Fab Find of the Week: Austin Austin new handcare
These recently caught our eye. Literally, with their arty packaging – a world apart from the sleek, Jean Cocteau-esque illustrated style that we have come to know the British organic brand Austin Austin for, up till now.
They feature a collaboration with New York artist Adrianne Rubenstein, and very fetching they are on the bedside – which is where you’d do well to keep these, handy (yes!) for a bit of late night TLC, which is seriously welcome at this wind-chapping time of year.
First up is the Cedar & Patchouli Hand Cream, gorgeously, groundingly scented with cedarwood and patchouli, geranium and frankincense, rosemary and bergamot. It’s instantly softening – from rough hand to baby hands, truly, in one slathering. Ticks all our hand cream boxes: rich, but sinks in really fast, leaving nothing but velvetiness behind. (Slips inside a handbag, alternatively, for whiling away spare moments when being kept waiting, or on the bus.)
But for extra TLC, we’re reaching for the intensive Austin Austin Rosemary Balm, enriched with sea buckthorn and jojoba oil, for when hands need that bit of extra help. (It also works really well as a cuticle treatment, for banishing those snaggy bits.) This is MUCH richer, and really does need time to sink in – overnight is perfect. Alternatively, smooth it on as a barrier cream against tasks that are really hard on hands.
But the bottom line is that these don’t just look gorgeous – they really perform, and our hands are happier for having made their acquaintance.
And as for those tubes? Clever stuff. And we quote: ‘The tube is made of 40% recycled material, is 100% recyclable and is infused with a new bio-enzyme. The bio-enzyme ensures that the tube will fully degrade within 1-4 years ensuring full decomposition and no microplastics. This is critical should they fall out of the recycling loop and end up in the natural environment (soil or seawater). Traditional plastic tubes which end up in landfill take 300 - 400 years to break down, leaving microplastics harmful to our ecosystems.’
Gotta hand it to Austin Austin (sorry!): these are excellent in every way.
Austin Austin Cedar & Patchouli Hand Cream/£16 for 50ml – buy here
Austin Austin Rosemary Balm/£16 for 50ml – buy here
