Quarantine Health + Beauty Update

Hello there,

We all love self care and since we have the time why not. Self care is ritualistic and I will be the first to admit that I'm not great with nightly routines. I'm super lazy after 8 pm so If I have to do anything it should be before 8 pm or it'll not get done. I'm also very bad with removing make-up after a night out and so on many occasions I won't wear any just to avoid having to follow an elaborate routine. Lazy I know but I'll allow it. Regardless of my laziness I do get around to grooming and taking care of myself before 8 pm. Here's an itemised round of up things I used some of which worked and some didn't. I'll be honest about it because I paid for it all.

Hand Care

Forest Essentials' Hand Care Duo in Blood Orange

We have never had to look after hands more than now because of the constant washing and sanitising. My hands have never felt more abused being constantly cleaned off now that this ocd has been legitimised. In a bid to take care of them I tried the hand serum that I picked up on my last trip to India, which was great. It is super light and absorbs in no time. There is no extra grease on your phone, if you're a phone addict just like me, because of it so it's quite good in terms of stickiness but keep in mind it is not meant for intense reparation. The duo also comes with a hand polish aka scrub but at present I'm avoiding any scrubs on my hands because they are quite damaged and I don't want to be further abrasive. So no comments on the hand polisher.

Face Mask / Exfoliator

Tracy Martyn's Exfoliator

I am always on the look out for a perfectly balanced exfoliator that is not too harsh on my skin. I was using Tata Harper's daily exfoliator and I think while that worked it also was a bit abrasive for my sensitive skin over long time so I wanted to resort to an enzyme exfoliant to gently exfoliate. In March while I was browsing through Net-a-porter I came across Tracy Martyn's enzyme exfoliant and after reading many reviews I added it to cart. It was dubbed to be a facial in a pot by the many reviews I read and it truly does what it says. The mask is turquoise blue in colour and can make you look like a character from Avatar sometimes but you will find your skin brighter, cleaner and pores looking less stressed. It contains pineapple enzymes, acids - lactic, malic, salicylic and kojic, kaolin clay and vitamin c. The best part is that my skin didn't react to it negatively and just looks cleaner. An added bonus is that it is also big on the sustainability factor using sustainable packaging including the ink used on the box.

Face Essentials

Therapi's Combination skin gel cleanser and moisturiser

I have been shopping from Content Beauty on and off for a bit. I find their online store quite dreamy. When I was looking for a new cleanser and moisturiser I found this brand on the Content website and loved the concept of honey based skincare. Honey is a natural humectant so I couldn't argue with the logic but my reaction to this brand is mixed. I love the cleanser but the moisturiser is not easily absorbed. Perhaps because I was so used to my Aesop moisturiser before that would so easily glide on to my skin I expected the same consistency. This did not deliver. It requires a lot of rubs even then it left my skin dry. I found that if I added rose water with the cream or when applied after applying vitamin c it seemed to glide smoother. But still not a 100.

Gut Health + Powdery Vitamin C

So I think the packaging here is so aesthetically pleasing. I feel so calm every time I see it. But I was really disappointed that the protein powder doesn't work for me so much because it just doesn't mix in easily. If it doesn't mix it doesn't do anything for me if you know what I mean. The claims of it dissolving in warm milk are also not true. Very chic but can’t say with certainty if this did something for me. In the mood for an experiment I also ordered their Vitamin C powder for facial application and was disappointed with that too. Perhaps it could just be that it was too strong for my sensitive skin but it made me break out a little bit. I hear Vitamin C can break some people out so perhaps that is what happened. Gonna do a hard pass on this one as I’m terribly disappointed by the hype of the brand not really working for me. I did give it a full try I will be honest I got 3 bottles of the protein powder before fully giving up.

Honey based skincare is always very fascinating to me and so I ordered some from Therapi. Somehow the moisturiser and the cleanser weren’t a good match for me. Always left me feeling too dry and I had to supplement my moisturiser with additional serums to stay hydrated.

The above are basic supplements thrown in for good measure :). The usual Vitamin D3 which is critically low in most of us due to lack of spending time in sun. Omega 3 is also good if you have a lot of dryness. I also do take something for hair, skin and nails. As everyone has different needs I will not specifically recommend them to you.

I suppose that’s the end of this one. If you have some recommendations for a good foot cream that is also sustainable do let me know. Until next time. xoxo