Material World
By Julie Jacobs
Certain materials next to the skin and hair can be soothing, even comforting. However, there’s a cosmetic advantage to Silk. Silk, woven satin or organic bamboo are a few textiles that are frictionless while on or next to the skin and hair. Continue reading for more about the cosmetic industry transitioning into a Material World here.
In the seventies I remember my mother and aunts covering their heads with a silk scarf tied underneath their chin. They did this for a couple of reasons. 1. To shield them from the cold. 2. To save their beehive hair do’s. But with the take-over of the simpler woolly hat the scarfs popularity disappeared. The main difference between these two is that the surface of silk is smooth so doesn’t ruffle the hairs cuticles and it absorbs less natural oils too. Occasionally the scarf reappears as the seasons ‘new’ trend from time to time.
Maria Sotiriou created Silke hair wraps. Inspired by the traditional hair wrapping methods of her Caribbean heritage Maria benefited from wrapping her hair in the finest 100% Mulberry silk. No more broken split ends on her cotton pillow in the mornings.
Made from 46% organic cotton, 46% bamboo and 8% elastane, Bouclème Curl Towel encourages curl formation and halves drying time without. This lightweight towel absorbs only excess water, leaving your hair hydrated. Ski wear and its ability to absorb water was the inspiration for Britta Cox, founder of the much loved (by hairdressers) AQUIS hair wrap. Britta wanted to cut down the drying time after washing her hair and found her time-saving solution in a microfiber called Aquitex®.
Wasting precious facial night creams and oils on your pillowcase is exactly what we’re doing if the pillowcase is cotton. So with Slips Zippered Pillowcase and Bouclème Silk Envelope Pillowcases waking up with less bed-head or creased skin is great. And looking after your skin from your head to toe is Espa with silk pyjamas, scarves and head wraps. Their luxurious 22 Momme silk eyemasks (truly feeling like Madonna … ‘living in a material world‘ ) boasts high density that blocks out unwanted light, perfect if like me; you find a deep sleep difficult to achieve with even a slither of light popping through your blackout curtains. And as silk is a natural fibre it makes it breathable which is perfect if it’s to be next to the skin for long lengths of time.
Sustainability is no longer an after thought of most companies now – irrespective of the industry. And there is no easier way for us to ‘do our bit’ and transition into this material world than using a washable cleansing cloth. With a slightly different woven structure CloudCloth® delivers a cloth with a gentler, finer weave. Slightly fluffy on one side for gentle cleanse and woven on the other for gentle exfoliating. Also, their finer cloth structure absorbs less lotion; in turn minimising wasted product. Typology’s Reusable Makeup Removal Pads are a mixture of bamboo, polyester and cotton for the best performance of absorbancy, softness and soothing. Another sustainable cleansing remover is Voya’s Organic cotton muslin face cloths. It works very well with all their cleansers; particularly their Totally Balmy Facial Cleanser.
Top Tip … pop cleansing pads in a laundry bag when putting into a washing machine. If not, you run the chance that they might find their way into the depths of your washing machine … I found this out the hard way!
If you enjoyed Material World, have a read of ‘A Clay Day’.
