By Emily Gaynor, Teen Vogue
I went all the way to a volcano in Iceland to discover the recipe for the glowiest skin ever. This is definitely a bit of a trek in the name of skincare — usually a facial at a local derm every six months suffices for me — but it was so worth it. After a 6-hour overnight flight and a 3-hour car adventure which involved careening atop sheets of ice, up mountains, and through literal streams, I arrived at Hekla, an active volcano — which could erupt at any moment.
[post_ads]After I got over the fact that I was walking on lava, I was able to appreciate the incredible (and not as terrifying) aspects of Hekla, like its geothermal pools, stunning snowcapped peaks and mossy green fields. Volcanos, while home to some of the most beautiful natural phenomena I’ve ever seen, are also a wonderful source of exfoliating sand, one of the key ingredients in OleHenriksen’s new Pore-Balance Facial Sauna Scrub. Upon landing in Iceland, I looked in the mirror and noticed my skin appeared dull and extremely thirsty after being on an airplane. But, after three days of using the gritty-but-gentle solution, I unlocked a glow level I’d never seen before. Enter #Oleglow.
When I met with the brands’ founder, Ole Henriksen himself, he explained that the new Balance franchise was meant for an oily, acne-prone skin type. The hero ingredients in the scrub work together to create a truly unique, relaxing spa experience in a bottle: AHAs to dismantle dead skin; volcanic sand for smoothing; green tea, eucalyptus, kelp and Irish moss for calming and oil absorption; and Neem seed oil, an Ayurvedic staple. The coolest, or warmest, part of the ritual is that upon massaging the formula onto skin, it immediately heats up…creating an instant “it’s working” effect. Many people flock to Iceland to visit hot springs, like the dreamy and very Instagrammable Blue Lagoon. There, you can luxuriate in the aqua-colored water and slather on mud masks. But, if you don’t have access to an Icelandic trip, Ole’s Balance Sauna Scrub truly captures a similar feeling, from the scent to the sensation.
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Ole, who is from Denmark, paired Iceland’s native elements with his Scandinavian practice of Hygge, the act of getting cozy, to create the total sensorial mood in his products (he even has a dedicated Hygge line coming out soon). Once I discovered my skin’s ability to acquire the elusive lit-from-within glow in tandem with the calming act of application, I knew my Iceland find would be coming back with me to New York. “The eucalyptus and peppermint in the scrub work together to rev up skin’s circulation and improve blood flow. The instant result is glowier skin," Ole explains. Not to mention shrunken pores and an all-over more even canvas.Exfoliating had never been a mainstay in my routine.
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My pared down skincare regimen is so simple that I often leave out the crucial step in favor of gentle cleansers and on-the-go wipes — so much so that a makeup artist once looked at me for 10 seconds before saying, “you don’t exfoliate enough, do you?” Not anymore. Now, I recreate my own geothermal pool in the shower, which also means that my getting-ready routine doesn’t take longer, even with my added step. My Sauna Scrub sits next to my shampoo and every other day I work the polish into my skin and let the healing and cooling take me on a mini vacation. After using it for a few weeks, I’ve noticed that my makeup goes on so smoothly. I don’t have the patchy dry skin that used to rest between my eyebrows and on my chin. And, my forehead, which used to go from slightly shiny in the morning to disco ball by 3 PM, is now way more balanced. No plane ticket necessary.
[post_ads]After I got over the fact that I was walking on lava, I was able to appreciate the incredible (and not as terrifying) aspects of Hekla, like its geothermal pools, stunning snowcapped peaks and mossy green fields. Volcanos, while home to some of the most beautiful natural phenomena I’ve ever seen, are also a wonderful source of exfoliating sand, one of the key ingredients in OleHenriksen’s new Pore-Balance Facial Sauna Scrub. Upon landing in Iceland, I looked in the mirror and noticed my skin appeared dull and extremely thirsty after being on an airplane. But, after three days of using the gritty-but-gentle solution, I unlocked a glow level I’d never seen before. Enter #Oleglow.
When I met with the brands’ founder, Ole Henriksen himself, he explained that the new Balance franchise was meant for an oily, acne-prone skin type. The hero ingredients in the scrub work together to create a truly unique, relaxing spa experience in a bottle: AHAs to dismantle dead skin; volcanic sand for smoothing; green tea, eucalyptus, kelp and Irish moss for calming and oil absorption; and Neem seed oil, an Ayurvedic staple. The coolest, or warmest, part of the ritual is that upon massaging the formula onto skin, it immediately heats up…creating an instant “it’s working” effect. Many people flock to Iceland to visit hot springs, like the dreamy and very Instagrammable Blue Lagoon. There, you can luxuriate in the aqua-colored water and slather on mud masks. But, if you don’t have access to an Icelandic trip, Ole’s Balance Sauna Scrub truly captures a similar feeling, from the scent to the sensation.
[post_ads_2]
Ole, who is from Denmark, paired Iceland’s native elements with his Scandinavian practice of Hygge, the act of getting cozy, to create the total sensorial mood in his products (he even has a dedicated Hygge line coming out soon). Once I discovered my skin’s ability to acquire the elusive lit-from-within glow in tandem with the calming act of application, I knew my Iceland find would be coming back with me to New York. “The eucalyptus and peppermint in the scrub work together to rev up skin’s circulation and improve blood flow. The instant result is glowier skin," Ole explains. Not to mention shrunken pores and an all-over more even canvas.Exfoliating had never been a mainstay in my routine.
[post_ads_2]
My pared down skincare regimen is so simple that I often leave out the crucial step in favor of gentle cleansers and on-the-go wipes — so much so that a makeup artist once looked at me for 10 seconds before saying, “you don’t exfoliate enough, do you?” Not anymore. Now, I recreate my own geothermal pool in the shower, which also means that my getting-ready routine doesn’t take longer, even with my added step. My Sauna Scrub sits next to my shampoo and every other day I work the polish into my skin and let the healing and cooling take me on a mini vacation. After using it for a few weeks, I’ve noticed that my makeup goes on so smoothly. I don’t have the patchy dry skin that used to rest between my eyebrows and on my chin. And, my forehead, which used to go from slightly shiny in the morning to disco ball by 3 PM, is now way more balanced. No plane ticket necessary.
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