Elysambre Lipstick Review By The Organic Make-up Artist

Lovely lips

One of the most important products in any Make-up Artist's kit is good quality lipcolour. Just one lipstick will enable you to produce a range of different looks, by simply adjusting the method of application and can be used to add colour elsewhere on the face, such as to the cheeks.

Giving great coverage, the Elysambre lipsticks are the perfect addition to an organic kit. They are long-lasting and have a lovely velvety and creamy texture, making the range a fantastic ethical and ecological alternative to traditional non-organic lipsticks.

The colours are beautiful and, available in three finishes; matt, gloss and pearly, there are over thirty shades in the range from soft pearly pinks to siren reds, sublime peaches to glossy plums. This fantastic array of colours (achieved by a pigment micronisation process) are enriched with a range of organic active plant ingredients; apricot and grapeseed oils to nourish and protect and shea butter and castor oil to moisturise and smooth. The matt colours are delicately apricot-scented, whilst the glossy and pearlised ones have a vanilla/violet scent.

Elysambre Lipstick

I adore this lipstick range and use it at every given opportunity. Unlike many natural and organic lipsticks they do not contain glitter particles (this is a huge bug-bear of mine in lipsticks!), so they are suitable for broadcast and photographic use.

As with all Elysambre products, the beautiful lipstick bullet cases are easily refillable (something I'll be writing about in the next few weeks) and the refills, priced at around £12.00, are available in all shades and finishes. Although you can easily use the lipstick without the case, it is worth the initial extra spend (approximately £4.00) to get the copper case as it will last a lifetime and put up with a typical kit bag battering without splitting or cracking.

Eco-conscious French brand Elysambre was created in 2006 by Nature.Cos. Free from Parabens, mineral oils and oil derived products, the mineral based, all-natural range is EcoCert and Fairtrade certified and cruelty free.

Detox Your Beauty Cabinet In 3 Easy Steps by Laura Rudoe

The skin is the largest organ in the body and absorbs up to 60% of what is put on it. Here are some tips from Laura Rudoe, the founder of the certified organic range evolve beauty about how to reduce chemical exposure from beauty products:

1. Simplify your beauty routine and try to use as few products as possible. The average adult uses 10 products a day and is exposed to 126 chemicals, some of which have been found to accumulate inside the human body.

2. Learn about a few key nasties and try to avoid products containing them. Key nasties to watch out for are parabens, SLS/SLES, DEA/MEA/TEA, silicones, mineral oil, phthalates and synthetic fragrances. All of our products are formulated without nasties.

evolve Perfect Partners: Heavenly Body Duo

3. Switch to certified organic products*, as these have been independently verified not to contain any questionable chemicals and instead contain high levels of pure, natural plant extracts. This is particularly important for products you use frequently such as shampoo, all over the body such as body lotion, or are likely to ingest, such as lipstick.

* All evolve products are certified organic and natural with ECOCERT, the international organic standard