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There is something about the French – an attitude and a way of life that is so undeniably natural and effortless, a certain je ne sais quoi if you like.
Les femmes française (French women) have a lot to teach us Aussie lasses about their approach to beauty. The time I have spent in France and with French friends made me realize how little time they spend grooming. This is not to say they don’t put any effort in, they just don’t sweat the small stuff. Most let their hair air dry, wear little make up and generally engage in a healthy abandon we sometimes lack.
French women are adored all over the world for their elegant, chic and simplistic style and their coveted beauty, so it’s no wonder that the French produce some of the finest quality skincare and makeup brands in the world.
PHYT’S Naturo-Esthetique is one of these fine brands, specializing in certified organic skincare. The PHYT’S team have a passion for ecological sustainability and produce pure, chemical free therapeutic products that are not tested on animals. All PHYT’S products are certified by COSMEBIO – the Professional Association for Natural, Ecological and Organic Cosmetics. With products like this at their fingertips, its no wonder the French sport such unblemished, radiant complexions.
I was lucky enough to try out a few goodies from this gorgeous range of products and would highly recommend the following…
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♥ Activ’Peel Gentle Exfoliating Scrub – $38
I have un petit obsession with face scrubs. There is something about actually feeling the impurities lift from my face and feeling my skin refined and pores clear that rates highly with me when it comes to exfoliating. I’ve tried most exfoliants out there, but I absolutely loved this one! The smell (lemon oil, aloe vera, grapefruit oil, pansy oil and geranium oil), the texture and the refreshing feel afterwards: a glorious trio that make up the latest addition to my skincare regime.
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♥ Naturoderm Antiseptic – $31
I didn’t use this product as frequently as I used the others, mainly because it is for specific problems. When I did use it however, I found it was particularly effective on pimples – the St. Johns Wort ingredient helped to curb any of the bacteria spreading, while the sage and rose geranium helped to dry out and heal the spot. I am prone to breakouts and this antiseptic was great at stopping pimples in their tracks!
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♥ Shampooing Traitant – $36
This shampoo provided my hair with the exact amount of nourishment it was craving! After resolving to grow my balayage out (see, I am SO French!), I was on the hunt for some natural products to strengthen and restore my hair from it’s frazzled, dry and split end glory. The Phyt’s shampoo did just that, and my hair is now so much healthier and boasts a lovely natural shine. Infused with bitter orange and blackcurrant, it smells divine. I even had a couple of people tell me my hair smelt nice, which isn’t as weird as it sounds. And, it can be used daily…winner!
In Western Australia, only the residents of Bunbury have the luxury of receiving Phyt’s at Amanda’s Beauty, so head to the Phyt’s website to order online.
Review by Lucy, french skincare lovin’ lass.
Be well,
xoxo
I’m really confused as to what you consider to be a truly ‘natural’ product.
Firstly, NO products are “chemical free”, as even natural substances are chemicals.
Secondly, I can pretty much guarantee that this range is not even free from synthetic chemicals. It’s impossible to know for sure, because the website you linked to doesn’t list all the ingredients – a major red flag.
What I can find is that the COSMEBIO certification allows for 5% synthetic ingredients, according to the COSMEBIO website. And even their definition of ‘natural’ ingredients includes ‘derived from natural sources’. This is a copout and a con.
The skin scrub listed above, and any water-based creams and moisturisers, are oil and water emulsions requiring an emulsifier. Most companies that claim to be all-natural use the ‘natural derived’ get out of jail free card when it comes to emulsifiers because, to my knowledge (and I have researched this), there is no minimally processed natural substance that can achieve a stable emulsion. In reality, the emulsifiers these companies use have undergone so much chemical processing that they are far from natural in the way most of us understand the word. Most of us understand ‘natural’ to mean minimally processed ingredients, not something that has undergone myriad chemical processes and reactions to the point where it in no way resembles anything in found in nature.
Not to mention that the website advertising these products claims ‘no preservatives’. Any product containing water needs preservatives to inhibit bacterial growth, or else it has an EXTREMELY short shelf life. But the product descriptions don’t state that they must be used within 1 month of purchase, which is what would be the upper limit of preservative-free emulsions. So they are either lying, and the products do contain preservatives, or they are misleading people, as we would expect a product such as this to have quite a long shelf life.
If you are going to champion natural skin care, fantastic. Go for it. But please, please don’t champion these brands that are not transparent, don’t list ingredients, make false claims and mislead the public. It’s irresponsible. You are setting yourself up as some sort of expert, and people are going to trust what you write. It took me all of ten minutes to dismantle the claims made by this brand. Please, do some research instead of being just another marketing mouthpiece.
In answer to Jane, we at PHYT’S would respond as follows:
• In a world where so many claims (correct or misleading) are made and with so much confusions over technical terms that are rarely understood by the average consumer, it is important to rely on the various official labels that guarantee origin, safety, composition etc… Phyts carries the QUALITE FRANCE integrity label. In addition Phyt’s carries the AB label, the Once Voice label and we are satisfied that a product carrying so many highly respected certification labels has obviously shown compliance, at all levels of production and manufacturing, to the highest levels of requirement.
• Natural substances can be chemical ingredients or chemically transformed, but by definition natural substances ARE natural substances. We can guarantee that PHYT’S does not use synthetic chemicals. Although COSMEBIO allows for 5% synthetic ingredients PHYT’S is committed to use only products of natural origin and therefore refuses to use synthetic ingredients.
*As per European and international cosmetic labelling regulations, it is mandatory to mention the ingredient list on the packaging. The full list of ingredients is indicated on each PHYT’S product.
• With regards to emulsifiers, there is no emulsifier growing out from a tree, a plant or in a field. Does that mean we cannot manufacture an emulsifier issued from natural origin ingredients?
One of the most used emulsifier is Cetearyl Alcohol/ Cetearyl Glucoside which is issued from the esterification of an organic chemistry reaction in which you will esterify a fatty acid issue from plants using an alcohol or sugar. As you can see, no chemical ingredients are added to create an emulsifier. Also, I agree the process is chemical (as it is a chemical chain reaction between natural ingredients), but we are talking about green chemistry. As an example, the digestion process is a chemical reaction, and you don’t need to ingest solvent to make it possible!
• Preservatives are added to our products but they are all of plant origin, mainly in the form of essential oils. None of the preservatives used in our products are synthetic.
Mother Nature has provided us with a vast range of natural preservatives that can be used in natural skincare to combat micro organisms and to keep products fresh from contamination and mould. These include:
Citrus Seed Extract – Grapefruit Seed Oil or Extract
Vitamins A, C and E
Potassium – Potassium Sorbate
Essential Oils extracted from Tea tree, Sandalwood, Lavender, Rosemary
Vegetal Vit E
Plant alcohol
• We would like to emphasise that we have asked Wellness WA to review our products and are well aware that there may be adverse comments. We did not influence Wellness WA in any way.