Slow Skincare with Kindred Black
Images: Kindred Black
The skincare industry was once dominated by unfriendly packaging, toxic ingredients and plenty of greenwashing. Let’s slow down and investigate a new way to look after your skin with Kindred Black’s KB Slow Skincare.
Kindred Black is an ‘environmentally focused retail project’, where luxury eye-candy design meets luxury eco-responsibility ethical manufacturing. In our eyes, it’s the boutique of the future. Founders Alice and Jenn found themselves burnt out from working in fashion and so decided to make a positive change. In 2015 they founded Kindred Black, an exercise in connecting shoppers with artisans, designers, and makers of all kinds who are committed to eco-friendly, ethical, and low-impact choices.
Since day one they’ve been members of 1% For the Planet and donated 1% of their sales every year to environmental groups. They believe that there should be karmic energy in the fashion and beauty industry. What goes around, comes around. So over the last four years, Kindred Black has donated percentages of their sales to The Durrell Foundation, The Environmental Defense Fund, Planned Parenthood, CEDO (The Intercultural Center for the Study of Deserts and Oceans), and Native Seeds in Arizona.
The offering features fine jewellery, sexual wellness, and luxury fashion basics lines, as well as the jewel in the crown, KB Slow Skincare. Here’s the fun part: their slow skincare is pure, sustainable perfection (or at least the closest you can get). Each product is a treasure, both for your skin and for your make up table. Crafted in stunning recycled, handmade glass bottles in their glassblowing studio in Oaxaca, Mexico, their artisans have perfected a system of creating beauty from waste. Attention is also paid to the way the bottles are produced. The workshops power their furnaces and annealing ovens using processed, used vegetable oil from local restaurants and methane gas produced on-site. Other equipment is solar-powered, and the glass itself is made from recycled bottles brought to the studio by waste pickers, restaurants, and locals. The reusable, handmade orb bottles are closed with a biodegradable and renewable cork. To top is all off (literally) each bottle is sealed for shipping with natural wax.
The same attention to detail is lavished upon all the products you can find on the website. Packaging materials are plastic-free, and they use recycled boxes, tissue paper, and water-activated paper tape. Their signature floral paper is made with 100% PCW and is printed near their office with vegetable and soy inks. Even the note cards, shipping labels, and stickers are printed onto recycled paper. To replace plastic bubble wrap, they use a paper padding called Green Wrap, an alternative that is biodegradable, compostable, SFI-certified, and fully recyclable.
ORGANIC SONORAN JOJOBA OIL, apprx. £43
An absolute must for oil aficionados. If applying oils is part of your routine, you probably know already that jojoba oil will never let you down. This unproblematic beauty friend is great for both body and hair. Produced in a family-run farm in the Sonoran Desert this oil is the most similar to your skins natural oils.It’s naturally astringent, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, non-toxic, and non-comedogenic. A perfect carrier oil, it’s blendable with your essential oils of choice.
CHILTEPIN ALLEVIATION OIL, apprx. £63
Chiltepin Alleviation Oil is an all-natural pain-relieving spot treatment made with an infusion of chiltepin chilis and meadowsweet in a base of pure castor oil. Castor oil is naturally anti-inflammatory, enhances local immunity by increasing the production of white blood cells and stimulating tissue growth. Plus it’s known to help to reduce pain by calming affected nerves. The castor oil is infused by hand with wild-harvested chiltepin peppers, a native vegetation to the Sonoran Desert which enhances pain relief. Meadowsweet leaf and flower contain natural salicylates, which act similarly to (an all-natural) aspirin.
AKER FASSI LIP AND CHEEK STAIN, apprx. £56
Aker Fassi is a natural stain made from dried poppy flowers and pomegranate rind that has been used as a cosmetic by Moroccan Berber women for centuries. A lush crimson, this buildable lip and cheek stain is handmade in Casablanca exclusively for Kindred Black using organic prickly pear seed and organic argan oils from women-owned collectives. It’s blended with the natural pigments of saffron and poppy flowers, and scented with pure, calming organic rose absolute.
SIMMER DOWN, apprx. £94
This body oil is crafted with 100% pure, cold-pressed, organic Argan oil from a women-owned collective in Morocco. Organic Sonoran Jojoba Oil and farm-distilled peppermint oil is blended with organic French lavender oil. It is the perfect oil blend to cool the body, refresh and relax tired and strained muscles, and it can help calm and ground the senses. The scent of lavender specifically has antidepressant qualities and is used extensively in aromatherapy to mitigate anxiety, insomnia, and mental exhaustion.
CHAMOMILE PASSION FLOWER PEACE OIL, apprx. £94
Chamomile Passionflower Peace Oil is an organic herbal infusion of chamomile blossom and passionflower in a light and hydrating Sonoran jojoba oil. Both plants act on the brain to quell anxiety, ease frayed nerves, and relieve irritability, and they’re also amazing for the skin. It’s naturally anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, and antimicrobial chamomile reduces redness. In addition this wonder plant soothes irritations such as breakouts, sunburn, rashes caused by dehydrated skin, psoriasis and eczema. Passionflower, with its high content of vitamins A and C, nurtures and refreshes the skin, soothes fine lines and wrinkles, and promotes a clear and glowing face and body.
Disclaimer: The content of this article is for general advice only and should not be used as a substitute for professional healthcare or beauty advice. We make every effort to ensure we only recommend safe products however you should always do a patch test when trying new products. This post may contain affiliate links.
