January 2025 Newness

more than ever the motto should be "less is more" when it comes to individual beauty choices

If you follow me on Instagram you might have noticed that in the past year I have posted less about beauty than in previous years and there is a good reason for it. With more and more brands and products being launched continuously, those of us not in the first flushes of youth apply knowledge and a healthy dose of scepticism before we purchase a new beauty product - or write about it. It’s often a case of ‘been there, tried that, seen that, read the memo’. With brands focussing more on marketing and working with influencers beauty choices are becoming more confusing - and costly too, as even mass beauty brands are rising the prices. Plus when a celebrity or influencer is being paid to promote a product can you be sure they are actually using it and see “transformative results”? Err, you can’t be sure of that at all, especially when influencers and TikTokers talk about newness daily - how can you be sure which product works and which doesn’t? You get my point, right?

As to new launches or brands, I am always curious to hear stories behind them and learn about all kinds of innovation and progress in beauty industry from around the world, as long as the story is not along the lines ‘I tried everything and couldn’t find anything that solved my skin problem x, y, z…so I created this’. Please don’t insult my intelligence, there is something for everyone out there already and more. Quality and originality will always make the brand standout and efficacy will translate into growth as the word of mouth spreads - and you can’t buy it - either you have it as a brand…or your don’t.

With all my gifts bought and packed, I flew to Finland to rest and re-charge, but I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t find the time to browse the beauty selection and on this occasion I have to say that Helsinki’s answer to Wholefoods Ruohonjuuri ,where in the past decade I discovered many interesting niche brands, didn’t wow me at all. Possibly because many products were bought as festive gifts, as the shelves in the beauty section were at times sparse and apart from some essential oil rollerballs and lip balms for my daughter I left with some teas, chocolates and supplements rather than beauty purchases. Stockmann beauty selection - and I mean natural and new niche brands - was quite the opposite. It grows year on year and I have spent a significant amount of time this time looking at new launches from familiar brands and discovering new ones.

NCLA Beauty

I discovered their body butters a year or two ago and they are pretty lush in terms of scents and textures. On this occasion the brand had many gifting ideas and the playful packaging stood out too. In fact I would go as far as saying their offering of seasonal gifts was one of the most enticing I have seen this winter! I bought a “Scrub Down, Butter Up” coconut vanilla body scrub and body butter set - the scrub so fine, it makes the skin sing in delight. Well, almost. And the butter was perfect for dry skin that is hidden under multiple clothing layers and particularly when applied after cold lake dipping and tar sauna experience with friends. First detox, then nurture. And you smell like dessert afterwards, so extra endorphins and no extra calories .)

The brand was created a decade or so ago by two Asian-American sisters, Elin and Ann-Thu, who want those who purchase NCLA Beauty products to have an ‘OMG’ moments when using them. A very millennial message, but a woman of any age can relate to the feeling of surprise and delight that she wants to derive from her beauty purchases.