John Masters new Bearberry organic skincare range for oily skin

John Masters fans will be pleased to know that the creator of luxury organic hair care products has added to his range of luxury high performance skin care products with specialist products for Oily skin.

The new collection treats, tames and soothes oily skin without drying, and that too, totally naturally! Enriched with extracts of bearberry which aids in sebum reduction, willow bark from the Swiss Alps which is astringent , antiseptic and anti inflammatory- helping reduce pore size, and softening rice extract, you are sure to see the difference after just one day of use. Three new products, cleanse, tone and nourish the skin with natures most beneficial astringent and skin balancing extracts.

The John Masters Balancing Face Wash contains 20 oil fighting extracts including citrus oil and alpha hydroxy acid to exfoliate the skin whilst encouraging the growth of new cells, plus, bearberry and willowbark. Sapindus mukurossi a natural surfactant cleanses whilst also suppressing bacterial growth.

Follow with Bearberry Balancing Toning Mist which balances the pH of the skin, reduces inflammation and the appearance of large pores whilst leaving skin glowing and refreshed. Green tea leaf extract infuses skin with anti-oxidants while bearberry extract helps to reduce sebum production. The Bearberry Balancing Toning mist also contains Peach extract to naturally tighten the skin and minimise wrinkles. Rice extract softens and tones also.

Finally, Bearberry balancing serum provides the perfect very light moisturising equilibrium for the skin, leaving it soft and nourished whilst also calming and soothing with rice, willow bark, green tea and bearberry extracts. In addition Sodium levulinate balances the skin's pH while sodium anistate helps reduce the growth of acne causing bacteria.

Three simple steps provide an ideal range for individuals with oily skin, even those with combination skin. The majority of skincare solutions for individuals with oil skin often leave the skin over stripped and harshly de-hydrated thereby causing prolonged oiliness and damage. John Masters Bearberry range is the perfect treatment for balancing and reforming oily skin.

John Masters Rose Foaming Facial Wash: Product Review

At a Glance
When I received this product, straight off, I was really impressed that someone had finally done a luxury foaming face wash without harsh chemicals in it. When I checked the ingredients list, this was substantiated as the ingredients are pure and simple; there are no SLS’s, no parabens or phthalates. The foaming element of this organic face wash comes from Lauryl glucoside and Sodium lauroyl glutamate, on closer inspection both of these surfactants are extremely low hazard with the Environmental Working Group classing them as 1 and 0 toxicity respectively, which is excellent. The other main ingredient is Certified Organic Aloe Vera, (unlike luxury high street brands that despite the high price still use water as the main ingredient). Other ingredients include organic plant botanicals and extracts that have excellent herbal properties and benefit for the skin such as ylang ylang, aspen bark extract, plantain, rose damascena, glycerin and citric acid (vit c).

The packaging is really nice, natural high quality recyclable box, nicely printed, very classy and not at all tacky or cheap. The actual foaming face wash inside is in a brown glass bottle which looks really pretty in the bathroom, something you can definitely put on display. It’s not too big and bulky either so, easy to handle and it has a pump top which makes it easy to use last thing at night when you just want to go to bed!

The price is not bad, quite reasonable, at £22 it’s not the cheapest on the market but for what’s in the bottle it’s definitely not overpriced. Other organic skin care lines of this caliber would be charging £50 or more for this sized bottle.

So; what’s it like?
The fragrance is absolutely divine, not nasty yukky or overpowering, just divine. I felt really good after I had used the product, and have had this backed up by other testers who have also said the same thing. You only need a little bit as it lathers up really well, so it’s easy to see that the product is going to last for a while. It leaves your face feeling clean, not stripped bare but moisturized and soft. One of our testers has extremely sensitive skin and eyes, and found that it didn’t irritate her at all.

Leaves you feeling really pampered and like you’ve done something really good for your skin.

A week on, people have commented on how my skin looks good, skin clearer, pores are more refined and black heads reduced.

Good Points
Packaging, look, performance, quality, fragrance and wellbeing factor

Bad Points
Not suitable for people who like more traditional wipe off facial cleansers. Doesn’t say anything on the packaging about removing eye makeup, although it did take all my make up off and having checked with the manufacturers they have said that it is safe for use around the eye area also.

