It’s October, (how did that happen?) and that means that its’ time to introduce this month’s selection from Beauty Heroes.  It’s a my very favorite product from farm-to-face line Bottega Organica, and it’s normally very expensive, so you might want to go ahead and pull the trigger on this one – I bet it will sell out!

I’ve reviewed Bottega Organica’s Illuminate Eye Contour Cream before here.  I usually prefer eye serums to creams, but this one has no weird emulsifiers in it and the rich-but-weightless formula sinks right in while doing some heavy-duty moisturizing.  It also contains a host of anti-inflammatory, anti-aging ingredients that really make a difference in the appearance of the skin around my eyes.  Arnica, Cucumber and Horse Chestnut detoxify and increase circulation to visibly reduce puffiniess, Coneflower and Wild Carrot create a noticeable glow, and Prawn Sage is a cell-generating antioxidant powerhouse.  These revitalizing ingredients are mixed into a base of Bottega Organica’s famously fresh organic olive oil, (from their own farm in Liguria, Italy) so the texture is like a delicious olive-butter.  This is the best, most luxurious eye cream I’ve ever tried.  Also, I have very sensitive eyes, and I find it incredibly gentle.

Ingredients: Rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) flower/leaf/stem water*, olea europaea (olive) fruit oil**, cera alba (beeswax)*, glycerin*, echinacea purpurea (coneflower) extract**, arnica montana (arnica) flower extract*, salvia haenkei (prawn sage) extract**, daucus carota sativa (carrot) flower/seed extract**, aesculus hippocastanum (horse chestnut) extract *, cucumis sativus (cucumber) fruit extract**, pelargoniun graveolens (geranium) oil*, boswellia carteri (frankincense) oil*, cananga odorata (ylang ylang) flower oil*

The sidekick this month is Bottega Organica’s Cleansing Oil.  Lemon, Thyme and Prawn Sage are blended with farm-fresh olive oil to soften skin, remove impurities and deliver antioxidants.  The herbal-lemon scent is very uplifting, and it can also be used as a body or shaving oil.

Ingredients: Olea europaea (olive) fruit oil (bo), citrus medica limonum (lemon*) peel extract, thymus vulgaris (thyme*) flower/leaf extract, citrus medica limonum (lemon) peel oil*, limonene (eo), salvia officinalis (sage*) extract, salvia haenkei (sage) extract (bo), thymus vulgaris (thyme) oil*, citral (eo), linalool (eo), geraniol (eo)

A little about Bottega Organica: if this line is new to you, it is worth learning a bit about its history.  While world-renowned geneticist Dr. Alimonti (Harvard and Sloan Kettering) was studying a novel cure for cancer he developed a screening method to detect the effect of plant extracts on aging and skin senescence. After screening thousands of different combinations, he was able to identify a handful of Natural Inhibitors of Senescence (NIS) – natural substances with the potential of slowing the aging of human cells; Bottega Organica was born soon after.  Dr. Alimonti has since won the Dr. Josef Steiner Cancer Research Award (2015), which is second only to the Nobel Prize for Cancer Research.  Most products are made in small batches on the founder’s farm in Liguria, Italy, (which has been in the family for over 500 years, and pesticides have never been used there) and all the organic and wildcrafted herbs are harvested on site and then alchemized with cold-pressed olive oil.  And, this isn’t just any olive oil –   it’s made from perfectly ripened olives that are cold-pressed on the same day that they’re harvested.   This allows the oil to retain its powerful anti-aging properties.  These products are definitely not the equivalent of rubbing some store-bought olive oil on your skin.  (All of Bottega’s creams are made in batches of 20 units (!) on the founder’s alternate dreamy oasis, a farm in upstate New York.)

This duo retails for $157, but if you subscribe to Beauty Heroes, you’ll get it for less than $40!  This is a a crazy-good deal.  If it doesn’t sell out first, you can sign up for this month’s Beauty Hero here until October 20th.  And, don’t forget, members get 15% off of everything in the Beauty Heroes Shop every single day!

What is your favorite Clean eye cream or serum?

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