Hand-crafted goodness: Natural E

Natural E facial serum

Hey: put down that manufactured moisturizer! Give your factory-made face wash a break.

While some of my favorite natural beauty brands are big fish, there’s no denying the “warm fuzzy” feeling brought on by using small-batch, natural, handcrafted skincare products. For the past few weeks, I’ve been getting my fix fromĀ Natural E.

After I “favorited” some of her products on Etsy, Elaine from New York City-based Natural E reached out to me and asked if I’d like to sample and review a few of them. Yes, please!

One browse through Elaine’s Etsy page gives you an idea of the amount of care, precision and thoughtfulness she puts into curating the natural and often organic ingredients that make up her products: locally-sourced honey (transported by the beekeeper himself – in full beekeeping garb – through Manhattan), scents inspired by an old-time-y apothecary in the West Village…the list goes on. All of the rich scents, textures and colors of Elaine’s products, from the amber liquid in her face serum to the soothing, herbal aroma of her cleansing grains, bring a character and personal touch that is hard to find in more mainstream products. Plus, Elaine seriously knows her stuff. She’s been experimenting with and studying holistic and natural beauty since she was a teenager. She gets major brownie points from us for being an early adopter…it took us nearly 30 years to get even a basic grasp of things!

I’ve enjoyed using all of Elaine’s gentle and effective products, and some of them have become new staples for me (her lip balms, face serum and scrub…so good!). In fact, the one-two punch of using Natural E’s cleansing grains followed by the face serum helped me bounce back from a yucky break-out (!), which was an unexpected and much welcomed outcome.

Read on for the full experience and get your warm fuzzy on.

More