I was lucky enough to run into a wonderful vendor, Dee Bellini, at the local Artisan’s market again this year. She is the founder of Bars by Bellini and has an offering of handmade natural skin care products that work extremely well. I’m writing this to tell you the best part- you can now buy them online. She even offers free shipping for orders over $100 (and you could try out a lot of her products for that much!).
I won’t relay all of the ingredients on the labels of her products (since they are not all listed on her website and I wouldn’t want to publish anything she might not want online), but I am sure that if you needed to know the specific ingredients you could e-mail the contact address listed on the site. I will; however, describe my experiences with the products I’ve purchased so far.
The Lemon Buttercream Buff is a foaming scrub that exfoliates the skin and I use it about once a week. I bought the little tub last summer and it is only about half gone so you can see it can last for quite some time. It contains high quality ingredients such as coconut and jojoba oil as well as exfoliating agents. When I purchased this Dee noted that I would not have to use a moisturizer after it since it actually leaves the skin very moist. It certainly lives up to this although I do tend to still use an extra moisturizer afterwards because I like my skin feeling extra hydrated.
I have also purchased the Herbal Mask which is made with fresh lavender, slippery elm, comfrey, sea kelp, and bentonite clay. I simply mix a small amount of the powder with water (a shot glass works great for this) and then apply it to my face, rinsing off after about 15 minutes of drying time. It seems to really refresh and rejuvenate my skin. Sarah also recently purchased this, too, so she might have further comments to share.
I also use the Rosemary Lavender Toner which is one of my favorite products that I’ve had since last summer. It has a wonderful, relaxing smell and I simply pour a little on a cotton ball and run it over my face and throat. I could probably use this every day, but often forget and so I still have 3/4 of the bottle left.
And of course, I have saved what I think is the very best for last: the Goat’s Milk and Aloe Cream. Trying the sample at the market, I loved the light smell and the non-greasy , moisturized feel it left on my skin. Dee said that it is good for smaller, more specific areas such as feet. I noticed a huge improvement on my dry heels after using this at bedtime every night for a about a week. The moisture does not fade away, but seems to really absorb and last, unlike other foot lotions I’ve tried. According to the website, the goat’s milk works for strengthening, the aloe is soothing, and hempseed oil is added for moisturizing. It’s really been working great for me as during the summer my feet sometimes get pretty rough from drying out in sandals.
I truly hope that if you try out these products, you enjoy them as much as I do. If you happen to be in Grand Rapids area, you can even meet Dee and try the products at the regular Sunday Fulton St. Artisan’s Market.