In Summary
A top performing luxury product you can use every day; very pure and worth every penny.

For more information on John Masters products and organic skin care in general visit www.buyorganics.co.uk

How to naturally restore, rescue & treat sun damaged hair with natural hair care products

Normal healthy hair should be shiny, bouncy, full and vibrant, but ‘LIFE’ happens and we can end up with sun-damaged hair that can affect our image and self esteem.

Although we look forward to our summer holidays and the sun coming out, especially in the UK, the effect of the sun on our hair can be pretty strong, and heat coupled with UV, can leave you with sun damaged hair. Whilst your hair won’t be damaged forever and will eventually re-grow, it will in the meantime suffer breakages and lack of moisture, leaving it looking weak and unhealthy. If split ends and brittle hair are left unmanaged they could also affect your new hair growth, so read up below on what to do next!

How the sun damages your hair

When most people think of the effect of sun on hair, they generally think of it as lightening their hair colour. This happens because the hair contains melanin, just as your skin does. Melanin is the pigment that gives hair its colour but it also protects the hair from free radicals which would otherwise cause damage.

UV rays cause the melanin in your hair to oxidise and discolour. As the hair is dead and cannot react to the UV rays by increasing the level of melanin as the skin does, the lower melanin levels are characterized by a lightening of the hair. The lower levels, therefore, also cannot perform their free radical hunting duties so well.

Lemon juice is a commonly known natural method for bleaching hair when exposed to the sun and lots of people use it as a cheap way of getting highlights. Unfortunately, whilst it does have a slight lightening effect, it can also cause dryness as it upsets the PH balance of the hair.

Another damaging effect of the sun is that it depletes the hairs level of Keratin which is a vital protein that gives healthy hair its strength and vitality. When Keratin is undamaged, it lies along your strands of hair like tiles on a roof. However, when you weaken the keratin in your hair, some of those ‘tiles’ become broken and shift out of place, causing the hair shafts to weaken and become easily damaged. When this happens hair strands do not reflect light as well, causing your hair to appear dull.

Finally, the sun damages your hair by sucking the moisture and oils out of it. The moisture level should be around 8% but sun damage, bleaching and other hair treatments can cause this to fall to as low as 2%. When this happens, you’ll end up with split ends and brittle, broken strands of hair, hair that looks, weak, lack luster and dull.

How to protect your hair from sun damage

The best way to protect your hair from the sun is to wear a hat, and for those of you who don’t find a hat fashionable enough, try a bandana, they can look very stylish and be mixed and matched with your outfits, they’re great for men, women and kids!

Even though a hat or bandana may protect you for a while, they won’t be possible all the time. This is where John Masters Sea Mist Spray with lavender can help, this beautifully scented spray not only adds texture and volume to the hair, but actually protects your hair from drying. When it’s used in conjunction with their Honey and Hibiscus Hair Reconstructor after washing, then your hair will be kept in optimum condition and better able to cope with the harsh effects of the sun.

How to Treat Sun Damaged Hair

The best way to treat sun damaged hair is to immediately switch to natural hair care products that are going to nourish, restore, revitalize and rescue frizzy, dull, dry hair and revert it back to its natural shine and balance.

By using harsh chemically based shampoos, styling products and colourants, you will only further damage your hair.

We recommend using John Masters Honey and Hibiscus Hair Reconstructing Shampoo. This organic shampoo is a must for sun damaged hair because it contains Linoleic & Hyluronic acids (which are normally found in abundance in young hair) combined with soy, rice and oat proteins to renew and reconstruct damaged hair. Each wash will fortify, strengthen and moisturise your hair as the honey and hibiscus extracts and 9 other certified organic extracts and plant oils penetrate the hair with nutrients. Also, it doesn’t contain any harsh chemicals such as Sodium Lauryl Sulphate, parabens or phthalates which would aggravate your hair further or damage your scalp.

