Jones & Modha: no. 1 Eau de Parfum

It’s December already – time really does fly by at The Amazing Blog, and we’ll all be happy to see the back of this terrible year... As we come in and out and in again with the lockdown.  To our horror, we’ve suddenly realised that there’s very little time left to find our Christmas presents. So for December, we’ll be giving you some great gifting ideas starting with today’s natural plant alchemy fragrance from Jones & Modha, which we think is just perfect for helping make life a little more fragrant!

The brand Jones & Modha are all about returning to natural plant alchemy, the ancient ways of perfume making. This is done very simply by blending only the purest essential oils from plants, without any synthetic or animal substances. Co-founders and friends Catrin MacDonnell and Hemali Modha who recently launched the brand said: “For too long there has been so little choice for anyone who loves our planet. Things are changing and more of us are searching for eco-harmony and integrity within the health and beauty industry. We wanted a natural scent that is not tested on animals, does not use any animal-derived ingredients.” With very little of this available, they decided to create their own with Jones & Modha. Their aim with this range is to offer the world unique scents that are mindful of people, animals and the planet all without compromise. Their fragrances are designed and crafted using exclusively natural essential oils, leaving out all chemical and animal-derivatives that are usually found in commercially manufactured perfumes. As sustainability is important to the brand they also paid much attention to the packaging, ensuring that no extra plastic or cellophane is ever used. Each component is recyclable or has a low carbon footprint by minimising travel and the use of fossil resources. We love that they also donate 2.5% of their profits to environmental charities. Something else that convinced us to try their fragrance, is that this perfume is gender-neutral, and so we agree with Catrin and Hemali who say: “Why should anyone be allowed to tell us which perfume we should buy based on gender?”

For its first perfume launch, the Jones & Modha No.1, brings us a fresh, uplifting and comforting sunny fragrance; we think it’s perfect for any city dwellers dreaming of an escape to the country. At first, it has citrusy top notes like lemon myrtle and bergamot giving a very fresh and elevating feel, but shortly afterwards these become less citrus and more spicy/floral with the middle notes of rose geranium, linden, ginger, and coriander in the blend; finishing with the woody base notes of cedarwood and rock rose, balancing the fragrance. This scent is quite long-lasting, and even though Jones & Modha only offer this one fragrance, for now, this certainly has a bigger enough scent personality to be a staring standalone. Each of us who tried the scent found it unique and different, meaning that it didn’t smell identical on any one of us. This complex blend combined with an individual’s skin scent created a unique and personal fresh fragrance that we all loved! This 50ml planet-friendly fragrance comes in an elegant but minimalist and completely recyclable packaging designed by artist Judith Archer, and is available for £69.00 here. What could be a more perfect and individual present, than to give this to your loved one?

Vedic Botanicals – Alk-Align Toning Mists

During these colder months, skin hydration is more important than ever. Going between the extremes of the chilly outside world and central heating plays havoc with our skin. This is where for us at The Amazing Blog we’ve been regularly ‘spritzing’ our faces with these Alk-Align Toning Mists from Vedic Botanicals, best of all, we’ve found that they’re stopped our skin from feeling tight and dehydrated. 

The Vedic Botanical’s founder Rachel Warnock has always had a desire to do what’s right by the environment and the people around her. After gaining a master’s in Vedic Science and Ayurvedic Medicine, the global 2008 economic crisis happened… Unsure of what to do, or where to go, she started working mediocre jobs to get by. However, dissatisfied with what she was doing, she decided to follow her passion by making her own products and thus started the brand with the motto of: “From soil to skin, only goodness goes in!”. Vedic Botanicals has created a variety of organic Ayurvedic body and skin care, hair serums and mists. Warnock is committed to using environmentally friendly practices where her products are certified organic and cruelty-free. Their packaging is reusable and is made from compostable plant-based plastic. They use eco-friendly practices wherever possible and compost any products past their sell-by date and have a workshop which is 100% solar powered. One of the more unique aspects of this company is their ‘empty jar guarantee’. If at the end of using one of their products you’re unhappy, you can simply return the empty to them and receive a full refund! We applaud Vedic Botanicals for their ethos and have quoted here from an interview with Warnock and Conversations with Kim: “We believe that profit made at the expense of the Mother Earth is not worth making. It only robs future generations along with the other species sharing this planet with us.  We vet the companies we source our herbs, oils, and packaging materials from choosing companies with eco-friendly practices to maintain sustainability top to bottom.” 

These are now some of our go-to winter products, the Alk-Align Toning Mists which come in two different blends has alkaline water and are one of the first toning mists to have a pH level of 9 (see the recent feature here where we talk about pH levels in the skin) There is the Ourika or the Kamogawa blend, both of these mists are created as multi-taskers they can hydrate, balance, cleanse, or tone the skin. We’ve been using these by spritzing onto our face and letting it absorb on makeup-free skin (at home in lockdown!) or as a cleanser/toner using these either end of the day.  Both mists contain oxygenated water which promotes hydration, detoxification and blood circulation. The Ourika mist, which is named after the Ourika river in Morocco, is created to help with your dry or oily skin with a spring-like floral scent. The key ingredient here is the frankincense which is known to help hydrate dry skin and reduce the appearance of wrinkles. Whereas the Kamogawa mist, which is named after Duck River in Kyoto, it addresses uneven skin tone and has a more autumnal earthy scent. The white rose hydrosol here is a popular toner often formulated for dry skin. The helichrysum hydrosol is good for calming and correcting redness or dryness helping to balance the skin. We like how both these are pocket-sized at 30ml – making them easy to keep with you to spritz on the skin throughout the day.  Keep your skin nice and hydrated throughout these cold weeks and purchase your Alk-Align Toning Mists for the Vedic Botanicals here for $18.47 each.