Boy, am I a sucker for a good pun and an organic, local, fair trade beauty product. You Don't Shea ($24 CAD for 8 oz.) is an organic, fair trade shea body butter by the brand Lines of Elan.
A little background - Lines of Elan is a Toronto based business started by two friends Laura Craig and Sarah Marcus. The brand is built on three pillars - Sustainability, Community and Simplicity and the three pillars are exhibited through reusable and eco-friendly packaging, locally sourced or fair trade ingredients and no additives, synthetics or preservatives. Their product lineup is fairly small, easy to navigate, and includes skincare, haircare, lip balm, candles and dryer balls. Lines of Elan was kind enough to send me a few of their products, so I'll be reviewing a few things starting with the Lines of Elan You Don't Shea Body Butter.
Packaging. An aluminum tin, with a twist-off cap that is both recyclable and reusable. It's true to the brand's commitment to sustainability. Thumbs up for that.
Scent. It smells very... natural. My nose doesn't pick up on the camellia oil scent, just the shea. It's not a good or a bad thing, just simple. If overly scented products bother you then this definitely won't.
Ingredients. Shea butter and camellia oil. It's that simple.
Texture. Right out of the tin, it's as hard as a rock. The opposite of what I think of when I hear the word butter, if you will. A little warmth from smoothing it into the skin and then it's like butter. While natural is all well and good, I guess I associate smooth, creamy products with luxury. There's two ways I go about getting something stiff to smooth onto my skin. (1) There's what I call the "gross way", which involves using my very long nails to scrape at the product, slathering the product on the back of my opposite hand, then warming it up with my fingertips. It's quick and dirty. (2) Then, there's the "normal way" which involves rubbing my fingertips into the product until it's warmed and soft enough to apply onto the skin.
Application. Nowhere on the Lines of Elan website does it specify where this can be used. It just says that You Don't Shea can be used to "soothe and protect the driest of skin", so I tried it everywhere. It's a little bit too moisturizing for me to use it on my oily face but it's perfect for my drier areas - legs, arms, feet, cuticles, hands. It takes a fair amount of time (10 to 15 mins) for the product to absorb into the skin and after it does, the moisturizing effect lasts all day long.
Price. Is it worth it? Yes. Considering you can buy a pound of pure shea butter (not necessarily organic or fair trade) on Amazon for about $30, $24 for half of a pound of fair trade, organic shea butter mixed with some camellia oil is justifiable in my mind. Lines of Elan also sells a 2 oz. version of You Don't Shea for $12, which is clearly not a good deal compared to the the 8 oz. for $24.
FIND LINES OF ELAN:
Website - http://www.linesofelan.com
Instagram - @linesofelan
Twitter - @linesofelan
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/linesofelan
Have you heard of Lines of Elan? Do you have a favourite organic/natural/fair trade brand?
FTC: Press samples featured. Not sponsored.
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