by Annette @ Wellness WA | Feb 10, 2020 | Products, Vegan
Medik8 is a brand I’ve known about for some time now, having first come across them at Mi:skn Clinic, where their products are used post-Omnilux (you can read more about my experience with that here!). Having always been a high-end, cosmeceutical brand since inception, I assumed that Medik8 being 100% vegan was probably out of the question, however they have always been cruelty free which is hugely important to me.
Recently, Medik8 made the transition to becoming fully vegan – and I wanted to dig in and find out more behind the decision & what exactly was involved, so we spoke to Director of Research at Medik8, Daniel Isaacs. Read on to discover more about the brand’s fascinating journey!
Can you share a little bit about how Medik8 started and the story behind the decision to create the business?
Medik8 was born out of a passion to deliver the benefits of serious skincare science without needing to compromise on the demand for ethics, transparency, sustainability and beautiful textures and fragrances found in natural brands. Elliot Isaac’s mission (founder of Medik8) was, and still is, to demystify the anti-ageing skincare industry with his trademark CSA Philosophy of ‘vitamin C plus sunscreen by day, and vitamin A by night’. This simplicity plus the end of choosing between results or experience is the secret to Medik8’s success.
What was behind your decision to transition to a 100% vegan skincare company?
Over the last 5 years, veganism has become a growing movement. This lifestyle extends way beyond just a diet. It involves what cosmetics you use, what household products you buy or the clothes you wear, to name but a few. In the UK alone, the number of vegans has quadrupled over the last four years. The reasons why are clear; according to The Vegan Society if the world went vegan, it could save 8 million human lives by 2050, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by two thirds, and avoid climate damages of $1.5 trillion.[1]
With consumers becoming increasingly conscious of whether a product has been derived from an animal byproduct or not, vegan beauty products make it simple and provide a guilt-free moment of indulgence. You can also rest assured that Medik8 do not test on animals nor ask others to test for us. This includes finished products and products within development or production, as well as ingredients used within our products. We are animal lovers and look forward to the day when animal testing is banned worldwide forever.
Vegan beauty is a no-brainer. Better for the planet, 100% cruelty free and often of higher quality, vegan products are exceptionally easy to swap to and you don’t lose any efficacy with the product.
Were you driven by your customers / social media to make the change?
We have always had a huge Vegan following and always listen to our fans, but ultimately this is something close to our hearts and at Medik8 we wanted to take full responsibility for our actions. We understand that having a beauty regime filled with vegan skincare is beneficial for the planet and your skin.
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What is the process involved for Medik8 in transitioning to being a fully vegan brand?
We conducted a full audit of all our products in 2018 and discovered that only 5 of our products were not vegan. This was due to some legacy formulas containing ingredients like yoghurt. We then set ourselves the goal of making every single Medik8 product completely vegan by the end of 2019, which we have achieved.
Our Ultimate Recovery Intense is a rich, restorative cream for dry, compromised and post-treatment skin. It used to contain silk serica (derived from the silkworm), which we replaced for allantoin. Allantoin is a natural component in comfrey root, which helps to support natural wound healing, speeding up skin renewal and softening the skin.
Advanced Night Restore is a deeply hydrating cream that works while you sleep, featuring an intelligent moisturisation complex of ceramide, fatty acids and (non-vegan) cholesterol. We now use a combination of synthetic cholesterol and a plant-derived form of cholesterol called phytosterol. Phytosterol gives structure to the plant’s cell membrane the same way cholesterol does for our skin. They both function similarly in enhancing the skin’s natural lipid barrier to lock in hydration.
Balance Moisturiser uses a high-performance blend of prebiotics and probiotics to rebalance the skin’s natural microbiome, promoting a healthy-looking, radiant complexion. While the probiotics were previously based on fermented milk-derived lactobacillus, they are now obtained from the fermentation of plant-based lactobacillus extracts – 100% vegan!
We also removed beeswax from our White Balance Overnight Repair and replacing it with vegan emulsifiers, plus removing non-vegan yoghurt extract from our Surface Radiance Cleanse.
What would you say to other businesses considering making the switch?
As a brand we have a responsibility to our planet and our customers, we believe everyone should be taking the steps to better themselves and be transparent with their consumers.
Thanks to Daniel for taking part in this interview with us! If you’d like to find out more about Medik8, hop on over to their website, Facebook or Instagram.
by Annette @ Wellness WA | Feb 5, 2020 | Interviews
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First up, briefly tell us a bit about yourself and what you do!
I’m Maha Corbett and I am the Co-Founder and Director of SWIISH, the number one destination for women to supercharge both their wellness and style. On top of that, I am a published author, wellness coach and a huge supporter of several charities, in particular the Humpty Dumpty Foundation.
