[unpaid/sample] If you’ve got time this weekend (til end of day Sunday) and you’re located near London, pop over to the British Beauty Week event hosted by The British Beauty Council and No.7. Lots of talks, demonstrations and brands to discover – all British of course. I nipped in yesterday afternoon for a brief visit – there is plenty of space (if you know Carriage Hall in Floral Street where the new Bluebird shop was, it’s there) and lots to see and discover. You can find tickets HERE although spaces are now very limited for the talks and demonstrations. I’ve got a few British brands showing there to highlight here in this post because obviously not everyone has access to Covent Garden and they’re gems.
First up is the Elan Skincare Nail and Cuticle Balm – a truly beautiful, soft and nourishing balm that smells of freshly picked roses. My nails are having a good moment (I say moment because I know it will be fleeting – once I get back out to the garden and the cold weather hits, I can kiss them goodbye) and I swear it’s because I’m so much more vigilant about conditioning them.
It’s £20 for 30ml which seems almost like a life-time supply because you need so little of it and the fresh rosy hit is just delicious. It’s a stronger formula than most oils or balms so if you have peeling cuticles or weak and flaky nails, expect results from the squalene, magnolia, vitamin E and rose extracts. Find Elan Nail & Cuticle Cream HERE.
Next up is KanKan – a super idea from a London based brand with the aim of eradicating single use plastics. I’m sure this is the future of refillables because as we know, aluminium is infinitely recyclable and decanting your beauty juice from a pull can isn’t as weird as it sounds. You can choose from hand wash, body wash or baby wash. A starter pack, with the refillable bottle is £24 (the one I’m showing is a limited edition) and refills are £12.50.
For every can sold, one tree is planted and of course it’s fully vegan. The product I have here is Mandarin and Clary Sage for a citrus pep and mind clearing burst whenever you wash your hands – by the time you do, the can is long gone on its journey to being something else entirely. You can find KanKan HERE.
Next up is Lava Cap, the genius heated hair cap that allows all of your conditioning treatment to sink in using heat and humidity rather than just sitting on the surface. It’s popular for textured hair although not exclusively – if you have dry strands this will sort them right out. You pop the flaxseed filled cap into the microwave for a brief period before wearing the cap so you get a good heat distribution across the entire scalp and hair. Leave on for up to 30 minutes. A good tip, by the way, that I heard at the event was to towel dry your hair before adding conditioner – water acts as a barrier so conditioner won’t work as well on wet hair. Lava Cap is from £34 HERE.
Lastly, Neighbourhood Botanicals. Commissioning decorative and illustrative artworks for your beauty brand is extra level attention to detail but as well proven here, worth it. At the back of my mind I feel that I’ve seen this brand before (in fact, it’s on FeelUnique so maybe there) but it could be at previous events. The Mild Mannered moisturiser apparently took 70 formulations to get it to the one that is just right – when you’re not working with silicones, alcohol, fragrance or essential oils there is nowhere to hide.
Mild Mannered is more of a moisturising milk than anything – it’s slightly gel-ish but gives an instant silky feeling to your complexion. There’s no claim that it’s for sensitive skin (being able to make those claims clinically is such an expensive operation) but looking at the ingredient list I think Lucy will be able to use it on her very reactive skin. In fact, she is wearing it today with no ill effects. Key players are aloe, sunflower oil, nabila flower water, glycerin and betaine (hydrating amino acid) – there’s no shine so if you prefer a matte complexion, it’s for you. £34 feels very reasonable. You can find it HERE.
We do have some spectacular brands born and raised in the UK that really can hold their own against the big players – it’s worth taking time to seek them out but we need a British Beauty Brand index so they’re easy to find. Unless you’re Charlotte Tilbury or Elemis or similar there’s nothing left to pay for top of Google search or ad campaigns and PR. I’ve looked to see if anything exists but it doesn’t seem to and now I don’t know why not! If I had the time I’d do it myself.
Leave a Reply