Brand Focus: Silkka Garden Apothecary

I've said it time and time again, I love discovering new Canadian brands. I feel as though Canadian brands don't often get recognized, despite having such fantastic products, and it's such a pleasure to see more brands putting themselves out there and getting recognition. Silkka Garden Apothecary has been raved about on several blogs around the globe, like Short, Small, & Sweet (USA), several times on Small Bits of Loveliness (Slovenia), and Elegantly Eco (Canada), just to name a few. It was only natural (pun intended) that with the brand's focus on pure, simple, and clean ingredients, that I'd have to try them out

Silkka is Finnish for pure and simple, and it's a nod to both my ancestry and the principles which guide the creations. While nature serves as inspiration, simplicity is always the intention. Using pure, natural ingredients known for their abilities to protect, heal and nurture the body's largest organ (our skin!), my goal is to create skincare products that are simple, beautiful and, most importantly, effective. As the old saying goes, less is more (and yes, this even applies to skincare).

Silkka products are handmade in small batches each week, using timeless ingredients from around the world. They'll always be free of harmful additives, and packed with good-for-you ingredients, like plant, nut and fruit-based oils and butters, essential oils, dried herbs and flowers, and unrefined Ontario beeswax. Product packaging is both recyclable and reusable (amber glass and tin), and packing materials used in shipping orders are always kept to a minimum. (And packaging material from supply orders are always re-used.)

Read more about Silkka here.

Liisa, Founder and Creator, gave me the opportunity to pick up a couple of products. I chose the *Blossom Hydration Mist ($15 cad/2 oz) and *Vanilla Love Body Oil ($21 cad/4 oz). The packaging of both items is lovely; dark glass bottles preserve the product housed inside, the labels and logo are so feminine and pretty, and the mister top/pump are perfection (more about that below). Also, both items only contain four ingredients..what!? Simplicity at its finest.

*Blossom Hydrating Mist: Balance mind and body with this delicate floral hydration mist. In aromatherapy Magnolia is lauded for its ability to relax and rejuvenate the spirit, and Chamomile its ability to comfort and calm. Aloe vera soothes and heals damaged skin, while Chamomile's anti-inflammatory properties calm redness and irritation. Pure botanical bliss for the skin and spirit.

Aside from the pretty bottle, the spray top is awesome. Not sure about the rest of the world, but I love when my toner provides a perfect all over mist with only one or two spritzes. This does that. It's.Just.So.Perfect. Yes, spray tops get me excited. It's the little things folks! Anyway....the hydrating mist instantly calmed redness, hydrated the skin, and set makeup. Sadly, the scent was not my favourite. The first ingredient is magnolia water, which if you know what that smells like, then you'll know what this smells like. For someone who had no clue, I didn't expect it to be as strong or linger for as long as it did. I used about a third of the bottle before I just couldn't do it anymore. On the plus side, Lisa from Glam Goes Green gets to enjoy it now! Scent is a personal thing and aside from that, this was a great toner/floral water.

*Vanilla Love Body Oil: Sweet, seductive vanilla. There's simply nothing more exquisite, more enticing; so much so that it demands centre stage in this gentle, lush body oil. Avocado oil provides long-lasting hydration, while oils of camellia and apricot are light and non-greasy, making Vanilla Love the perfect moisturizer for day and night use.

Be still my beating heart. Be still. I don't even know how to begin writing about this body oil as the thought alone makes my heart skip a beat. It smells like heaven! Like delicious vanilla. Edible vanilla. Walk around smelling like dessert vanilla. Want to smell like this all day, every day vanilla. Can't get over the scent vanilla. It is absolute perfection anddddd I think Liisa needs to create a perfume. Now that I've gone on and on about how amazing the scent is, how does it perform? On my super dry winter skin, it wasn't enough. It definitely needed to be layered, but I often find that with body oils. I also only used a tiny, tiny amount for fear of running out of this sweet smelling goodness. With the weather (hopefully) warming up soon, I'm certain that it'll be more than enough on its own. Regardless of needing to be layered, the oil absorbed incredibly fast without feeling greasy and the scent definitely lingered (which I was hoping it would). As for the pump on this bad boy, I prefer a pump that doesn't require me to actually hold the bottle, but I do like that it's virtually leak-proof making it ideal to travel with. I sense this becoming a regular item in my body care arsenal.

