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June 9, 2010
Beauty at-home
Beauty tips from Helen Ambrosen, Lush Co-Founder and Product Inventor
Helen Ambrosen, Lush Co-Founder and Product Inventor |
Helen Ambrosen and her colleagues at Lush are big fans of the natural. From the ingredients to the packaging, Lush products adhere to an all-natural, environment friendly philosophy while working extra hard to create products that have won for them a loyal following. Not surprisingly, some of the ingredients they use can be found in the typical kitchen.
“At Lush we use these materials all the time, so it’s not difficult to work out how to use them at home. But Lush is a little bit like a fine restaurant—you can do it at home if you like, but you can also come to Lush and let us do it for you,” she said.
And what are these magic ingredients we often overlook? “Beautiful vegetable oils—like olive and almond—are something you must have,” she said. “Fine sea salt is always very useful—can use these on your body or on feet. Other good things to have are fine oatmeal, ground almonds and honey.”
With these staple ingredients, Ambrosen said one can then make a lot of different things: a lovely facemask/salts for your bath/tie some oats and almonds in muslin-float in the bath water, squeeze out and pat on your skin/honey dabbed onto spots.
Ambrosen loves fuss-free products that deliver. Her favorite at Lush is the Ultrabland cleanser. “I can't live without it! It's such a beautiful, simple product that will thoroughly clean your skin and leave it soft and supple… I also love Dream Cream body moisturiser—it’s great for both your hands and feet.”
Here are some of her recipes for at-home beauty care:
Hair recipe using apple juice:
Take one (1) tablespoon of apple juice and two (2) tablespoons of lemon juice. After shampooing and conditioning, apply to the ends of the hair, leave for a minute and then rinse. This should give a nice shine.
This one is for use after you've shampooed and conditioned your hair. It's very hard to recreate in your home something like a shampoo—you can wash your hair with an egg, but it’s a bit messy and people like to be able to wash their hair in a modern way and have it squeaky clean. These recipe supplements what people already do. It's a final rinse for the end of your regime—it will give an extra shine up-and-above what your conditioner will usually do. The acidity of the apple juice will flatten the hair cuticle leaving it more reflective of light and, as such, a lot shinier.
Lush Dream Cream |
Hair recipe using eggs:
Eggs are really good for the hair and a great source of protein. Beat two eggs then add 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil. Olive oil improves the tensile strength of the hair. You can double up the quantities for longer hair. Massage the mixture in to dry hair, wrap a towel around your head and leave for 10 minutes. Shampoo and condition out. This is a lovely pre-treatment for the hair.
This is a pre-wash treatment… you would then use your shampoo and condition to finish the process. The olive oil will help to improve the tensile strength of the hair making it much less likely to break when you're combing it after shampoo and conditioning. When hair's wet it's at it's most fragile—so this will help stop hair breakage.
The eggs will give softness and shine over-and-above what your normal conditioner will do. Eggs are extremely mucilaginous—the residue will last beyond shampooing and conditioning—and a great source of nutrition, as they are full of protein. They give a rich feeling to the hair, leaving it soft and shiny.
Body recipe using salt:
Take two (2) tablespoons of fine sea salt and mix to a paste with a heavy oil such as olive oil or even better, Brazil nut oil. This is deeply nourishing for the skin. Wet the skin and apply to the backs of arms, legs and anywhere where the skin is rough. Don’t use on the décolleté area. Rinse off the skin.
This one can be used on its own. You probably wouldn't need to do much more to your skin than that. If you don't like sulphactant or soap then this is a really good way of keeping your skin clean. However, I would recommend using it as part of your beauty regime, as a treatment for when your skin is feeling a bit rough and in need of a good scrub. Use it no more than once a week—skin will be left feeling exfoliated and softened.
In the Philippines, Lush stores are located at Glorietta 4, Power Plant Mall, Shangri-La Mall, Greenbelt 3, Mall of Asia, and Bonifacio High Street.
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