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Sḵwálwen Botanicals – Changing the Face of Skincare
Get ready to embrace spring with our curated selection of top-notch BC-based skincare products, carefully chosen to revive and rejuvenate your skin after the tumultuous and unpredictable winter weather—because radiant, dewy skin is always in season!
After the indecisive and erratic winter we had—birds singing one day, arctic weather the next—our skin has been left a little confused and in need of some extra care.
Of course, switching up your skincare routine with the changing seasons—due to shifts in humidity, sun exposure, and extra time outdoors—is always a good idea. The best part? You don’t need to look any further than BC for skincare heroes that tick all the boxes; sustainable, made in Canada, and full of good-for-you ingredients.
This spring we want you to have the dewiest, most radiate fresh-faced skin you’ve ever experienced, so our team has rounded up the best BC based skincare products we know you’ll be obsessing over.
The Hyaluronic Acid Serum: Three Ships Dew Drops Mushroom Hyaluronic Acid + Vitamin C Serum
The Face Oil: Kid Sister Super Ego Face Oil
The Scalp Serum: Luna Nectar Atmosphere Hair Density & Scalp Serum
The Vitamin C Face Oil: Scentuals Vitamin C Facial Serum
The Toner: Skwalwen Botanicals Kalkáy Wild Rose Refreshing Toner
The Face Wash: Pink House Louelza Face Wash
The Dry Skin Set: Lavigne Mayan Magic Series
The Lip Gloss: Mismack Clean Cosmetics Gaia Gloss
The Body Oil: Merge Solstice Hair and Body Oil
The founders of Three Ships, Connie and Laura, have a rise to success that’s incredibly relatable: two women who were fed up with the greenwashed, overpriced, and overly complicated skincare on the market decided to take action. The duo embarked on a mission to create the world’s most effective natural beauty brand, and with their products now available in The Bay, we’d say it’s going pretty well—and we couldn’t be more grateful.
Their Dew Drops Mushroom Hyaluronic Acid + Vitamin C Serum is lightweight, absorbs quickly, and imparts a subtle glow to the skin—particularly beneficial during the winter months when your skin’s natural radiance seems to take a vacation. We’re especially fond of the hyaluronic acid derived from Tremella mushroom, a luxurious ingredient not commonly seen.
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Kid Sister’s founder, Max, a girl on the go, discovered a gap in the skincare industry much like the founders of Three Ships. She’s busy and has no time for, or interest in, a 12-step skincare routine. Instead, she’s created potent products brimming with deliberate and effective ingredients, with their Super Ego Face Oil being a perfect example.
The oil is suitable for all skin types and composed of nutrient rich and unique ingredients—tomato seed and Buriti Fruit we’re looking at you—as well as old favourites, Jojoba oil and Squalane. It’s quick absorbing and ultra-moisturising. Mix it with a little of your favourite moisturiser and you’re done. Bonus* The packaging is very cool and worthy of being displayed on your bathroom counter.
Luna Nectar’s journey began modestly with just one product, the Moon Boost serum, designed to stimulate hair growth for lashes and eyebrows. It gained worldwide notoriety almost instantly and has since been featured in prestigious publications like Vogue. Building on the success of Moon Boost, Mia, the founder, expanded Luna Nectar with a lineup of products that are equally as impressive.
Over the last couple of years, the scalp has finally been getting the attention it deserves—we all want luscious locks—and Luna Nectar is delivering on that promise with their Atmosphere Hair Density & Scalp Serum. This wonder product is effective for strengthening hair and promoting growth, with one of our favourite aspects being the texture. As it’s a liquid serum, it doesn’t make your hair oily or greasy upon application. You’ll see results from this atmospheric magic in as little as 2-3 weeks.
The founder, Mai, is a pioneer of the clean beauty movement, and for over 15 years Scentuals products have been free from over 2500 toxic chemicals, are safely scented, and cruelty-free. If your skin goals include achieving flawless, glowing skin, Scentuals Vitamin C Facial Serum is a lightweight miracle that’ll quickly become a beauty icon in your skincare routine. Packed with a high concentration of Vitamin C and Edelweiss Plant Stem Cells, it combats dark spots, acne scars, and dull skin effectively.
