Let me clarify one thing - what I call ‘August beauty’ is what I have been using and testing on my summer holiday in July, with few purchases and focus on rest and recharge. When I go out, I do wear make-up, but summer for me always means simplifying the skincare and make-up, using fewer products and observing my skin. The change of water, air, food, climate always impacts, but so does the change of routine and scenery, when you leave the daily grind at home, lock the door and change direction. The way you spend your days, almost hitting a pause ‘on the usual daily life’ and instead morphing for a few days or weeks, if you are lucky, into the ‘holiday mode’. I make fewer beauty and wellness purchases in the summer, unless I travel and get to explore and discover new brands and products that draw my interest, something new in terms on intrigue or innovation that I can’t normally get in London. For me beauty, the older I become, is about individuality and paying attention to skin and body, how I feel about myself, the signals my body sends me, trying to re-engage my attention. I think beauty in its truest form should be about a dialogue between ourselves and our bodies, a reflection of self-expression, rather than trying to fit in with popular trends or things that others - people, brands, tech - tries to impose on us. One liberates, the other restricts. Pause and think about it, it was one of the subjects of my ‘meditation’ when sitting on a beach or a large rock during my travels this summer. Dialoging with yourself is such a worthy - and free - activity that benefits you greatly.
This is a post for all of my subscribers, free and paid, but part two of August Beauty, which I plan to publish in a few days, will be for my paid subscribers only. So if you are not yet part of either of my subscriber tribes, why not join?
NOTE: this post in a long read, so please make sure to fully download it or read it via Substack app, so you don’t miss out on anything.
RMS Kakadu Body Butter
My friends at RMS Beauty spoil me wonderfully with their new launches or products sent to me without advance notice - they do surprises in the most charming of ways! Their engagement with me never dulls my sensation of wonder and gratitude when a package arrives with brand’s simple logo. Are you ready to peak in Galina, do you want to see what’s inside, the words float silently in the airstream of delivery.
Given the choice between body lotion, cream, butter and oil, I find myself favouring the latter two overall, irrespective of the time of the year, as body butter and body oils tend to support and nourish the skin whether it is cold or hot outside. Oils work with the skin beautifully, provided they are well formulated and contain quality ingredients that dance together like a perfectly executed Argentinian tango. Body butters feel more indulgent, especially in the evening, after spending the day in the sun.
This body butter offers a richly indulgent, whipped formula, allowing the product to melt fast into the skin and leaving behind the subtlest trace of glow, no shimmer, just happy, well-nourished skin even on elbows and knees. And the feeling of nourishment lasts well beyond initial application.
As the brand knows its clients well and has an open dialogue with its audience, products that RMS launch tend to be based on needs, wants and desires, in this case you get a formula that combines nourishing butters and oils that support softness and comfort, while skin-brightening antioxidants help even out rough texture for a smoother-looking finish. Light-reflecting minerals create a pearlescent glow that makes skin look naturally luminous naturally, rather than superficially.
Key natural ingredients:
Kakadu Plum Seed Oil - a vitamin C–rich superfruit oil, sourced from Australia, packed with antioxidants to help skin look brighter, smoother, and radiant.
Shea Butter - a deeply moisturising butter that helps soften rough, dry skin and support a comfortable, nourished feel.
Jojoba Seed Oil - a lightweight conditioning oil that helps lock in moisture and improve suppleness without greasy residue.
Niacinamide + Plant Peptides - skin-supporting ingredients that help improve skin texture and tone.
Light-Reflecting Minerals - Create a soft, pearly glow that enhances skin’s natural radiance, without sparkle or shimmer.
With a softly floral scent and a hint of citrus, you will enjoy the improvement in the radiance of the skin and the feeling of lasting hydration, particularly if you have dry or de-hydrated skin. The packaging also works well when packing a suitcase and will last you well, even if you are doing away for a few weeks at a time. I would also recommend using it after sauna, when the skin will drink it in with particular gratitude and reflect its appreciation through appearance the next day.
Lumi Nordic Sunbrero, Golden Hour and Lola in Love
My appreciation of this Estonia beauty brand (it is more than beauty, with products encompassing nutrition, hair and bodycare, as well as products for men, babies and sun protection) is well known to my regular readers. I have been using brand’s photo biome and microbiota photo-protector formula from late spring, helping to prep my skin for more active sun exposure, but the newer launch, a bronzer and butter blush were gifts from my bestie, who ordered them from Lumi Nordic website ahead of my arrival in Helsinki.
