BEAUTY & BODY GAMUT GUIDE

In search of shades, skin care, swimsuits, sassy styles or sizzling poolside tech? look no further!  Alongside Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Fendi, Dior and many more luxury brands you can find MAHALO Skin Care’s, Rare Indigo Balm. This supercharged violet balm can assist in calming inflammation and addressing acne, eczema, rosacea, dermatitis, and other skin conditions to promote a more radiant and youthful complexion.

How to wear the color of 2018

Pantone has just announced that ultra violet will be the color of 2018. Vogue looks at how you can incorporate such a bold shade into your beauty routine.
Rare Indigo beauty balm, Mahalo, €110 on www.moncornerb.com

NEIMAN MARCUS INDIE BEAUTY

Beleaguered luxury retailer, Neiman Marcus, is entering the independent beauty market with ShopTheExpo, a collaboration with Indie Beauty Expo. Launching the limited-time collection over the weekend with a pop-up boutique in the NorthPark Dallas store, Neiman’s is featuring an assortment of fifteen products for sale on-line only. “With the rise in indie beauty we’ve been focused on curating an amazing assortment of under-the-radar brands,” said Kelly St. John, vice president, divisional merchandise manager for beauty at Neiman Marcus.

Brands included in the three-month sale are skincare companies, Ayuna, Beneath Your Mask, CircCell, Le Prunier, Luxe Botanics, Mahalo Skin Care, Planted In Beauty, Pour Moi, and Ranavat Botanics, the alternative Girl Undiscovered, color cosmetics from Ellis Faas, Joséphine Cosmetics, Lük Beautifood, and Sappho New Paradigm, and dental care from Swiss Smile. In November a Trending Beauty Shop will open in the NorthPark store, featuring many of these names to highlight newness. “Certainly in the industry you hear about designer and mass being challenging…[at Neiman Marcus] the niche and luxury [categories] continue to be very, very strong,” St. John continued.

Indie Beauty Expo at Neiman Marcus

Meet the names shaking up the beauty world.

They’re passionate about beauty, sharing their secrets and they’re only here for a limited time.

Maryna Kracht established her skin care on the principles of Hawaiin mindfullness, gratitude and clean ingredients.

The line employs CO2 extraction that delivers the purest extracts with a near-identical profile to the raw plants.

#ShopTheExpo at Neiman Marcus NorthPark Center

Indie Beauty Expo (IBE) brings Dallas beauty addicts a selection of under-the-radar products.
By partnering with Neiman Marcus, IBE continues to shed a light on independent beauty, lifestyle and wellness brands with an exposition-style roundup of products. Taking root in the retail markets of New York, Los Angeles and Dallas, IBE is slated to expand to London in 2018. The two-day event at NorthPark Center will feature a curated collection of fresh finds to switch up skincare routines! Founders Nader Naeymi-Rad and Jillian Wright, Neiman Marcus’ vice president of Beauty, Kelly St. John, and faces behind the brands will be on hand for a tailor-made shopping experience. Lines and products at ShopTheExpo include organic oil Le Prunier, Polynesian-inspired Mahalo Care, climate-smart skincare line, Pour Moi, and the Ayurvedic-based Ranavat. Giving power to the people, brands with buzz may become part of Neiman Marcus’ permanent beauty assortment. Oct. 20-21, Neiman Marcus NorthPark Center, 8687 N Central Expy

HAVE OILY SKIN? YOU’LL LOVE THESE 8 NON-GREASY MOISTURIZERS

If you have oily skin, chances are you never leave home without throwing blotting papers or mattifying powder into your bag. And you’ve likely wondered (maybe more than a few times) if there’s any point in using moisturizer. Spoiler alert: there is.

“Skipping hydration is the opposite of what you should be doing,” says Tara Foley, skin-care guru and founder of the clean beauty site Follain. Oily skin, just like any other complexion issue, is caused by a moisture imbalance (in this case, you’re producing too much sebum). “If you strip your skin of everything [with a cleanser], it’ll make problems worse,” Foley warns. “You need to give your skin some moisture after cleansing to rebalance it.”

Her go-to fix? “I always recommend fighting oil with oils,” she says. “If you put a light one on your skin, it tricks it into thinking it’s already produced enough oil so that it doesn’t go on to make more.” In other words, it stops your shine at the source—so you won’t wind up layering on products that could lead to breakouts.

“You need to give your skin some moisture after cleansing to rebalance it.”
Beauty expert Jasmine Garnsworthy, founder of customized facial oil company The Buff, agrees with Foley. “Look for lighter, natural oils that more closely mimic the sebum your skin already produces, like squalane or jojoba,” she says. “Mineral oils are often used as a cheap emollient, but they’re not easily absorbed by the skin, so they become occlusive.” (Read: pore-clogging.) Other rich ingredients to avoid in your facial oils include shea, vitamin E, argan oil, and triglycerides, Foley says.

If oil just isn’t your jam, Garnsworthy and Foley recommend trying balms and gels instead of cream moisturizers for your hydrating fix. “Balms are really similar in texture to a cream or lotion, but typically don’t have the thicker ingredients that can be problematic,” Foley says. And Garnsworthy adds that gels absorb into the skin quickly and don’t leave any gunky residue.

Foley and Garnsworthy are in agreement: You can nourish your skin without causing it to freak out and over-compensate. So Well+Good staffers (with oily skin) tested out the experts’ recommendations to figure out which products are the best of the best. The results? Glowy (but not overly so) skin ahead.

Keep reading for eight editor- and expert-approved oily skin hydration essentials.

