Daily delight: Discovering INIKA goodness

Whilst interviewing make up artists and profiling brands for the New Zealand Fashion Week Guide magazine that I edit each year, I came across Inika. An all-natural Australian cosmetics brand, it has some pretty impressive credentials as well as being blissfully nasties-free. Created in 2006 by Miranda Bond and Jenni Williams, the power duo behind the highly successful Thriving Healthy Women Network, Inika has a celebrity fan base that includes the like of Stella McCartney, “Bones” actress Emily Deschanel and Kate Richie, amongst other names. It is the only cosmetics company in the world to be 100 per cent Certified Vegan or Certified Organic or Both, 100 per cent Certified Cruelty Free and 100 per cent Certified Halal. Inika products are also guaranteed to be completely free from harsh petrochemicals, fillers, talc, bismuth oxychloride, GM ingredients, parabens, preservatives, mineral oils, phthalates and fragrances. The company has used the best mineral ingredients and certified organic botanicals to offer great performance and ‘stay ability‘, issues that often plague natural brands. The brand’s beautifully soft Mineral Foundations are recommended by dermatologists and cosmetic surgeons as they are so pure they can be used immediately after cosmetic work or IPL, whilst their entire offering is non-comedogenic, which means their products won’t clog your pores, and are so gentle that women who have suffered allergies and sensitivities to cosmetics for years have been able to wear them without any reaction. Great news all round, really! Thus far I’ve been trialling one of their mineral eye shadows, gun metal, which has an intense pigment (as do all 24 shades on offer, apparently) and is about as longwear as they come. It hasn’t irritated my sensitive, contact lens-wearing peepers either, which is a bonus! If you haven’t tried this brand so far I suggest that you do.