Perhaps some of took last week’s blog as a little clue for what we have to announce to you guys in this weeks post.

Introducing Alexami’s own…

Handmade Soaps!

Created from organic essential oils, clays, herbs, spices and flowers as well as the finest cold pressed oils and butters, these luxurious little bars are your new bathroom and shower staple!

Check out all the different types we have to offer:

Lemon Myrtle & Tea Tree

purifying – antibacterial

Pure coconut oil forms the base for this soap. Enriched with the native Australian aroma of Lemon Myrtle and Tea Tree oil famous for its anti-bacterial properties making this an effective anti-bacterial soap for use on hands and body. Alexami also recommends this soap to clean your makeup brushes.

Lemon Myrtle & Tea Tree soap – for when you want to feel fresh and clean!

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Goat Milk & Honey

hydrating – soothing

This hydrating soap combines a mixture of pure Goat’s Milk, Pure Cocoa Butter and Coconut Oil, Glycerine and pure unprocessed Raw Honey, making it gentle touse on the most sensitive skin. Luxurious, milky suds leaves skin feeling soft and nourished, while the divine smell of raw honey lets your mind slip away for a shower experience in harmony with nature.

Goat Milk & Honey soap is ideal for people suffering from eczema and psoriasis.

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Rose Geranium & Coconut Milk

softening – luxury feminine

This butter bar of luxury is infused with pure essential oils of Rose Geranium and natural rose petals for an indulgent bathing experience that leaves your skin soft and your mind pampered. Made from a base of Coconut Oil, Coconut Milk and Cocoa Butter, this is a little piece of luxury in a bar.

For when you want to feel spoiled and pampered.

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Olive Oil

uplifting – energizing

Good things come to those who wait, and our Olive Oil soap is worth waiting for. Made from a base of pure olive oil and coconut oil, the processes involved in making this soap is longer than most of our other soaps, making it the most luxurious soap in our range.

Enriched with a romantic blend of essential oils, the thick lather and amazing smell will leave you feeling uplifted and energised.

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Black Clay & Volcanic Ash

detoxifying – exfoliating

An essential in every bathroom, this detoxifying and exfoliating soap is made with a pure Coconut Oil base that combines Australian Black Clay and Pumice for a gentle exfoliating experience. Luxuriously enriched with pure essential oils of Lemon, Spearmint, Ginger and Cypress, famous for their detoxifying, blood circulation, stimulating and cleansing properties.

This is an ideal soap for removing old and flaky skin.

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Cinnamon, Clove & Orange

sweet – spicy

Infused with a Christmas blend of cinnamon, clove and orange essential oils, this milky soap combines a base of Coconut Oil and Cocoa butter, for an intense and invigorating shower experience that leaves the skin smooth and soft and the mind revitalised.

This luxurious soap is an ideal stocking filler for both men and women.

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Give them a try for yourself by clicking here and let us know what you think! We’re that confident that you’ll love them so much, you’ll want to try them all!

My apologies for the DIY posts. I’m on a creative buzz lately and I love sharing these ideas with you ladies to try out for yourselves!

This week, I’ll be showing you how to make your own matte nail polish using Alexami’s Mineral Eye Shadows and it’s SO easy…

What You’ll Need:

1. Alexami Mineral Eye Shadow (or another eyeshadow pigment). I’m using the color Blue Green.

2. Clear nail polish

3. Mixing container (I used an old contacts case)

4. Toothpick

How to do it:

1. Pour equal amounts eyeshadow to clear nail polish. (I use about 1/8tsp of each which is still way too much for one hand.

2. Stir with the toothpick until no lumps remain.

3. Apply with an old polish brush (or clean off the one to your clear nail polish)

4. Finish with another top coat of clear polish if you wish and you’re done!

Here’s how mine turned out:

Pretty simple, no?

Try it for yourself and let us know how it goes.

For Part 2 of our Greenify Your Life series, I’ll be giving you guidance on how to find yourself a safer foundation. I have listed ingredients found in both powder and liquid foundation so we can kill two birds with one stone.

Alexami's Mineral Foundation Powder

What ingredients should I be looking to avoid in my foundation?

