Leafology Journal: Leaves, Shoots & Roots

Sustainable jungle Leafology

Guest post from Sustainable Jungle: How to care for your skin in the sun

Leafology Journal: Leaves, Shoots & Roots

Today I have a guest post to share from the writers at Sustainable Jungle, a brilliant publication which is, in their words ‘here to encourage and galvanise positive change. We share sustainability related ideas, tips, tricks, hacks, products, brands and stories of people & organisations doing meaningful work to future-proof our planet.’

It’s so nice to collaborate with like-minded people, and I highly recommend a browse through the link above to pick up a few ideas on things you can do in your everyday life to approach things in a new way, with SO many articles on every possible sustainaility-related subject you could want. Tips galore!

Below is the guest post – and although it’s currently deep into autumn here in the UK, I am personally still wearing my Sun Drops daily, as well as using it now and then as a spot treatment (topical zinc is one of the most widely-studied acne-care ingredients, and works a charm!) – plus it’s always summer somewhere in the world, yes? 🙂

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Durdle door | How to save money and the planet buying natural skincare

Q: What’s a good way to save the planet AND save money on skincare?

Leafology Journal: Leaves, Shoots & Roots

A: Buy in bulk, using Leafology’s ‘self-refill’ options! We now post refills to your door (in light, carbon-footprint-saving paper bags) for all seven of our dry/powder products, in addition to your tooth powder and shampoo/bodywash equivalent. Our packaging has always been important to us. We hope you agree this is a step forward!

Q: How does it work?
A: Easy! Buy your first jar or bottle to look good on your shelf (or as a gift), then top up your new fave with a paper-bag bulk refill as you go along. You could also skip the first purchase of the bottle/jar and go straight for the refill, decanting the product into your own at home (though we rather like our elegant, fresh packaging).

Bulk/refill options are now available on all of the following products:

 

The exfoliator… A gentle, softly-softly approach to exfoliating, this oh-so-gentle scrub also doubles up as a mask; leave on for 10 mins first before rinsing away to allow the clay to dry and experience a deeper clean. Contains real rose petals, green tea, soothing oats, rice & rosehip

 

 

 

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Do you…?

Leafology Journal: Leaves, Shoots & Roots

One of the funniest (to me) questions I get…  other than ‘Do you make everything yourself?’ (Um yep, don’t I bang on about that enough?) is ‘Do you use these products yourself?‘

… Actually, the whole reason this range came into being in the first place was because I wanted to play and please myself and create what I couldn’t easily find in Boots (etc.) and heal and nourish my skin. Turning it into a business was definitely only an afterthought, never the original idea. I love that other people get to enjoy what I make, but I am my own first (/number one) customer, basically, and always will be.

It may be a terrible way to begin a business (the antithesis of Dragons Den) but it kinda works: I’ve always just made everything to my own tastes and according to my values and priorities and decided along the way to turn my hand at making it into a bit of a thing* (*technical word for business). So yes, I use these products myself.

If you happen to like the kinds of things I produce (maybe you have a similar nose, or similar views on things, etc.), that’s extremely exciting and I welcome you open-armed into the Leafology world (it’s basically the normal world, but gentler and more artful) and I’m grateful for you.

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Leafology natural skincare

Ready to buy your last ever bottle of shampoo?

Leafology Journal: Leaves, Shoots & Roots

Renaissance Leafology testimonialApparently, it’s ‘World Refill Day’ today. Right up my street.🌍

Did you know we’ve been selling our Renaissance Cleansing Powder (a complete replacement for both shampoo and shower gel) and the Tooth Powder (which comes in a glass jar and actually keeps your teeth healthy) with refill options, for ages now?

No more squeezing out the last bit of toothpaste or shampoo from your plastic, single-use bottle or tube.

One of the very reasons I originally created the products in the Leafology range was to solve my own problem of going through so much throwaway-plastic just for basic necessities. Urgh. I’m so glad I solved that problem (and accidentally ended up building a thriving business around it…)…

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2021 Natural Health Beauty Awards

Leafology Journal: Leaves, Shoots & Roots

I’m wiggly with excitement to say that we might-maybe hopefully-possibly be en route to winning yet another award… We’re not quite there yet, but I’ve been contacted by the 2021 Natural Health Beauty Awards, to say that ‘after rigorous testing’ the Tea & Rice Bran Curl Butter has been shortlisted for the ‘Best Curly Hair Product’. The winner is to be announced in August.

I thought I’d tell you a little bit about how I made it and what it is…

Curl Butter Leafology natural hair vegan skincareWhen I was a teenager and took home what felt like the entire contents of Boots’ make up and hair product aisle on a weekly basis, there was a deep conditioner for hair which stood out as being rather brilliant. I can’t remember the brand or name of it anymore, but I remember it was made with rice bran, and for some reason, this ingredient stuck in my mind long after I finished the tub.

Somehow, rice bran seemed like something which could really ‘fortify’ hair (maybe I’d been reading the backs of cereal packets at the time – I never could eat breakfast without reading something!) and to this day I seem to associate rice bran with fortification….

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‘As featured by’ Vegan Life Magazine + Sustainable Jungle

Leafology Journal: Leaves, Shoots & Roots

If you happen to subscribe to Vegan Life Magazine, you might have noticed that our very own Renaissance Cleansing Powder was ‘Editor’s Choice’ this month.

It was quite magical to receive a copy in the post and see it being featured right at the start of the magazine! 😃 😃 😃

( 🔽 Please excuse the slightly-rubbishy photo I took on my phone… )

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I care about the planet AND I want good hair.

Leafology Journal: Leaves, Shoots & Roots

Can you relate?!

A little story…

Once upon a time, I was ashamed of all the plastic in my bathroom.

When I first started caring about how much plastic I was buying, it was like my eyes were newly opened. Plastic was all I could see, and it was ugly. A normal trip to the supermarket became a surprisingly confronting experience, where all I could see was brightly-coloured excess and bad design. All that wasteful packaging, destined to end up in our oceans and bother the innocent fish! It made me sad.

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Leafology wins again!

Leafology Journal: Leaves, Shoots & Roots

Matcha Mojito Foot Body Scrub Leafology Natural SkincareI’m totally thrilled to be able to announce that Leafology has just won 3 more awards!

We’ve won two ‘Editor’s Choice’ awards for the Matcha Mojito Foot & Body Scrub and the Precious Petals Beauty Balm with Organic Rosehip, Moringa & Tea Seed, plus a ‘Finalist’ award in the Men’s grooming awards for the Black Seed Beard & Hair Tonic. This now brings us up to a total of SEVEN (which happens to be my favourite number) awards in total, and we haven’t finished yet.

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Why I use these 3 lesser-known ingredients

Leafology Journal: Leaves, Shoots & Roots

Leafology products range from having very few ingredients (e.g the Naked Baby Balm or Eye & Lip Make Up Remover) to having MANY (e.g. the Shine Elixir Hair Food, a silicone-free serum which contains oils from the seeds/flowers of seventeen different plants, or the Himalayan Herbal Body Scrub which contains an array of twenty-two different herbs, salts and fruits).

When I create each product, I am very conscious of the properties of every component and they’re very carefully chosen, so I thought it would be fun to write about 3 lesser-known ingredients – what they do and why I use them…

Hibiscus 

On one of my trips to Bali, I attended a very hand-on workshop where we experimented with local plants, chopping things up and combining to make body scrubs, face masks and a gentle sun cream, and hibiscus was such a joy to play with.

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