What time do you wake up most days and how many hours of sleep do you aim for?
I do my very best to go to bed at a reasonable hour and am usually up around 6.15am. I am a big believer in beauty sleep. Quality sleep is so critical for our ongoing health and general well-being. Our bodies need rest and repair so that we can function at our best, and obviously a good night’s sleep also makes us feel better. Deep down at a cellular level, sleeping helps regulate hormones and therefore ensures the body is functioning healthily. I aim for about 7 hours, as I find that works well for me.
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What’s your morning routine to set you up for a great day?
I start my day with a simple routine so I kick off my day with energy. I mix together a SWIISH WELLNESS dynamic duo – it’s our GLOW Marine Collagen with our SUPERGREEN Superfood Powder. I do this every single morning because I know I’m going to be under the pump all day, so I nurture the inside in a very fast and simple way. Our SUPERGREENS has over 40 ingredients including veggies, superfoods, prebiotics and probiotics. As well as the additional benefit of helping to improve digestion and de-bloating, it also helps increase energy levels – which let’s face it, we all need!!
Describe a typical day of eating for you.
After my dynamic duo blend, I have an egg and tomato wrap (I have a tomato addiction!), followed by a long black. Lunch is usually a big leafy salad with tomato, capsicum, cucumber and chilli tuna. To curb my 3.00pm cravings I have GLOW Hot Chocolate Hydrolysed Collagen Ppwder with coconut milk. At the moment my husband and I are loving either Salmon or Chicken with the Three Cheers Mexican Corn Salad from Super Easy. We called this our Three Cheers Mexican Corn Salad because every time we make it, it gets devoured and then we all say ‘Three cheers to the cook!’ Hence the name – it’s so yummy!
Tell us about your daily beauty routine! What are your non-negotiables for looking and feeling your best?
For me it’s all about minimal effort for maximum results, and it all starts with my skin. I have my GLOW Collagen every day, to look after my skin from the inside out. I also always moisturise with both a face oil and a cream – I love how hydrating the combo is. I switch up my face creams as I love to try different ones, but the face oil I am using is the Superfood Face Oil by Juice Beauty. It has 21 ingredients and I love applying it at night time and letting it all absorb into my skin while I sleep.
What are your top 3 wellness non-negotiables?
Our SLEEP Superfood Powder, GLOW Marine Collagen Hydrolysed Powder and SUPERGREEN Superfood Powder are my 3 wellness non negotiables – it’s wellness made easy to ensure my body functions at its best. At SWIISH we have created these products because we firmly believe that feeling and looking amazing really does start on the inside.
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Do you have an evening wind-down ritual?
I can’t go a night without our SLEEP Superfood Powder! As with all SWIISH Wellness products, we’ve used only natural ingredients in creating it. What’s important though is getting the right combination of ingredients. We included tart cherry, banana and cacao. Each of these ingredients contain melatonin or assist the body in creating melatonin, which is the vital hormone that regulates sleep patterns. Sally and I created our brand/business as a way to share our belief that small actions can make a big difference – it’s literally just a scoop in warm milk – ALMO unsweetened almond milk is my favourite. A simple self-care action like this can help enormously with wellbeing and health.
Favourite farmers market or healthy place to shop?
Sally recently moved back to Bondi and it’s a little ritual for us both to head down to the Bondi Markets each Saturday morning with Annabelle and Elyssa (Sally’s daughters). I always come home with fresh flowers, and the organic produce available (at such a low cost) is just phenomenal. They have a stall down there that makes this delicious falafel and egg wrap – I literally cannot get enough of them! It really is so good that Sally and I both live in Bondi and can do things like this together.
What’s your fitness routine and favourite way to get sweaty, and where’s your go-to?
I’m loving pilates at the moment, I find it’s the best way to start my day – it makes me feel fresh mentally and physically. A few times a week, Sally and I go for a walk ahead of going into SWIISH HQ. It’s again one of the many bonuses of us both living in Bondi!
What’s the one beauty or wellness treatment you can’t live without? And your favourite place to have it done?
VAIA Beauty in Darlinghurst – it’s an absolute Zen like experience and the epitome of self-care to me. Vaia is super lovely and provides the most luxurious and relaxing treatments. I get the Brightening Mask and it features high strength BHA’s and AHA’s to rapidly exfoliate surface congestion whilst diminishing the appearance of dark spots, pigmentation and blotchiness to reveal a bright and clear complexion. My skin feels so fresh and glowing!
Thanks for taking the time to complete our interview, Maha! If you have any questions for her, please leave them below 🙂
Be well,
xoxo
by Annette @ Wellness WA | Jan 29, 2020 | Interviews
First up, briefly tell us a bit about yourself and what you do!
