This week 20th to the 26th May is National Vegetarian Week (NVW2013). This aims to raise awareness of the benefits of a meat free lifestyle and offer support to anyone considering a switch to a veggie diet. A free Going Veggie Guide is available for download from their website along with lots of easy and tasty recipes to get you started.

Existing Vegetarian Society members have submitted ‘Seven Surprisingly Simple Recipes’ that are fuss-free, tasty and 100% meat-free to get you started.

Many local and national companies including restaurants, food and beauty retailers are offering discounts, events and tastings to promote their products and services.

The entire NATorigin range is VegSoc approved which means it has been independently checked by them and re-approved annually. To gain their approval, products must be completely free from ingredients of animal origin and cruelty-free. This is particularly important for lipsticks as they are ingested throughout the day from the lips and often contain fats, oils and colours derived from animals or insects.

To see what offers are available both online nationally and in your local area, click on the NVW2013 website. Select What’s Happening? and enter your postcode. For national or local events click on the pink boxes.

Across the UK local support groups are available. Some meet up regularly to share local news and attend relevant events.

NATorigin is proud to be supporting NVW2013.

Michelle

Recently we were approached by local Oxfordshire professional photographer Emma Durrant of Stunning Photography

She was holding a photoshoot with successful model Bethany Cammack and asked if they could team up with NATorigin for the shoot.

Here at NATorigin, we think the shots are amazing and show how natural make up can still give a dramatic result both up close and from a distance.

Bethany Cammack

After starting her successful business in general photography including everything from weddings to commercial, high end, fashion and photography to the stars . Emma has found her success growing everyday and has now been published in books selling in high-street shops and online being commended on her work for creative successful modelling poses and works of photographic art .

We were thrilled to be asked to sponsor Emma’s next exciting venture. She has just finished “The Official Cancer Research UK Calendar for 2014 ” featuring the Project Girls. This a group of local Banbury women who responded to Emma’s request for models. The calendar shows a series of tasteful poses celebrating these courageous women, many who have lost someone to cancer themselves.

Emma successfully put the charity shoot together herself and the calendar has been printed and is going to be launched early this summer – with a press release and fundraising launch night at AKA – “Also Known As” in Banbury Oxfordshire.

Emma is also putting together a website for the calendar which is coming soon.

Michelle

We are thrilled to announce that our pencil eye liner AND mascara have both been shortlisted in the 2013 FreeFrom Skincare Awards.

They are hosted by Skins Matter and held in association with The Green Beauty Bible, The Allergy+FreeFrom Show and Janey Lee Grace, a passionate natural health expert and Radio 2 presenter.

Held annually these awards are open to skincare ranges that exclude as many as possible of allergens, chemicals, fragrances and artificial additives. They act as a guide for anyone looking for purer or more natural cosmetics and products for their skin, including those with problem skin conditions.

Written entries are submitted and scrutinised by panels of independent skincare and natural health experts who ensure that none of the excluded ingredients are in each formulation. They also compare originality, ease-of-use, pleasantness, aesthetic appeal, value for money and packaging. This looks at how detailed and easy-to-read the ingredient labelling is – crucial for anyone with food or chemical sensitivity, or wanting to avoid particular ingredients due to ethical or other health concerns.

There are twelve categories in the 2013 awards including categories for facecare products, bodycare products, men’s grooming, products for babies, kids and mums-to-be, best ‘free from’ skincare brand, best make up and nail care, and several others.

The next stage for all shortlisted products is to go forward to panels of experienced Beauty Bible testers (all of whom either have sensitive/problem skins, specific allergies/intolerances, or are particularly passionate about organic/natural skincare) for a month’s intensive testing of their ease of use and efficacy. The best in each category are awarded gold, silver or bronze in the final judging stage.

The presentation will take place at the Allergy & FreeFrom Show at Olympia on the 7th June where Janey Lee Grace will again be presenting the awards so be sure to check back for updates.

Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Michelle

Last Tuesday, the office team were treated to a Champagne cream tea to celebrate winning their Team of the Year Award in the Banbury Employee of the Year Awards.

We left James manning the phones at 3pm and headed over to Limes Farm, Farthinghoe to a beautifully restored barn that has been converted into a farm shop and cafe.

Aimee, Julie, Suzanne Tracy and myself sat upstairs on the mezzanine overlooking the cafe below on comfy leather sofas while our Champagne was poured. It felt decadently indulgent, leaving work early for this.

Left to right Suzanne, Julie, Aimee and Tracy

The food arrived on cake stands, sandwiches with smoked salmon and cucumber, roasted vegetables, ham and cheese options. The scones were piled high with cream and homemade jam and came with chocolate brownies, Victoria sponge slices and almond biscuits. Something for everyone!

