A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

We’re used to seeing beauty brands give up portions of their profits to charity, ten percent here – fifteen percent there and in spirit of recent Summer events, I saw a brand niftily donate 20.12% of proceeds for the occasion.

But how about 100%?  That one’s not so readily given away now is it?  Which means that when I heard about natural beauty purveyors Organic Surge giving away 100% of all proceeds from their latest hand wash to a Scottish children’s charity.

Well, that just commands attention doesn’t it?

Organic Surge have launched Helping Hand Wash in association with The Archie Foundation to help support sick children and their families in the north of Scotland.  Alan MacKenzie, founder of Organic Surge explains:

“When I launched Organic Surge over five years ago, I wanted to ensure the brand was built on a company ethos of helping others. Since the beginning our donations have helped support vulnerable children around the world, and so I am so very pleased to announce our partnership with The Archie Foundation.”

Whilst you’re washing your pennies down the drain along with the germs, you’ll be able to take comfort from the knowledge that those gently-foaming bubbles are aiding a great cause battling to provide specialist nurses to sick chidren, redevelop outdated children’s wards and provide specialist support and equipment to those who need it the most.

Helping Hand Wash is priced at £3.99 and is available online at Organic Surge.

I’ve written previously about my love for Gielly Green’s Argan Rescue Oil that I use a few times a week to perk up my over-processed hair.  I recently took delivery of a couple of samples from the Gielly Green body range which included a hand & body lotion and a hand & body wash.

At 300ml a-piece, these understated but elegant bottles will last a fair length of time which is reassuring when you take into account that the ‘wash’ and ‘lotion’ are priced at £12 and £18 respectively.  These are luxury prices for products squarely aimed at the luxury market.

Now, whilst I don’t bat an eyelid at paying nearly £20 for a hair treatment, lipstick or facial moisturiser… I get more frugalistic stirrings when it comes to the kind of purchase that generally needs to be replaced more frequently.  This would include hand washes.

Having said that… I can’t actually fault the deliciousness of these products.  The Lemon and Muguet (Lily of the Valley) scent is fresh and airy.  It delivers a sparkling citrusy zing without skimping on a more grounding floral that lingers for a few hours after application and the scent conveys an overall carefree lightness without being too ‘young’, fruity or sweet.

The formula of the hand and body lotion is blissfully light, not great for those requiring more intense moisturisation but I’ve been using this on my hands (and lower arms) after washing and whilst not moisturising enough to keep my cuticles in check, it’s doing a sterling job on the rest, including my rough elbows!

The hand and body wash smells a little zestier than the lotion and delivers a non-drying formula thanks to the addition of Argan Oil (not too far down the ingredients list either!) and a welcome lack of SLS and alcohol in the formulation.

Overall, if your purse can stomach the price tag – you could do far worse than treating yourself to these bathroom gems.  Gielly Green have delivered a perfect pair of body essentials that bring a touch of luxury to a normally mundane task.

Gielly Green Hand & Body Wash and Hand & Body Lotion in Lemon & Muguet are available to buy online from the Gielly Green website.

Palmolive have released a new duo of handwashes with a little twist of vintage flair.  Admittedly not the most exciting of purchases but definitely one of those that I spend a little time on when in the supermarket.

If I’m going to be washing my hands X amount of times in the day… I want the process to not be too drying and above all, I want it to smell awesome.

I’ve been using a sample of the Bergamot & Verbena variety over the past few days which holds a lovely, zingy scent.  Bergamot is a real favourite of mine (lavender, not so much) and Palmolive has captured the aromatics of the fruit nicely.

Ok, so it doesn’t quite lift me from the kitchen sink and place me in Southern Italy… but it does make scrubbing my hands an enjoyable experience!

The vintage styling touches on the bottle are cute without being twee and with both scents priced at £1.99 each for 250ml, they’re not asking me to pay through the nose for these extra touches of luxury.

The Palmolive Authentics Liquid Hand Soap range is currently available in Sainsburys and Waitrose.

Bubble & Balm may only be a year old, but their products are already making a splash at one of the UK’s top supermarkets!

The range includes a selection of liquid and clear glycerine bar soaps that are the first natural soaps to carry the FAIRTRADE Mark in the UK.

Available in Citrus or Lavender and made in the UK using traditional methods, each product is naturally formulated with plant and essential oils and enriched with glycerine to soothe and moisturise. The entire range is suitable for vegetarians to use and is free from parabens, sodium lauryl/laureth sulphate and phthalates.

The luxury hand wash retails at £4.95, and the bar soaps – which are packaged in a watertight aluminium tin that doubles up as a soap dish are priced at £4.85 each.

Have you spotted these whilst doing your weekly shop yet?

…then I could do with some extra brownie points.

Post-Sproglette, I’ve become a consummate hand-washer.  Not that I’m suggesting I was a slutty slut pre-child… it’s just that I took all this hygiene stuff for granted.  I didn’t pay much attention to products designed for chores as mundane as laundry, dish-washing, hair-brushing or hand-washing.

Nowadays, things are a bit different…  not only are my hands regularly red raw from scrubbing “Eau de Baby Pooh” off them, but you will often find me lurking infront of the soaps, bubble baths, handwashes and shaving oils at TK Maxx coo-ing over the various scents and colours.  It’s a sad fact that even shaving one’s legs becomes a luxury post-bébé if it means you get to spend time alone in the bathroom.

I was therefore pleased (and secretly excited) to be sent a new hand wash to have a sniff of.

Method are a brand that pride themselves on non-toxic, environmentally friendly homecare products.  And this hand wash is no exception.  It comes in 3 varieties:

L-R: Sweet Water, French Lavender & Pink Grapefruit

They say:

Our hand washes are made with naturally-derived, biodegradeable ingredients, contain vitamin E and aloe and have never been tested on animals.  Served up in bottles made from 100% recycled plastic.

I got French Lavender which I immediately thought I’d dislike.  I’m not a huge fan of lavender (French or otherwise), I associate it with those scented drawer sachets that old ladies are so fond of… but this isn’t too overpowering at all.  It’s subtle and leaves only a mild trace of the scent on your skin after washing.

The product foams nicely and most importantly rinses clean quickly.  I hate soaps that leave residue on your skin don’t you?

Perhaps most importantly, I’ve been using this all day today and yesterday and I haven’t noticed it drying my skin out at all.

I love the smell of my Simple Peppermint & Mandarin hand wash (yes I have a favourite… sad) but it dries my skin terribly… to the point where my hands have been cracking thanks to it’s harsh anti-bac ingredients.

Perhaps the best move would be to leave all the nappy changes to Mr. Lipglossiping.  That way, I could go back to concentrating wholly on fabulous things and leave the hand-washing (and laundry) to him.

It’s a nice thought, but whilst I wait patiently for hell to freeze over I’ll content myself with a new-found hand wash that does exactly what it says on the (biodegradeable) bottle.

And even better…. until the 3rd November, you can get a 1/3rd off Method hand washes at Boots, currently priced at £2.15 each.

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Before I go, I was also pleased to discover that Method do a nice line in baby products, look:

Squeaky Green Nappy Cream… Rice Milk and Mallow… yum! Can I eat it?

Leila has the ECO-est bum in the whole of England!