Wednesday 3 February 2016

Clean Beauty co Workshop



 The world of beauty products is a fascinating and intriguing place, some times it seem there is nothing that a jar of some magical cream doesn't promise to fix. Despite being drawn to new products with luxurious packaging like a moth to a flame, I must admit, I do get tired of being bombarded with miracle solutions to problems I did not realise I had. Reading label after label, trying to figure out if the products ingredients are up to my personal standards can be part of the fun, or it can be a massive headache. Not surprisingly these are the times when the idea of DIY beauty is looking very appealing.


I do go through phases: being like a mad scientist, whipping up face masks, body scrubs and hair serums, to doing no DIY at all for months on end. I am not good at making complicated stuff, so most of what I do are single use recipes with an occasional oil blend here and there. Oh, but the idea of being able to whip up something glorious, well now that is something that is always at the back of my mind.


Clean Beauty Co, represented by the dynamic duo Elsie and Dominika, are on a bit of a mission to make natural beauty accessible and DIY cool. They created a range of simple, clean products, focusing on quality ingredients, and a website full of recipes for treatments you could make with things found in your kitchen. Their enthusiasm is catchy and infectious, they make it sound like anyone can create effective products in the comfort of their own home. That was certainly the feeling that I got at their special workshop launch.




This was an event for friends, family and a handful of bloggers, in a way a trial run before the first official Workshop that will take place on 6th of February. So what is this all about? Why, beauty products of course! In the down stairs section of Maple & Fitz a table was laid out with bottles full of golden oil, empty glass jars and fragrant essential oils. We all knew we were in for a treat. I must admit my own DIY setup never looks like this. After a short presentation by the girls, explaining what we will be doing, things took a sinister turn. Let me paint you a picture: a fairly large group of women wearing hair nets, aprons and rubber gloves, gathered around in the basement of a venue that is not open to the public on Saturdays... There were a few mentions of "Breaking Bad" thrown around, but jokes aside, when making products you really want them to be safe to use so it is important to have a clean environment and sterile packaging. It was reassuring to know that Elsie and Dominika take such things seriously. 


We were divided into groups of 4 and, coincidentally, making 4 products in bigger batches before separating them into appropriate packaging. To distinguish between bottles, everyone came up with names for their products and printed out labels with an old school label maker. Let me tell you, it seemed a little dubious at first, but once you get going that label maker is seriously addictive. I am very tempted to get one.

The products that we made were: fuss free body moisturiser (which we got to customise with our choice of essential oils individually), scrub life coffee scrub, nutter hair serum and rose glow toner. Everything was surprisingly easy to make, and a lot of fun doing it in a group. Products have a decent shelf life: 3 months for the toner and 6 months for everything else. 



After the potion mixing part was done we all went up to indulge in some delicious treats from Maple & Fitz. The food was out of this world, I will be making a point of going back there. We left with our hand made products and an extra goodie bag of treats. I had such an amazing time and definitely feel inspired to experiment. When I looked through the bags I realised that ladies from Clean Beauty co included the recipe cards for the products that we made with exact measurements for a single bottle/jar so I can recreate these again and again.




The workshop tickets are £50 and it includes 3 products that you make on the day, food from Maple & Fitz, and a goodie bag. Elsie and Dominika are very knowledgeable and have lots of tips and tricks when it comes to making products. You can also purchase some of the carrier oils that you use on the day, if you want to recreate the recipes at home, or do some experimenting. It is a really fun event for anyone interested in natural beauty, it will give you a glimpse behind what processes take place to create things that you use on daily bases. Who knows, it might unleash a DIY beauty queen (or king) within.

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