It looked so exquisite, we took some photos before diving in. There was barely enough room on the table for it all!

Lovely spread!

A huge pot of tea was poured and the two hours flew by until closing time. We asked for doggy bags for the leftovers and I gave one to James for his tea so he didn’t completely miss out.

We all agreed that it was truly indulgent and we would like to do this every week!

Our exceptional office team at Butterflies Healthcare Ltd are thrilled to have won Team of the Year at The Banbury Employee of the Year Awards 2013.

The winning team were presented with their engraved trophy and certificates by Tony Baldry MP along with the award sponsors Paul Angus from Banbury Sound and Claire Kingsbury from Plus One Personnel.

The winning team!

The team were nominated by the business owners James and Michelle Sutton (photo far left) in recognition of an extremely busy year for the company. Total sales increased by 25% on the previous year then a move to larger premises followed in September.

The four-strong team pictured from left to right; Julie Birkenhead, Suzanne Castle, Tracy Chambers and Aimee Tuzzio received glowing testimonials from suppliers and customers which were submitted as part of the entry. They are all multi-skilled and can perform all tasks required and do so on a rota basis to keep their days varied and skills active.

Aimee commented, ‘We had no idea that James and Michelle had nominated us for an award, so it’s great to feel appreciated for the work we do.’

Michelle added, ‘We wanted to thank the team for supporting us this year, as without them we could not have achieved this level of growth.’

The team were consulted ahead of moving to assist with drawing up a floorplan and their valuable insights helped streamline the stock picking, packing and order processing. On the move itself, they packed up the old premises, unpacked and arranged the packing room. They came in on a Saturday to ensure a smooth changeover and upon opening, they positively managed initial teething problems including IT glitches and a leaking window! The time saved through a more organised process has allowed staff more time to help run the business.

They have never missed a days work due to bad weather braving the snowy conditions of the last few winters to be sure we were able to answer queries, keep customers informed and despatch orders when Royal Mail could reach us.

Following an eventful year for the business, we believe that everyone else should now how great they are, which is why they truly deserve the Team of the Year Award.

Michelle

Just recently I have received a couple of enquiries about titanium. The main issue seems to be whether it is a toxin absorbed into the bloodstream through the skin possibly causing cancer.

Titanium is a white powder often used as a sunscreen, or to brighten colours and help lotions to spread easily. It is found in our natural environment and has extremely small particles, so is classed as a nanomaterial.

Titanium Powder

My first port of call was to look it up in my handy reference guide, ‘What’s Really in your Basket?’ This lists all food and beauty additives and assigns them with a traffic light colour and smiley or sad face to denote their safety. Titanium scores an orange face which denotes caution advised.

My next reference is a website called Paula’s Choice – The Cosmetics Cop where I can search alphabetically for titanium. Paula Begoun has suffered from skin problems herself and after finding acetone in a skin product went on to write over 20 books as a consumer expert for the cosmetics industry. She aims to help us to understand when product claims are lying or telling the truth. She explains how micronized titanium and even nano particles of it cannot penetrate further than the outer layers of the skin.

The Cosmetics and Perfumery and Toiletries Association (CTPA) consumer website lists titanium under nanoparticles and states that is one of the most studied ingredients of all time. A number of scientific studies have consistently shown that nanoparticles in current cosmetic use do not penetrate through human skin and they give links to The Nanodermatology Society position statement on sunscreens. This explains what they know about skin penetration of nanomaterials.

Finally, I searched for titanium on the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics website. Along with their founding partners Friends of the Earth, they believe that nano particles are present in all types of personal care and beauty products and that we should avoid using them. Cell toxicity, DNA mutation and even cell death have been reported in their studies and a lack of regulation, testing and labelling requirements exposes consumers to unnecessary risk.

This contradicts the CTPA about it being the most tested ingredient, so I have come to the conclusion that it depends who you ask as to whether titanium is safe or not. It is probably prudent to limit exposure where possible but eliminating it completely could be difficult to achieve.

The manufacturers of NATorigin, Contapharm Laboratoires in France have issued this statement regarding titanium which is only in two of their products.

‘All NATorigin lipstick shades contain titanium. For NATorigin pencil eye liners only the blue one contains titanium. Black, brown and green pencil eye liners are free of titanium.

There is a controversial argument concerning the potential toxicity of titanium dioxide or other particles at the size of nanoparticles because they are suspected to penetrate into the skin.

We don’t use titanium dioxide, talc or mica as nano size and in addition Ecocert forbid their use so we can’t use them in NATorigin products.

Nano-titanium dioxide is not usually used in make-up products but you can always find it in sunscreen products.