Sḵwálwen (skwall-win), the Squamish word for heart, is an Indigenous-owned skincare line that pays homage to Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) plant knowledge and ancestral traditions. They utilise ingredients harvested and sourced from plants to address various skincare needs and ailments, whether to balance and renew, strengthen and repair, or hydrate and protect. These ingredients have been cherished by Indigenous communities for centuries, lending a unique significance to all products from Sḵwálwen.This is what makes all products from Sḵwálwen so special, but if we had to choose just one product, it’s the Kalkáy Wild Rose Refreshing Toner.
The scent of Rose can be rather polarising, but this isn’t your grandmother’s musty rose perfume; this is so refreshing and subtle, imagine the scent of Parisian roses in the Jardin des Tuileries after a quick spring drizzle—yes, that lovely. Chamomile soothes, while witch hazel dissolves excess sebum, leaving the skin deeply hydrated and radiating. We cannot hype this enough. And the gold and pink packaging is very Insta-worthy.
Pink House is owned and operated by two sisters, Tegan and Lindsay. Their journey into the world of clean skincare and cosmetics is not one you hear every day, and although a painful one, it’s a story that is both inspiring and encouraging. After their mother Karen was diagnosed with breast cancer (which later turned terminal) she was shocked to discover the harmful chemicals in everyday cosmetics. This led to a spiral effect that found Tegan and Lindsay leading a truly clean skincare and cosmetics company known as Pink House, initially founded by their aunt Tracy.
While we are huge fans of all of their products, their glow stick also deserves a shout-out, the Fresh Louelza face wash is a staple in our skincare lineup. It’s a milky cleanser that melts away dirt and even makeup, purifying the skin without stripping it completely, so you’re left with a soft, moisturised face. You may be surprised to know that one of the main ingredients in Louelza is Cilantro; known to fight free radicals while being rich in Vitamin A—even if you hate the herb on your tacos, you’ll love it in your face wash. This cleanser is a game changer.
LaVigne Natural Skincare is a Vancouver-made vegan skincare brand that’s been around for over 20 years and is owned and led by mother-daughter team, Linda and Jennifer. The company utilises Tepezcohuite, a secret ingredient of the Mayans known for its deep nourishing properties. Lavigne literally checks all the boxes: plant-based, cruelty-free, vegan, paraben-free, and non-toxic.
If this winter’s bouncing back and forth between bitter cold and spring warmth has left your skin feeling dry and confused, you’re not alone; us too. That’s why we’re reaching for Lavigne’s Mayan Magic Series for dry skin. If you’re the type of person who prefers one brand to do it all, and you have dry skin, we recommend giving Lavigne a try.
The Gaia gloss is our new holy grail product. It does all the things a gloss should do: shines without being sticky, nourishes, and makes our lips look fuller, but here’s the cool part, we love a product that doubles as another. The gloss can also be added to blush for a creamy, dewy look, or used as a highlighter, so your skin glows without the sparkle.
With the company’s founder, Missy Macintosh, being an acclaimed professional makeup artist whose work has been featured in Cosmopolitan, Huffington Post, and the Daily Mail, it’s no wonder Mismack products are multidimensional, innovative, and sustainable. They are ethically sourced, green, Canadian-made, cruelty-free, vegan, toxin-free, gluten-free, and more. Honestly, they’re some of the cleanest skincare and cosmetics we’ve come across.
It figures that our favourite body oil would be made in one of our favourite locations on the planet, Tofino, by some of the coolest people on the planet. Merge, actually a hip store located in the beach town, carries an array of gorgeous, unique, and one-of-a-kind products by artisans both locally and internationally. Additionally, they offer their own line of sustainable products, including the iconic Solstice Hair and Body Oil.
Key ingredients in the oil include Rosehip, Hempseed, and Rice Bran, while the scent is an invigorating blend of lemons and wildflowers. We love slathering it on our body, hair, and face (it won’t clog pores) after hopping out of the shower. If we can’t be in Tofino to soak up that vitamin sea, the Solstice oil is the next best thing.
