If you haven’t spotted Grown Alchemist, it’s a brand to watch if you like your skin and body care clean and simple. For a long time, organic has meant apologetic and often not as effective. It’s one thing to banish chemicals, another entirely to keep up efficacy without them.

Grown Alchemist is from Australia, and that’s a nation that seems to be light years ahead with their organic formulas. I always look twice at Australian brands but it’s taken me a while to really think about Grown and what I want to say about it. Personally, I’m okay with chemicals – I’ve had enough experience with rubbish organic brands to make the decision that I’ll take my chances with some chemistry. Actually, Grown Alchemist reminds me a bit of Deciem in nature because it’s putting its faith in formulas rather than bluster and marketing.

So, what the brand promises is results that are as active as any artificial formulas using only organic plant actives. It’s a big statement, but collagen boosting ingredients, hyaluronic acid, peptides and antioxidants, which are the staples of non-organic formulations, are all achieved through natural formulas. Their own explanation is as good as anyone can do it so I’ll refer you HERE.

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Grown Alchemist Antibacterial Hand Cream

I’ve tried several products including the Polishing Facial Exfoliant with Pink Grapefruit and Glucomannan extract and I really didn’t like it. It felt too rough for my skin, but the Olive Leaf Cleanser is divine. I’ve also tried the handwash in the picture above – if you like your hands to feel and smell almost medically clean, rather than flowery or perfumed, then this is it! A blend of Sweet Orange, Cedarwood and Sage sounds like it’s going to be a mildly sweet and foodie scent – not at all.. it smells, well, hard to say really – clinical, but in a good way.

Prices for Grown Alchemist range from about the £12 mark all the way up to over £70 for a facial serum. And if you think Grown Alchemist looks a little (or a lot) like Aesop, you’re right – in some cases, it’s hard to tell the difference. They’re both Australian, both apothecary in style.. it makes me wonder if someone from Aesop left and founded Grown.

Either way, SpaceNK have a small selection of Grown HERE – if you’ve got left over pounds to spend and want to try something cleaner and greener for your skin, I’d recommend it.