Fragrance (6-methylcoumarin, parfum) – Now, fragrance is a hard one because it is the one product that gets a free pass in the ingredients list. The manufacturer is not required to list the actual ingredients in the perfume, rather, they are allowed to simply clump it all into the one ingredient: ‘Parfum’ (or other such word). This means that you have no clue if this is a safe product for your skin which is worrying as some fragrance ingredients are proven to cause photosensitivity but you’d never know what was the causal ingredient! Best to keep an eye out for products that list essential oils as their fragrance or are up front about what goes into their fragrance.

Silicone Emollients – These are found in approximately 80% of all concealers, primers and foundations. The silicone allows for smoother application but it also creates a layer on top of the skin, causing the skin to be suffocated of oxygen. Over time, this can cause certain skin reactions, breakouts and a duller complexion.

Petroleum based products (Paraffin, mineral oil, petrolatum) - These petroleum products are also found in the majority of skin products and, too, suffocate the skin and clogs the pores causing the same issues as silicone. This goes for your ‘timeless’ Vaseline too (We recommend using paw paw ointment instead!). These products have also been under heavy scrutiny due to the fact they are the cause of many serious health ailments.

Parabens (Propyl, Butyl, Methyl, Isobutyl, Ethyl etc) - Parabens are used to stop fungus and bacteria from growing in your makeup. They are found in almost every beauty product for both males and females. There is research done to suggest they may be linked to the cause of breast cancer due to the fact that they mimic estrogen within the body. The jury is still out on whether these man-made chemicals are bad for the body but have a read of both sides of the argument to form your own opinion. To be safe, I would say opt for products that have parabens near the bottom of the ingredient list rather than the top.

There are a million other ingredients that we could also list here, but we’ll start with these common ingredients for now.

So, how do you Greenify?

Phase 1.) Read the ingredients label of your foundations. Any foundations with the aforementioned near the top of the list, get rid of them ASAP.

Phase 2.) Research online or in stores for highly reviewed foundations that do not contain huge amounts of the above products. They do not have to be from an organic brand, necessarily, just slightly more safe on the skin. Naturally, we would guide you towards Alexami’s Mineral Foundation Powder, which is free of these ingredients.

During this product transition, if you have been using products with heavy amounts of silicone etc, your skin may go through phases of drying or over-oiling. This is a natural occurrence as your skin begins to normalize to your new product.

Phase 3.) Once your new safer product is empty, try your best to convert to a completely natural and/or certified organic product free of all the nasty ingredients. Or better yet, perhaps your skin will heal itself and you’ll be able to go out with barely any foundation at all!

As an afterword, please know that some people get iffy about whether certain ingredients are actual harmful or not. I have gone off personal experience and research but please understand people react differently to different products. For example, I know people who prefer silicone in their foundation routine, and don’t believe there’s any harm in using it. Remember, there is no firmer knowledge than through your own personal experience and broad research so I suggest that you use this as a starting guide and go from there.

If you have been living under a rock this past week then you may have missed that Sunday was the evening of the biggest red carpet event of the year – The 84th Academy Awards!

This year brought some stunning looks with an obvious trend and focus on enhancing natural beauty, something we here at Alexami strongly approve of. So, we thought we would give you all a few of our favorite faces of the evening and how you can recreate their look!

Emma Stone

Firstly, we have cutie Emma Stone. This look is perfect for almost any occasion and will suit you gorgeous gals with cool and paler skin tones.

1. The Base – On a clean face, apply Alexami’s Mattifying Primer to prepare the face. Follow with Alexami’s Mineral Foundation Powder in Matte, in the color that suits your skin tone.

2. The Eyes – As a base, apply Alexami’s Mineral Eye Shadow in Pearl White with your finger all over your lid and up to your brow. Then using a blending brush, lightly dust Alexami’s Mineral Eye Shadow in Candy Pink over the lid and just above your crease. For the liner, dip a brush such as Alexami’s Vegan Angle Brush into a small bit of water. Dab of any excess moisture onto a tissue then using the slightly damp brush, dip into Alexami’s Mineral Eye Shadow in Matte Black. Line the very inner corner of your top lid and continue along the rest of your eye making sure to stay close to your lash line. Apply another line just above the one you made to thicken the line out slightly at the outer lid. Moisten your brush again if necessary then finish with a cat eye flick tapering to a fine point just beyond your outer corner (refer to image). Finish the eyes with Alexami’s Herbal Mineral Mascara in Black and lightly fill in your brows with the technique of your choice (either shadow or pencil).

