Fab Find of the Week: Subtle Energies newness
Subtle Energies is a fabulous brand based around Ayurvedic principles, founded by holistic therapist Farida Irani, who practices not only in Ayurvedic medicine but also Bowen Therapy and aromatherapy. She has a lifestyle-focused approach to wellbeing and beauty which chimes with our own.
We’ve raved about Subtle Energies before, here – but the brand has a beautiful new look, and some fabulous products which have rather captured our hearts. They truly have an ‘Ayurvedic’ scent, for anyone who’s familiar with this form of medicine – and honestly whisk us to India, with each bath or application.
Subtle Energies makes the Indian philosophy of health and wellbeing utterly approachable and enjoyable – ‘luxury Ayurveda’, we’d call it. These are more than fab-smelling products; they are rooted in healing knowledge.
The herbs whisk us straight to India. Rose, tulsi, saffron, cardamom, frankincense, mogra: all cornerstones of Ayurved; all of the blends are a bit of a magic carpet ride, for us.
What we do preface the following reviews by saying is that this is Ayurvedic skincare and bodycare at its most luxurious. But you know what? If money was no object, we’d stock our entire bathroom with it.
From left to right, above, our new finds within the range…
Blissful Sleep Massage Blend/£110 for 100ml. A deeply relaxing blend of traditional oils of mogra, frankincense and kewda, with earthy jatamansi oil to ground and balance the restless energies which often lead to disturbed sleep. They recommend that a thin layer should be applied from the feet to the heart. However, ‘for a quick application’ (read also: more affordable application), you can focus on the feet, nape of the neck and navel. And you know what? We’ve found it highly effective, even with those small touches. Knockout drops, frankly, when massaged into chest and upper arms before bedtime, so the scent can easily be inhaled.
Coming soon… actually one of our faves among of the new products, but annoyingly not yet launched online, is the Pomegranate Enzyme Mask: instantly brightening, just the thing for end-of-winter tired faces. It tingles slightly on application (thanks to the fruit acids, which work alongside those enzymes), but leaves skin properly radiant, not irritated. We’ve reached for it on several occasions when skin has been looking dull, drab and grey-ish, and the results are instant. We’re a little bit in love with this, but hate to have to tell you that (due to delays) it’s currently only available in person to clients at the London Peninsula hotel; everyone else will have to wait till 22nd April to be able to buy it online.
Rasayana Detox Bath Soak/£45 for 400g, is presented in the a new-style tin – and this is a truly blissful bath product, with a truly potent, lingering scent of lime, tulsi and turmeric. Confession: we didn’t scrub the bath afterwards, and found ourselves feeling grounded by the scent whenever we walked into the bathroom, for days afterwards. (You don’t need much, compared to many salts.) Close your eyes and you’re in Jaipur…
The very top end product in the range, elevating Subtle Energies’ skincare offering to another level, is a fabulous (but super-pricy) offering, Mogra Rejuvenating Gold Cream/£295 for 50ml. Yup. That’s one heck of a lot to pay for a skin cream, which means that this is really only accessible to the most elite beauty-hounds.
We should add: we didn’t know the price of this cream before we tried it, and it’s well above anything we’d normally recommend – but we have to admit to a touch of jealousy if you could afford to buy this without a backward glance, because it IS absolute heaven to use: richly hydrating, smoothing, making skin look glowier by morning. Sandalwood, mogra (a.k.a. ‘Queen of Jasmines’), Himalayan rose and – yes – 24k gold leaf (which is partly responsible for the price). Shea butter, jojoba and macadamia oil all feature, but… well, we’ll just have to dream when it comes to replenishing this.
Sleep Easy Nasya Oil/£38 for 15ml. In India, quite different herbs are used to beckon sleep from the traditional lavender blends we’re more familiar with in the West – and we find them super-effective. Now, this might seem an alien concept, but this blend of 20 herbs, in a base of black seed sesame oil, is designed to be applied to the inside of the nose (as it has been in Ayurveda, for centuries). It’s believed this can be far more potent than ingesting herbs orally, and is designed not only to assist sleep, but also sinus congestion (and, in some people, snoring).
And gosh – you can’t put a price on that, can you?
Blissful Sleep Massage Blend/£110 for 100ml – buy here
Rasayana Detox Bath Soak/£45 for 400g – buy here
Mogra Rejuvenating Gold Cream/£295 for 50ml – buy here
Sleep Easy Nasya Oil/£38 for 15ml – buy here
