Let’s face it, one of the most rewarding, not to mention fun, parts of working in the beauty industry is discovering new products. A long day in the office can be made all the sweeter by the sound of the elevator making its merry way to our floor and depositing a courier laden in goodies. But the sheer wealth of pretty packages that find their way to our desks can make it hard to sift through the brilliant, and find the truly outstanding.
A few weeks ago, one product immediately caught my attention. Maybe it was the striking contrast of the black and aqua packaging; or maybe it was the name. Black Chicken. Black Chicken? I wanted to find out more. Fast forward two days, and I found myself sharing a coffee with Chey Birch, the mastermind (and, I suspect, something of an alchemist) behind Black Chicken’s Love Your Body Oil and Love Your Face Serum.
Chey hails from Bondi and, perhaps not unexpectedly, her products contain natural and, where possible, organic ingredients. Given that her products contain a delicious mix of 11 and 12 remedial and therapeutic oils (the face serum is full of 11 oils, and the body oil jam packed with 12), you might expect Chey to be an aromatherapist by trade. Not true. Rather, she has a background in marketing, and a passion for ridding her body of toxins.
‘I studied aromatherapy about 10 years ago just as a hobby and I learned that one of the statistics is that if you put oils – lavender, is an example they use – on your body, within 20 minutes it can be detected in your liver,’ Chey tells me. ‘It started me on this journey. I began to question what was contained in the creams I put on my body every day.’
Whereas some of us may have considered the damage we were doing to our skin for, what, all of five minutes before returning to our daily activities, Chey took a different path. ‘I got all the oils that are specifically for dry and dehydrated skin, I put them all together and I mixed them up like a mad professor’ she laughs. This was ten years ago and, over the last decade, she has continued to refine her recipe.
Today, Chey believes the Black Chicken Love Your Body Oil and Love Your Face Serum are all your need to moisturize your skin, and keep them free from harmful chemicals.
‘The facial serum is a unique combination of all the oils that are really therapeutic for dry and dehydrated skin. I made it for me, which is why I didn’t skimp on ingredients,’ says Chey. ‘You can get body oils that will moisturise you – even if you put Jojoba oil on your skin it’s going to moisturise you – but the Love Your Face Serum has additional benefits from the specific combination of oils. It’s jam packed with nutrients and therapeutic qualities. There’s nothing really like it.’
Indeed, having lathered my body in Love Your Body Oil just two days earlier, I was already sold. Perhaps more by the calming scent that followed me around than by the moisturizing properties (which were also quite impressive). ‘The thing about the body oil is that it’s not only good for your skin but it’s good for the mind as well,’ Chey explained to me. ‘It really relaxes you – people sleep better. It also contains Ylang Ylang, which is an aphrodisiac and one of the most sensual oils that there is. Sandalwood, too, instantly calms the mind.’
Although designed to moisturize, both the Black Chicken body oil and facial serum are ideal for all skin types. Being slightly old-school and still on a learning curve when it comes to face oils, I can’t help but question putting oil on an already-oily face. But Chey is there to help me understand.
‘Jojoba oil actually mimics the sebum of the skin. People have this preconception that oils make you oily. But if you put oil on the skin, the sebum thinks, “ok, we’ve got oil, we don’t need to produce as much”, and it actually makes you less oily.’
There’s no denying that Black Chicken is a small player in a very large pond. But there’s a personal touch behind each product that is obvious to see. Neither are the products cheap – retailing at $69 and $79, there are certainly less expensive products on the market. But packed with 100 percent natural and organic ingredients, and with ten years of trial and error behind them, do they work better? I’ll let you be the judge. In the mean time, take a look at the properties of some of the oils contained in Chey’s products.
Vitamin E Oil assists in delaying the skin ageing process. It contains powerful antioxidants that are necessary to fight the free radicals that cause damage on the cellular level and it also helps to keep your skin tight and firm.
Certified Organic Apricot Kernel Oil is very easily absorbed into the skin, making it particularly helpful for dehydrated, delicate, distressed,mature and sensitive skin. It is particularly rich in both oleic acid and linoleic fatty acids. It is finely textured so it absorbs easily and helps in fighting fine lines and revitalizing the skin.
Certified Organic Jojoba Oil is perfect if you suffer from acne-riddled, prematurely ageing or otherwise problematic skin as it mimics human sebum, or skin oil, more closely than any other compound in nature. So it assists in bringing balanced moisture to all skin types.
Certified Organic Evening Primrose Oil is exceptionally rich in essential fatty acids that help to rejuvenate your skin, dramatically decrease fine lines and wrinkles, help smooth rough skin, hydrate extremely dry skin, produce new skin cells, aid in repairing the skin at the cellular level, help to lighten dark circles under the eyes, gives skin better elasticity by creating firmer skin and reduce noticeable redness by evening out skin tone.
Certified Organic Argan Oil has a high percentage of essential fatty acids, one of which is linoleic acid (omega 6, the most essential of all) helping to repair and defend the skin. The skin gains suppleness, elasticity and tonicity and becomes more resistant.
Rosehip oil is a skin regenerator. It has essential polyunsaturated fatty acids containing a high concentration of vitamin C which provides remarkable tissue rejuvenating and regenerating property that helps to prevent premature skin ageing.
Neroli essential oil helps improve elasticity in the skin. It acts as a rejuvenator for mature and sensitive skins because it is capable of stimulating the growth of new cells.
Certified Organic Palma Rosa essential oil moisturizes the skin, while balancing the hydration levels and stimulating cell regeneration. It balances production of sebum, to keep the skin supple and elastic.
Rose Maroc absolute essential oil is a rare and precious oil that helps rejuvenate the skin. It smoothes wrinkles and increases the skin’s elasticity.
Ylang Ylang essential oil has a soothing effect on the skin and its balancing action sorts out dry as well as oily skin by balancing the secretion of sebum
Sandalwood Essential oil is excellent for dehydrated skin and relieves itching and inflammation of the skin.
You can buy Love Your Body Oil and Love Your Face Serum online at www.blackchicken.com.au/store