Hi, we’re Elsie & Dominika, beauty bloggers, trained formulators, skincare experts, podcast hosts and Co-founders of BYBI Beauty.
It all started in 2015 with Clean Beauty Insiders, our natural beauty blog where we published DIY recipes, product reviews and industry news. Building up our clean beauty blog before starting the BYBI brand gave us time to immerse ourselves in the market and really understand where the gaps were. For us, after trying many other natural skincare brands and also making our own products, there was a clear gap for a beauty brand that upheld great ethics around sustainability and ingredients, but that was marketed in a way that spoke to a mainstream beauty consumer. We took the leap and founded our own brand, BYBI, in February 2017. BYBI stands for By Beauty Insiders.
BYBI makes ethical, effective skincare that doesn’t cost the earth and has the ability to transform your skin. We’re about sustainability, affordability and great performance (plus our products also look cute on your bathroom shelf!).
What time do you wake up most days and how many hours of sleep do you aim for?
About 6am, we aim for a solid 8 hours but that’s pretty rare!
Tell us about your daily beauty routine! What are your non-negotiables for looking and feeling your best?
A full BYBI routine (of course). With a focus on Mega Mist, our skin plumping hyaluronic acid facial spray, plus a blend of the Boosters. As the temperatures get colder in the UK, Buriti & Strawberry are essential! The Buriti Booster is a potent antioxidant and helps protect the skin against free radicals – so great for those that commute or live in a city. The Strawberry Booster is an epic skin softener and helps keep it even and hydrated.
To look my best I follow this up with a dewy base, lengthy lashes and natural blush. Our favourite clean beauty brands are: ILIA, JuiceBeauty, W3LL PEOPLE & INIKA Organic.
Do you have an evening wind-down ritual?
A thorough double cleanse at the end of the day. Starting with an oil-based cleanser to attract and disintegrate dirt and makeup, followed by a water based cleanser to balance and regulate.
Step 1: Swipe Clean – Our highly effective yet super gentle oil cleanser and makeup remover. Hibiscus and papaya, both high in AHAs help to break down and remove grime, dirt, oil, stubborn mascara and the last traces of lipstick.
Step 2: Crystal Clear (soon to be launching into SEPHORA Australia!)
This one is our foaming gel cleanser with prebiotics to protect your skin’s microbiome and salicylic acid to unclog pores. Deeply cleanses and clarifies for a clear, balanced, healthy complexion. You’re gonna love it!
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If you could only wear one brand of activewear for the rest of your life it would be…
Girlfriend Collective. They’ve just launched ReGirlfriend, where you can send back your old activewear to make new items. You receive store credits for taking part and they don’t have to create as much virgin material.
What’s your fitness routine & favourite way to get sweaty and where’s your go-to?
We both love yoga and getting sweaty at Barry’s Bootcamp!
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You’ve got a big event in 7 days time that you need to look incredible for. What’s your plan of attack to look & feel your absolute best?
We approach it from the inside and out! Firstly, eating really well, packing in more nourishing and energising foods. Secondly, really taking care of our skin, spritzing Mega Mist as often as possible and using the Bakuchiol Booster every night to plump skin and give it a naturally radiant glow. We’re partial to a natural looking spray tan too!
And lastly… do you have any top secret tips you use to keep looking / feeling great?
For the dewiest natural highlight, we use our Babe Balm Bronze (soon to be launching into SEPHORA Australia). It’s a hybrid of skincare and makeup, a blend of our iconic Babe Balm and glittering mica powder. Its buttery texture means it melts into skin, leaving it hydrated, soft and naturally luminous. It’s the shortcut to fresh skin.
Thanks Elsie + Dominika! If you have any questions for the girls, please leave them below 🙂
Be well,
xoxo
by Annette @ Wellness WA | Jan 24, 2020 | Exercise, Makeup, Products
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♥ Flower Beauty – Light Illusion Vegan Foundation – $13.99
Drew Barrymore’s brand new vegan ‘Flower’ beauty range, available from Chemist Warehouse, has hands down been my beauty find of the past 12 months. I’m absolutely OBSESSED with the Light Illusion foundation – my shade is Porcelain. After years of spending $50-$100 on foundations, I am floored to have found something that’s cruelty-free, vegan, a perfect match to my skin tone, generously sized (lasts approx 2 months with daily use for me) AND just $13.99?!?!
The Light Illusion Foundation range has 15 shades and is WELL worth the effort to pop into a Chemist Warehouse and see if you can find a match. My skin is notoriously hard to match and I got one first go, so miracles do happen.
