Candace Grenier

Pure Anada - Delicate Compact Palette & Sweet Stillness Nail Polish

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At The Amazing Blog, we think there is nothing better than having a new selection of make-up to experiment with to cheer us all up! Particularly, when it has a range of beautifully subtle daytime shades of blush and eye colours. We’re talking about Pure Anada and today we’ve bringing you another of our #amazingfinds with the Delicate Compact Palette and their softest pink Sweet Stillness Nail Polish. 

If you want to know why we’ve chosen to review Pure Anada a Canadian beauty brand, then see our other feature here. Let’s do a quick recap of their inspiring story behind this brand. Growing up in a eco-household, Candace Grenier, founder of Pure Anada, already had a vast knowledge of what proper nutrition should be and the importance of what the body needs. Passionate about making things for herself, she decided in 2003 to make her home and environmental as holistic as possible, discarding anything chemical. She went on to create a line of ‘natural, safer alternatives to mainstream cosmetics’ homecare, skincare and make-up which is where this success story began. These products are ethical, i.e. no discrimination or child labour is ever involved in the processing of making her raw materials. With clean formulations free from common allergens and ingredients that are naturally sourced, and everything is made in their certified organic labs in Manitoba. Their products are also cruelty-free, mainly vegan and certified with the Leaping Bunny programme. We found these at their UK retailer Live in The Light, so it’s a big thank you to them for sending us these products for review. We’re big fans of this online retailer and recommend a visit to their website as they also share our ethos in promoting holistic and environmentally friendly brands.  

Today we want to talk about Pure Anada’s Delicate Compact Palette and Sweet Stillness Nail Polish.  First things first, the Delicate Compact Palette’s colours are discreet, natural and gave us an effortless no make-up look. The pale rosy pink blush named Sweet Pea pairs perfectly with four eye-shadow colours: The satin luxurious taupe/grey that shifts to a shimmering pink called Haunt, a velvet taupe/mauve titled Macchiato, an iridescent champagne blush named Darling, and finally a matte ballet slipper pink Water Lily. If these moreish colours don’t swipe you off of your feet, then perhaps their win with the Sweet Pea blush at The 2020 Beauty Bible Awards here will. The packaging is recyclable with a pretty floral designed outer box and metallic foil etched cardboard inner palette, that also comes with a mirror inside. It only contains all-natural formulas comprised of pressed mineral pigments and jojoba oil for softness. The jojoba oil keeps the texture silky and smooth and most importantly, non-greasy.  Apart from the colours and natural formulas what we particularly like about this make-up is its cost-effectiveness. Unlike most palettesthis one is refillable! When finished, you can buy the individual colours and pop them right back into each of the magnetic slots in palette. Best of all,  the coverage is sheer but buildable and the blusher promises a demi-matte fresh healthy glow to the face and that’s exactly what it delivered. This is for us a smart investment with its natural everyday colours and is available for £29.95you can find it here.  

Moving on to the Sweet Stillness Nail Polish which is from a range of twenty long-lasting colours. This Sweet Stillness is a pale rose pink non-toxic nail polishMore importantly, it is free of the five most toxic ingredients which are usually found in regular nail polish. The three most toxic ingredients being dibutyl phthalate, formaldehyde, and toluene. They are followed by another two which are formaldehyde resin and camphor.  If you wish to know how toxic they are, here’s a quick explanation:  The dibutyl phthalate, or otherwise called the plasticizer, is used to provide sheen. It has a carcinogen effect and can cause thyroid problems and is often linked to hormone changes. Formaldehyde used to harden the nails, is also carcinogen when inhaled and while it’s evaporating can sometimes cause allergic reactions if it comes in contact with your skin. The toluene used to give a smooth finish and keep a uniform colour can cause eyes, lung, and throat irritation when inhaled and can also affect the central nervous system. The formaldehyde resin used to strengthen the nails is a skin allergen and remains active for up to three days after your nail polish dries, and can cause dermatitis. Finally, camphor, which used to be a treatment for cold or flu, is now chemically manufactured and can have a serious side effect when ingested. When exposed in large doses, primarily through inhalation, it’s known to cause irritation, nausea, dizziness, and headaches, it is therefore highly toxic! Quickly added the formulas in the Sweet Stillness Nail Polish are solvent-based and not water-based, but this is long-lasting and a more durable option than water-based.  We’d also advise applying it with their Super Base Coat and the Free Topcoat. You can find Pure Anada’s Sweet Stillness Nail Polish here for £8.95. 

