Remember the Winter Organics Chamomile Facial Cleanser review I did a year ago? I even collaborated with the company to do a giveaway because I have grown to love the brand and the product so much! An ethical local brand that uses only 100% naturally derived Ingredients, all their products are chemical free, does not contain Paraben, GMO, SLS, SLES, ALS, Artificial Colours and Artificial Fragrances. In addition, you can be well assured that the money you spent on purchasing Winter Organics products benefits animals and the environment too as all products are also cruelty free with no animal testing and packaging used are also biodegradable to reduce environmental impact. I have covered the importance of all these in my first review so do hop over if you have not read that. You can always come back here later!
I cannot emphasize the admiration I have for the founders and their big love for mother nature and animals. It is a joy to be able to work with them again and review their 4 brand new products! It is no surprise that with after 1 month of continuous use, I have grown to love every single one of the products!
Let’s begin with one of the most intriguing discovery I made when I first went through the new products.
For most shower and moisturizing products in the market, Aqua (water) tops the ingredients list. This means that it is the highest content by weight. While aqua is essential to life and drinking plenty of water helps keep skin clear and beautiful, it is also thought as the ‘profit maker’ for a product as it is a cheap and readily available ingredient. Essentially the higher the water content is in a product, the more likely you are just slapping bottled water onto your skin – make sense? Unfortunately, we usually won’t know just how much water content is used in their product. Therefore, when I received the full range of products and realized that Winter Organics had replaced Aqua with more expensive key ingredients such as organic Cocos Nucifera (Coconut Water) and organic Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, I suddenly felt that the products should be priced higher!
On the first note, extraction of Cocos Nucifera and Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice for cosmetic purposes is a more complicated and expensive process compared to distilling water. These ingredients are also not as readily available as Aqua. In addition, water is primarily used as a solvent in most cosmetics and personal care products. It helps dissolve many ingredients that impart skin benefits and also forms emulsions (a mixture of 2 things that don’t normally mix, such as water and oil) (http://www.cosmeticsinfo.org/ingredient/water-0). However, on it’s own, Aqua not only brings limited benefit to our skin, it may also remove moisture and cause skin dryness as they evaporate easily (https://www.quora.com/Does-exposure-to-water-cause-skin-to-dry-out-If-so-why). Cocos Nucifera (Coconut Water), on the other hand, when used in cosmetics and personal care products in replacement of Aqua as the highest content quantity, it not only acts like water as a solvent and emulsifier, it also has stabilizing, anti-bacterial, skin conditioning and cleansing properties on it’s own (http://www.cosmeticsinfo.org/ingredient/coconut-oil-and-related-ingredients)! As for Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, I do not think we need any more introduction with this very familiar skin soothing and moisturizing ingredient. It makes me happy knowing that I am using Aloe instead of Aqua to cleanse and moisturize! Just imagine how much skin benefits every drop of Winter Organics product has!
Now that we have introduced my amazing discovery, let’s dive deeper into the individual new and absolutely ‘delicious’ products!
- Macadamia Hand Cream (S$10.00)
95.02% Certified Organic and pH balanced, Macadamia Integrifolia Nut Oil lines second on the ingredients list after Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice. Macadamia Nut Oil has one of the highest sources of palmitoleic acid, a fatty acid that is found to be very close to human sebum! (http://www.ingredientstodiefor.com/item/Macadamia_Nut_Oil/448) Of course, since Winter Organics is a animal cruelty free brand, all ingredients are plant base and Macadamia Nut Oil is also actually the best plant oil alternative to well known scar-reducing oils such as Mink oil and Shark Liver oil. It has excellent anti-aging and restructuring effect, promoting youthful appearance by restoring skin’s barrier function. I was glad I had the hand cream in my bag on my recent trip to Cambodia. I had a few patches of peeled and abrased skin on my hands due to CNY house cleaning and my skin got really dry and tight on both flights. Winter Organics Macadamia Hand Cream brought me instant relief without being greasy at all. The small tube was really handy and convenient to bring around too.
The hand cream also contains Macadamia Nut Milk. Together, the cream is rich in Vitamin E and improves the appearance of scars. It also helps with sunburn, other skin irritation and promotes skin elasticity. Winter Organics Macadamia Hand Cream also contains Chamomile and Calendular Flower Extract, both anti-inflammatory, hydrating and soothing ingredients to aid allergy prone and sensitive skin.
