This holiday, shop local for life's little luxuries. Bay-based beauty brands continue to do their part creating both effective and innovative skincare products. And, most of these products are organic and use natural ingredients wherever possible. Here are four luxurious gift ideas from some of the Bay's best beauty brands.
Benefit Bathina ($28)
With its reliable products and witty packaging, Benefit has cornered the cheeky beauty category. The Bathina glimmering body balm isn't new—it's actually a tried and true best seller—but it's a fun gift because it's easy to apply and flatters most skin tones with its pretty pinkish gold luminosity. It also makes skin radiate in photographs and has a delicious sweet powdery smell.
Juice Beauty CC Cream ($39)
Bucking the BB Creams on the market, hot off the presses is Marin-based Juice Beauty's CC Cream. The color corrector comes in two shades, Natural Glow and Warm Glow, and combines fruit stem cells and Vitamin C with a grapeseed base that helps repair sun damage, reduce fine lines and wrinkles and evens skin tone and texture. This plant-derived multitasker also protects with chemical-free SPF 30.
Pacific by Marie Veronique Organics Pacific Face Oil ($110)
Marie Veronique Organics has expanded with a treatment-driven line of anti-aging products made from ingredients found in the Pacific Ocean and throughout the Pacific Rim. The Pacific Face Oil is crafted from seed oils, a rich source of antioxidants. One heavy hitter is astaxanthin; extracted from Hawaiian red pond algae, this is the most powerful antioxidant on record. This face oil will help replenish skin's top layers enabling it to retain moisture and repel environmental damage.
Tatcha Rice Enzyme Powder ($65)
San Francisco-based Tatcha has married the 300-year-old beauty, artistry and heritage of the geisha with modern science creating an enchanting skincare collection. The Rice Enzyme Powders are particularly interesting. The water-activated enzyme powder of rice bran, papaya, and HADASEI-3 Bioactive Complex (the line's proprietary anti-aging complex) removes makeup and dirt, leaving skin refreshed. The sensorial foaming sensation makes it pleasurable to apply and the powder base is travel-friendly.
Sam Durbin (sami.7x7@gmail.com) is a California lifestyle writer who honed her blogging skills as Editor of FabSugar.com. Sam graduated from The Fashion Institute of Technology, and also writes for 7x7 Magazine, Zagat and PureWow.