Sunbrero Plant Stem cells & Melatonin Serum ( Gold winner of the Free from Skincare Award for best Brand in 2024).
This product is unlike any other I have tried and in some ways it makes big and bold claims, but knowing the team behind the brand, I also know that they don’t market myths, with ethos of the brand deeply rooted in science. There are many conversations about skin’s microbiome - important topic - but this face serum contains patented prebiotic and probiotic stem cell technology that gives skin UV protecting abilities, while helping to slow down the ageing process and improving skin tone, firmness and elasticity. All of this in one glass bottle.
You need to apply this oil-free serum before your SPF for daytime protection and before your night cream to enhance the effect of skin regeneration while you sleep. It is also important to know that you need to re-apply this serum before and after sun exposure, but considering its water-like texture with a little bounce and pleasantly uplifting scent, I don’t think its will be a chore, but rather an enjoyable habit with skin health benefits. With regular use expect to have a balanced microbiota, as well as healthier and more radiant skin, with a more even complexion.
Skincare that’s make-up: Lumi Nordic Golden Hour Butter Bronzer and Lola in Love Butter Blush
Lola in Love line of Lumi Nordic products has great appeal to younger women, inviting them to pay attention and fall in love with their skin and bodies, but some of those products have a wider appeal to women of older or more mature generations that have more confidence in themselves and refuse to succumb to society pressures of looking eternally young. every decade of life is different and instead of feeling depressed by the passing of time, I think products such as this invite us to celebrate where we are in life and cherish the age we were lucky to reach already.
Golden Hour Butter Bronzer is a warm, golden-bronze shade with a hint of light-catching sheen that brings warmth and dimension to facial contours and features. You can use your fingers - or a rose quartz spatula that accompanies the product - to warm some of the product and then applying it to your cheeks and bridge of the nose, as well as the forehead and eyelids - yes, you can use it as sun-kissed eyeshadow too. With the combination of cocoa butter, beeswax and scalene, as well as botulin, CBD, hemp oil and algica to support the skin, you will feel a little bit like a sun-kissed goddess even when the summer comes to an end.
Lola in Love Butter Blush in pink
Summer make-up remains one of the hottest topics of discussion every year and while some women want a lot of colour on their complexion, others prefer a more subtle look, so this blush is more suited to them. Creamy formula will glide effortlessly, leaving behind a barely-there feel and radiant finish, whether you apply it with your fingers or brush. it adds a little bit of colour and I happily apply it to my lips, as it smells of cocoa and makes me feel happy with its softness and smell. Easiest natural beauty look within seconds!
SOWVITAL Gardenr’s Hand Cream in Pear Orchard
This British brand has won me over with both its products and the natural, unassuming charm and creativity of its founder Jack Lewis. Jack’s story is a fascinating one and I will leave it for a separate post, because while he doesn’t like or enjoy the spotlight on him, Jack is a remarkably talented young man worth knowing, but his products speak highly;y of him and his ethos. SOWVITAL is a British brand inspired by the British gardens, as well as Art Nouveau and with the help of visual practise of Leslie David and her studio, the packaging of the brand is as memorable as its formulas.
Jack kindly gifted me a few of the hand creams and I took one of them, Pear Orchard, on my European car journey adventures and let me be honest, everyone who was in the car with me got to appreciate that hand cream and its creative layers that unfolded on the journey.
“A heart of Bartlett pear softened by peony, rose, and the crispness of ivy, cedar wood and musk ground in the base.” Sowvital Gardenr’s Hand Cream in The Pear Orchard
Unique, but familiar. Most advanced, yet acceptable. That’s how Jack was describing his brand when we met in person and I ended up using when I applied and smelled the hand cream at our meeting. The way that the hand cream feels, the scent that unfolds will make you feel all kinds of emotions - curiosity, awe, delight, wonder. You will experience the magic of fragrance and the sensory delight of texture of the hand cream on your fingers and the scent will continue to linger, making you want to bring them towards your nose and be delighted again and again by the notes you smell, not artificial fragrance. Your will be transported each time from whenever you are when you apply the hand cream, feeling as if you were walking through the rear orchid in the countryside and smelling the leaves, the bark of the trees, the pears. Ripe, fresh, sunny, all notes dancing unseen and making you feel child-like delight upon each experience.