2) Macadamia Hand and Body Lotion (S$19.00)
95.02% Certified Organic and also pH balanced, the ingredient list is actually the same as the Macadamia Hand Cream above, just that it is now packaged in a bigger (100ml vs 30ml) and more economical tube. I’d say the Hand Cream is one to bring in the bag for use on the go and the hand and Body Lotion is one to leave in the shower for use all over the body after shower. Similarly, Macadamia Nut Milk/ Oil is the key ingredient in this product so I’ll take the chance to introduce just 1 more ingredient – Tocopherol 🙂
Tocopherol is a family of vitamin E compounds naturally found in vegetable oils, nuts and leafy green vegetables. It is a natural antioxidant that promotes cell renewal, skin elasticity and help prevent the signs of ageing. With all the rich ingredients that go into Winter Organics Macadamia Hand and Body Lotion, I am surprised at how smooth, fast absorbing and non-greasy the formula is. I am also loving the light nutty smell and cooling effect it has on my skin.
3) Cacao Facial Scrub (S$27.00)
73.16% Certified Organic and pH balanced, one of the key ingredients is the delicious and great smelling Cacao! A natural beauty superfood, it has high levels of antioxidants, Vitamin C, E, magnesium and antioxidants. It also helps to temporary protect injured or exposed skin from harmful stimuli, enhances cellular regeneration and provide relief to the skin.
The scrub has not 1 but 3 natural gentle exfoliants – Bamboo powder, Argan shell powder and Olive seed powder. Bamboo powder is exotic natural exfoliant, uncommon but precious as it is fine enough to offer a gentle yet effective exfoliating effect. Argan shell powder helps to gently lift and remove dead skin while Olive seed powder provides medium abrasion on the skin. I use the scrub once a week and never once found it aggressive or hurting my skin. I even used it during my beach holiday when my skin felt a dry from sunburn and too much soaking in salt water – a gentle scrub before a deep hydration mask helps your skin absorb products better. The next day, I woke up with refreshed and glowy skin all rejuvenated for another day of beach activities!
Not a exfoliant but with exfoliating properties, Papaya Extract Enzymes are also included in the product to remove dead and damaged skin by breaking down protein and cleaning them away. It also has whitening effect, reduce the look of dark spots and improves skin texture.
Another amazing natural ingredient to boast – Winter Organics Cacao Facial Scrub also contains Olive Squalane, a botanical lipid that mirrors human lipids in molecular structure and weight (http://www.ingredientstodiefor.com/item/Olive_Squalane/129). Since it is similar to our skin’s molecular structure, the biocompatibility allows it to penetrate all layers of skin for hydration, rejuvenation and nourishment!
4) Calendula Shower Gel (S$20.00)
Last but definitely not the least. 79.90% Certified Organic Ingredients and pH balanced, this is where the ingredient Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Water made this innocent looking shower gel outshine all my other shower gels in the bathroom! I did a very thorough check though all my shower gels ‘collection’ and all of them listed Aqua as the first ingredient with highest weight percentage. Honestly, when I first did my research, I was mind-blown at how much a game-changer this is!
Other key ingredients include Calendula Extract, Vetiver and Rooibos Extract. Calendula is a well-known traditional medicinal herb with antispasmodic properties. It can be used orally (real food!) and on the skin, gentle and beneficial for allergy prone and sensitive skin. Vetiver also has anti-septic and moisturising properties with an added cooling and rejuvenating effect on the skin and body. In countries with hot summers such as India, the grass is used to cool and adds fragrance to moist air!
Rooibos Extract contains high level of anti-oxidants to counteract the effects of premature aging. It’s anti-viral, anti-fungal, and antibacterial properties makes it perfect for acne, eczema, psoriasis, and other skin conditions. As a atopic dermatitis (chronic and inflammatory eczema) sufferer, my hubby absolutely loves the new shower gel. Soothing, mild yet effective, it cleanses without drying. Not to mention, all the natural ingredients in the product made him feel relaxed using it and smells great too! Lastly, Vetiver Anti-septic and moisturizing properties to protect skin. After reading all these wholesome ingredients, do you feel like rolling yourself in a pool of Winter Organics Shower Gel? If there is such a pool, I’m sure me and my hubby will be the first to sign up and frolic in it!
With the ingenious blend of ingredients that Winter Organic uses and the hard work sourcing for natural and organic ingredients, I marvel at the effort put in to create each and every one of these products. All these without compromising prices, making sure that all items are affordable. It also makes me feel proud that this is a local company trying to make a difference for animals and our environment. Now, I am just waiting for them to come up with 100% naturally derived, non-animal cruelty and organic hair care products to complete my head to toe cleansing!
Till next time, take care!
The beach holiday on Koh Rong Island, Cambodia, I was talking about. All photos and sunburn was achieved here 😛
This is a paid post, however, there was no press information provided with the products. I did all my own research and this review is 100% true and of my own. Follow me on Instagram, I update everyday!
I was curious if you ever thought of changing the layout of your blog?
Its very well written; I love what youve got to say.
But maybe you could a little more in the way of content
so people could connect with it better. Youve got an awful lot of
text for only having 1 or 2 images. Maybe
you could space it out better?