3. The Lips - Exfoliate and moisturize the lips with lip balm. Follow with Alexami’s Mineral Vegan Lip Gloss in Raspberry. Then pucker and press your lips to a tissue to mattify the gloss slightly.

4. The Cheeks – Being careful to keep this very subtle, lightly apply a dusting of Alexami’s Perfect Puff Minerals Blush in Candy Pink to the apples of your cheeks.

Octavia Spencer

Next up is something for the darker, warmer toned beauties using Octavia Spencer as inspiration. Her look, as Emma’s is very versatile. It manages to be sultry but not too dramatic at the same time.

1. The Base – On a clean face, apply Alexami’s Mattifying Primer to prepare the face. For a more radiant finish, make your own liquid foundation (for tutorial, click here) with Alexami’s Mineral Foundation Powder in the color for your skin tone. Apply to face with a sponge by blotting it onto the skin. Contour the face with Alexami’s Mineral Bronzer in Medium/Dark, focusing on your cheekbones, temples and under the chin.

2. The Eyes – Using your finger, apply Alexami’s Mineral Eye Shadow in Camel all over the lid and up to the brow. Using a shader brush, press Alexami’s Mineral Eye Shadow in Cappuccino over the lid up to the crease. Put Alexami’s Mineral Eye Shadow in Black onto a small/medium blending brush and tap off excess to avoid any fall-out. Guide this into the outer crease of the eye and from the outer edge of the lid to the center. Blend well with a larger blending brush. For the liner, dip a brush such as Alexami’s Vegan Angle Brush into Alexami’s Mineral Eye Shadow in Matte Black and apply along the upper lash line. Finish the eyes with 2 coats of Alexami’s Herbal Mineral Mascara in Black and then lightly fill in your brows with the method of your choice.

3. The Lips – Exfoliate and apply lip balm to your lips then follow with Alexami’s Mineral Vegan Lip Gloss in Bronze. Blot the lips with a tissue to mattify the gloss slightly.

4. The Cheeks - Using a blush brush, apply Alexami’s Perfect Puff Minerals Blush in Coral pink along your cheek bone. Finish by highlighting your cheekbones with Alexami’s Mineral Illuminating Powder in Gold.

Jennifer Lopez

Despite the controversy over Jennifer’s small ‘wardrobe malfunction’, she still looked radiant and amazing as always. This look is so great for the evening and would suit neutral to warm skin tones.

1. The Base – Same as Octavia’s above.

2. The Eyes – Using your finger, apply Alexami’s Mineral Eye Shadow in Soft Peach all over the lid and up to the brow. With a small/medium shader brush, apply Alexami’s Mineral Eye Shadow in Aubergine to the outer crease and into the inner part just below the eyebrow, avoiding the very inner crease (reference image above). Blend out well with a blending brush. Using the shader brush again, apply more Aubergine below the eye, focusing more on the outer side. With a clean shader brush, apply more Soft Peach over the lid, avoiding overlapping your defined crease that you just created. For the liner, dip a brush such as Alexami’s Vegan Angle Brush into a small bit of water. Dab of any excess moisture onto a tissue then using the slightly damp brush, dip into Alexami’s Mineral Eye Shadow in Matte Black. Thickly line your top lash line to the outer edge. With the excess powder that remains on the brush, line the very outside of your lower lash line and pull it up into a flick (as seen in picture). Now, using Pearl White and the damp brush technique, apply another line just above the flick you created. This opens and lifts the eye. Finish by filling in your brows and applying 3 coats of Alexami’s Herbal Mineral Mascara in Black along with false lashes if so desired.

3. The Lips - Exfoliate and apply lip balm to your lips then follow with Alexami’s Mineral Vegan Lip Gloss in Clear. Blot the lips with a tissue to mattify the gloss slightly.