Mahalo Rare Indigo Beauty Balm. The rich purple balm—which is hand-blended in Hawaii—isn’t just pretty: It’s chock full of inflammation-fighting active botanicals that deliver essential nutrients to your skin for a radiant complexion. And vitamin C, fatty acids, and antioxidants help you protect a stressed-out dermis. Bonus: It smells like vanilla and has a creamy consistency that just feels heavenly.

MARYNA: A WOMAN REBORN

Connected by our shared love for Hawaii, Maryna and I have long dreamt of a girls trip to the island of Kaua’i, the home and inspiration for her artisan beauty brand, Mahalo Skin Care. As we planned for our third collaboration, the timing was right to make this dream a reality. I flew to meet Maryna and for 4 sacred days we escaped the daily to-do’s of our ordinary lives and ventured into the lush and sometimes precarious terrain of the island Maryna now calls home. Days of hiking, swimming, deep breathing and absorbing the energy of the island led to incredible breakthroughs and divine inspiration for both of us, some of which we share in the video below.

Perhaps one of my greatest revelations was how the land can hold space for our personal transformation. While I’ve always known that the island has so many gifts of nature to offer – botanicals, ocean, indigenous wisdom, and Mana (the word for the energy the Hawaiians derived from the land and nature) – I witnessed first hand how these bountiful gifts have offered Maryna a safe space for her evolution.
Maryna has called Kaua’i home for the last seven years. It’s where she birthed her business, now firmly established as a leading brand in the green beauty industry. How did this travel-loving Ukrainian woman get grounded on this Hawaiian island? In an inspired interview, Maryna shares how Mahalo came to be, the challenges she faces as she navigates operating a global business from a remote island, and why she now feels more optimistic and energized than ever before. In her own words, she shares her deepest intention for us all and how she uses her platform to spread the message of feminine empowerment and gratitude through beauty ritual and true self-love.

Why It’s So Hard to Be an Indie Beauty Brand

Startup founders talk the challenges they faced early on…

Beauty startups face a competitive market worth $60 billion; skincare accounts for the biggest share. To launch, brands have to figure out what they want to formulate and why, and who their consumers are and how to reach them, often on very limited budgets.

Maryna Kracht launched Mahalo Skin Care in Hawaii three years ago. She knew early on that ingredients would be a huge expense. Mahalo products feature tamanu oil (which has anti-inflammatory properties and can promote cell growth), sea buckthorn oil and aloe vera. Kracht looks to appeal to customers seeking something luxurious and handcrafted. “I want people to feel that this is an artisanal product,” she says.

With a team of four employees, she develops her own formulas. She works with local suppliers in Hawaii, uses organic ingredients and produces her own hydrosols, or distillates, such as rose water.

“I did have savings, but not a lot,” Kracht says. “More than anything, I had to be extremely strategic with every single dollar.” That meant lots of time researching ingredients before spending money on developing anything.

Kracht never resorted to formulating her products for Mahalo in her kitchen, as some natural skincare brands claim to. “I am a stickler for everything being sanitized and making sure we’re up to standards. I had a separate kitchen away from the house where I created a little lab of sorts,” she says.

Kracht’s face is the first thing you see on the Mahalo website. She still handmakes her formulas and writes thank-you notes to her customers. “I encounter challenges every day,” she says. “In the very beginning, you’re wearing a hundred different hats. I did everything. It was figuring out the direction of the business.”

Since its launch, Mahalo has gone from production in a small lab in Kracht’s home to a 1,200-square-foot facility with a walk-in fridge. SkinOwl has been growing every year since it launched. “SkinOwl felt like immediate success because we filled a void,” Tevelin says. ‘It’s not easy, it weeds people out very quickly.”

Despite (or maybe because of) what it takes to launch beauty brands, Kracht says it’s startups that are shaking up the industry. “These small beauty brands, mostly women-run, are trying to go up against the Goliaths of the space, but we are doing it with a backbone of five people versus 500.”

Winter Routine 2017 – Green Beauty

The year 2016 made me discover care but especially natural brands that allowed me to spend a “comfortable” winter with skin nourished in depth.
I discovered MAHALO care at the end of 2016 and it was the best revelation. These treatments are of an extraordinary quality but above all a sensory pleasure that I do not find anywhere else. They may seem overpriced but having skin suggests imperfections, I can not settle for average quality.

Let’s go back to the Rare Indigo … This balm with a violet color and a fragrance of vanilla mixed with flowery notes is recommended for normal to oily skin. It brings the right amount of hydration without ever leaving a greasy veil on the skin. It even tends to matify it quickly and to attenuate my wrinkles of expressions. When I have some imperfections, I apply a grain of this balm locally to stop the push of the button or to accelerate his healing. I fell in love with this balm and even if the price is very high, each use, the size of a grain of rice enough to cover the whole of my face. So I think I can easily make money.
On weeknights, I start by removing make-up with the balm The Unveil still from MAHALO. This time, this green-colored balm turns into cleansing milk in contact with the skin. In a few massages, it removes all the make-up and removes all impurities accumulated during the day. It is composed of natural enzymes of fruits that allow to exfoliate the skin and make it soft. After rinsing this care, my face is fresh and my skin sharp.
To nourish my skin and rest it all night, I use the best-selling MAHALO, the Mahalo Baume. It was the precursor of my entry in natural care of luxury and especially it is the first moisturizing balm that does not cause me pimples! Its yellow-orange color obtained by the turmeric makes me a little bald complexion that is not unpleasant. I am amazed to see stunned by its regenerating and nourishing actions that are really beneficial to my skin. After being attacked throughout the day, she enjoys eating a dose of natural.