Get them here: Silkka Garden Apothecary 
*Products provided for review consideration. All opinions are entirely my own.
Blossom Hydrating Mist Ingredients: Michelia champaca (Magnolia) floral water, Anthemis nobilis (Chamomile) floral water, Aloe barbadensis (Aloe) leaf juice and Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate.
Vanilla Love Body Oil: Camellia sinensis (Camellia) seed oil, Prunus armeniaca (Apricot) kernel oil, Persea gratissima (Avocado) oil and Vanilla planifolia fruit extract.

Brand Focus: Mont Echo (Nature Divine)

This Canadian brand has been featured on my blog before. I've reviewed their Cleansing Cream, which I really enjoyed, so when Mont Echo contacted me and asked if I wanted to try their new Nature Divine range, I couldn't say no. Nature Divine is, what I'd consider, their more luxurious range that contains even more sea buckthorn oil than their other products. I opted to try the *Creme Divine ($42.95 CAD/50 ml) and *Eau Divine ($38.95 CAD/100 ml).

Sea Buckthorn Skin and Hair care products are formulated with our 100% Canadian-grown Sea Buckthorn seed oil, fruit oil and floral waters to ensure that our customers receive all the benefits of this extraordinary plant. Our Sea Buckthorn skin and hair products are handcrafted with high quality, certified organic, biodynamically grown and wildcrafted essential oils and floral waters that are never bleached or processed, conserving all of their nourishing vitamins, minerals, enzymes, proteins and brilliant natural colours.

Read more about Mont Echo here.

*Creme Divine: Mont Echo’s signature anti-aging combination of Rosehips and Sea Buckthorn form the base for this rich and luxurious enriched moisture complex with therapeutic, regenerative & hydrating herbs. Particularly high in Vitamin C, this cream is formulated to benefit dry, mature and sensitive skin types. 

The small plastic pump bottle is great because of the fact that it's dark (preserving the product) and contains a pump (clean and easy to use). This cream boasts an impressive and beautiful list of ingredients like rose otto, shea butter, comfrey, and calendula, just to name a few. The smell is gorgeous and light, can't quite explain it but I do know that it reminds me of something that my mom used on her face when I was a kid. It's definitely not strong and doesn't linger. Unfortunately, when the temperatures dropped to -20 (and colder), my skin soaked this stuff up and begged for more. It just wasn't enough, even with an oil applied underneath or mixed in. Now that it's warmed up, it works much better and I love that it dries to a semi matte finish. It never feels heavy or looks greasy and creates a great base for makeup. I also love using it on my hands before bed! Although it's targeted for dry/mature/sensitive skin types, I think it would be great for normal and combo skin types as well.

*Eau Divine: Unique in the world, our Eau Divine Pure Sea Buckthorn floral water soothes and balances the skin while preserving and strengthening the protective acid mantle. Eau Divine is particularly effective in preparing the skin for the application of oils, serums and creams. It is extremely gentle and well tolerated by even the most sensitive skin.

Floral water is my jam, I love them! Given that I love sea buckthorn oil and I love floral waters, this selection only made sense. Sadly, it smells awful! My boyfriend, who has gotten used to herbal/natural type scents, was completely put off as well. Meaning..he was like, "wtf is that smell?". I then responded with, "my face". True story. AND if the scent alone isn't bad enough, the fact that it lingers makes it even worse. Of course, the scent has nothing to do with Mont Echo and is a personal preference. Since I can't stand using this on a daily basis because of the scent, I actually use it to mix up my clay masks. That way my skin still reaps the anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, and other benefits of the floral water. If you have the opportunity to smell this first or don't care about scents (bad/good), then this would be a product to consider.

