We at You! have explored, tried and tested a multitude of brands to put together for you a Must Try list of some real gems that we absolutely love. (Some we have already discussed last week).....
beauty
While this lockdown has had many sad points, one definite plus is the number of new home brands that have been coming up and others that are expanding. As people are spending more and more time at home, they are having some inspired moments. We at You! have explored, tried and tested a multitude of brands to put together for you a Must Try list of some real gems that we absolutely love. (Some we have already discussed last week).
BOONDT @boondtpk
We literally flipped when we saw Boondt’s soaps. The packaging is dainty, making them a great gift for birthdays, weddings, parties, and the quality of the soap is outstanding.
We recommend the Oat and Honey Scrub Soap and Aloevera Soap @boondtpk. Both are very gentle and soothing to tooth and very lightly scented. Detailed instructions for use and ingredients on the bag.
“While selecting soaps, always know your skin type, learn to read ingredient labels and know the ingredients that work for you. If you are not sure, ask!” advises Fatima Bilwani, who co-founded Boondt, with her sister-in-law Mariam Hanif.
“Don’t expect soaps to singlehandedly solve any skin issue. A soap does not stay on your skin for that long to do a lot other than properly cleaning your skin, regardless of having elixir of life as one of its ingredients. And if you have a medical condition, please refer to a dermatologist,” adds Fatima.
Incense Care @incensecare
We at You! are in love with Incense Care’s Emulsified Tea Tree – Green Tea Sugar Scrub. The texture is perfect and the smell has a tiny hint of medical, yet pleasant aroma. It’s made from sugar, olive oil, emulsifying wax (vegetable based) and fragrance (essential oils).
“There are so many benefits to exfoliating,” says Maria Nicobar, Founder, Incense Care, “including improving skin texture, removing flaky skin and dry skin cells, minimising the appearance of large pores, preventing breakouts, evening out skin tone, enabling skincare products to penetrate skin, and ensuring smoother makeup application.”
We also highly recommend their Charcoal and Goat Milk Soaps. “Goat milk is known for reducing wrinkles and delaying aging. These soaps contain alpha hydro-acids, high proteins and vitamins that are well known for whitening, softening and rejuvenating the skin. They can reduce skin inflammation, and soothe dry and damaged skin,” shares Maria.
Mistilicious @mistilicious
Although best known for their face mists, we are intrigued by their line of body polishes. We fell hook, line and sinker for Cherry Blossom body polish and their brand new Hawaiian Bash body polish @mistilicious.
Both are very strong scents and are best for dry skin. They have a shelf life of 6 months.
The former reminds us of cherry flavoured hard candy, while the latter is made with shea butter, coconut oil, jojoba beans, coconut shreds, almonds and various extracts including pineapple extract otherwise known as Bromelain, which is a wonderful exfoliant.
Definitely not for the faint hearted, but a unique enough product that it is sure to gain its own diehard following.
Beauty and Bath by Zehra @BeautyandBathbyZehra
Beauty and Bath by Zehra is one of those homepreneur brands that seems destined to one day have its own store or chain of stores. “For me soap making is fun with creativity and I always consider my soaps should not just have the pure ingredients but also to have a unique and beautiful look, I believe that organic soap are much healthier and better for your skin due to overall natural ingredients and oils that benefits your health,” states Zehra.
Her organic soaps are famous for being in the shape of whatever you want them to be. We highly recommend her Maya or Lemonade cupcakes @BeautyandBathbyZehra. They look almost too pretty to soap up, but are actually genuine premium, natural soaps and smell incredible. Maya is for dry/combination skin and keeps the skin smooth, fresh and glowing. Lemonade is recommended for normal/oily skin and removes blackheads, and helps scars and pimples to disappear.
Beauty & Bath by Zehra has just come out with cute little black boxes for their full-size soaps.
All the soaps are organic and tailored for different skin types. “I believe that each of my soap batch is unique and one of a kind, because of my customised recipe and do away with the use of toxic chemicals, parabens, fillers, and commercial skin-stripping additives,” explains Zehra.
This personalisation is felt in the pampering feel when you open each box. We highly recommend the Purple Sky bar.
It’s for all skin types and is very gentle. We also recommend Black Beauty bar which is the best-seller of this brand. It is for oily skin and for acne.
The NY Studio @NYWom
The NY Studio was established in 2012 as a customised Organic & Ayurvedic Skin Care solution. “Organic Soaps are healthier: despite the popularity of beauty bars, many of them provide no benefit to the skin. Aside from that, average moisturising bars also contain harmful chemicals such as Sodium Laureth Sulphate, Sodium Lauryl Sulphate and parabens. Our organic soaps are made from 100% pure and natural ingredients - organic herbs, roots, flowers, fruits, plants and minerals,” elucidates Nida Yousuf of NY Studio.
The brand offers some unique soaps. We particularly recommend the Oats, Honey & Collagen Soap and the Pink French Clay & Charcoal soaps at @NYWom. The former soap is made from aloe, coconut cream, oats and collagen, making it suitable for anyone who can feel signs of aging, dullness and sun damage. “This soap infuses your skin with the nutrients of oatmeal, helping to lock in moisture and protect your skin from exterior irritants. Collagen has been used to maintain skin elasticity and moisture, and it also helps with fine lines and wrinkles,” explains Nida.
The Pink French Clay & Charcoal soap combines the toxin attracting and antibacterial qualities of the charcoal with Pink Clay. This soap, according to Nida, is suitable for anyone with Acne,Oily skin/ Dryness prone acne/pits and uneven skin.
For gift-giving for guys, the Charcoal and Peppermint Soap is ideal. The smell is minty, yet masculine. “This soap is our best seller, and both men and women have been active buyers of this product,” tells Nida, “In addition, Peppermint oil is one of the most energizing and rejuvenating oils, thus providing you an energetic punch for your day,” she adds.
The NY Studio is offering a special promotion that all readers of You! who cite this article, can purchase any of their soaps at a discounted price. All soaps have a shelf life of 10 months from date of manufacture.
T. U. Dawood is CEO of 786 Investments Ltd., President of Dawood Global Foundation, and sits on the boards of Pakistan State Oil and Pakistan Refinery Ltd.