Follow the natural shampoo with John Masters Honey and Hibiscus Hair Reconstructor which is a super intense conditioner that revitalizes and restores dry, damaged, colour treated, chemically treated, chlorine and sun damaged hair! Again, Linoleic & Hyluronic acids help to reconstruct the hair, whilst soy protein strengthens the hair follicles making your hair look thicker, fuller and shinier, wheat protein helps keep hair tangle free and easy to comb through along with adding shine. Finally, Bergamot treats and nourishes dry scalp and hair.

For a more intense treatment add 12 drops of dry hair nourishment to 1 ounce of conditioner, massage into hair and scalp. Wrap with hot towel and leave in 20-30 mins. And rinse.

Both the John Masters Honey and Hibiscus Reconstructing shampoo and conditioner when used in conjunction and regularly, will quickly and easily restore bounce, shine, volume and health. All in all, with rich nutrients, oils and conditioners specifically formulated by the best natural organic hair care expert on the planet, you can’t really do better for your hair.

Now if you’re on a budget, don’t worry as we have another great alternative for you that will keep the pennies in your pocket whilst also restoring the condition of your sun damaged hair naturally. Green People’s Moisturising shampoo and Moisturising conditioner are a little less pricey but will also do a fantastic job.

Green People’s Moisturising Conditioner contains several ingredients which are especially helpful to sun-damaged hair. The first is Jojoba oil, which has a very similar composition to the natural sebum and oils which lubricate and protect your hair from damage. These make an ideal replacement for the oils which are stripped away through sun and chlorine damage. It also contains Quinoa oil, an essential oil rich in antioxidants which help in protecting against UV-induced free radicals

In addition to the Jojoba oil and Quinoa oil, Green People Moisturising Conditioner also has soothing Chamomile extract and protective Marshmallow extract. These will help to bring the condition of your hair up, helping it to become shiny, tangle-free and rehydrated.

Luxuriously Natural Skincare by John Masters

New in store is the complete facial organic skincare range by John Masters. This luxurious range of cleansers, toners and face creams for all skin types including age prevention, smells absolutely divine. When you use it day and night, you actually look forward to pampering your skin as the aromas uplift you and the products leave your skin feeling and looking fabulous.

The facial skincare range is formulated with the same dedication as John Masters organic haircare range, it is a performance led brand that really concentrates on producing natural organic products that work. When you invest in buying the complete range for your skin then you really are making an investment towards your health and wellbeing. We are sending out free samples with any orders placed at the moment until stocks last. If you would like to try a sample then email us at mail@buyorganics.co.uk

Contact us also if you have your own blog and would like to review all our skin and make up products on a regular basis!

Why organic shampoo can sometimes leave you wondering what the fuss is about! Hang in there and you’ll see why!

For many people who have tried organic shampoo for the first time, it can sometimes be a disappointing experience. Your hair may feel knotted and tangled, dull and even lifeless.

My sister in law in fact, eagerly ordered a bottle of the most natural organic shampoo and when I asked her about how she liked it her answer was “nah! well, it’s not for me”! My response to her was the same, does your hair feel yuk? She was so surprised to hear me describe the exact condition of her hair.

What most people don’t know is that this is a natural detox process that your hair has to go through and will only last for a couple of hair washes. The reason It happens is that your previous high street branded shampoos are laden with chemicals and plasticizers which literally coat the hair with gunk and garbage in order to give your hair that shine you want – but it’s artificial. When you strip away this layer of trash to get to your natural locks, your hair will show its natural soft, shine and silkiness.

You may wonder if it’s necessary to use natural organic shampoo, after all we normally think of our crowning glories as just “dead” strands of protein, but shampoos and other hair care products get washed all over our bodies in the bath or shower, and often sit on our scalp until our next hair wash. The scalp has just as many pores as the rest of our skin – a close look (if you can get near enough!) to any man’s bald head is evidence enough of that!

