Magnets have been used for centuries as a tool to promote well being by a plethora of cultures, from the Chinese to the Ancient Greeks, especially for healing and pain relief. The theory being that magnets attract blood – which contains many metal elements e.g. iron – to the area in which they are placed, increasing the delivery of oxygen and nutrients. According to the National Centre For Complementary and Alternative Medicine, magnetized rings were used to treat arthritis as far back as 2000 B.C.. The modern beauty world is now tapping into their powers too.

Magnetic nail polishes have been exciting the manicure world (hugely championed by BritishBeautyBlogger) for a few months now, with Nails Inc leading the trend. It’s not the first time magnetic polishes have been released; back in 2007 Lancome launched a limited edition magnetic polish for Christmas.

Magnetic fibers are now being developed into credible thickening and volumising hair products. Originally created and used to help cover balding and thinning hair (remember those tacky adds in the back of newspapers), now researchers in Israel are applying the latest lightweight, bonding technologies to create a new wave of invisible styling products.

Currently the majority of thickening products work by attracting positively charged polymers to the hair shaft, giving a blended and realistic look. Israeli researchers are creating technology that adapts the fibers to help create a thicker, fuller and evenly textured appearance to hair. The magnetic fibers are naturally textured polymers, made up of ingredients like keratin, nylon, silica and cotton.

These minute strands are positively charged which allows them to attract and stick to the hair shaft, which has a negative charge. The attraction is strong enough that they stay all day, from when you apply the styling products until you wash them out that evening or the next day. Cult Beauty predicts this is the future of volumising hair products, very exciting stuff.

Skin care is also getting involved with magnets; American skincare company iLike have created a Magnetic Skin Therapy Mask which blends herbal pulps of Elderflower and Locust flower with a magnetic powder to create a powerful gel that increases blood flow to the skin. This increases the circulation, cell metabolism and detoxification of the skin to give you a refreshed and revived appearance.

Only time will tell how the magnetic trend will play out but this is definitely not the last you hear of this (rather attractive) technology. cate sewell

Enzymes are an excellent way to exfoliate, lifting dull skin and giving a refreshed look and soft touch. But how do they work?

Enzymes are chemicals that speed up the rate of chemical reactions, without being consumed in the reaction; they are incredibly useful in biological processes because they can facilitate reactions at body temperature that would normally require dangerously high temperatures. We produce them naturally in our bodies and without them we would die.

Enzymes are the best and safest way to chemically exfoliate skin. They dissolve the bonds that hold dry, dead cells to the surface of your skin without causing a pH imbalance.

As we age, our bodies gradually lose the ability to provide an effective skin renewal process, especially as damage occurs from harsh environmental conditions, which is why gentle, weekly chemical exfoliation helps skin look younger.

Enzymes are manufactured from various sources such as fruits, vegetables, animals and marine life. The enzymes defend the skin against the effects of free radicals and they also encourage the skin to generate new cells. Protease Enzymes, the ones used in skin care, are able to decompose human skin proteins like keratin.

Currently enzymes are mainly used for facial products but hopefully brands will start to branch their use out to include body, hand and foot care so every single limb of the body can be smooth and exfoliated to perfection, without scrubbing and scratching.

If you fancy adding an enzyme boost to your skincare, try the following resurfacing/exfoliating cleansers REN Glycolactic Peel Mask, Elemis Tri Enzyme Resurfacing Facial Wash, NuBo Peel & Reveal, Ling Skin Care Papaya Resurfacing Peel. cate sewell

If you are suffering from Rosacea, Eczema or Acne, have sensitive skin or are fed up with products that don’t work, read on…

Rosie Huntington-Whitley, Maggie Gyllenhaal, myself and a whole host of make up artists are fans of this beautiful range. The products are mostly made up of organic oils, the masks are jam packed with minerals, both are so natural you could literally eat them. These skin care products work by delivering the ingredients our skin and body cells need in order to function at maximum efficiency, with smooth communication pathways. Much like how a Nicorette patch works by having a molecular structure small enough to pass into the bloodstream, the active ingredients in these products have the same effect.

