My life isn't what you'd call glamorous, but there are parts of it that are glamorous. The events and parties, the opportunities to trade ideas and plans with remarkable women in the local beauty/fashion industry, the free things I get - these are all amazing and fun. And ultimately, superficial. If you only knew all the leg work I need to do behind the scenes to make things happen, your desk job might just sound like a breeze!

Anyway. Let's continue Organic Beauty Week with a French product this time: the Nuxe Reve de Miel Lip Moisturizing Stick (P350 from Digital Traincase).

Nuxe is a natural origin cosmetology brand originating in France. It combines high-performance with a certain je ne sais quoi, and is said to be one of the best-selling brands in French pharmacies. I've honestly never heard of it before though, that is until Digital Traincase started carrying a few select items! 

Sol sent me this lip balm and I've been enjoying it since I got it. This balm is not like any other lip balm I've tried before. It doesn't have that slippery, slick, or hard waxy texture I'm accustomed to when it comes to balms. It feels...plush. Solid on the lips, but not heavy. It feels soft and light as it hugs the skin!

Made by David Organics is one of the latest local beauty brands here in Manila. They are "all about providing you with carefully crafted products that are naturally healthy, generously nourishing, and sweet little pleasures to use", according to their About page. Sounds interesting right? Wait till you see the chic packaging and the price tag!

Made by David has an interesting hair range that includes shampoos and conditioners, masks, Dry Shampoo, Split End Sealer, and Hair Potion. Most (if not all) of the products are less than P300. Seriously! You can check the full product line here. I'll be trying out the Rose and Geranium shampoo and conditioner soon, as well as the Hair Potion since it promises to do wonders for curly hair. I'll let you know how they work!

For today though, I'll just be talking about the Made by David Hand Sanitiziers (P100/50ml). 

Zenutrients is not your typical beauty brand. Aside from hair care and body care products, Zenutrients has these nifty troubleshooters that can get hasten the relief of headaches, body pain, skin irritations, and insect bites, among other things. 

Health and wellness is at the core of the brand. The ingredients are herbal in nature, with a local heart. Think virgin coconut oil, gugo, ginger, and essential oils!

I have a couple of body care and ginger-infused balms from Zenutrients and I really enjoyed using them. ^_^ Let's start with the Zenutrients Organic Opaque Herbal Soap in Blueberry, Vanilla, Milk & Caramel. I don't have the price right now but it should be around P100 to P150. This is a yummy smelling soap that lathers wonderfully. It doesn't dry my skin too, which is always a good thing to have in any soap.

My bathroom always smells good when I use this! Downside though, this runs out easily. It becomes gooey quickly too so you need to cut the soap up in segments before your first use.

What does "organic" mean when it comes to the beauty industry? It's murky and confusing until today because there is no industry-standard meaning to the word. There is also no agency that regulates organic beauty products. A company can come and say, "We're organic" or "Our product is 90% organic" and no one can stop them from lying outright or tiptoeing around the truth. 

For example, a brand can claim that their moisturizer is 90% organic. That's true if the base of the moisturizer is something like shea butter. But the remaining 10% could consist of all sorts of chemicals and preservatives traditionally found in cosmetics/body care. They aren't necessarily "bad", but it's certainly not what people have in mind when they bought into the organic catchphrase.

"Organic" is usually attached to terms like green, healthy, safe, chemical-free and natural.