May 14, 2009

Aventine Hill Bath Emporium Cleansing Grains

A blogging friend recently launched a lovely, affordable natural skin and body care line called Aventine Hill Bath Emporium. (Aventine is one of the seven hills on which Rome was built and the site of a temple to Minerva, goddess of wisdom, medicine, the arts, and crafts). Sheila's homeopathic concoctions include superb cleansing grains that I've been loving the past few weeks.

What are cleansing grains, you may ask? Typically oat or rice-based—and mixed with water—they've been used for centuries as a gentle, nutritional method of removing dead cells, unclogging pores and tightening the skin.

Pretty factor: My favorite among Aventine Hill's three varieties is Grandma's Herbal Cleansing Grains, which contain rice bran and colloidal oatmeal to exfoliate while soothing, and kaolin clay to tighten pores and reduce oil. Additionally, chamomile flowers calm, rose hips provide a lil' antioxidant vitamin C, and caffeine from cocoa perks up the skin.

To use: I've found that the easiest way to use cleansing grains is to sprinkle a bit into your cleanser to instantly transform it to an exfoliator. They also make an effective mask.

Eco factor: Aventine Hill products are free of parabens, sulfates, petrolatum, and synthetic color. No animal testing.

To buy: $9.50 at myaventine.com

4 comments:

sheila said...

Thank you for reviewing my grains! I'm so glad you loved them and I know anyone who will try them will as well! Personally, since I created these, I'll never use anything else on my face. They are even gentle enough to use daily. And nothing but natural for me from here on out!

Oh, and fyi...I've created a new Aventine Hill Wellness Blog http://www.myaventine.com/blog Interesting stuff here.

Lindsay B. said...

Thanks, Sheila! I love your prices, too. Last year, I was checking out the beauty editor-praised Exfoliating Rice Powder by L'Occitane en Provence but was turned off by the $18 price sticker.

Virginia Green said...

These look really interesting. I'm not so regular with exfoliating, but this sounds like a wonderful product.

Jessica said...

I'm so happy I came across this post (searching for cleansing grains). I've been looking for more natural skin and hair care products, and have been so frustrated with companies selling "natural" products filled with ingredients I can't pronounce.

I've been making many of my own products, but it can be a hassle. I was so excited to find Aventine Hill, to read fully-pronounceable the ingredient lists, and to see the affordable prices.

I've made my first order, and looking forward to trying it out!