MAHALO SKINCARE Haul // Organic Natural Skincare

About two months ago Mahalo Skincare released their Taste Of Desires box.  A box full of deluxe/travel size Mahalo Skincare products. I knew this was a box I wanted to get my hands on. And I’m glad I did!  Mahalo Skincare is a botanical based skincare line. Their products are organic, hydrating, healing, high quality, high performance, luxurious skin treatments. A little goes a long way with their products so the price of them is so worth it!

How To Treat Dry Skin When You’re Breaking Out, According To The Experts

Suffering with uncomfortable pimples or sore dry skin is not ideal, but when you’re suffering with both at once, your skincare situation can feel like a nightmare. If you’re currently living through this, you’ll need to know how to treat dry skin when you’re breaking out, because as you may have noticed already, it’s not as easy as you might think. So I spoke to a bunch of skincare experts, to discover exactly how to treat dry skin when you’re also breaking out.
Maryna Kracht, founder of Mahalo Skin Care, tells Bustle over email, “Keeping the digestive tract healthy with fermented foods (kimchi, sauerkraut etc), kombucha, and kefir not only provides an important balance of probiotics, healthy acid balance, and vitamin boost, it also helps with proper absorption of nutrients and elimination of toxins through proper digestive tract routes and not through your skin.” Kracht adds that eating dark green vegetables will boost the alkalinity level in the body, so it might be time you start incorporating more leafy greens into your diet. “Water, sleep and exercise are also crucial aspects to keeping your skin healthy, vibrant, and clear,” says Kracht. She explains, “Water helps with eliminating the toxins and allowing your skin to be plump and youthful. Drink alkaline water. Either water with lemon, or water with a few drops of liquid chlorophyll.”

When it comes to sleep, Kracht advises what’s best for your skin, “Proper sleep doesn’t only provide rest, it also helps with balancing the stress hormones, excess of which makes your skin look inflamed, thin, and wrinkled. Keeping the circadian rhythm in check, going to sleep around 10pm, and getting 8 hours sleep is the optimum balance for many people.” “Acneic skin often shows lack of essential fatty acids, and will respond most favorably to facial oil serums or facial balm treatments to bring balance to the skin,” explains Kracht. “Our Vitality Elixir and Rare Indigo balm have been specifically formulated to contain over 70 percent essential fatty acids to deliver the optimal nutritive balance to imbalanced and inflamed complexions,” she says.

However, there is a method to using these products. Kracht instructs to apply face oils and balms over wet or damp skin. “This is very important in keeping the skin hydrated AND moisturized,” she says. As much as you may want to, you really can’t rush the healing process. “Stick to a skincare routine for at least one month,” says Kracht, “as it takes the skin 26 days to complete it’s cycle. Give your skin love and care to allow it to take the steps to properly rebuild and recover itself.”

Don’t be disheartened, it’s totally possible to treat dry skin when you’re breaking out — just follow this expert advice and you should see improvements soon!

Best in (Green) Beauty 2016 – Australia

Sometimes it still surprises me how far green beauty has come in the last few years. The choice now is so great, it can almost be overwhelming, and there really is very few things you can’t find a natural, non-toxic alternative to. Just a few years ago (we’re talking 4-6yrs), I had to purchase everything I wanted from the USA. There wasn’t much choice in Australia yet, and green beauty was just beginning to bloom.
With that in mind, I think it’s only fitting that my first post for 2017 recap on the best in (green) beauty releases for 2016, and also the best new (Australian) launches/releases.
This was actually a difficult post to put together, narrowing down the selection.
Mahalo Skincare – Another amazing luxury brand to launch in Australia last year was Mahalo. The formulas are 100% natural and Certified Organic where available. I’ve been using the Rare Indigo Balm for some time now – it’s divine! More to come on that soon, but if you’ve been hanging out to get your hands on this brand, you can find it …

Brand Review: Mahalo Skin Care

For 4 months now, I’ve been using Mahalo Skin Care products in my multi-step skincare routine. Mahalo Skin Care touts itself as a Hawaiian botanical-based facial care line that offers high-performance, luxurious skin treatments targeting various forms of skin inflammation, environmental damage, and prematurely aging concerns. The products are nutrient-dense with the key purpose of offering support to draw out one’s healthy, radiant complexion. Mahalo’s formulae draw roots from ancient Polynesia, Western, and Eastern healing, and with current natural beauty technology, proffer an immersive and holistic experience to one’s self-care regimen.
In terms of a high-powered skincare line that’s also organic and eco-friendly, Mahalo is the best in my book. I’ve tried other skincare brands in the same tier — think May Lindstrom and Kypris — and Mahalo blows them out of the water. I know that those are good skincare brands with their own cult followings, and skincare is, ultimately, relative to the individual, yet I will advocate Mahalo again and again for how it has helped me achieve better skin than ever. Here are the four products from its line I cannot do without:

MAHALO Review

Mahalo was the brand on my radar and I always wanted to try it and see what the buzz is all about, everyone in the green beauty community seems to love it and l am yet to come across a bad review. The thing is I am living La Vida Broka life right now, so I thought these products were forever out of my price range, but I am changing my way of thinking – I would much rather invest into something I know will be working for me, rather than buying and testing ten different budget options.  The products are amazing and I think they are worth every single penny. I don’t say this lightly, products have to go the extra mile to impress me, so hear me out!