Pure Anada - Fresh Cucumber: Hand & Body Wash and Cocoa Body Butter

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As regular readers will know, at The Amazing Blog natural products are our thing. And in the wake of the global pandemic, we ‘ve noticed that more consumers are now mindful and ingredient aware when it comes to making their skincare purchases. We’ve also recently received lots of enquiries asking us to advise on the best natural skincare to buy etc. So, in our search for something new to share, we’ve turned to one of our favourite online stores Live In The Light; where they kindly sent us a selection of products from an organic transatlantic brand, the first of which we’re featuring today, meet Pure Anada.

For Candace Grenier, the Canadian founder of Pure Anada, it all began in 2003, when she started a family and changed her way of living into a more environmentally friendly one. This began with changing her household cleaning products and went right the way through to all her cosmetics. Candice discovered a niche in making her own, “I made colours for myself, friends and family.  I was surprised to learn how many ladies were sensitive to traditional cosmetics.  It seems as if our bodies are just saying…’enough already with the chemicals’!  Even more fascinating was that the products I was creating from organic botanicals, and food-grade minerals didn’t irritate their skin at all!” Having always been passionate about creating her own products, she went on to launch a very successful business, making a variety of organic household and personal care products. Candice has high ethical standards when it comes to her products and ensures that there is no child labour or discrimination against women. Pure Anada avoids using toxins and other ‘dirty dozen’ and try to maintain a clean formula with each product they make. All their products are free from common allergens and are derived from natural or plant-based origins; as well as cruelty-freethey don’t test on animals and most of their ingredients are vegan. They have an open appreciation for nature giving their brand transparency through all their products. Today we’re featuring  Pure Anada’s Fresh Cucumber Hand & Body Wash and Fresh Cucumber Cocoa Body Butter.

The Fresh Cucumber Hand & Body Wash is free from silicone, artificial ingredients and fragrance. What we love in this Hand & Body Wash is that this has biodegradable surfactants that are derived purely from sugar and coconut oil making it rich in elements that help to heal dry skin. This gentle Fresh Cucumber cleanser also contains cetearyl olivate extracted from olive oil, which is not only an excellent antioxidant but also a brilliant skin protector. There’s sunflower oil which acts as an anti-inflammatory agent and contains fatty acids like the omega-6, vitamin E. Finally, the other more unusual ingredient here is the leuconostoc/radish root ferment filtrate which provides mild protection against bacteria, mould, and yeasts. Radish root is a great natural alternative to synthetic preservatives. There is no overpowering scent in this Hand & Body Wash, we could only just make out a subtle cucumber fragrance. It applied like a milky lotion but created a good lather to clean and left our skin soft and moisturised. It comes in a convenient 300 ml size and costs £9.50 here.

Next, we have the Fresh Cucumber Cocoa Body Butter which echoes similar ingredients to the Hand and Body Wash. it’s super-rich in sunflower seed and coconut oil, as well as shea and cocoa butter; which will provide your skin with all the protection and moisture it’ll need. Deeply hydrating, it’s the perfect partner to go with the Hand & Body Wash. We loved using both in equal measures - so no particular favourite here. With the summer now upon us, we suggest starting your day by using these in tandem, that way you stay fresh and fragrant all day long! The Fresh Cucumber Cocoa Body Butter in 125ml costs £8.00 here.