So, it’s just as easy to absorb nasty chemicals through our hair care products as it is other personal care products, but surely, shampoo and conditioner don’t need synthetic substances in them just to clean and smooth our hair?You’d be surprised!! Unfortunately, many regular shampoos for example are petro-chemical based, and petro-chemicals are well-known to be implicated in causing cancer and other illnesses. The chemical 1.4-dioxane, for example, is used in many personal care products including shampoo, and has even been found in household named baby hair care products! 1.4-dioxane is a byproduct of a petrochemical process called ethyoxylation which uses known breast carcinogen ethylene oxide to process other chemicals to make them less harsh – for example, this process turns the harsh substance sodium laurel sulfate – well-known for its skin irritating properties – into the (arguably!) more gentle sodium laureth sulfate.

The other thing that can put people off organic and natural shampoo is the lack of foaming agent in them compared to normal high street shampoos and haircare. We’re all so used to our head being a lathery bubble! It makes us feel clean! The truth is though that all that foam is not necessary. As the organic shampoo washes out through your hair it takes the grime with it anyway, so the foam is not necessary and just drying. The best way to use an organic shampoo is to wet your hair, rub a coin size amount of shampoo over your hands and then through your hair. It won’t lather at all at this stage, don’t worry, add a little water to mix the natural organic shampoo through your hair. Then add more shampoo. It will lather a bit at the second application stage. Rub all through your hair and leave for a minute before washing way. Your hair will be clean! Follow sparingly with natural organic conditioner (organic ones tend to be quite rich!)

Although even natural and organic shampoos can occasionally contain some questionable ingredients, I would recommend going for one that contains as few synthetically manufactured chemicals as possible and preferably organic ingredients for added safety and purity. The initial bad hair days will quickly pass to leave your hair naturally full of shine, bounce and vitality. Your hair will be clean without heavy disgusting residues on it.
Green People’s No Scent or Aloe Vera Organic Shampoos are great every day shampoos – cost-effective for everyday washing, and so gentle even newborn babies will be safe. Not only this but our customers tell us that they leave hair soft and silky, whilst rinsing out perfectly, and without the nasty gunky build-up you often get with regular products which seem to stick to the hair shafts rather than clean the dirt away. Essential Care Tea Tree & Herb shampoo is also one of my firm favorites for itchy, flaky scalps, again a budget buy but wonderfully effective, even on cradle cap and dandruff.

For the last year now, I’ve been using Green people shampoo at home on myself and the kids. And although it’s still a firm favorite, one day recently my 13 year old daughter told me she was bored and wanted a change for a bit. She wanted some luxury! Luckily for her The John Masters range had just come in and I gave her a few samples to try, to road test the product for me. I have never heard so many ecstatic mmms! from her before, she absolutely loved it (it’s hard sometimes getting her to buy into the organic thing, but not this time!). John Masters range of products are truly – sheer indulgence, even better than a trip to the salon, the whole range is pure heaven, leaving your hair beautifully clean, conditioned and styled totally naturally! I personally love John Masters Zinc & Sage shampoo which leaves your scalp zingily clean!

The scalp really is the key to healthy hair because although hair itself is dead protein, from the hair follicle downwards into the scalp is alive and well and in need of some regular nutrition! This shampoo will satisfy the thirstiest follicles to give extra body and shine. Another of my personal favorites is the Miessence Desert Flower Shampoo. This shampoo left my hair with masses of volume and natural shine, everyone commented on my hair when I used it, as it smelt gorgeous too.
John Masters Honey & Hibiscus shampoo, is a good reconstructive shampoo for a once-a-week hair Detox – and smells luscious! Either that, or their Clarifying hair rinse will strip all the nasty build up from your hair to leave it really clean and soft. Follow with any one of their conditioners and you really will have hair that looks like you’ve come out of the Salon everyday. It’s not hard to see why so many top celebrities and stylists have turned to John Masters. Their clever Sea Salt Sea Mist Spray is like a daily reminder of the beach with a leave-in deep conditioning protective formula for daily use.

Styling can also leave a lot of gunky chemicals on your head that are no good for your scalp or your hair. We love Miessence styling gel, it’s our best seller, and flies off the shelves. It will style your hair naturally giving you hold and body. If you need something firmer like a wax, then back to John Masters to their Hair Pomade. Frizzy ends can be tamed with their own organic version of Defrizzer, so Their really is no excuse not to have natural hair anymore.

So take my advice, brave the hair detox, you won’t regret it!