Kure Bazaar – nail polish without the chemical nasties

For the final post under this month's theme, Kay passed a nail polish my way to try by Kure Bazaar (a shade called September), that contains up to 85% natural ingredients. Having faced up to the fact that we absorb a lot of the product we apply to our skin directly into our blood stream (you can read all of our 'Healthy January' posts here), it has become important to me to find some good options for nails.

I'm a nail polish addict, I'll admit it. I've been wearing nail varnish of one shade or another almost every day for the last 20 odd years. I recently tried to give my nails a detox and went out with bare nails (oh how exposed I felt!) for a good couple of weeks. It was necessary, as years of slapping on one chemical-laden shade after another and removing them with equally chemical-laden products has left them weak. It definitely did my nails some good but as soon as Kay handed me this incredible shade of pink I had to slap it on my mitts immediately. It's beautiful....

I'd probably describe this colour as a raspberry pink; it's bright but not your typical hot pink. It's so pigmented that one coat is all you need, although a second coat and a top coat add extra shine and make your manicure last that much longer. The brush is a very nice size and shape and the polish glides on evenly. As an extra bonus it dries very quickly – a relief for every cab driver who has ever had to wait impatiently in my driveway when I inevitably decided to paint my nails at the eleventh hour!

So what makes Kure Bazaar so special and worthy of the £14.95 price tag? Well, it's the brainchild of Brazilian model Kartika Luyet, who aims to give us all better nail health by preserving our nails' natural vitality. These polishes are being billed as revolutionary due to the lack of 'toxic baddies' and inclusion of natural ingredients like cotton and wheat.

According to online natural beauty shop Love Lula: Kure Bazaar Nail Colours have NO Toluene, NO Formaldehyde, NO Dibutyl Phthalate, NO Synthetic Camphor. I'll admit I don't know exactly what all of these are but I sure as heck don't want them on my nails!

I feel the packaging is worthy of a mention here. I know that one concern Kay and I have had when looking for beauty products that contain fewer chemicals, is that the packaging should look high end – especially if the price tag is. You often have to pay a little more for natural products but if the product is great and the packaging looks sleek then it tends to be worth it. And this scores very highly.

In conclusion, due to the fact that I get through a horrendous amount of nail polish, I don't normally spend this much on it. However I do believe in almost every case you get what you pay for. Nothing about your typical nail polish is natural – the smell, the colour, the list of unpronounceable ingredients – but this nail polish is different. I'll hold my hand up and say I think it is well worth the price.

Sadly we often associate natural products with a poor performance, leaving a frustrating conflict – do we want fantastic, effective products or ones that are kind to our bodies? Thankfully companies like this are raising the bar and giving us both. This product is vibrant, lasted the best part of a week without chipping, and who knows, in the long term it might even help a nail polish addict like me to improve the condition of my nails.

Kure Bazaar Nail Colours, RRP £14.95. Check out the other fantastic shades on offer at www.lovelula.com

Two contenders......

As you know, this month we have been looking at makeup products that are high quality and long lasting, yet contain as many natural ingredients as possible. Today I want to share two lip products that I have trialled in my quest to find highly pigmented lip colours that contain as few chemical nasties as possible.

 

Bite Beauty High Pigment Pencil in Meritage

Bite Beauty is a natural lip care company based in Canada. The company's aim is to create high quality lip products that are good enough to eat! My first thought when I tried this product was how creamy it is. Its pencil-shape nib meant that application was easy but the creamy consistency was the issue. It smooshed everywhere, as you can see below...

Although it didn't go over the lip line, it faded from the middle and left a line around the edge of the lip. I loved the colour, the ingredients and the sleekness of the product but it seemed a little inconsistent on the lips. However, I will try other products from this company because I want to like them. They have the right balance of natural ingredients and high end glamour. 

www.bitebeauty.com

Liz Earle Lipstick in Hibiscus

With Liz Earle creating so many wonderful skin care products, I decided to try some make up bits. The lip glosses were great but contained parabens, which put me off a bit, but the lipstick looked more promising.

It's not a pillar box red, more of a matt red. The name, Hibiscus, seems appropriate as it has a very slight floral scent. However, I really liked the colour, both swatched and on the lips. It lasted fine until I ate something.... then there was red everywhere. The colour had bled way over the lip line and I looked like a five year old who had used her mum's makeup! I wouldn't say that I wont use it again, I will. Just not when I go out to eat.

£14, uk.lizearle.com

 The swatch on the left is the Liz Earle and the right, Bite Beauty.

  

Bellapierre Coral Cheek and Lip Stain

This was a freebie I received through glossybox.co.uk and is a coral cheek and lipstain by mineral makeup company Bellápierre.

It is so much better than I thought it would be! It's a subtle coral colour, which adds warmth to the cheek and is not overly coral or orange. Actually, it reminds me of a rose gold. It blends really easily – far easier than other cream blushes that I've used previously. A little colour goes a long way and it gives a lovely healthy glow. 