So the titanium dioxide, talc and mica you can find in NATorigin products are not toxic and all the formulations are validated by a toxicologist.’

I hope you find this useful,

Michelle

A recent throwaway comment by one of our beauty bloggers @thesparkleicious got me thinking about sensitive skin.

She was reviewing our NATorigin loose powder foundation and said she usually prefers a liquid foundation as it covers her skin well, particularly as it is quite red at the moment.

I remember when my skin started getting red, raised and blotchy, I just covered it with more concealer, foundation and powder. I just put it down to hormones after having had my second son and hoped it would resolve. It never occurred to me that my skin could be sensitive to the products I was using and actually making it worse. I began to feel self-conscious about it and I worried that it would never go away.

Realising that I was fighting a losing battle, I unhappily resorted to our Eye Care Cosmetics Anti-Redness Cream convinced that I had rosacea. This daily moisturiser contains plant extracts designed to both cover the redness with a slight green tint and calm down the cause of the redness. It worked so well that I then gradually replaced all of my skincare and cosmetics with this range and have never looked back.

So how many women are camouflaging the signs of sensitive skin without realising they have it? Then aggravating it by applying more of the sensitising ingredients, usually perfumes, alcohols, petrochemicals, parabens and preservatives.

Yet this is so easily resolved. By using beauty products that avoid these problem ingredients, as well as formulating the remaining ones to be harmless to skin (bio-inertia).

Michelle

Just recently NATorigin has been making the headlines in a variety of newspapers and press publications.

First up is an article I wrote for Aromatherapy Times. This is the trade magazine for the International Federation of Aromatherapists who represent professional aromatherapists and it is distributed to their registered members. As essential oils can sometimes cause irritation, I wrote about the difference between allergy and intolerance. I then went on to explain how our formulations can avoid these and included a case study from one of our customers.

Natural Health Magazine published an anti-ageing supplement entitled Ten Years Younger and our Firming Anti-Wrinkle Cream was featured on the Beauty Buys page. This was a roundup of super effective goodies to fight the signs of ageing. All featured products were made from natural ingredients to show that they are just as good as their high street competitors.

So soft and easy to apply

NATorigin pencil eye liner in grey was recently reviewed in a Tried and Tested feature in Highland News. This is a weekly newspaper covering the area around Inverness. It was awarded five stars out of five and the tester Jenna Conti now uses it every day. In fact she loved it so much, she threw out her old pencil in the process!

Most recently, our mascara was the only natural product to score a perfect 10/10 in a Daily Mail Femail article featuring natural lifestyle expert Janey Lee Grace. Various natural beauty products were tested head to head alongside a synthetic alternative. Beauty journalist Jenny Stocks compared NATorigin to Max Factor Masterpiece Mascara. She was desperate to try NATorigin as she has dry, sensitive eyes and has now found a new favourite!

Lengthens and strengthens

Autumn is well and truly here, temperatures are dropping outside and you may find your face, lips and hands feeling dry and tight, especially after washing. The following signs may also indicate that you need to ramp up your winter product choices:

• Going back to your moisturiser to apply a second time
• Applying your hand cream after every contact with water
• Hunting around for a lip balm in your winter coat pockets

Using the same products all year round is not always the best strategy, as our skin changes its level of sebum production depending on the temperature and humidity outside. Once the central heating goes on, many women find their skin starts drying out, becoming more sensitive and the battle begins.

Moisturise well to avoid dry skin

Tips to save your dry skin before it’s too late

1. Apply a moisturising serum before your moisturiser morning and night. These often contain super-moisturising ingredients such as plant extracts and natural seed oils. Seed oils are nourishing and hydrating as a result of a high concentration in natural essential fatty acids (omega 3, 6 & 9).
2. Opt for a richer moisturiser with ingredients such as shea butter, silicium, plant, nut and seed oils. Shea butter absorbs rapidly into the skin without leaving a greasy feeling. Silicium comes from a cellular extract of red seaweed and is extremely hydrating and softening.
3. Choose a hand cream containing shea butter, seed oils and silicium. The seed oils enable the skin to fight bacterial infection, repair damaged cells and regenerate new ones.
4. Switch to a lipstick that acts as a lip balm too containing waxes, oils and shea butter. We swallow our lipstick throughout the day, so choose a chemical free one.
5. Attach humidifiers to your radiators to keep moist air circulating.
6. Consider taking an omega 3 supplement, especially if you also suffer from dry eyes.

If your hands or lips are so dry that they have split, choosing natural, chemical free products will avoid absorption of unwanted chemicals and speed up the healing process.

Let the battle against dry skin commence!

Michelle