We were recently granted an audience with the founder of MV Organics Sharon Mcglinchey (image below), a true master of her trade. Here is what she had to say…

Sharon is a no-frills Geordie with an Aussie lilt, whose obsession with beauty products led to her becoming a beauty therapist. Her journey with MV Organics is told with an inspiring passion. I could have listened to her till the cows came home.

MV Organics started when a close friend of Sharon’s developed a nasty reaction to petrochemicals. A mind boggling amount of consumer products from detergents to cosmetics, contain synthetic ingredients derived from petrochemicals, so avoiding them can be tricky. Sharon had just finished a course in making beauty products in one’s own kitchen. She gave a pot of her petrochemical free moisturiser to her friend who’s skin transformed overnight from red and blistered into calm and manageable. Something the dermatologist had failed to accomplish. The dermatologist treating her friend so impressed he ordered a batch.

The secret to Sharon’s success is quality and simplicity. The skin does not need to be bombarded with a gazillion different products. If you have sensitive skin, then even more so. What it needs is nourishment and ingredients that work in harmony with the body’s systems. Here are a few of my favourite things:

Gentle Cream Cleanser; A topical cleanser that won’t strip your face’s natural oils. Two pumps are all you need to rid your skin of make up and everyday dirt. Massage the cream (it’s balancing enough for oily skinned peeps too) gently into your face and neck, then hold a steaming muslin cloth over it until the heat cools. The heat from the water helps release the oils, which in turn, loosens the corneum (2nd layer) of the epidermis so you can wipe them away, revealing the luminous new skin underneath.

Calming & Softening Mask; Mix 2 teaspoons with the Rose Mist or bottled/filtered spring water till you have a smooth consistency. Apply using a fan brush – fan brushes are useful tools for applying masks, they give excellent precise coverage and make little mess. The mask acts in 3 phases. 1) Damp Phase – this is when the minerals from the mask are being absorbed. 2) Cooling Phase – the capillaries slowly contract. 3) Drawing Phase – impurities are drawn into the mask to be washed down the drain. Wash the mask off BEFORE it gets dry. This is an excellent mask to help oily or acne prone skin become de-sensitised and calm. Once skin has been softened and strengthened, the mask can then clear up oils from a hyperactive sebum gland.

Rose Soothing & Protecting Moisturiser; Half a pump is all you need when mixed with one drop from either of the 3 Booster Oils. This product is incredibly soothing to your skin. After shoots that have included many make up changes, I treat myself to a mask followed by this moisturiser and a drop of the Rose Booster. Immediately I can feel my skin calming down. The erratic tingling ceases to annoy plus come the morning, my skin is glowing so much it looks like someone turned up the sun. This product also evens out skin tone to rid you of redness. In the mortal words of Bethan Cole “the more I use this, the less foundation I need“.

Rose Skin Plus Booster; This booster is designed with delicate, fragile skin in mind, its even safe for babies and those on HRT. The steam distilled (otto) Rose oil is used as the main component alongside Rose Geranium. Not only does this product smell as fresh as my Grandmother’s old rose garden, but it also contains properties that help the skin to stay calm and properly moisturised, fighting off any dryness and dehydration. It is a soothing, non-toxic, non-irritant ingrediant that harbors cicatrisant properties. Marry that with its antiseptic, antiviral and bactericidal properties and you have a pot of goodness that helps heal skin after trauma and stress.

Instant Revival; This is the Ferrari of the boosters. If your skin is sun-damaged, tired, mature or post surgery, this is the booster for you. It’s a cordon bleu recipe for your skin, rich and satisfying. A few of the essential oils included are…

Lavender; cell growth stimulator, scar preventor, encourages balance in sebum production and reduces inflammation.

Geranium; circulation and lymphatic system booster, helps improve skin elasticity.

Rosewood; superior cell stimulant and tissue generator.

Neroli; helps with the treatment of broken capillaries and veins under the skin’s surface, stimulates cell activity and growth.

Some tips from Sharon:

“Have a make-up free day, so the skin has a chance to breath.”

