We chat to four award winning brands to find out about their ideal day and get them to reveal their self-care secrets
Amanda Grindrod is the founder of naturalzestskincare.co.nz. She was born and raised in Solihull in the West Midlands, but has lived in Christchurch, New Zealand for the last ten years. She lives with her partner Hamish and his two daughters, Ruby 17 and Stella 15, and Dash the dog
I was inspired to start Natural Zest Skincare due to my own personal struggle with sensitive, reactive skin. I often had reactions to skincare products I bought. As a registered nurse I wanted to use products which were beneficial for the health of my skin. I studied a Diploma in Aromatherapy and discovered the many skin benefits plants possess. I wanted to formulate my own skincare, so I studied for a Diploma in Natural and Organic Skincare Formulation and Natural Zest Skincare was born.
My personal favourite product in the range is Rejuvenate Cream. I naturally have a tendency towards dry skin, however with the goodness of Hyaluronic Acid and so many wonderful nourishing oils this formula ensures my skin remains hydrated, nourished and plump.
An ideal day
My ideal day would be to wake to the sun shining on a warm summer’s day. My morning would be spent formulating products. I love the process, starting with all the beautiful natural raw ingredients and carefully blending them to create a beautiful product full of goodness. My afternoon is spent lovingly packing and then dispatching customer orders. Late afternoon is spent with a walk along the beach with the dog and a refreshment in one of the restaurants overlooking the ocean. Life doesn’t get much better!
3 self-care secrets
- Don’t ever skip removing your make up and your night-time beauty routine, waking up in the morning and looking at yourself in the mirror is akin to waking up to a sink full of dirty dishes!
- For an instant glow use a gentle facial polish – it’s a great way to brighten skin as it exfoliates the dead skin cells and reveals a fresher face! But only do this once or twice a week.
- Treat yourself as you would treat your best friend.
Nicky Jagger is the founder of rawnaturenz.com. She lives in Auckland, New Zealand with her husband
I was frustrated at the lack of natural and safe but also high performing body care options on the market. I wanted to use natural deodorants and perfume for myself and my 2 daughters but even though the products that were available said they were ’natural’ they all had other toxic ingredients in them and were housed in plastic. And they didn’t work as they were meant to. So I started making my own products on my kitchen bench as a hobby and soon my daughters friends started requesting the products, so I set up a basic website having no experience and then one store approached me to sell the deodorants and that was it - I was off to the races after that! Raw Nature was born in 2017.
Our range comprises natural deodorants, lip care, natural perfume, moisturisers, hair care and more but my favourite products are lemon lip balm and the musk rose perfume. I don’t leave the house without them. The lip balm is such a versatile product, I can use it on fly away hair, or frizzy ends, emergency hand cream if I’ve forgotten my solid moisturiser and if my sandals are rubbing it acts as a slip barrier to help with blisters forming.
An ideal day
I live very close to the beach so I love to take a daily morning walk along the beach no matter the weather, then have coffee with my husband and chat about what the day will bring.
3 self-care secrets
- I miss my daughters as they have grown up and moved to different cities in New Zealand to study and now work, so I love to send them a funny meme or chat with them on the family chat. Having laughter in my life is super important and my family gives that to me.
- Walking and getting fresh air every day is so good for mental health and thinking about new products or how to handle important decisions or stressful situations.
- Taking my makeup off every night before bed is a must and allows my skin to breathe and restore itself overnight.
Janet Cordner is the founder of skin-bare.com lives in Northern Ireland with her husband (and partner in business) and their 4 sons, Jackson, Reece, Harrison and Carlton
Our business journey started after our eldest son Jackson was born with severe baby eczema. We met and spoke to many chemists and paediatricians as to why this may have happened as Jackson was not born with eczema. Soon we came to realise that the use of chemicals in baby products such as wet wipes was a major factor to his condition. We took it upon ourselves as concerned parents to delve deeper and try and find a solution to current products on the market but at this time there were no natural alternatives so we came to the joint decision that we would develop our very own natural eco baby wipe.
At this point in our lives our mission was purely to help Jackson with his skin condition. When creating this first ever natural baby wipe we learned that polyester in our clothes was having affecting Jackson’s eczema and after more reach found out that all the baby wipes being sold in the UK and across the world where in fact made form manmade polyester. Surely this was an opportunity and soon became a challenge right at the beginning our business venture to develop the first 100% biodegradable cloth which was unheard of almost 20 years ago.
After nurturing our kids and our business we wanted to offer adults the same quality that was on offer for their kids and started creating a new natural eco makeup removing wipe with more amazing natural ingredients along with the first ever hemp exfoliating mitt.
I love all our products but if I was to choose just one, I really do love our hemp exfoliating mitts. I have tried many exfoliators over the years but love how gentle and convenient ours is to use, plus it doesn’t have or need any ingredients, just dampen in the shower and its ready to use.
An ideal day
My perfect day begins with breakfast in bed, a long soak in the bath without anyone knocking on the door or questions to answer, getting dressed up and taken out for a lovely evening dinner with a nice glass of Malbec, back home and jumping into my bed and drifting away into a long, relaxing night’s sleep. Before my 6:15 alarm shatters my sweet dreams.
3 self-care secrets
For me, I find the best self care tips that I can offer would be:
- Drink plenty of water
- Exfoliate your skin to remove impurities and dead skin cells
- And don’t forget to moisturise.
MORE INSPIRATION
READ About all the winners of this year's Green Parent Natural Beauty Awards in the Beauty Bible, available with issue 120 of The Green Parent, which has just been published. Click here to get your copy.
DISCOVER All our beauty stories and self-care secrets over at thegreenparent.co.uk.