“Infused with shea butter, vitamin E, and a soothing botanical complex of aloe vera, chamomile, cucumber, rose and oat extracts”
When I first applied the hand cream in the car my daughter almost immediately wanted to know what it was and asked to try it herself. Rarely I get such instant reactions to the products I use and from then on the whole family was delighted each time I got the SOWVITAL hand cream out of the front pocket of my leather travel bag and applied it dreamily to my hands. Try it, take it with you on the tube, plane, train. If feeling generous, share with friends - I promise you each time a very happy memory will be created. And your hands would be grateful for the imparted softness and care on each occasion too!
Wilder Botanics Plant Potion (lip and all purpose balm)
I was sent this newest launch from Wilder Botanicals by founder Rachel, with the potion incidentally arriving a few days before I departed on the European road trip with the family, so it felt almost intuitive to drop it into my travel bag’s front pocket, alongside the hand cream, protein bars and face spray, alongside the electrolytes I tested on the road trip - not particularly great, even if the price point was appealing. Ugh in fact, big mistake. Adding the potion wasn’t a mistake at all, thank you Rachel!
Rachel and Charlie, husband and wife team behind Wilder Botanics, don’t launch any new product in a rush, they are driven by nature, seasonality, contemplation and genuine need for a product or tincture or tea to serve a specific need. And this potion is not exception to their ethos. More than just a deeply nourishing lip balm - let’s be honest, there are plenty of great lip balms to nourish the lips and not jeopardise the body by ingesting of the product that we all do by licking the lips - Plant Potion is a versatile botanical remedy designed to soothe, replenish and protect skin that is dry, sore or irritated. Crafted with a healing blend of nettle, yarrow, rose hip, propolis, calendula, and chamomile, this multi-purpose balm delivers a dose of lasting hydration wherever it’s needed most and gives you comfort upon application, making it a perfect travel companion due to efficacy and size in fact!
But that’s not all, you can use this balm as part of face care and make-up routine too, by dabbling it onto cheek and brow bones, or anywhere you want a naturally radiant finish for a fresh, dewy glow, like your lips that might feel rougher due to sun, salty water or wind exposure. I took the potion with me to Finland and it served me well when we had a few days of simple and rustic living on the friends island in the Finnish archipelago, where the closest shop won’t carry beauty products of any kind, so packing light and packing smart is advisable! I applied it to dry patches, cuticles and even pesky mosquito bites with great success thanks to plant nourishment. So I wasn’t at all surprised to see this potion sold out on brand’s website upon my return, but hope it will be back in stock come September.
The product has a slightly grainy formula and a lightly sweet, herbal scent, with notes of shea unmistakably coming on top. I attach the list of ingredients below, so you can see what ingredients were used to create an unassuming, but noteworthy multi-tasker that is worth having in your beauty cabinet. Many of us living in cities around the world are increasingly disconnected from nature through lifestyle, speed and demands of life and technology, so it’s always worth re-connecting to it through touch, feel and products, a powerful reminder that we humans wither without nature and it suffers too at the hand of mankind, this summer’s heat in the UK and devastating fires in Spain, France, Portugal, Greece a stark reminder that we can’t take without giving and caring back in return without the dire consequences for a growing number of people around the world.
List of ingredients: Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower), Seed Oil, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Wax, Persea Gratissima (Avocado), Oil, Urtica Dioica (Nettle) Extract, Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract, Matricaria, Recutita (Chamomile) Flower Extract, Oleic/Linoleic/Linolenic Polyglycerides, Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Limnanthes Alba (Meadowfoam) Seed Oil, Rosa Canina (Rosehip) Seed Oil, Avena sativa (Oat) Kernel Extract, Propolis, Extract, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Extract, Tocopherol (Vitamin E) SUCROSE STEARATE
This is all I have for you for now, but part two, for my paid subscribers, will be coming in a few days. In that post I will tell you about a surprising whipped body butter experiment that I wasn’t brave or smart enough to do myself - but my best friend did -a skincare miniature set that I keep re-purchasing and gifting and a shampoo from a brand that is well-known, yet somewhat under the radar. Happy weekend my dear subscriber and thank you as always for being here, reading my post, shares, likes, comments and support. I very much appreciate our personal connection!
I’m sold on Golden Hour!
Great, trusted and thoughtful recommendations as always Galina