be found at traditional beauty counters, we were intrigued to test the new bespoke line by Truth Art Beauty. The company—created by two friends who met at Harvard Business School—is based around the two pillars of being “truly pure” with only natural ingredients and “truly yours” with tailored products created for each individual’s unique needs.

Like many of its market competitors, Truth Art Beauty deals with organic products. The line of handcrafted, customized blends is comprised of eye balm, face nourishing oil, body salve oil, body buff and bath salts. In addition to using oils in lieu of creams for their effectiveness, Truth Art Beauty makes their products 100% active—meaning they don’t use any fillers (such as water) in the manufacturing process. The brand, which doesn’t test on animals, approaches its 95% organic skincare products as if they were food: ingredients have to be fresh, unprocessed, all-natural and free of synthetic chemicals or artificial additives. Like food, they have an expiration date—the eye balm lasts for six months—because no preservatives are added.

While being pure and natural is all well and good, the products still must be effective. We tried the eye balm and the body oil, each of which we created on the site’s step-by-step formula-building process. The “truly yours” part of Truth Art Beauty’s doctrine that plays on another strong tendency in the market to offer skin solutions hand-picked by the individual based on their specific needs, and the customer is entrusted to know what he or she needs.

When we went on the site to create our personal products, we were faced with an intuitive, easy-to-navigate and informative interface to craft our concoctions. Not only was it fun to pick out our ingredients, but the transparency allowed for total awareness of what we’d be putting on our face and body, not to mention a bit of how it works.

For the eye balm, there are two steps to the selection process. Step one involves selecting a base among two ingredients whose properties—regeneration or protection—are explained along the way. Next, you choose among three “boosts” including firming and tightening, anti-aging and anti-puffiness—we chose anti-puffiness and anti-aging. With that our own blend was ready and on its way.

Body products involve 3-4 steps. Beginning with adapting one’s skin type, and finishing with the selection of a fragrance, the process is set up to allow only compatible combinations of ingredients and properties. Plus, a comprehensive glossary is available on the website and can be checked to find out more about each ingredient. In addition to the customized formulas, ready-made creams are also available.

The goods were delivered in bottles made from recycled glass and plastic, and it should be noted that the ingredients are not listed on the actual containers. Both products we tried delivered satisfactory results, and we were pleased with how gentle they felt on our skin. The eye balm didn’t irritate that sensitive area in the least, and our lids felt brighter and younger after a short time of using the product. The body oil effectively moisturized without leaving oily or sticky residue in its wake.

Truth Art Beauty products are made in New York and are available online. Visit the website to learn more and to build your own personalized face and body regimen.

Le motion et graphic designer Grégory Villien a pris l’initiative de récupérer et compiler des images exprimant selon lui la beauté du sport pour créer une vidéo sobrement intitulée « Sport’s Beauty ». Utilisant beaucoup d’images en slow-motion, ce montage dynamique est à découvrir en HD dans la suite de l’article.

Effective organic deodorant cream for sensitive skin

The issue of aluminum-based, fragrance-added deodorant poses a problem for those with allergies or sensitivity, or anyone averse to the chemicals required to fight sweat and odor. If we still lived in a nomadic hunter-gatherer society, our personal scents would identify us to our tribe, but unfortunately, that kind of natural state isn’t always a viable option. Anyone who has experimented with alternatives has likely discovered that most natural deodorants, baby powder and crystals are comically ineffective.

That’s why we were thrilled to discover Soapwalla Kitchen deodorant cream. Gently scented with lavender and peppermint, the light formula is applied by hand like any body cream, and absorbs instantly into the skin. No white streaks betray its presence, and there is no waiting period for it to dry. Most importantly it’s effective—having gone dry and stain-free during both everyday activities and even on a particularly intense three-mile run, we can confirm. The moisture-absorbing properties come courtesy of a mix of arrowroot powder, starches, baking powder and kaolin clay, without a trace of aluminum.

Soapwalla founder Rachel Winard started her line of bath and body products about 10 years ago as she was struggling with the symptoms of systemic lupus, one of which is extremely sensitive skin. Although she designed the products for herself, she vetted the formulas, their application and their scents with her friends and family before debuting them to a larger audience who could benefit as well. “I tried other application methods for deodorant but I didn’t love the texture or the fact that I needed to use waxes for them to maintain their shape,” Winard says. “I like the minimal packaging, and the user has much more control over how much and where they’d like to apply the deodorant.”

For anyone who has spent years wiping baby powder off clothes or felt resigned to choose between aluminum or sweat stains, Soapwalla’s deodorant cream might seem like a lifesaver. The cream sells for $12 and can be found online, along with Soapwalla’s complete line of vegan, organic, sensitive-skin body oils, lip balms and soaps.

Small-batch chemical-free hair and skincare from the Hudson Valley

Cold Spring Apothecary founder Stacey Dugliss-Wesselman cultivated a special knack for ingenuity during her childhood in the Catskills, where the closest store was 45 minutes away. Later, as a hair stylist in Brooklyn, with a background in both cosmetology and nursing, she began sharing with her clients the blends of oils and remedies she’d concocted and soon garnered a devoted following.

“After much encouragement to sell my products, I decided I was going to do it…so I locked myself in the Cold Spring lab—the kitchen in a second apartment we were renting—to design the line,” says Dugliss-Wesselman. Cold Spring Apothecary was born in 2010, bringing together her deep commitment to safe, chemical-free and nourishing hair and skin products in a small-batch line. In April 2011, CSA opened its first retail location in the Hudson Valley town for which it’s named, below the lab and manufacturing center where all the products are made in a strictly sanitized environment. “We work in small batches of 6-24 bottles at a time,” says Dugliss-Wesselman. “Everything is carefully mixed by hand so we don’t use crazy mixing machines or filling machines, we feel that we have greater quality control by doing so.”

We were particularly fond of the haircare products we got to try—the Citrus, Ginger and Vanilla Dry Shampoo and the Citrus and Ginger Sea Salt Spray, one of Cold Spring’s signature items and Dugliss-Wesselman’s personal favorite. As far as dry shampoos go, this one did the trick with an intoxicating scent, giving our day-after locks the proper boost to last a little longer before the next full-fledged wash. Those with lighter hair will have an easier time with the pale powder, which requires more careful rubbing in on brunette and dark hair. The sea salt spray infuses a nice texture with the added bonus of an ultra moisturizing formula—an unusual benefit for this particular genre of styling product. Cold Spring started with shampoo, which continues to be a top seller in all natural scents that include basil and hibiscus, lavender and honey and geranium.

Cold Spring Apothecary—which, true to its name, incorporates a medicinal component to each of its products—also includes skincare, body care, fragrances and home fragrances and candles, all free from parabens, harmful sulfates and synthetic scents. The entire line is available from the flagship shop and select stockists, as well as Cold Spring Apothecary online, which also includes extensive information on all CSA products and ingredients.