Monthly Archives

March 2021

POST WINTER SKIN

By | Beauty, Food for thought, Home, Massage | No Comments

We’re all tired of winter and our skin even more so! All combined, the dry cold air, continuous handwashing and sanitizing are just a recipe for disaster.

If being responsible and sanitizing hands in every supermarket has shown on your hands here are some tips that’ll help revive the skin:

1.Scrubbing first. Take off that dry layer of dead skin cells and let the new ones shine. Moisturizing does not often give the effect you’re expecting it to because a big part of what you’re trying to hydrate are dead skin cells.

Buying a body scrub or having a professional scrub your hands and body can help the skin prepare for the creams and lotions you’re about to give it. Full Body Sea Salt Peeling from Caterina is the perfect treatment to shed off your winter skin and massage a complex of refreshing and moisturizing ingredients in.

2. Moisturize, Moisturize, Moisturize… Putting a hand lotion at your sink or using some body milk after the shower can really change the way your skin feels. But sometimes we might want something extra, be it a professional hand massage after a manicure or a full body treatment.

Raindrops Massage with 7 Essential Oils from Alexandra is designed to enrich your body with vitamins and relax your soul. It is bringing the body into structural and electrical alignment and makes you feel recharged and ready for summer.

3. Have you forgotten something? When we are wearing closed shoes and socks all the time it is easy to forget about the skin on your feet.

Save yourself the struggle, book the classical pedicure, and we’ll make your feet sexy again.

4. By looking at your face it is easy to estimate the health of your body. And when if not under direct spring sunlight will the bags under your eyes be more visible.

Having a basic facial or a microneedling treatment once a month is the perfect way to maintain your skin bright and shiny.

Your Glow Concierge

CHANGES TO YOUR MANICURE ROUTINE OVER THIS PAST YEAR

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Two years ago this article would probably discuss the new patterns and nail polishes that are getting the attention of the public. But in the world we are living right now “manicure” has gained a completely different meaning.

During the last year we all have changed something in our beauty routine. Following the salon closures and home-office system many of us faced the challenge of learning how to do some things at home.

Here are some issues you might have encountered doing your nails at home:

  1. Nail Health

It’s easy not to notice your natural nails under a three-layer gel coat. You cover them over and over again until one day after a gorgeous natural nail post you saw somewhere on Instagram you decide to change the style for a while. And this becomes a real revelation.

You remove your gel polish and discover that

a) It’s not that easy after all!

b) Your nails have become weak and brittle.

If you have been taking care of your nails on your own or just thinking of starting there are a couple of tips at the end of this article.

2. Skin Struggles

A Manicure is not just about the nails. Cuticle and hangnails often require professional care. And we all know that the most enjoyable manicure is always concluded with a hand massage, which you can’t do to yourself ☹

3. Nail Art and Polish choice

Are you sticking to one color manicure? Tired of putting this beige coat every week or two and see it chip off your nails. Tried to draw a flower and erased it thousand times? There are other alternatives!

Our Solutions

Manifix is a swiss brand that offers an easy solution to homemade manicure and pedicure. You don’t need any special skills or thousands of different colours of nail polish that you’ll use one time before they get thick, sticky and you throw them away. Manifix is:

  1. Easy to apply. Buy affordable nail foils of your preferred color at manifix.ch stick them to your nails, shape and apply a top coat – done! Or use their gel strips (require a UV lamp) and wear your manicure even longer.
  2. Durable. You can wear the foil for minimum 10 days and the gel strips for up to 4 weeks!
  3. Healthy & Vegan. All manifix nail products are completely vegan. They are much easier to apply and take off than the normal nail polish and, therefore, do not harm your nails. Due to the fact that the nail foil and strips are lighter than a two-layer nail polish, your nails do not experience that much pressure and stay stronger.
  4. Color variety. Bright Yellow or Pink Marble, Black or Nude. Choose your color and wear it for as long as you want. No commitment!

Manifix is a great solution for easy and fast “nails only” manicure. It is like a makeup that you put over your tired eyes to look fresh and stylish. But what about those tired eyes?

