Mother’s Day Gift Guide

May is the month when flowering trees are in bloom. The air is permeated with fragrance, and the sounds of coughing and sneezing can be heard throughout the land.

This Mother’s Day, we are more than ever before suffering from the effects of climate change and are aware of how it’s affecting us and the cherished women in our lives with colder, warmer, wetter, and dryer periods. In general, more unpleasant weather conditions that affect our aging derma.

So to honor the women we love this year (especially ourselves), we are focusing on anti-aging products that use all natural, non-toxic ingredients with scientifically proven healing properties to aid in reviving and restoring the skin to its youthful appearance.

After all, none of us are getting any younger, but in today’s world, there is no reason that we can’t look like we are! So to add to the de rigueur delivery of flowers and candy, here are a few products to consider:

N8iV: First on my list of outstanding beauty products is a noteworthy line called N8iV. I met Native American Ruth-Ann Thorn, a member of the San Diego, California Luiseno tribe, at a cosmetic trade show. She blew me away with her story. Calling on the wisdom of her people – who for centuries have used acorn oil for treating the skin – Ruth-Ann created this line by engaging with her community in its development.

The ancient knowledge was provided by the tribe elders while the entire community helps in the collection of the black acorns that grow naturally on their native lands. The nuts are of the highest quality but are harvested only once a year, making them a rare but renewable component.

In addition to the acorn oil, which has a fatty acid composition and natural tocopherols, plant stem cells, essential fatty acids, and copper peptides are added to aid in cell turnover and to promote collagen and elastin production – the necessary ingredients of a youthful complexion.

What I love about this line is that its success encouraged the women of the tribe to expand their personal outreach with arts and crafts that have long been only available locally.

So far, there are three products in the line in attractively designed packaging. For perfect gift-giving, they come in a handsome boxed set, or you can purchase each one separately.

The Daybreak Moisturizing Cream is to lighten and brighten the complexion while reducing fine lines and uneven skin tones. The nightly regiment consists of the Starlight Regenerative Cream that eliminates fine lines and rejuvenates the skin, while the restorative Starlight Regenerative Serum combines all the essential elements and packs a noticeable punch.

These rich creamy moisturizers really make a difference that is visible to the naked eye even on first application.

And just a few words about their name and logo,N8iV: the star at the top refers to their creation story “Payomkawichum,” which means people of the west and refers to the star people who were sent down from the Milky Way to tend to our Mother Earth. The number 8 refers to their calendar developed over eons of living off the land as hunter-gatherers and counts eight seasons in the year.

Ghanya Cosmetics: Another product line that seems almost impossible to deliver on its promise but blew me away is Ghanya Cosmetics. This is another home-grown line by an enterprising woman who set out to create a product to help her daughter overcome her problem skin.

After years of research and investigation using only premium ingredients, including plant cells, she achieved success in eliminating the disfiguring acne her teenage daughter suffered from.

While not initially formulated for the mature woman, after the early success with the healing properties of the products, the line has expanded to include Age Defying Booster, The Absolute Cream, and Miracle Works Elixir that work wonders on mature skin.

The line continues to expand with products that maintain radiant well-balanced skin. These products are free from impurities that cause acne in younger skin, and they help diminish the lines and discoloration in more mature skin.

Irene Forte: At the aforementioned trade show, I was introduced to another absolutely stunning line. Irene Forte is a total Italian beauty brand that features a luxurious product line along with several stunning destination spas across Italy. While I have yet to experience one of the luxurious spas, I have had the pleasure of using the line of beauty cosmetics and can testify to the effectiveness of their products.

Through the scientific formulation of botanicals and plant extracts – many sourced from their own organic farm – they have managed to develop a group of skincare products that deliver what they promise.

While this is an effective line of products developed specifically for all skin types, they are on the pricey side, but for a special woman on her special day, it’s an investment in guaranteed noteworthy results.

Veriphy Skincare: For a more affordable skin care regiment, consider Veriphy Skincare, another cosmetic line created by women. A group of female university lab scientists serendipitously came across a way to create 100% plant-based glycogen – an essential element in skin health but one which is normally animal-sourced.

This discovery led to the development of a luxury, vegan skincare line, formulated by women active in science, technology, engineering, math, and business – or STEM+B. Veriphy Skincare is a perfect example of an experiment gone wrong that led this group of enterprising young women to create not only a breakthrough product line but a new way to think and feel about beauty.

To this end, they have developed a complete array of products that fit into a woman’s beauty regimen at whatever age and stage she is in. Different package groupings are available and make great gifts.

Columbia Skincare Company: And while we are on the subject of healthy, rejuvenating skin care products, Columbia Skincare Company might revolutionize the industry. It isn’t a cosmetic company, but a 145-year-old skincare company – perhaps the oldest in the country – dedicated to healing damaged skin.

Columbia has been in the forefront of scientific investigation for the rejuvenation of burned and damaged skin. During their research, they found that a combination of probiotics, plant stem cells, and amino acid peptides have the unique ability to enhance the skin’s natural capacity to renew itself.

Columbia has addressed skincare not as a cosmetic issue but essentially as a health issue and has released two products with this in mind. Columbia Skincare Company Probiotic Concentrate and Probiotic Complex, the resulting products, are currently available only directly through the manufacturer.

NEORA: In the past few years, the hot fashion accessory has been eyebrows. At one time, it was lips – big and bright red – but the action has shifted up to the brow. There are many ways of improving artificially on what nature provided.

I have tried a few less dramatic options that work to provide fullness to sparse brows over time. The latest one I tried seems to work well and fast to fill in brows, and in my case, restore color to graying hairs: LASH LUSH by NEORA.

This product is meant to grow longer eye lashes as well as enhance brows. I have used it for only a few weeks and already see an improvement. Another of their products that is helpful to women of all ages is their cream, FIRM. It’s a body contour cream that, if used consistently, helps to reduce the appearance of cellulite and dimpled skin and firms and tones those areas that we tend to want to hide.

Made in the U.S. and distributed worldwide, NEORA offers only naturally based products.

Kamsah: And now for a non-cosmetic suggestion for the woman in your life who loves to cook and try new methods – a gift of a Tajine cooking pot by Kamsah.

Tajine cooking is a slow-cooking method used in North African cultures but is relatively unknown in the U.S. It’s an all-in-one method of combining proteins (meat, poultry, or fish) and vegetables in one pot with a lot of spices, making for a very tasty dish that will provide a nourishing meal and delight the entire family or guests at a dinner party.

For a complete guide to the tagine’s history, uses, and a sample recipe, click here. Here’s to a Happy Mother’s Day and helping the women you love remain healthy and beautiful!