4. The Cheeks – Jennifer has very slight contouring which will be created with bronzer during the base application. To make the whole look pop though, apply Alexami’s Mineral Illuminating Powder in Gold to your cheekbones and the bridge of your nose.

We hope that you enjoy these looks and give them a try for yourself! Let us know how they turn out!

Happy Wednesday all!

Well, we’ve made it to the final oil in our All About Oil series this week and I must admit I have learnt a lot about oils I otherwise would have never heard of. So, in this final installment I will be talking about an oil perhaps not many of you are familiar with…

Baobab oil. This oil is extracted from the seed of the Baobab tree most commonly found in Africa and is known to be an amazing anti-oxidant.

Image via phytotradeafrica.com

Full of Vitamin A, D, E and F and with its moisturizing qualities, this oil is perfect for dry, brittle and frizzy hair to help in repair and overall scalp and hair health. It’s especially great for ethnic hair to give it more shine and silkiness. To use baobab in your hair routine, apply after you shower while your hair is wet and style as usual otherwise add a few drops to your conditioner.

Baobab oil is also very healing on the skin namely on very dry or aging skin. If you have dry skin, apply a few drops of oil into your moisturizer and apply as usual. The oil is also reported to aid in the healing of skin conditions such as psoriasis, brusing, sun spots and eczema.

As usual with these oils, make sure to get certified organic, pure and 100% baobab oil.

We hope you have all enjoyed this Oil series from us and you have learnt a little bit and perhaps been inspired to run out and try some for yourself and your beauty routine.

What oil do you all want to try the most? Leave us a comment!

Until next time, ladies.

Continuing on our educative rampage of amazing beauty oils, today we bring you info about Jojoba Oil (pronounced ho-ho-bah).

Image via remedial-massage.com.au

The first interesting thing to note about Jojoba oil is that it is actually not an oil at all. It is extracted from the seeds of the Jojoba tree, producing what’s known as a wax ester. This wax ester is very similar to our own body oil (sebum) in both structure and texture. Some say that it’s because of this similarity that Jojoba oil is great for balancing out oil production as it tricks our body into thinking it’s producing enough oil.

Jojoba oil in non-allergenic, non-toxic and non-comedogenic. This means it’s great for everybody, it won’t clog your pores or aggravate acne plus it is safe to use around the eyes. It is also anti-bacterial, contains loads of Vitamin E (amazing for healthy skin, nails and hair!) and is an antioxidant. Not too shabby for an oil, huh?

Uses of Jojoba Oil:

• Body moisturiser - Apply to the skin as needed. The moisturisation will last all day as the oil will not evaporate.
• Addition to moisturiser - Apply a few drops of oil to your usually daily moisturiser for added effect
• Face moisturiser - Apply sparingly to the face. Be careful not to use too much as it will create an unnecessary shine. Apply liberally in the evening as a night cream.
• Lip balm
• Makeup remover - Apply to the face and remove with a tissue or face cloth.
• Hair treatment - Apply as needed to damp hair. Cover hair with a warm towel and relax for 15 to 20 minutes. Rinse out and continue usual hair routine.
• Hair serum - Apply a small amount to dry hair for added shine.
• Addition to conditioner - Add a few drops to your conditioner and the Jojoba oil will help balance out scalp oils and prevent flakiness.
• Massage oil - A little oil goes a long way so use sparingly.

When buying your Jojoba oil, make sure to choose the organic and unprocessed versions. The oil will be bright yellow in color as opposed to clear. Yes, the organic option is more pricey but you get what you pay for.

Happy oiling!

Happy New Year all! I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday and Christmas season. I know I did!

To start the year off, today I’m here to introduce another one of our fabulous stockists – InSPArations Day Spa in Tasmania.

I’ll let them describe themselves in their own words: “We provide a full day spa experience combining massage, skin and body treatments, Swiss Showers and even lunch and a complementary glass of champagne to help completely unwind, relax and revitalise your body and soul.” Now doesn’t that sound like a place that we all want to escape to? They also do hair and beauty services, if you so require it.

Alexami is stocked in their Launceston salon at 69A George Street, Launceston Tasmania 7250.

Go check them out and have a relaxing day for you with the other half or a best friend, perhaps?

Lara