However, it's on the lips that this product really comes into its own. When applied, it looks like a subtle pink nude and reminds me of the L'oreal Collection Privee 'Exclusive Nudes' collection, especially the Julianne Moore Barely Peach. 

It is moisturising and although not totally natural, it's paraben free and does include some natural ingredients, such as Vitamin E, which explains the moisturising-ness. 

I am using it as a lip balm as my Naked Lips Superfruits has run out. Sad times. But it's the kind of product that can be applied without a mirror, on the go, will prevent chapped lippies and add a warming colour. It also doesn't leave that gross residue like some products.

A few snaps getting ready for a night out. Even in artificial light, it holds its own, giving a subtle enhancement to cheeks and lips. 

www.bellapierre.co.uk 

Burt's Bees Lip Shine in 'Flutter'

Lip Shine is a sheer gloss, that's not sticky and smells like blackcurrant cough sweets. It's 100% natural and a great staple to have in your handbag. It's moisturising enough to take the place of a lip balm and doesn't require a mirror or extreme precision when applying. Although it is a red/pink colour, when applied it is clear but it enhances the natural lip colour.

It's not hugely long lasting. An hour and a half is about the max before it needs to be reapplied. 

www.burtsbees.co.uk

ILIA Neon Angel Pink Lipstick

I set out to find a hot pink lipstick that I intended to wear tirelessly through the summer, which is not totally synthetic and makes use of natural ingredients. It needed to last, be pigmented and vibrant.

After much trawling and testing, I found it. ILIA Neon Angel is described as a bold magenta pink and will be my new favourite summer colour.....and I wore it yesterday too. I know, it's still winter but not sorry. 

When I first opened the lipstick, there was an 'AAAAH...' moment – heavens parted, that kind of thing. The packaging was sleek. It shows that products that have natural ingredients don't have to look hippy dippy and flipping boring. It looked high end and sleek. The metallic case said 'I am a hot lipstick and I'm classy'.

Next, I sniffed it. This may seem strange and yes, I did end up with lipstick on my nose but I am someone who really loves the smell of MAC lipsticks, so I needed to judge whether it was even vaguely similar. It's not as strong but it smells coco buttery. Good enough. 

I then swatched it. I was a little disappointed as I wanted it to be similar to MAC Nicki Viva Glam or Sephora Cream Lip Stains. You know, something 'umphy' but it seemed a little lacklustre. The swatch didn't match the lipstick itself. However, the end just needed to be used a little bit (mind out of gutters please, or is it just me with a dirty mind?) to get the colour going and now, on the first swatch, it's beaut. It is buildable and with two coats you go from pink lips to super duper pink lips.

I put it on and went about my day. I had lunch and a snack whilst wearing it and it stayed in place for five hours without a touch up. It didn't fade from the middle of the lips, which is brilliant because that looks so awful. The colour was consistent.

Left: Concentrating while I applied the lipstick. Right: Five hours later, colour still intact!

I usually wear lip gloss or a balm when wearing lipstick. This is because: 1. I get quite dry lips and 2. I am a big child and constantly lick my lips, rub them together etc, hence why I need to moisturise. With this, I just wore the product. It was moisturising and I didn't feel as if it was drying out until the five hour mark. This may have something to do with the ingredients, including beeswax, various oils, coco butter (that explains the smell!) 85% of which are organic.

I paid £22 from naturisimo.com, so yes, it is expensive for a lipstick. You could pay £10 or so more and have one from Tom Ford. However, the price reflects the quality. Buying organic vegetables at Tesco is more expensive than Tesco Value ones and this is certainly not a value product.  

For me, at the moment, finding products that make use of natural ingredients is really important.... if this means that I scrimp on everything else, so be it! If the price makes you raise an eyebrow or two, perhaps put aside a few extra pennies, as the difference in longevity and moisture is noticeable.

We are not sponsored by naturisimo.com but if you fancy having a look, it is a great site to explore naturally based products. There is also 10% off when you enter TREAT at checkout. So, actually, that's £19.80 for a lipstick..... she says, whilst reaching for the credit card. 

www.naturisimo.com

www.iliabeauty.com

FEBRUARY

For the month of February, we will be finding highly pigmented, long lasting makeup products that are not totally synthetic and have ingredients that are as natural as possible. 

However, no natural ingredient beigey product that smells of lavender and old people allowed! We will be testing vibrant (nice smelling!) products from Liz Earle, Bite Beauty, OPI, Bella Pierre and ILIA. 

With it being the month of lurrrve and all that Valentine's Day jazz, all products are going to be red colours, pink colours, reddy pinks, pinky reds...you get the gist. Bring on the hot pink lipstick that we can legitimately eat off our lips! Wooooo!