TREND MILL | Flower-powered skincare

IF YOU'VE ever felt better after gazing at a beautiful bouquet of flowers, then you’ve experienced the mood altering effects of flower essences. Unlike essential oils or plant tinctures, flower essences have no fragrance or flavor. Instead, these unique substances capture the energetic, emotional and spiritual imprint of flowers. Beauty products infused with essences designed to heal and sooth are growing more popular as flower remedies take on a starring role in makeup, body scrubs, bath teas and more. Check out some of the amazing niche products listed below to try out the power of flowers while you primp, bath and moisturize.

Ella Flor – Scented with Palo Santao essential oil and featuring both flower and gem essences, Ella Flor’s range of bath and cleaning products are a treat for the body, mind and spirit. If you want to put “put a little ohm in your home” this organic, all-natural selection starts you down the right path. The bath tea with rose petals and Palo Santo essential oil is particularly enjoyable. The creamy, foamy hand cleanser with flower essences leaves you feeling uplifted.

Hawaiian Rainforest Naturals – Commune with the Aloha spirit with this Hawaiian bath and body range. Flowers used in the essences are hand gathered from the Ohi a-Lehua Rainforest with special care to not damage the environment. This family-owned company makes a lush selection of body care products including a Wild Lehua Honey scrub that helps release emotional tension while moisturising your skin with rich Hawaiian honey at the same time.

Golden Path Alchemy – Awaken, Purify, Refine and Renew are the names of each of Golden Path Alchemy’s skin care lines. Featuring Chinese and Western medicinal herbs, flower and gem essences, this organic California company creates its products in small batches to ensure quality. The Purify facial serum awakens your senses with the astringent smell of rosemary essential oil and purifies your energy with a potent flower and gem essence blend.

Lauren Brooke Cosmetiques – This cosmetic range from Utah features foundation, lipstick, eye colors and body care. Using a unique blend of natural and organic ingredients such as mica and raspberry extract, Lauren Brooke also incorporates flower essences into their Silk Veil powders, which have a smooth texture and provide a light foundation coverage. The powder puff in the container is great for quick and easy application.

Editor's pick of the best mainstream products packing a floral (although not necessarily essence) punch:

1. MV Organic Rose Hydrating Mist - Spritz on chilled to calm fiery, sensitive skin.
2. Chantecaille Flower Infused Cleansing Milk - Gently wash away the day with Mimosa, Jasmine and Narcissus.
3. Julie Hewett Camellia Lip Balm - Melts away any dry or flaky patches on lips thanks to a healthy dose of oleic acids.
4. Weleda Calendula Oil - Calendula (or the garden variety marigold) healths wounds and soothes skin. Excellent for the acne prone.
5. Darphin 8-Flower Nectar - Heavy, decadent jasmine-scented flower essence oil that helps everything from dry skin to wrinkles, crepe-y chest or simply a down mood.
6. Jurlique Elder Cream - Elder flower has a gentle bleaching effect on the skin giving it greater brightness and luminosity.
7. Jo Malone Orange Blossom Bath Oil - Smells like a hippie who's cleaned up and hit it rich. You'll relax instantly.

Written by San Francisco-based health and beauty writer Heather Vuchinich for beautywoome.com. Check out her blog at Spalicious.

JET-SET BEAUTY | Rich Hippie Kalachakra

AT $725 for half an ounce, Rich Hippie Kalachakra is not in the realm of financial possibility for most. However, this column is called JET-SET BEAUTY... the remit isn't to feature affordable things but jet-set beauty buys and I'm pretty sure this fits that criteria. Many would argue that it's ludicrous to pay so much for something when you could find a pretty good facsimile elsewhere for less. I don't care. If money were no object, I'd have regular baths in this stuff.

Back to the point... The Rich Hippie perfumes are pretty good at not smelling like organic hippies. You won't detect a hint of patchouli here. It's a beautiful warm citrus floral that gets more complex as it warms up on your skin.

The LA-based Rich Hippie ingredients are all natural (being California chic and all), made from organically farmed ingredients (rather rare for sophisticated scents) even using organic wine alcohol. Everything is made in tiny batches and limited edition (even more jet-set).

As expensive as gold but smells better... it's like your own little sliver of rich, famous and socially conscious LA.

RICH HIPPIE KALACHAKRA

JET-SET BEAUTY | Don't weep for out-of-work Angels... Miranda, Gisele, Heidi et al pay the bills with skincare

HEIDI KLUM, Cindy Crawford, Josie Maran, Christy Turlington... models and ex-models alike apparently know a thing or two about beauty and chemistry, or so it seems. Because they're the minds -- or at least the faces -- behind quite a few successful skincare ranges. Not one to rest on her holier-than-thou, childbirth-only-hurts-for-plebs haunches, Gisele launched a range of her own organic skincare goodness today called Sejaa.

Other out-of-work Victoria's Secret Angels don't need our sympathy either, as I recently found skincare company KORA by Miranda Kerr, the Australian amour of man-boy Orland Bloom. Like many of the other catwalk stalkers, her range is organic and she has a crap copy editor who uses words like NOURISH (how?)... REPLENISH (what?)... Give me a REAL verb. Words like nurture, nourish, replenish, boost et al make me foam at the mouth when I read beauty-related content littered with such meaningless fluff.

Kerr studied at the Academy of Natural Living (no word on whether there was a degree or any sort of professional certification received) so there is some background in the area, which is heartening to see. The price point is a shade high, there are 14 products including a tinted moisturiser. The 4 best sellers are the Rosehip oil, tinted moisturiser, foaming cleanser and body lotion.

But back to Sejaa Pure Skincare, the range by Gisele, which launched today. This is at least the 3rd line launched by an Angel and it's thankfully tiny. There's day cream, night cream and a mud mask (although I suspect Gisele uses a few more things). The ingredient lists, while not offensive the way some *organic* ingredient lists can be, are pretty bog standard. That said, I did espy Retinyl Palmitate about half way down the list on the night cream, and one of the main ingredients (read: number 2) in the day cream is Aloe, so on first appearance not all bad.

One thing is for sure, though, and that is this girl is very pretty (regardless of rhinoplasty, etc.) and charismatic -- naturally so -- and that comes across in the videos where she's actually putting on the cream (not something one sees all that much of on the other sites). Bet it'll be a huge hit in her native Brazil.

Lookout for JET-SET BEAUTY in this space every Monday for international and/or travel-friendly beauty finds.