“Pure Jojoba oil is 1 molecular bar short of being identical to our skin’s sebum. You can use as much as you like, it won’t clog your skin. It makes for an excellent make-up remover (see Alexia’s blog on jojoba).”

“Don’t take your cleanser off in the shower, take it off before the shower with hot water and a cloth, apply some jojoba oil, then get in the shower. The water will just wash off your face. If you shower with your make up on, the heat from the water penetrates the make up deeper into your skin.”

“Teenagers…buy a natural soap. You can tell if its natural by how squishy it goes when mixed with water.” Squishy = Good.

“Muslin cloths are better than cotton flannels because they do not harbor bacteria as they dry quickly. They are great for travelling.”

“Add the boosters to your moisturiser if your moisturiser is natural“. I love that Sharon understands we can’t all afford her products.

Here’s hoping Sharon’s words and products help to make your life a little easier and your skin that much happier. olivia inge

Well there has certainly been a lot of hype about Moroccanoil, with beauty critics calling it ‘a new miracle treatment for unruly hair’ and although I had heard some amazing things about it, I was dubious… at first.

All the hype surrounding this product is due to one ingredient, Argan Oil. Argan Oil is said to have very high levels of Vitamin E and saponins which soften skin and regenerate hair. Morrocanoil contains an ‘argan oil-infused’ formula along with Vitamin F (Omega 6), Vitamin A to improve elasticity, Vitamin E to protect against free-radicals, and Phenols to shield against environmental stressors.

One of the main advantages of this product is that it really does reduce drying time, and thus heat styling damage. I’ve been using it for about two weeks now, putting 2 pumps in my towel dried hair and then blow drying. It certainly looks shinier and feels softer, and as the instructions say, all of the product will be absorbed, leaving no residue like you get with some hair serums. Your hair just soaks it up. It also has a wonderful fragrance like incense and gives great UV protection to your hair, which is just as damaged by the sun as your skin. Overall, if your hair has been damaged by heat styling or chemicals and is in some serious need of TLC, this product is worth a try. After years of abusing my locks with the straightening irons, I have found something which has begun to replenish them. I just hope it lasts with the rate I keep using it…

One aspect of the brand which I found interesting is that the products are registered under a free trade program, which provides socioeconomic support to thousands of families in the southwest region of Morocco (where the ingredients are harvested). Revenue from the project provides income to families and helps improve the working conditions of rural women. Makes you feel a bit better about spending money on this product, and it is an investment, but trust me…once you use it, you won’t go back. nadine bourne

Per fumier Le Labo has a unique mission: To fight the growing conformity in the beauty industry. Le Labo thrives on its unique customer relationship (its laboratory is open to the public) and unlike other brands, the fragrances they produce are “made to order” (the alcohol and fragrance is not mixed until it is being purchased) which means the end product stays ‘fresh’ and retains the fullness of its fragrance for longer.

Excitingly, as a part of Le Labo’s mission to widen consumers’ perception of perfume, perfume provocateur Nicola Pozzani is hosting a series of workshops solely in London. The overall aim is to approach Le Labo’s fragrances through what they call a ‘synaesthetic approach’ which will explore the connection between fragrance and all the senses.

Le Labo’s “Synesthetic series” is a sequence of 5 workshops, which will take place once a month on Sunday afternoons at the Devonshire Street boutique in London. Working in small teams, students will learn about the brand, its fragrances and the ingredients used. Through sensory exercises an active involvement with the products will ultimately expand your knowledge and perception of scent. In addition, the workshops will allow students to explore the sensations fragrance can convey and experience perfume as “an art form, as a creative language and become aware of the creative scenarios that lay behind fragrance creation”. The synaesthetic aspect of the workshop will teach students to become more sensitive to fragrance and gain a newly discovered perception of perfume.  Nadine Bourne

Want to discover more cult fragrances? Try Molecule 01.

