February is always a special month at Content, as it marks our birthday, which also coincides with Valentine’s Day. Result? We’re all loved up this month! Thus, we present our ‘Love List’: a collection of things that inspire us and make our hearts grow fonder.
CONTENT BEAUTY
PAMPER – With its Baltic temperatures, February hasn’t been kind to our skin. The constant flux between icy winds and drying indoor heating has had us reaching for intensely nourishing treatments. So, in the comfort of our heritage blankets and with herbal tea to hand, we’ve been treating our dry winter skin to some of our favourite hydrating products. To combat cracked lips, we’ve been exfoliating them with Suki’s Exfoliate Foaming Cleanser then moisturising with the De Mamiel Rose Lip Balm. Suffering from the same affliction? Read our guide to banish dry winter lips here. As for our skin, we’ve rotating a few favourite hydrating masks and are currently hooked on the Aurelia Cell Revitalise Rose Mask – it’s effective! Find the mask most suited to your skin type on our Get the Guide.
NEW LAUNCH – Who wouldn’t want to achieve that natural, “no-make-up” look? We certainly do! So we couldn’t wait to try the new rms beauty Tinted ‘Un’ Powder, which landed instore this month. Available in three shades, these ultra-fine, light reflective powders contain a hint of colour that helps minimse the appearance of pores, softens the skin and absorbs oil. It complements the rms beauty ‘Un’ Cover-Up to create a second skin.
Rose-Marie Swift, founder of the cult beauty range, joined us instore and showcased how to apply it correctly on some lucky attendees, as well as creating some gorgeous beauty looks utilising rms beauty products. As a globally in demand make-up artist, we’ve made sure to snatch some of her exclusive tips. Of course, we’ll be sharing them with you soon…stay tuned!
BE FAIR – During Fairtrade Fortnight (23 February – 8 March), the Fairtrade Foundation will be celebrating the power of everyday choices by telling producers’ stories, to show the difference Fairtrade makes to UK consumers. Buying fair-trade products means you help support farmers and workers to improve their lives and their communities. Read more here.
We’ll be doing our bit where we can. So in the beauty department, we stock up on Amala and Weleda beauty products. Both brands actively support fair-trade and source their organic ingredients exclusively from global local farmers. For the winter months, we’re fans of Weleda’s Skin Food and Amala’s Hydrating Yogurt Mask.
CONTENT WELLBEING
READ –We’re not going to lie – as far as literary crushes go, Richard Louv is our man! We’ve been slightly obsessed with his last two books: The Nature Principle and Last Child in the Woods.
Remember riding a bike and hiking in the woods as a child? Today’s children prefer video games. In Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder Louv shows how today’s children have become increasingly alienated and distanced from nature, why this matters and how we can make a difference. This poignant and compelling read will have you think twice about your future and your children’s.
We’ve also devoured the beautifully written The Nature Principle, where he shows us how tapping into the restorative powers of the natural world can boost mental acuity and creativity, benefiting our wealth and wellbeing, as well as helping to build smarter and more sustainable economies. He makes the case the human race can thrive through a nature-balanced existence. As he reminds us: “The more high-tech we become, the more nature we need.” We wholeheartedly agree! Both books are guaranteed to challenge the way you think and inspire you to take action. Get them here.
Inspired by Louv’s books, we haven’t let the cold stop us from enjoying some time outdoor. In London during Winter, we like to alternate between the park at Kew Gardens’ and the glass houses for a break from the cold. We’ve also enjoyed some brisk winter walks in Hampstead Heath, which is just as beautiful in the cold (well, frost does have its charms). We’ve saved the best for last: a secret garden, bang in the middle of Regent’s Park. Who would have thought? Find out more here.
CONTENT KITCHEN
SHOP – We love visiting our local farmer’s market to discover and stock up on healthy and nutritious organic food. So we were excited to hear about the new website Kish Nubbly: a virtual farmer’s market, which brings together food lovers of the world to buy, sell and talk food, directly from artisan producers. The concept was thought up by foodio duo of husband and wife Bianca and Steve Presto. Have a browse through the Kish Nubbly selection or grab yourself a stall here.
COOK – In the kitchen, we’ve been making batches of warm ‘courgettis’ thanks to Hemsley + Hemsley’s new Spiralizer. The handy tool, which turns our favourite vegetables into spirals in minutes, has made healthy cooking a lot more fun and fast! Designed by health food chefs Jasmine and Melissa Hemsley, it features three interchangeable blades for various vegetables. It’s our new kitchen must-have! Get it here.
CONTENT WORLD
SEE – With its perfect forms, nature has been inspiring art since the dawn of times. But with many of us are living in concrete jungles and far removed from anything green, we especially crave and appreciate the comfort of and simplicity of nature. So it’s no wonder that nature-inspired art really pulls us in.
In fact, we’ve been following two artists who have taken literal inspiration from nature and use it as a medium to produce mind-blowing art. We’ve been admiring the work of designer Ignacio Canales Aracil, who created ‘The Fragility of Time’ – a series of whimsical sculptures, created by pressing and drying wild flowers, collected from gardens and nurseries. He pressed the flowers on molds, shaping them into fragile vessels with a lace-like surface. Colourful and delicate! See more here.
Meanwhile, the Argentinian Alexandra Kehayoglou weaves carpets with an environmentally-critical edge. With the use of greens to the soft, mossy, textures, her pieces recreate the beauty of the forest’s footpaths and lush green valleys. The wool used to create the carpets comes from the sheep that are fed with the same piece of land. The result is magical and whimsical, so much so, that Dries Van Noten snapped her up to design his runway (probably the coziest runway known to man). Check out her work here.
HOME – The newly released book Never Stop to Think… Do I Have a Place for This? has taken a place of pride on our coffee table. The hoarder in us was excited to flip through the pages and admire some truly endearing and beautiful homes. This book showcases that all the stuff that you collect and amass in a lifetime is what sets your home apart from the others – making your living environment warm, happy, fun and one-of-a-kind. Natural beauty fans like us will enjoy the tour of Tata Harper’s home. The founder of the eponymous beauty range, dubbed ‘Green Goddess of the Country’, is based in a beautiful farm in Vermont, where she also grows her own ingredients and produces her range. Get the book here.
WEAR –While ‘Kale’ made it to our wardrobes written across t-shirts and sweat tops in 2014. Now we can add ‘meditation’ as the new fashion slogan (you heard it here first!). These cute ‘Heavily Meditated’ muscle tops by Style Stalker are top of our wish list. We’ll have no more excuses to sweat the small stuff now – or even if we do, at least we’ll look good doing it. Get them here.
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