June Special

 ENRICHING TONER & SPRITZER

I forgot to post this to the blog at the beginning of the month!

Toners and Spritzers are on special this month. $2.00 of both Clarifying and Enriching Toners and $3.50 off Clarifying and Enriching Spritzers.

Skinflint Toners are made from the steam distillation of essential oils. The liquid left are the oils are removed is called hydrosol. This liquid contains many of the components of the essential oil from which it was created.

Clarifying Toner & Spritzer is made from Tea Tree and Lavender Hydrosol and also contains Witchhazel extract, an astringent and strong anti-oxidant, making it an excellent anti acne treatment. Tea Tree is also anti-bacterial while Lavender is soothing.

Enriching Toner & Spritzer is made from Rose and Neroli Hydrosols, both very fragrant and soothing. Calendula extact is adding for it's wonderful healing and hydrating properties.

Toners are an excellent way to add extra nutrients to your skin. These nutrients are water soluble and need a water base to assist with the penetration into the outer layers of the skin.

They also make excellent after shave treatments for guys. No alcohol means no stinging or irritation.

Lip Balm Flavours

I've just had an interesting experience with lip balms that were due to be labelled. I had two baskets with two different flavours in them and I was unable to distinguish between the two flavours!
One was Vanilla Bean, the other Buttercreme. So, since I've run out of Vanilla Bean labels, I've made the decision to delete this flavour and introduce a new one.
If you're a Vanilla Bean fan, simply choose Buttercreme instead.

I'm testing out some Chocolate flavours to find the perfect Chocolate Kiss taste (edible fragrance really, it doesn't have a taste). Is Chocolate a flavour that you're interested in choosing? If not, what else would you like to see?

The choices are limited to flavours I can obtain:

Banana
Spearmint
Choc Orange Truffle
Coconut
Apple
Peach Nectar
Raspberry Coulis

List your preference in the comments area below.

Trial Packs

Skinflint has just added Trial Packs to the Face Care Range on the website.


These packs are an excellent way to experience part of the face care range without parting with too much money. They also make great travel packs

Each pack contains a 60ml Cleanser, 50ml Toner and 60ml Face Lotion. These are approximately half the size of the regular items in the range.

Available in Clarifying for oily and acne prone skin and Enriching for normal to dry and mature skin, they're only $25 each and would also make a lovely gift for someone who needs a little pampering.

Baby Oil

 This product is now available on the Skinflint website.  It's a lovely blend of both light and rich oils and is enriched with vitamin E.
Very lightly scented with chamomile, sweet orange and lavender, it's perfect as a relaxing massage oil for your baby. It can also be used to soothe any dry areas and to keep baby's skin protected.

For a limited time, Skinflint Baby Oil is available in an elegant aluminium pump bottle. These can be kept and refilled as needed.

If you have a friend whose having a baby, a Skinflint Baby Gift Pack makes a perfect gift. Simply choose the products you'd like and put the words, "Gift Basket" in the message section on checkout, or email me with your requirements.

Buy Skinflint Baby Oil here.

Cleansing your face

After many years of trying an enormous variety of both expensive and inexpensive cleansers on the market, I was unable to find one that didn't leave me with tight, dry feeling skin.
In the end, I stopped using cleanser and simply washed my face with a washcloth. This isn't ideal if you wear make up, as I do. It doesn't remove make up residue particularly well and can lead to clogged pores and blackheads.

Our facial skin is far more sensitive than the skin on the rest of our body. It's thinner, less likely to be exposed to the extremes of weather and much more delicate.

The myth that a cleanser must bubble up in order to clean the skin has been perpetuated by the cosmetic giants such as L'Oreal and Clinique. I remember using Clinique's Cleansing Bar many years ago and finding my skin drying out so much it was peeling. I've recently checked out the ingredients and found it's simply a detergent bar, sometimes called a syndet (synthetic detergent) in the industry. It's made from harsh surfactants that have been pressed together and extruded to create a hard bar. The only redeeming feature of these syndet bars is that they aren't as alkaline as soap and are more in line with the slightly acidic pH of our skin.

When I developed Skinflint Enriching Cleanser, I did a lot of research on skin and skin care. It was this research that led me to believe that no detergent or soap is good for the skin on the face.

Skinflint Enriching Cleanser is designed to emulsify any oils and dirt on the face and wash it away without the use of soap or detergent. An emulsified system is far gentler and more efficient than a detergent or soap based system.
Skinflint Clarifying Cleanser contains a small amount of the natural saponin, Yucca Extract. This is a totally natural surfactant that adds just a little extra cleansing to the product which is designed for people with oily and acne prone skin.

When you dry your skin after cleansing, it should still feel soft and smooth. There should be no feeling of tightness or dryness - if there is, your cleanser is too harsh for your skin type.

Some people are able to use soap and water on their face. Good on them, that's fantastic, they've got really tough skin. Me, I'm sticking to my wash off creamy cleanser, Skinflint Enriching Cleanser, knowing that I'm not drying my skin and making it more liable to wrinkle.

Check out the ingredients in your cleanser - does it have Coco Betaine, Sodium Lauryl/Lauroyl/Laureth Sulphate, Lauryl Glucoside or anything similar to these chemical names? If so, it's detergent based.

Glass Reed Diffuser Bottles

I've finally been able to locate some really lovely glass reed diffuser bottles!

These are so cute. They hold about 100ml of Reed Diffuser Oil and come with a stopper, lid and bamboo topper. Perfect for small shelves, window ledges etc.

At only $5.00 each, they make a great addition to the Home Fragrance Range. You can purchase one bottle, a set of reeds and your choice of reed diffuser oil refill for only $20.00.

These make a great gift. If they're popular, I'll start filling them with the fragrant oils and sell them as a set with the reeds, rather than sell them empty.

Solar Oil

I'm constantly amazed by the marketing ploys of cosmetic companies.

Did you know that when companies use people to test a moisturiser, the results are judged against those using no moisturiser? So, if you see there's an 85% improvement in the softness of the skin.....well....duh!

But, on to other things. Cosmetic companies get away with charging a fortune for really simple products with very simple ingredients. Take Solar Oil, for example (I just had my nails done at the wonderful Le Sheek Nails in Katanning). It is made up of four ingredients, almond oil, rice bran oil, jojoba oil and vitamin E. The company that makes it charges $23 for a 15ml bottle.  That is outrageous!

The bottle, label and ingredients would only cost around $3.50, if that! The larger the company, the cheaper the ingredients, labels and containers, so the actual product would most likely be worth much less than this. What you are paying for is the marketing - slick advertising in glossy magazines. It makes my blood boil.

This is the sort of rip off marketing that led me to making my own products. I don't particular want to make and sell my own brand of Solar Oil, but I'm certainly going to make it for myself. If you have acrylics and need some oil, add a comment and I'll make you some too, for the small price of $5.50.