The Le Labo Synesthetic Series takes place every last Sunday of the month from January to May 2011
Time: 4pm to 6pm
Where: 28A Devonshire Street, London W1G 6PS
Price: £45
Number of places: maximum 6 per session
RSVP : lelabolondon@lelabofragrances or +44 20 3441 1535

Açai (pronounced in the manner of a Martial Artist running towards you with Nunchucks, AH-sci-EE) berries contain powerful anti-oxidants and have been used effectively in supplements for a couple of years now. When lab tested on Human blood cells the extract did brilliant housework on those ageing free radicals. This is not massively surprising as these bonnie berries contain the highest concentration of anti-oxidants of any fruit or vegetable tested to date (source).

Skincare companies such as DDF, Kiehl’s and Jergens Naturals have busied themselves bringing out ranges to harness these brilliant attributes, but so far there is as yet NO scientific evidence that topical application has any positive effects.

Until an independent study has been commissioned, stick to popping it in pill or liquid supplement form, when it comes down to it that is the best way to make sure every cell in your body is feeling the benefits anyway. alexia inge

Bog Myrtle, also known as Sweet Gale or the Scottish Tea Tree, has been used for centuries in Scotland as an insect repellent to keep the midges and horse flies away, it is also a favourite of the British Royal family to use in their wedding bouquets.

But it is the high anti-oxidant, anti-bacterial properties that make the Bog Myrtle’s essential oil interesting to the beauty industry. It is an effective way of killing the bacteria that cause acne without irritating sensitive skins. For this reason Boots the Chemist are investing in expanding Bog Myrtle farms in Scotland and the rest of the UK in an attempt to champion the first essential oil to be developed in the British Isles for commercial use in more than 40 years. alexia inge

Where once our Elizabethan counterparts spent their days fretting about whether “to be or not to be”, our contemporary selves are plagued with far less existential concerns. To text or not to text. Tweet or not to tweet. Buy, or not to buy? And, the one that the beauty industry has had a furrow in its’ forehead about for some time now; should parabens be used as preservatives in cosmetics? To paraBEn or not to paraBEn. That is the question.

The ‘paraben debate’  is something that has had the brains of the beauty business slapping on their war paint since the suggestion was made that their use in skincare and cosmetics could be linked to breast cancer. The ‘precautionary principle’ – also known as ‘scaremongering’ – is based on the premise that if it might, it probably will, so don’t let it. However, how can we adopt that outlook in some instances and not others? Surely, with such a dim view, we should all be banged up for plotting to overthrow the monarchy / pinch a Mars bar / murder our siblings / (insert crime here…). Whatever happened to good old, innocent until proven guilty?

Once thought to be a relatively inoffensive cosmetic preservative, parabens have been courting controversy and now things are getting heated. No longer the cosmetcic industry’s darling, they have had a serious fall from grace in recent years, following a scientific study that found preservative chemicals in samples of breast tumours; evidence that is supported by parabens’ ability to mimic oestrogen, a hormone that is known to play a part in the development of certain cancers in both men and women. As parabens are used in all manner of beauty products, including anti-perspirants, some speculators are suggesting that parabens could migrate into breast tissue from the underarm area and contribute to the development of these tumours, however, there’s no reason to go ‘au naturelle’ just yet – so far the findings are far from conclusive.

The American Cancer Society has advised that there is no real scientific evidence to support the notion that products such as deodorants increase one’s risk of developing breast cancer. In fact, some scientists have claimed that we currently ingest a far higher level of parabens through our food, than we are exposed to through the use of cosmetics. Plus, with regard to their oestrogenic effects, experiments on butylparaben revealed that it was 100,000 times weaker that Estradiol (the primary oestrogen), and this was at a concentration 25,000 times higher than that used to preserve cosmetics.

However, as with most chemicals, nothing is certain. It takes time for compounds to reveal their various secrets and sometimes, a thorough scientific investigation can be like opening Pandora’s box. Compounds can have miraculous short term benefits, but we have no real concept of what they could be doing in the long-term (whilst praying they’re making us age backwards).

So what should we do? Well, if industry experts are to be believed (and it’s worth remembering that often these chemical trials fall to universities, who have no invested interest and thus no reason to pull the wool over our eyes), then parabens are good at their job and pose no serious risk to our well-being. Without them, we’d be keeping our face wash in the fridge and replacing our moisturiser as often as our coleslaw (…mould mask anyone?)

