EcoTOOLS makeup brushes

I’m late for Earth Day which was yesterday 22 April 2008 but hey, better late than never I say! My highlight is EcoTools makeup brushes. I’m not the most ecologically friendly person but heck! I’m sold on these makeup brushes!

I first saw them on a Google ad (whoever said these ads were of no use?) and then, read some reviews about them. EcoTools (or ecoTOOLS as per their logo) makeup brushes are made from natural and recycled materials and the bristles are cruelty free.

Essentially, the handle is made from bamboo, the ferrule (that’s the metal part) is made from recycled aluminium and the bristles are made from synthetic taklon fibre and are therefore 100% cruelty free.

The reviews I’ve been reading have sung nothing but praises for these Eco Tool makeup brushes. Users say that they do the work well, and are even comparable to high end department store brand brushes and the brush heads are very soft.

Further, they are cheap. Retail prices range from US$19.49 for the set to about US$10 for the powder brush and US$5 for the eyeshadow brush. Apparently, there are even discounts off these already cheap prices sometimes.

Now for the clincher. They are only sold at USA drugstores!! Waahhh!! I want them! Does anyone know where I can get these online (that ship outside of the USA)?

Beauty in your kitchen: Extra Virgin Olive Oil

I’d been talking to a friend recently. She’s got amazing smooth skin with tiny pores and seriously does not look like a mother of a young child. She looks like she is the child herself! What’s her secret?

One of the things she uses for her skin is Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil? The sort found in kitchens? The kind used for cooking pasta? The oil I dip my crusty baguettes into?

Yes, the very same oil.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) works on the same principle as that of cleansing oils. The only thing that can truly remove oil, so the experts say, is oil. So, using that principle, using oil to remove your makeup at the end of the day is a good thing as it cleans out your pores nicely.

There are many options of oils available, sweet almond oil, jojoba oil and olive oil, just to name a few. In fact, there is a brand called DHC which has olive oil (in a refined form) as its base ingredient and uses it for their cleansing oil. I’ve tried this. Its thick, compared to other cleansing oils and I’ll review it separately one day.

Coming back to the use of Olive Oil. Olive Oil has natural Vitamin E and is touted to have anti-oxidant properties. Some people use it as a moisturiser and claim that it has anti-aging effects. I would imagine that if you have very dry skin on your face, it would be beneficial, but definitely not if you have oily skin.

Anyway, after hearing her rave about it and having read online various reports extoling the virtues of using this oil as a makeup remover, I decided to try it.

I have a bottle of Spanish Extra Virgin Olive Oil in my kitchen. I cook with it, and Extra Virgin is the best quality you can get. Where it comes from matters if you are cooking but not for your face I think. To be honest I picked up the Spanish one because it was the only one I could afford then!

I covered the mouth of the bottle with a cotton pad and tipped the bottle over, just getting some oil onto the cotton pad. I then used it on my face. It was quick to remove my makeup. The waterproof mascara took a bit longer, but off it came anyway. My face felt rather oily and sticky due to the oil but it was only a thin layer and didn’t bother me too much. To my surprise, my skin felt very soft and clean which is a bit of an oxymoron as there was the oil still on my face. Oh apparently olive oil makes a great conditioner for the eyelashes too! So maybe this will help them grow/stay soft despite my daily use of mascara.

Then, I washed my face with my usual cleansing foam - Estee Lauder Cyber White Calming Foaming cleanser. This foaming wash usually leaves my skin feeling taut but today, there was no such feeling. My skin actually felt very clean and smooth. Impressive. I then followed up with my usual night skincare routine.

I’m only concerned about any pore clogging effects as I have normal-combination skin i.e. an oily forehead, nose and chin, and normal to dry cheeks. I’m going to be a guinea pig and try this out for 2 weeks and see what happens.

Other benefits of olive oil are:

• Skin Moisturizer - good for elbows or dry bits of skin
• Hair Conditioner - I’m going to try this one day!
• Cuticle Treatment - softens up your cuticles and treats dry bits of skin

Its natural and if it works, its also cheap! I’ll be back with my report in 2 weeks time!