A Lovely (Lanolin) Beauty Tale …

Fri, 16 March 2012 11:14AM

Meet Kirsten. She’s one of my closest, dearest friends, not to mention one of the most stylish women I know, as well as cleverest minds in the beauty biz. But more on that in a minute.

Kirsten was my bridesmaid recently …

And I was hers. Way back, about ten years ago. Kirsten married into a French family, so off we all jetted to the south of France, where the movie-scene of a ceremony was held in a picture-perfect old church, and the glamorous reception at a medieval chateau. Dancing that night away, under the French stars, with a belly full of champagne and a heart full of happiness, is surely in my top five life moments.

But anyway, back to the beauty story … on the flight over, Kirsten got to grumbling about how airplane air dried her lips out, and how nothing could ever treat them to total satisfaction. In fact, she had never found the perfect lip product. And this was a girl with a serious lip balm and gloss collection – by this stage, she had been working in beauty PR for a good five years, and had been a makeup addict for many more before that.

It was on this pre-wedding flight that Kirsten came up with the idea that would also lead to a new chapter in her life. She remembered back to the lanolin her scientist dad used to prescribe for her and her siblings, for everything from cuts to dry patches. And she wondered why no company sold a lanolin lip treatment. It was what Oprah would call an ‘Aha!’ moment. Kirsten decided that she would herself launch a lanolin-based range. Another sign that it was the right thing to do: she had spent her childhood holidays on her grandparents’ sheep farm in South Australia, and the smell of lanolin – which is derived from grease extracted from shorn sheep wool – was deep in her fragrance memory.

Anyway, fast-forward to now, and I’m sure you all know Lanolips, and what a stellar, successful range it is. The original 101 Ointment is a cult buy, and found in many a beauty editor’s and celebrity’s bag; the tinted versions are also divine (my fave is the shade Apples, which gives you the most perfect Snow White-red lips ever).

I tell you all this mostly because I’m so proud of Kirsten and everything she has achieved; while building an international boutique beauty empire, she has run a successful PR and events business, and has also added on the hat of devoted mother of two. But what I really want to get to are her new products, which are under the new Lovely Lanolin brand (currently available at Priceline). And … drum roll … they are:

Golden Ointment, $28.95. Manuka honey and vitamin E mix with pure-grade lanolin to make for a treatment targeted to large, dry areas of the body. It’s the most gorgeous goo you could imagine. I coat my feet in the stuff every night before going to sleep and they’re baby-soft by morning. It’s equally effective on patchy, parched knees and elbows.

Triple Buttermilk Body Balm, $23.95. Inspired by Kirsten’s grandmother, who used to transform farm-fresh milk into butter. With vitamin E and milk extracts, it’s a simple yet lush body cream of the ye-olde-worlde variety.

 

Herbal Treatment Body Oil, $18.95. There are countless oils on the market right now, but what makes this a stand-out is that it’s based on (natch) lanolin oil, a little-used oil that sinks seamlessly into skin, instead of simply coating it. I also love the unexpected addition of pine and eucalyptus oils, which give a clean, fresh edge, and are a nice change from the sweet, tropical scent that seems to permeate from most body oils.

 

What about you, Primpettes? Have you tried any of Kirsten’s lanolin products?

Or do you any other favourite lip-to-toe moisturising buys you can share?

 

Kat xx

 

Posted by: Katrina Lawrence

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Tags: body cream, body oil, cult beauty products, lanolin, lanolips, lip balm