Editor’s Pick:

Beauty and Lifestyle. Effective & Nourishing | brands we trust

MAHALO Skin Care – Rare Indigo beauty Balm

Genuine Beauty Awards – best skin care products of 2016

Mahalo Rare Indigo: the Hawaiian Mahalo products are packed in bamboo jars that stole my heart at first glance, but wait, there´s more. Just take a whiff of any of their products and you´re a goner. Rare Indigo is by far the most interesting beauty balm of the year with it´s mystically aromatic scent and it´s deep violet color. The balm´s texture is of murumuru and babassu butters, you get to take a trip to the Amazon while applying the wonders of the rain forrest on your skin all the while amazing at the unbelievable softness and smoothness the balm gives to your skin.
Mahalo The Petal Mask: The rose red mask smells just as divine as it looks. The lovely jelly consistency is due to raw Hawaiian and Manuka honey ja the rose color comes from roses and hibiscus. No wonder the skin looks thoroughly smoothened and relaxed after a thirty minute rose mask.

The ultimate Holistic Hawaiian Spa Experience: The Olavine Spa

When you walk into the spa, you will notice the serene colors of aqua and green which represent the Hawaiian waters and greenery. A misty scent of Eucalyptus flows through the air as you are surrounded by jewelry and holistic products including the eco-chic Mahalo skincare line that is exclusively available here at the spa.
We use Mahalo Skin Care…  MAHALO Skin Care is a botanical-based facial care line, offering high-performance, luxurious skin treatments that target skin inflammations, environmental damage, prematurely aging concerns and offer nutrient-dense support for a healthy, and glowing complexions. Our unique skin formulas combine the ancient knowledge of Polynesia, Western and Eastern healing, with the modern scientific advancements in natural beauty technology to deliver an experience inspired by Hawaiian approach to slow, mindful beauty rituals, and luxurious self-care.

Hawaiian Treat! Mahalo Skincare Review (translated from French)

It is a real treat when luxury and pure, healthy goodness combine to make a wonderful care line like Mahalo Skincare. I had the wonderful opportunity to test their staples with their newly launched beauty balm that just became available in mid November! For those of you do not know Mahalo, this hand-crafted, cruelly line uses the power of nature gifts using harvested local and wild ingredients that are carefully blended together to create a skin care experience Really decadent. It should go without saying their entire line is free of synthetics, parabens, phthalates, fillers or colorants. It sounds like a dream of being the owners Maryna and Mark, who just started the line in December 2014, the beautiful island of Kauai, and it makes me happy to share my experience with you guys!

As someone with prone to acne, the sensitive skin of pregnancy, my complexion has been a bit under fire lately. During my recent honeymoon during a visit to the spa reminded me how important it was to treat pregnancy skin with a delicate hand and how much natural anti-inflammatories could soothe and heal. I stuck it to gentle products throughout my pregnancy but never took the plunge to go full face with an oil serum or baume balm oil. I can now say that I am not afraid to put the right oils, all over the whole of my face knowing that they help to calm my skin.

Overall, I am pleasantly surprised by the results I get using Mahalo Skincare. I was waiting since their line seemed so wonderful even before I tried it, but the proof is in the puddin ‘. Zits calmer and less redness on my pregnant cup me a happy woman made. To learn more about this fabulous line you should visit their website to get all the details but stay connected with them on two Facebook, Instagram or Twitter updates!

Obsessed with Indigo

Over the course of a month I’ve used Mahalo Skin Care The Rare Indigo beauty balm on parts of my face and body that are hyper-sensitive, or inflamed from eczema; even when some of my prescription medication couldn’t come through (read: that dreaded eczema patch on my left wrist that refuses to go away!) the Rare Indigo did for me. Crafted with 29 high-performance integrity ingredients, such as collagen-fostering vitamin C ester, antioxidants, essential fatty-acids, rare Indigo extract and chamazulene-rich actives, this nourishing supercharged beauty balm makes balancing my skin a treat every day. The blend of Indigo, therapeutic oils and murumuru butter, which contains high amounts of beneficial oleic acid (found in olive oil), emits a rather indulgent, spicy, vanilla-floral scent. I like taking ⅓ of a pea-sized bit and dabbing it under my eyes as an eye balm as well — it helps to soothe puffiness and keep dark eye circles at bay!

Review: Mahalo rare indigo Balm

I’ve had so many requests to chat more about the Mahalo Skincare Rare Indigo Balm, so I thought I’d dish out the inside scoop on this little enchantress which just so happens to be one of my favourite skin saviours right now. There was a line once in the best movie of all time – Under The Tuscan Sun – where Diane Lane is writing a postcard and describes grapes in the market as ‘smelling of purple’. When I first took a sniff of this magical potion, that’s the exact phrase that came to mind: it smells like purple! And what does purple exactly smell like? A luxurious blend of aromatherapy oils that’s crisp yet sweet, with floral undercurrents of rose, ylang ylang, chamomile and iris.
THE VERDICT Winner, winner, chicken dinner. This ticks all the boxes for me because it’s multi-purpose, and such a delicious part of my daily skin prep routine. From the healing, anti-inflammatory properties to the enchanting look, feel and intoxicating therapeutic aroma, I’m a convert. The best part is that there’s enough to last you months and months, so the investment value makes it totally worth it. It’s a must-try for organic loving beauty buffs, Divine Goddesses or anyone looking to cure serious skin irritations with the healing powers of Hawaiian Rare Indigo.