I feel like I’m in a dream I don’t want to wake up from. I pray this foundation never gets discontinued because it is just that good, and it’s saving me a tonne of money. And don’t even get me started on the lipsticks – more info on these coming soon!
♥ My Personal Trainer, Amy Richards
Dragging myself out of bed in the wee hours of the morning in order to better myself has never, and I mean never, been my forte, but I know I’m at my physical and mental best when someone is kindly forcing me to do exercises that are specifically tailored to my body and goals. Enter twice weekly 7am / 8am personal training sessions with Amy Richards for the past 6 months or so.
Now I will be the first to admit that I’m probably not anyones “ideal” personal training client. I don’t like working out very hard and often adopt the mindset of “well, I’m out of bed at a ridiculous hour so anything else is a bonus, I’ll just take it easy”. I’m also a mild whinger but trying to be better – haha. Anyway, since seeing the lovely Amy since June 2019 – once a week at first, and more recently twice a week – which is when I have really seen results ramp up. In this time I have gotten much fitter and stronger, seen a dramatic improvement in my body shape & tone (hi perky butt, hi fitting into old clothes), as well as improved mental health.
For anyone who has health & fitness goals on their 2020 to-do list, and perhaps like me has a bit of trouble with personal fitness motivation, I would highly recommend seeing a PT at least once a week – and can definitely recommend Amy! Check her out here.
I’d love to hear what you are crushing on at the moment! Hop on over to our Instagram page and let me know, or leave a comment below!
Be well,
xoxo
Annette
by Annette @ Wellness WA | Jan 15, 2020 | Exercise, South of River
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What is Pilates? Pilates is an uplifting practice focused on toning, lengthening and balancing the body. As a self- confessed Pilates nerd and instructor, I work with clients to discover their mind to muscle connection, where we not only target the large muscle groups, but also those teeny tiny muscles you never knew you had. Yup, Pilates burns, but the burn is so good and slightly addictive!
It’s no secret Pilates has played a starring role in creating some seriously hot bods (think Jennifer Hawkins, Miranda Kerr and Kate Hudson to name only a few). But Pilates isn’t just for the ladies. Over the years, as a Pilates instructor I’ve seen a marked increase in the number of dudes in my classes. You know when the likes of Nat Fyfe credits Pilates to minimising his soft tissue injuries (in a Brownlow winning season no less) you’re sure to see an increase in foot traffic! The best thing about Pilates is there are so many different styles to choose from. You can choose to get sweaty, go classic (technique is boss in these classes), clinical (good-bye funky knee) or even mix a little dance in to the class- the options are endless!
Lucky for us Perth being home to some of the most active people in Australia and has a bevy of gorgeous studios just waiting to be discovered! Check these studios out for your Perth Pilates fix!
Body Base Pilates – North Fremantle
A beautiful boutique studio nestled in the back pocket of North Fremantle, Body Base Pilates is only a short distance walk from Leighton Beach and some of the freo locals’ favourite cafes and bars including Bib and Tucker, The Orange Box and Mrs Brown. A newly renovated studio, Body Base is breezy, light and modern, with so many cute indoor plants you’ll be inspired to start your own plant baby fam! Body Base offers all your classic Pilates classes including matwork and reformer, however spices the offering up with some newly introduced classes including a 30-minute power session (think TRX on steroids), progressive reformer (a combination of more advanced repertoire) and barre classes.
Reformed Pilates Co – Applecross
A small boutique studio that offers an intimate setting with an 8 client max, you are guaranteed personal attention from your instructor. This studio caters for all types of fitness and has specific classes for over 50’s and mums and bubs, so there’s something to suit everyone’s needs!
KX Pilates – Booragoon
KX Pilates is your one stop shop for taut tums and toned peaches! This Pilates studio follows a more a modern approach to Pilates, integrating heavier weights, cardio and advanced repertoire and is a good place to get your sweat on. You know those fancy Instagram Pilates poses? You’ll likely get to try these here. The instructors are not afraid of a challenge so why should you be?!
Pilates Centre WA – East Fremantle
Pilates Centre WA is owned by one of WA’s most senior and experienced instructors Trudy, who will put you through your paces! Classes are small here, so you will be given ample attention and the instructors are simply lovely. My tip is to try instructor Kasey’s cardio class. An ex prima ballerina for the WA ballet, she knows how to lengthen and tone like no other.
Control Pilates and Fitness – Hamilton Hill
The new kid on the block, Contrology Pilates opened in Hamilton Hill just over a year ago now, bringing the love of Pilates to Hammie Hill locals. This studio has a diverse schedule and a host of creative instructors who are not afraid to teach you Instagram style moves. Best of all the studio just got Afterpay, so now you can buy your Pilates classes in an even more budget friendly way – winning!