Still, if you’re concerned, then the good news is that ‘natural’ alternatives can be found, look out for Sodium Hydroxymethylglycinate and Grapefruit Seed Extract on ingredient lists but beware; while both products are a reasonably effective alternative to parabens. Although the former is derived from a naturally occurring amino acid and Grapefruit Seed Extract sounds like something you might have for breakfast, both substances undergo a myriad of chemical processes to make them suitable for the job and one could argue that if this constitutes being ‘natural’ then they are scarcely better than parabens which are a derivative of ‘natural’ benzoic acid.

If long working hours or a hard night’s partying have left unsightly dark circles under your eyes, and cover up just won’t do the trick, it’s time to boost your blackcurrant intake.

Better than any under eye concealer, new research from Hirosaki University in Japan has shown that blackcurrants can actually help eliminate the problem of tired looking eyes entirely. The new ‘superfood’ reduces dark circles by improving blood flow around the optical nerves, which drastically reduces the effect of ‘sagging eyes’.

Researchers believe that the beauty enhancing effects are thanks to natural components in blackcurrants, such as anthocyanins, which increase blood flow in the capillaries under the eye area, allowing more oxygen to be delivered to the tissues. This encourages the tissues to expand, helping to reduce dark shadows in the region.

Nature’s little gift to women, blackcurrants will help reverse the tell-tale signs of late night shenanigans in any form. Whether you like juices, jams, smoothies, or the real deal berries themselves, it’s time to factor a dose of blackcurrants into your five-a-day.

Made from tender leaves and buds handpicked from the top of the Camellia sinesis plant, white tea is a purer, unoxidised variant of the more traditional black and green teas.

Already applauded for its ability to break down fat stores, researchers from Kingston University, London, have found that white tea has significant potential to prevent skin ageing by inhibiting enzymes that attack collagen and elastase. In addition it mimics the actions of one of the body’s own antioxidant enzymes, preventing the skin from oxidative stress which causes a breakdown in cellular strength and function.

The study, published in the BioMed Central Journal of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, tested 23 extracts from 21 plants for their anti-ageing capabilities and found white tea to be the runaway success story. Its showed the highest levels of defence against collagenase (87 per cent) and elastase (89 percent), two enzymes which pose a serious threat to skin by breaking down the natural collagen and elastin that keep it youthful. White tea also displayed the highest superoxide dismutase (SOD) mimetic activity, with levels of 87.92 per cent. SOD is believed to slow the process of ageing by reducing free radical damage.

Cementing the strength of white tea’s anti-ageing capabilities, the concentration of white tea used in the experiments was significantly weaker than that of a normal cup of the tea. Professor Declan Naughton, who led the study, told Cosmetics Design, “We were pretty blown away by the results.”

The study also found that white tea may have anti-inflammatory benefits, while a team of US-based scientists at the University Hospitals of Cleveland and Case Western Reserve University have proven that ingredients in white tea are effective in boosting the immune function of skin cells, protecting them from DNA damage caused by exposure to the sun.

White tea extract has already been harnessed in a variety of cult beauty products, which have pioneered its use for antioxidising, anti-inflammatory and sun protection benefits. Here are some of our favourites.

Sophyto Pholyphenol Drops uses white tea to create an extremely gentle, non-irritating serum that is effective in the fight against free radicals. £45.00

BECCA Mineral Primer not only moisturises and prepares a canvas ready for make up, it utilises the antioxidants found in white tea extract to prevent ageing and keep skin healthy in the sun. £33.00

DuWop Revolotion Bronzing Body Moisturiser lends skin a bronze tint with a slight shimmer. It’s rich in antioxidants, including white tea extract, which soothe irritation and reduce skin puffiness. £27.00

Neal’s Yard Remedies White Tea Eye Gel is a brilliant natural eye rescue gel for people who don’t like putting chemicals near their eyes. It uses bioactive white tea extract to reduce puffiness and combat the signs of ageing. £18.00