I love that self-care has evolved past face masks. Now, we’re embracing rituals that cover our mind, body, and spirit, along with our usual facial products. My idea of self-care these days involves digital detoxes, journalling, getting outside, and treating myself to indulgent products that make me feel better on the inside as well as the outside.
New Irish brand Ealu, founded by Carly Colgan Bates and Susan Fox, has launched with three beautiful products. Having known Carly for years and her love of an at-home pamper evening, I knew she’d deliver the goods. I love that we have another fantastic female-founded brand with two women who know their stuff at the helm.
When they announced the range and opened them up for presale, I signed up from two different email addresses to make sure I wouldn’t miss out and bought all three products to test out and put through their paces.
I love the fact that Ealu’s formulas contain active ingredients, and it was important for Carly and Susan to show that the skin on our bodies deserves the same love and attention as the skin on our faces. And on our face, we’re all about the active ingredients, so why not use them on our body?
Ealu Body Sand – €25
I feel like I’m a happier person when I’ve exfoliated my body! You know the way a walk on a blustery day can blow away the cobwebs in your head? Well, that’s what a body exfoliation feels like to me.
Body Sand is beautifully grainy, and when you feel its texture, you know you’re going to have a good aul scrub. What makes this even more indulgent is that by rubbing it between wet hands, you can create a foamy lather, and that’s how it’s supposed to be used. Doing this helps the product go further, so we’ll get lots more scrubs out of it.
When I use Body Sand, I give myself the all-over treatment, but I take more time on areas like the backs of my arms, elbows, knees, and heels—anywhere that I feel has a build-up of dead skin cells. As soon as I’ve rinsed it off, there’s an instant difference in my skin, and with ingredients like squalane and glycerin, the skin is left hydrated, soft, and nourished.
Ealu Body Drench – €25
The next step is to lash on the Body Drench and this is something special. I’ve not come across a body moisturiser with a texture like this before because when I apply it into the palms of my hands, it looks and feels like a lightweight white gel. In the past, when I’ve used moisturisers with a gel texture, they absorb too quickly, but they don’t leave my skin feeling hugely hydrated.
Body Drench disappears into the skin in seconds, turning from white into clear, but there’s still plenty of slip as I work it into my skin, rather than instantly absorbing as it turns transparent. It has a non-sticky, non-greasy formula with squalane, 1% Vitamin E to nourish and 0.5% ectoin.
I love Ealu’s signature jasmine and coconut fragrance and how light and delicate it is. I tend to associate coconut-scented products with summer and wondered if I’d only use the range in the warmer months, but the jasmine balances the coconut out perfectly, so I know this will be an all-year-round scent for me.
Ealu Body Gloss – €38
If I’m having an evening of self-care, that’s where my body care would end, but if I’m easing my way into the day and the self-care is happening in the morning, I use the Body Gloss at the end of my routine. This has gotten a lot of attention since its launch on Instagram, and for good reason. Described as a “vitamin-enriched, ultra-hydrating body oil, ” this is for those looking for a body oil with a more subtle shimmer. This shimmer is so refined that it gives the skin the most radiant, healthy-looking sheen without it looking glittery.
With 51% squalane to hydrate and protect the skin from free radicals, this leaves my skin with a J Lo type of glow and helps to firm it up, too. I especially love applying it to the cheekbones for that “Oh me? Yes, I’m glowing au naturel” vibe. And it gives the skin the tiniest tint, too, which is perfect for those of us who haven’t quite managed to see enough of the sun this year to take the blue out of our skin! Below is a thick swatch, but keep an eye on my Instagram as I’ll be showing it in action next week!
While Body Gloss has become the most viral of the three products online because you can see it in action, my favourite is Body Drench. There’s something so special about the formula, and I know this will be the first product from the range that I will repurchase.
You can shop Ealu’s stunning products from Ealu-moments.com or from one of their 50 stockists nationwide.
Read lots more product reviews here!