Paratiisi Puupurnukoissa – A Finnish Review

I have been waiting for so long to have those wooden puddings in my hands and – aaaaaah – in the late summer I was finally rewarded… The timing could not have been more suitable, even in the days of the fall, something like this. Hawaii’s sand, sun and tropical rain blossom with fragrant winds. Can we take a moment to talk about the unimaginably beautiful wooden packaging ?! Handmade carvings finish luxury. Mahalo’s products have a quite different feeling than all my other natural cosmetics. Some kind of casual honesty comes through everything from the scent of products to their uncompromising compositions and what they are used for. I got the whole set and tried to tell the word about my own favorites.
If you only try one, I definitely recommend the Rare Indigo Beauty Balm. I have used it in the evenings, in the morning the skin looks rested and glowing. The effect is noticeable in just a couple of days. It also corrects skin damage and soothes acne inflammations. Vacation Glow, what a wonderful name! This body and hair elixir is the most luxurious and golden oil I have ever come across. Mahalo Balm is love in a bottle that can be used as a moisturizing cream after adding serum or a beauty mix- or in ten other ways. Like, for example, a night eye lotion that eliminates swelling and fades odors, or like me, a lip balm addict: lip gloss that treats and nourishes for a long time. From the masks my favorite so far is the Petal Mask. Rose and jasmine fragrant honey gel mask brightens, suppresses and soothes the skin. Last but not least, is the oil serum Vitality Elixir. It is packed with an abundance of earth’s most powerful raw ingredients and makes miracles visible on the skin, it’s a must to admit that I love it the most as it looks like the Vacation Glow.

REVIEW: BEAUTY HEROES MAY 2016 FEATURING MAHALO SKIN CARE

When you open up the jar it smells like a blend of ylang yang, lavender, vanilla and iris. The smell is quite unique and very strong in my opinion. I don’t think it’s a scent that everyone will fall in love with.

The balm is rich and dense, you don’t need to use much at all. After washing my face and applying toner, I scoop out 1/2 a pea size and evenly disperse onto my finger tips. Then, I take the balm and gently pat it into my skin and neck. It doesn’t seem like this would be enough, but this is plenty. Overall the balm is great and I would repurchase. I love how it makes your skin silky and smooth and the ingredients are top notch. With regular use the balm could easily last 6 months.
Final Thoughts:

Beauty Heroes knocks this one box out of the ball park. The box is such a great value for what it is and I am continually impressed. As for the indigo balm and petal mask I think they worked very well. The only thing is the scent could be bit strong and I would suggest getting a sample or smelling the product before purchasing.

BATTLE OF THE BEAUTY BALMS

It seems like beauty balms are all the rage these days and with good reason. They’ve become an integral “last step” in my routine, and they are slowly but surely replacing the more traditional cold creams / moisturizers I’ve been accustomed to.

I’ve been testing out three of what I perceive to be some of, it not the most, popular balms on the green beauty market: The Blue Cocoon by May Lindstrom, The Rare Indigo by Mahalo, and Bless Beauty Balm by Leahlani Skincare.

All three have a similar function – to nourish the skin with a potent cocktail of natural antioxidants and vitamins, resulting in renewed, hydrated, and more youthful skin. They are particularly useful for reliving irritated or rebellious skin. I love them all for various reasons despite their similarities. Read below for an overview of my experience with each, and to find out which of the three I would repurchase!

… when I repurchase, I would have to go with…The Rare Indigo by Mahalo.

Simply put, the scent of The Rare Indigo makes me weak at the knees and it’s the one that makes my skin look the most radiant. I find it noticeably reduces the signs of aging including plumping fine lines and softening pigmentation. I know the Rare Indigo has me covered on all fronts.

MAY’S BEAUTY HERO BY MAHALO SKINCARE

This month’s Beauty Heroes box comes to us from Mahalo Skincare, all the way from the “Garden Island” of Hawaii, Kaua’i. Mahalo (meaning gratitude, respect, praise) Skincare is lovingly and painstakingly made by husband-wife team, Maryna and Mark Kacht. (I met them at IBE, and they could not be more lovely). The couple set out to develop a skincare line that works on every level – energetic, physical and spiritual. Each product is a synergy thoughtfully sourced, integrity ingredients, hand-crafted in small batches to delivery efficacy and a luxurious experience of botanical skincare.
This month’s hero product is the much talked about Mahalo Skincare Rare Indigo Balm. When this product launched late last year, bloggers couldn’t stop discussing it. This balm is so unique; it’s unlike anything I’ve ever tried. I’d never heard of anyone using Indigo in skincare before, and it lends a beautiful color to the formula, so I was really intrigued and wanted to learn more. Organic hemp, murumuru, babassu, grape seed and kukui oils replenish the skin with essential fatty acids, while helichrysum, chamomile, acai, and chamazulene-rich yarrow build a potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant profile to renew skin at the cellular level. Rose, Vitamin C, coQ10, iris, carrot seed, and bergamot deliver a youth-enhancing and restorative boost to repair stressed skin. The result is calmed, soothed, deeply hydrated skin. The scent seems strong at first, ( a blend of vanilla, iris, ylang ylang, frankincense and lavender) but a little balm goes a long way, and its fragrance becomes more subtle once on the skin.
This month’s Sidekick is The Petal by Mahalo Skincare. The Petal is a rich and decadent pre-mixed, pudding-like face mask that brings out the skin’s natural glow and vitality. The base of enzyme-rich honey, naturally exfoliates and draws in moisture while rose clay and cacao soften and gently detoxify. Floral essences of rose, hibiscus, chamomile, jasmine, ylang ylang and rose geranium are perfectly arranged to create the ultimate beautifying skin treatment, gentle enough to apply pre-event or several times a week. Again, the scent seems strong at first, but it is meant to provide a dose of aromatherapy while you wear it.

Currently Using: Mahalo Skin Care

There are plenty of compelling natural beauty products out there, ones that are both effective and a joy to use. But few are actually legit works of art, which is what I encountered when I tried Rare Indigo Beauty Balm from Mahalo Skin Care in the May 2016 Beauty Heroes box.