Doing your own manicure is cheap and fast but you often forget some vital parts of the procedure. Taking care of the cuticles, cutting the hangnails or softening the skin with a cream are all part of a classic manicure done by a professional. This is why it can be important to supplement your manifix nail polish with a once-a-month visit to a manicurist.

At Glow Concierge you can order the professional manicure to your home! Moreover, our treatments can be combined together so that in the end you get this incredible spa day feeling. Enjoy a relaxing shoulder massage while your nails are getting dry or combine it with a facial. WE COME TO YOU

If you still have doubts about doing your own manicure our provider Laura works with manifix products as well. You can book her classical manicure in a combination with Manifix nail foil/UV strips application and see how it works for you.

MAKING THE SWITCH TO NATURAL HAIRCARE? 5 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW FIRST

By | Beauty, Fashion, Food for thought, Health | No Comments

As the founder of nul, a no-nonsense natural personal care brand, I speak with many clients who want to make the switch to more natural products.

For a good reason, too! At their best, natural products:

  • Are more environmentally friendly
  • Don’t use potentially harmful chemicals
  • Nourish your skin and hair with many beneficial plant extracts
  • Often have plastic-free packaging

However, there are also some things to be aware of when making the switch. Here are the top 5 things you should know before making the switch to natural haircare.

1.    Is it really natural?

Natural beauty is a hot trend right now, and with this comes greenwashing. Many brands claim they have 100% naturally-derived products, but it’s not the case when you look closer. 

Take one of the most common ingredients for shampoo bars: sodium cocoyl isethionate (SCI). While it may be derived from plant oils, it’s not a natural product. The process to make SCI requires harmful chemicals, which are also used in processing crude oil. 

The easiest way to know if a product is really natural is to look out for a COSMOS certification from BDiH, EcoCert, or Natrue. 

However, many small producers can’t afford the certification. So if you’re looking to buy from an indie brand, ask them if their products comply with the COSMOS-standard.

2.    No more silicones

Natural products don’t contain silicones because they don’t biodegrade in the environment. Products containing silicones coat your hair and skin with a thin layer of plastic. This can make it feel great: smooth, soft, strong and “repaired”. This is why silicones are found everywhere in the beauty industry.

However, although your hair and skin might feel great, silicones aren’t doing you any favours. It can build up on your scalp and strands, making it look greasy and heavy. If you don’t use a clarifying shampoo regularly, it can also coat the strands so well that it doesn’t allow any hydration to penetrate your strands, drying them out over time.

Despite this, people find it hard to leave silicones behind as they are so used to their effect. When making the switch to natural products, be aware that there will be an adjustment period where you get accustomed to seeing your hair in its natural state and not covered in plastic.

3.    It’s not safe just because it’s natural

There is the perception that natural automatically means its safe. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. I look on in horror when I see people coat their skin in (or even drink!) undiluted essential oils – it’s a recipe for an allergic reaction.

Nature is amazing and it’s capable of producing a lot of powerful ingredients and compounds. When not used with consideration, these compounds can be harmful. It’s, for this reason, there are strict rules about the use of essential oils and plant extracts in products. In general, most oils are safe at a 1% usage ratio. All commercial products will follow these rules, but you may run into problems with some indie beauty brands. To be on the safe side, ask them if a certified chemist has approved their products. This is a legal requirement in Switzerland and Europe, and all reputable brands get their products certified. 

And please, never use undiluted essential oil no matter what anyone tells you!

4.    pH is important

Any product containing water or mixed with water has a pH level. This includes shampoo, soap, conditioner (even in bar form), and most styling products.

The pH level of your skin is typically around 5.5, and the pH of your hair can be as low as 3.5.

pH levels are particularly important for hair as it’s not a living organism. It’s made up of “dead” cells. While your skin can be exposed to a range of pH levels and recover it’s natural pH level quite easily, your hair cannot regulate its pH levels.

As your hair is acidic, if you expose it to something alkaline (like soap) the cuticles on your hair can raise – allowing moisture (and color if you have color-treated hair) to escape and giving your hair a rough and dry appearance.

A good shampoo and conditioner will have an acidic pH between 5.5 and 4.5. This acidity seals the cuticle, trapping moisture and color and giving your hair a shiny appearance. 

