Thursday, December 31, 2015

Wouldn't it be "Lovely"

I just love "My Fair Lady," so it's no surprise that the song, "Wouldn't It Be Loverly," came to mind while typing this blog post (notice how I changed "loverly" to "lovely"). I recently won (via Instagram) two "Lovely" products that are worth posting. "Lovely" is the name of the brand, which is also describes this face mask and facial toner to a tee.

According to the website (yes, I totally snagged the above photo from the Lovely site. It was taken by Morgan Sessions, who specializes in wedding photography at morgansessions.com. Ryan Lewis did all the beautiful watercolors for the packaging; you can find more of his work at ryanlewisdesign.com), "Lovely is an artisan line of small batch, handcrafted, all natural beauty and skincare products. Every material used is specifically selected and designed to evoke beauty, health, and purity for the user.

"All products are created from scratch and are tested by people, on people - never animals. No unnatural preservatives, emulsifiers, artificial dyes, chemicals, synthetic ingredients, animal ingredients, parabens, or fillers are ever used in Lovely's products."

Obviously, these products are right up my alley. I was sent the Pink Clay Mask and Moisturizing Facial Toner (I was able to pick my mask, so I couldn't resist the pink one).

The Pink Clay Mask is simply a combination of French pink clay, rosehip powder, coconut milk powder and jasmine essential oil. This powder can be mixed with enough water to create a paste to apply to your face, although I also like to substitute the water with the toner (it dries faster, but is still effective). It draws out impurities, but somehow manages to moisturize my skin at the same time. It exfoliates, softens fine lines and leaves my skin soft as a baby's bottom (seriously, I'm a mom, so I know what I'm talking about). It's a little miracle in a glass jar. It's actually more brown or orange in person, but I'm willing to overlook that.

As I mentioned, I like to prepare the face mask with the Moisturizing Facial Toner, so that's one of the ways I've enjoyed this product. The toner contains witch hazel, aloe vera gel, rosewater and ylang ylang III essential oil. It's very similar to the Flynn & King toner I reviewed yesterday, which is probably why I found these two lines to work quite well together (they really do). Although it has astringent qualities from the witch hazel, it also keeps my skin moisturized with aloe and rosewater. This toner actually has a toning effect, making my mature skin look and feel firmer. I also love the rose scent.

I've been using this mask and toner with the Flynn & King cleanser and dry oil I reviewed yesterday, occasionally alternating the two toners. I really love both lines, mainly due to their simplicity, gentleness and ability to keep my skin soft, smooth and clear. It's also nice to support small businesses that make pure and clean products with a conscious.

Do you support small businesses? What are your favorite finds? Let me know on Twitter at @Rawdorable and/or Instagram (also @Rawdorable).

* I was sent these Lovely products as a prize. All opinions are my own :)