Get them here: Mont Echo and these retailers.

                                                             
*Products provided for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Creme Divine Ingredients: Rosa demascena (Rose Otto) Flower Distillate*, Fucus vesiculosis (Bladderwrack) Extract, Aqua / Water / Eau, Persea gratissima (Avocado) Oil*, Simmondsia chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil*, Borago officinalis (Borage) Seed Oil*, Aloe barbadensis*, Butyrospermum parkii (Shea,) Butter, Althaea officinalis (Marshmallow) Root Extract*, Symphytum Officinale (Com­frey) Extract*, Calendula officinalis Flower Extract, Sambucus nigra (Elder) Flower extract*, Equisetum arvense (Horsetail) Leaf Ex­tract*, Avena Sativa (Oatstraw) Kernel Ex­tract*, Stellaria Media (Chickweed) Extract*, Camelia sinensis (Green Tea) Leaf Extract*, Sorbitan Olivate*, Glycerin (Vegetable)*, Rosa demascena (Rose de Damas) Flower Oil, San­dalwood spicatum (Sandalwood Australian) Wood Oil, Lavandula angustifolia (Lavender) Flower Oil, Citrus aurantium var.Amara (Bit­ter Orange) Leaf Oil, Hippophae rhamnoides (Sea Buckthorn) Seed Extract**, Hippophae rhamnoides (Sea Buckthorn) Fruit Extract**, Carthamus tinctorius (Safflower) Seed Oil*, Triticum vulgare (Wheat) Germ Oil, Lecithin (Soy)*, Citrus Grandis (Grapefruit) Seed Extract, Daucus carota (Carrot) Seed Oil* **, Rosa canina (Rosehips) Fruit Extract* **, Boswellia carterii (Frankincense) Resin Oil* **, Salvia sclarea (Clary Sage) Flower Oil, Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) CO2 Herb Extract* **
* Biologique / Organic ** Concentrated CO2 Extracts

Eau Divine Ingredients: Hippophae rhamnoides (Sea Buckthorn Floral Water)

Essencia Lavender Floral Water Review

Hey guys! Sorry I haven't been posting much this last week, I've been so busy with school. Posts might be few and far between this month but I will do my best to at least get 1 - 2 a week up.

Now for the purpose of this post, the review!

My all time favourite lavender water, and floral waters in general, are the ones from Pretty. They're lightly scented, hydrating and wonderful. My only issue with them is the price, approx. $16 CAN for 90 ml can get expensive if used daily. My mom had picked up the Essencia floral water to use as a toner, but passed it over to me for a couple of reasons.

Description:  Adapted to all skin types, lavender’s antiseptic, cleansing, skin healing and softening action fights imperfections. Effective against burns and skin disorders and acne. Relieves insect bites and stings, and gives new life to tired limp hair.

The Good:

• good value for money
• reusable glass bottle
• pure, no alcohol or fillers
• great for setting makeup

The Bad:

• smells awful
• too heavy to travel with, sometimes even to hold
• not a fine mist
• not hydrating

Verdict: My mom originally passed this on to me because she couldn't stand the smell. I honestly cannot even describe it using my weird references. The bottle is great because you can reuse and/or recycle it but I found the odd shape and weight uncomfortable to use. I had a hard time holding it and misting it with one hand, even when it came down to the last few uses. The price point is fantastic at under $15 CAN for 180ml but it fell regardless. I used it to remove excess cleanser, oil and makeup as well as set mineral makeup and while it did the job, it wasn't as hydrating as other lavender waters that I've used. This is the first floral water from Essencia that I have tried but can tell you that I won't repurchase or try a different one.

Retails for approx. $15 CAN for 180ml. Can be purchased at most health food stores.

Have you tried any of Essencia's floral waters?

Ingredients: 100 % natural hydrosol, from plant’s distillation; no alcohol