Come to think of it, finding product masterpieces that you’ll want to buy again and again and tell your best friends about is one major aspect of the Beauty Heroes mission. But in the few months that I’ve been a Beauty Heroes Ambassador, I’ve had quite a few deliveries that left me shocked (and, um, super-psyched) about the quality of the products this subscription service delivers. I think Jeannie Jarnot, the founder of Beauty Heroes, gets a real thrill out of knowing that her subscribers are jumping with joy at the mailbox on a regular basis!

But back to Rare Indigo. This buttery balm indulges your visual senses as much as your olfactory and tactile senses. It’s the loveliest shade of soft, could-this-actually-be-natural purple, for crying out loud. It feels nothing short of restorative and youth-giving when I melt it between my fingers, inhale its heady natural fragrance (a mix of vanilla, iris, ylang-ylang, frankincense, and lavender), and press it into my skin each evening. I may have had a had a tough day juggling clients and writing in my office, and my toddler most likely wiped his nose and spilled smoothie on me several times, but at that moment I’m the queen of Kauai (the Hawaiian home of Mahalo Skin Care and its founder Maryna Kracht). I love its strong anti-inflammatory and deeply moisturizing properties, a product of ingredients including helichrysum, chamomile, and yarrow to soothe, rose, carrot seed, and CoQ10 to heal, and organic hemp and kukui oils to moisturize. Again, a work of art! And if you have seen the paradise that is Kauai (incidentally, it’s where my husband and I honeymooned 5 years ago!), then you can begin to understand where at least some of Rare Indigo’s natural beauty and allure originates. Thank you Beauty Heroes and Mahalo Skin Care for many beautiful moments this month!

The Rare Indigo balm

It’s my second jar of Indigo balm, so I’ve had enough time to properly use it and see the results on my face. If I had to pick a favorite product from Mahalo, it would be the Rare Indigo beauty balm, because it blew me away. When it comes to balms in general, a bunch of them comprise beeswax and shea butter which have a tendency to feel clogging on my skin if I use them for an extended period of time. To avoid any trouble, I mainly use balms during colder months, but I don’t have this issue with Rare Indigo, because its formula is quite unique, containing for example Murumuru butter and Babassu,  which are both from the region of Amazon. Murumuru is emollient, high in essential fatty acids, and contributes in restoring elasticity. It’s often used to heal psiorasis, exczema and dry skin. Babassu is has soothing properties and used to treat inflammations. Another plus is that is said to be non-comedogenic, which I something I do believe since I did not experience any breakouts by using the product….In terms of skin benefits, it has been particularly efficient in calming inflammations and lower oxidation damage in stressed tissues. Environmental pollution, stress, fatigue, all these elements can affect the skin. I often feel my skin congested and tense, and to avoid resorting to Frownies prematurely, I’ve been turning to Mahalo’s Rare Indigo for help. Every-time I apply it on my face, I feel like the tension melts away. My face feels supple, soft, refreshed and looks glowing. I’ve been using it morning and evening. Little funny story: before going to the dermatologist, I put some Indigo Rare on my dad’s face because his face was quite dry and he looked a bit tired. During the doctor’s appointment, she complimented him on his glowing skin! It works like a charm I tell you.

Another win for me was the scent. This is obviously a matter of personal taste, some will love it, others won’t, but I’m very receptive to the aromatherapeutic benefits of its floral scent: inhaling the exquisite aroma it calms me down instantly. Rare Indigo feels very nurturing and comforting at the same time, it’s the perfect companion for stressed and problematic skin like mine. Why is it called Rare? Because it’s manufactured in small batches and the process is handmade.

CENTER YOURSELF & SKIN WITH THE RARE INDIGO™

I was a balm virgin…until two weeks ago …

Why hadn’t I used balms before? I was scared, honestly. I always pictured balms as heavy, greasy, and nothing my skin would react well to. I had visions of blackheads a plenty and oil slicks across my forehead by noon. But these two balms were just so inviting I dared to try them. Boy was I wrong about my negative expectations, it’s pretty safe to say I am now reaching for one of these beauties at minimum once a day if not more…quite the 180.

MAHALO SKIN CARE
Founded by Hawaiian resident, Maryna, Mahalo is designed to work in healing a trifecta of physical, energetic, and spiritual bodies. This brand evokes our beauty from within by focusing heavily on our energy and the effects it has on our skin. Mahalo is an amazing representation of whole beauty, where we understand that the mingling of each part is necessary to create a vibrant wellbeing. Each of Mahalo Skin Care’s products are meant to invite us to enjoy sacred beauty so that each day we crave our beauty rituals which nourishes not only our skin, but soul. Like so many in the green beauty world, Mahalo Skin Care understands that beauty is much deeper than skin.

A tropical emulsion of indigo colored hydration The Rare Indigo™ is nothing short of heavenly. The indigo color correlates with the third eye chakra which allows for us to have a larger awareness of the world around and within us. The scent is calming, mellow, and soothing with soft floral aromas of iris bathed in ylang ylang, frankincense and vanilla. It’s never overpowering and always inviting, sometimes I find myself just opening the jar to take a whiff…it is that wonderful.

The oils, infusions, botanicals, and butters that are blended to create The Rare Indigo™ are combined to provide hefty doses of anti-inflammatories and antioxidants. Hemp, kukui, murumuru, helichrysum, acai, CoQ10, and indigo, to name a few, are teeming inside this balm to provide repair and protection to any skin type. They renew deep inside our cells to reveal hydrated and restored skin.