As a general rule, don’t use soap on your hair. If you absolutely must, ensure you rinse it with diluted vinegar afterwards to re-seal the cuticle.

But what I really recommend is finding a pH-balanced shampoo and conditioner instead.

5.    Less can be more, but not always

There is a perception with natural products that the shorter the ingredients list, the better. Many commercial products are unnecessarily complicated, and the long ingredients list can hide many harmful chemicals. 

However, there are many wonderful natural active ingredients out there that can greatly improve your hair’s health and appearance. And it would be a shame to miss out on them just for a shorter ingredients list.

Instead of just looking at the length of the ingredients list, look at why each ingredient is there. With increasing consumer mistrust, more and more ethical brands are disclosing why they use each ingredient. At nul, we even have a page for each ingredient that explains why we use it, where it comes from, whether it’s vegan, and how it scores on the environmental working group scale.

Making the switch to natural hair care is not always easy, but it’s worth it for you and our planet’s long-term health. I hope this post makes it easier to switch in the right way. 

Thanks for reading, and please reach out if you have any questions.

And if you want to try a shampoo that’s truly natural, silicone-free, safe, pH-balanced and contains active ingredients, check out our range of shampoo bars.

Katie

About the author

Katie Cullen Montgomerie has worked in technology marketing for the past 10 years. Before founding Nul she was the head of marketing and communications at a top Swiss start-up. 

Working in technology, she saw a large number of start-ups working to solve environmental issues. In stark contrast, the personal and household care industry has stagnated with little innovation.

With an MBA and a passion for green chemistry-based natural cosmetics, Katie decided to challenge the status quo. In 2020 she founded nul, a not-just-for-profit company bringing sustainable products to consumers in Switzerland and the world.

About nul

nul is a not-just-for-profit company with the mission to make the personal and household care industry more sustainable by offering eco-friendly alternatives that actually work.

No water. No plastic. No toxins. No nonsense.

PRODUCTS I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT

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Since starting Glow Concierge I have focused a little more on looking after my skin! I am never going to be someone that wears full make up and has flawless hair every day…as much as I’ve tried, but as I’ve got older I have realised that looking after my skin is a necessity! As much as I’d love a facial with Andrei every week…or every day, these are slightly more realistic options! I do try and have a facial once a month as a bit of a treat though!

I have put together a list of the beauty products that I absolutely love, they are my go to products for every day.

  1. Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant – a super fine exfoliant that can be used every day without being too harsh on your skin. I use this alongside Dermalogica Pre Cleanser and Special Cleansing Gel. Ever since Laura introduced me to this brand (she is working mostly with their products), I fell in love. These products are not too expensive and they don’t test on animals. Their packaging is 90% recycled too and almost all of the products are classified as vegan.
  2. Boots UK Day & Night Cream – an old favourite that I’ve used for 20 years. I have to pick it up in England, I haven’t discovered anywhere in Switzerland that sells it. It’s such a good price for an amazing product.
  3. L’Oreal Paris Purple Shampoo – I have tried so so many and this one is hands down the best.
  4. Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream – literally transforms your skin, such a great product.
  5. Bobbi Brown BB Cream – the only makeup I wear…unless Aleksandra is doing it for me!
  6. Sunday Rain Body Scrub – I love all their products, it’s my favourite brand for bath products. All cruelty free and vegan and I love the packaging, simple and looks pretty!
  7. La Prairie Skin Caviar – I bought this as a birthday present years ago and was converted! It’s probably the only really expensive product that I use, I love the ritual of applying it, they have other versions which are simpler but I really love this one with the little spoon.
  8. Aesop Exfolioating Hand Wash – I am obsessed with this, in this day and age when you’re washing your hands 100 times a day, a good soap is a must. I love the exfoliant in this, I end up washing my hands for so long while I scrub away at the back of my hands!
  9. Bio Oil Dry Skin Gel – I have the driest skin, especially in winter, I started using this when I was pregnant when I got through so so much of it…it seemed to work, zero stretch marks! Now I use it just the once a day instead of obsessively!