The balm is to be applied to freshly washed skin and just a small scoop (which comes with the balm) is warmed between the palms. I love to inhale deeply a few times before I apply it to my skin as the scent is transformative and mellows my nerves. I then apply The Rare Indigo™ by pressing it into my skin and then gently massaging it for a minute or so in circular motions. Instantly I feel happy and even-keeled, as if sitting on a white sand beach in Hawaii. My skin appears hydrated, prepped, and has a nice glow. The Rare Indigo™ wears beautifully under makeup making it great in the am or pm.

Going back to my fear of balms and that they’d be overly heavy, greasy,or pore clogging… Rare Indigo™ is anything but. Within 10-15 minutes the product is soaked in, it always feels light, and has never caused any pore mishaps. Rather, it is anti-inflammatory and ultra calming thanks to the indigo, helichrysum and other botanicals. What a special treat we have in store for us this month. The Rare Indigo™ retails for $110, but as always it’s a steal with Beauty Heroes. Join Beauty Heroes here to receive this months box delivered to your door.

THE PETAL
A muted desert rose in color The Petal mask is a beta-hydroxy treatment that naturally exfoliates, detoxes, and hydrates the skin. The scent is like a blend of chocolate and flowers with earthy undertones and the mask leaves the skin amazingly soft and even.

Formulated in a base of honey (one of my favorite things for a home DIY) the mask is antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and hydrating which makes it great for every skin type, especially acne prone. Rose clay, sodium hyaluronate, cacao, algae, and a blend of rose in multiple forms make this mask super power-packed and luscious.

Just a teaspoon is all that’s needed for the entire face. Apply it with fingers or a brush and let sit for 10-30 minutes, or even longer if you prefer as doesn’t dry out quickly. Wash with a warm cloth and admire the hydrated and decongested skin it reveals.

Together the mask and balm make great partners. Apply The Petal, let sit on your skin for a morning meditation or prayer and rinse. Follow with a spritz of your favorite toner and bathe your skin and nerves in the calming cloak of The Rare Indigo™. After makeup your ready to conquer your day, renewed and glowing.

What I am loving now: MAHALO Skin Care

I am absolutely loving Mahalo Skin Care right now. Everything about it is perfection! And the creator of this brand Maryna, is a fantastic person with the kindest heart. I adore her and her products! Let’s start by checking out the gorgeous balm, featured above. My skin loves this nurturing product called The Rare Indigo. It’s the only cool hued balm you need!

Hand blended from natural ingredients including but not limited – hemp, marula, indigo, rose otto, lavender, and more, the scent is purely intoxicating and the skin softening properties has me addicted to using this all day.

You can use it anywhere, anytime. I use it on my hands and face, applying a little to my temples at bedtime for soothing aromatherapy! The Pele Mask is another winner and many green beauty lovers are addicted to this.  Definitely a favorite in the detox mask category. …

MEET MARYNA, THE FOUNDER OF MAHALO

This week a very special skin care line launches at Integrity Botanicals—Mahalo! I had the pleasure of meeting Maryna, the founder of Mahalo, at A Night For Green Beauty in Chicago, and she’s as kind and enthusiastic as can be—the kind of person you know instantly you’d love to share a meal with. What I didn’t know until this interview is that Maryna is as obsessed with face masks as I am. I guess that should have been obvious based on my experience with the new Petal Mask from Mahalo—but more on that this weekend!

What makes Mahalo different from other lines?
Unequivocal love and the intrinsic joy that is Mahalo, the joy that I receive from making the products, to joy that I hope our customers experience when they incorporate our skin treats into their beauty rituals and beauty routines.
I’ve said this before, and with each passing day this statement rings louder and more true for myself and Mahalo—I believe that I was born to do this, everything I have learned, experienced and discovered has come together to create Mahalo. Everything. The kind of experiences—like being born and raised in Ukraine, traveling the globe, living and visiting India five times, living and traveling all over Europe, studying yoga since the age of 5, being a vegetarian for over 25 years, working in high-profile corporate world of events and beauty—all these nuances brought a layer of flavor into my life, a certain attitude and outlook at our beautiful world, an outlook that is distinctly my own. These flavors are spilling into Mahalo. I bring my knowledge of herbs from my grandmama, who introduced me to the world of herbs, alternative medicine and plant whispering at a young age. My fascination with the world of arts, the grand operas, museums, architecture, and textiles are giving the love I have for luxury and beauty that spill into the way I want Mahalo products to be experienced. The awe, gratitude and humility I experience in the eyes of nature and my own naked soul. There is so much more than meets the eye, the Mahalo moment needs to be experienced to be felt or understood.

Mahalo – Hawaiian Magic

You know the feeling when you’ve thought about somebody or something for a while? Thought about getting in contact and how they´re doing. And after a while your paths cross. The person you’ve been thinking about suddenly calls you or walks to you on the street. Nowadays these encounters don’t surprise me any more but every time they make me happy. This is what happened when I got an email from the other side of the world a couple of months ago.

Maryna, the founder of a Hawaiian natural cosmetics brand Mahalo Care contacted me and wanted to send me some of their products for me to try out. For at least six months I had been thinking of ordering these intriguing products packaged in beautiful wooden jars with raw ingredients that make my heart race. You can imagine how happy I was to receive this email from Maryna. She told me that I had been on her mind for a good while as well. I found out that she has relatives in Finland and has visited our country a couple of times and knows even a couple of words in Finnish. Maryna feels particularly fond of Finland and has been dreaming of having her products in the Finnish market. After exchanging a couple of messages with her I felt this familiar flutter and warmth in my belly as I had felt a couple of years ago with May Lindstrom. There’s something magical about these products, and no wonder, after all they are from Hawaii.

A bit over a month ago the post man stood at my door and handed me a package full of Mahalo loveliness and while opening the beautiful wrappings my heart was racing like on the first spring day. I have been waiting to thoroughly test these products in Bali and finally I’m ready to introduce this magical brand to you.

The Rare Indigo balm review and ritual

Indigo helps to bring intuition, insights, wisdom, and mental clarity. When the brow chakra is not functioning properly it can manifest as migraines, losing your sense of direction, depression, and many other symptoms. This is all about letting go of the ego, stepping aside, and allowing information and insights to flow in. So what does this have to do with a beauty balm? Everything friends, everything. So hang with me for a second, because the Mahalo Rare Indigo Balm is much more than a simple skin care product.

Color therapy is something I use daily in my Reiki, personal space, and energy healing sessions on others…Adding color therapy into your daily routine will have many benefits, and there is no better time to do this than first thing in the morning and right before bed! It is to be noted that some say indigo should always be balanced with orange. The Mahalo packaging is spot on (possibly unintentionally) by using bamboo and glass. Lending a beautiful (almost orange) wood aesthetic to the experience, not to mention very eco-friendly.

…This balm has completely renewed my skin during the cold, and bitter winter months. …This balm has not caused any breakouts, if anything it has actually kept my skin looking totally pristine and balanced. This is one balm I reach for constantly. Any time, any place, I love applying this balm all over my face in the morning, before bed, and when my skin simply needs a little extra love during the day.

It’s beautiful and no other description is needed. This balm is pure luxury. The combination of exquisite (and beneficial) oils, the silky texture, and the stunning color all add to the ultimate sensory experience. Ylang Ylang is an antidepressant, aphrodisiac, and helps with eczema. Frankincense (one of my favorite healers) heals scarring, is an antiseptic (boosts immune system too), helps induce peace, and is amazing for anti-aging. Bergamot FCF is AMAZING for the treatment of anxiety and healing grief. Lavender… It fights bacteria, heals the skin, calms the nerves, and helps you sleep like a baby. Rose Otto raises vibrations, calms stress, is known as “The Queen of Flowers”, hydrates skin, strengthens the heart, and provides the ultimate, indulgent skin treat. The combination of these oils, plus the other oils included will heal you from the inside out.

Ritual

I am not one to take my self-care lightly. It is a time to truly honor your divine feminine spirit, to open the heart, and to freely love yourself. We all deserve to be loved, and loving ourselves is most important. When we focus too often on taking care of others, we create emotional blockages, leaving ourself feeling unloved and neglected. Taking five to ten minutes of your morning and night to ritualize your skin care routine will do more for you in the long run, and benefit your mind, soul, and body. Create a playlist for this time, light a candle, or inhale aromatherapy before beginning to honor this sacred time for yourself. It doesn’t take much time, and even with kids, or a busy house you can play calming music to create a moment of serenity.

I usually start my morning by oil pulling, taking care of my oral health, starting my lemon water and tea, and then I apply my cleansing balm of choice. Allowing this to penetrate for a moment helps me to honor the time I am giving myself. After cleansing I take a small amount of the balm and I gently smooth between my clean hands, focusing on the color indigo. I gently pat the balm all over my face, neck, and décolleté, while offering compliments to myself. I close my eyes for a moment and picture a beam of indigo light surrounding my brow chakra. Some may want to preserve as much of the balm as they can, so obviously use only on the face if you wish. I take three giant inhales of the scent between my hands, and I meditate for a moment on peace. If you have time in either the morning or night, journaling after or writing down what you are grateful for is a perfect way to end your five minutes of self-love. Sip some tea and take a moment to appreciate the present. At night you can easily make an herbal tea, apply a mask (Pele is a good option), hop in the bath, and apply the balm after. Curl up with your journal or a good book and grant yourself permission to relax and be open to receiving all of the blessings that are waiting for you.

The Rare Indigo balm

Rare Indigo balm the tiniest bit goes a long way. The texture and consistency is the one factor that baffles me the most and leaves with a loss of words. Here’s why:
Texture – solid balm (especially during cooler months) but it almost feels like ‘gel oil balm’….Once spread on skin, it possesses the texture of an oil. No greasy feel on skin, instantly absorbs, the aroma lingers on the skin for a bit (so I keep sniffing myself).

So you ask when can this product be used? Well anytime, but especially delightful in a Spa routine after an intense peel or microderm, OR long haul flights…OR Wine tasting trips, OR Desert safari (seriously!) OR sitting in a Heated environment all day!

The situations I have described are quite dramatic but, this balm is incredible for hydrating and plumping my skin. From a Raisin to a Grape. Plus it has helped me soothe irritation and slight inflammation. It’s just a fabulous treat, I find myself walking past my skincare drawer and I open this jar only to inhale the heavenly aroma. As with any balm the versatility is excellent. Ideally used on face, but like any other balm I perceive it to be multi purpose and multi tasking. Cuticles, hands, lips, under eyes. Personally I’ll stick with my face.

HOW does it compare to its sibling aka Mahalo Balm?
Just like siblings – they’re related and nurtured by same mother, although they have they have different qualities, ingredients, colour and personality.

Green Beauty Gift Guide With Mini-Reviews – The Rare Indigo

Mahalo Skin Care The Rare Indigo: Just got it, and I’m already super impressed. It smells amazing! The top note is floral but it’s got the deeper notes I crave, in the form of frankincense and carrot seed oils. Hemp and grape seed oils are perfect for acne and general soothing, and the actives include all manner of planty goodness, along with Vitamin C and coenzyme Q10, to keep skin looking youthful. The star ingredient is indigo plant extract, which gives the lovely blue color as well as skin-renewing power. It’s working well for my sensitive skin, and gives some serious glow, no mica required. I’m testing both spot and full-face application, but I don’t think you can go wrong with this.