The Art of May Lindstrom

​For a while, I've been slowly trying the May Lindstrom line of products. I say slowly because they are quite expensive but everything from ingredients to packaging is beautiful about them. I truly, truly feel like May Lindstrom is an artist, and maybe a magician in some cases with the way she blends together unbelievable concoctions to not just help the skin and nourish the skin but also to appeal to the senses as well. You can't help but feel relaxed. 

​So I'm going to make this pretty quick, hopefully, and give you what I would buy, if you're looking for suggestions. Or just give you my top faves from the line. Pretty sure I've tried everything except the Jasmine Spray. Including the mask bowl they have. This line is very much "natural/green" skincare and essential oil heavy. The collection isn't as big as other skincare lines but they hand pour and formulate all the products. I'm actually quite happy about that, as much as I want them to expand and can't wait for the newest awesome goodness they come up with, I really do like it when skincare companies go at their own pace and stick to their vision. It just shows me that they're insuring that the product is perfect before it goes out. It takes a while to get things perfect. So instead of mass produced one trick ponies, these are carefully crafted and well thought out "powerhouse" products. Meaning that they do a multitude of things for the skin. Those magic potions go into Miron Glass which filters out light. It was used in ancient times in Egypt to preserve various things. It looks black but if you hold it to the light you see that it's actually a dark indigo blue. Absolutely stunning and quite heavy. So packaging is A+ I feel. 

​My top favorite is a "no-brainer" because it's pretty much everyone's top pick and that's Blue Cocoon. For good reason, this is a balm to oil I like to refer to it as a "treatment" because I definitely look at it as a treat. It is blue, and it's packed full of very beneficial ingredients for the skin and actually for the senses as well. It houses Blue Tansy which aside from it's skin benefit actually calms anxiety. The balm as a whole, soothes irritated or troubled skin, hydrates, nourishes and my favorite part of this is that while so many skin products tell you to avoid the eye area and such they actually encourage you to use it on the delicate skin. This is what I use when I've done a potent acid treatment, or potent Vitamin A, it's also what I use at night before bed to help relax because I have trouble sleeping. I'm no stranger to essential oils, I love them actually and I do for certain feel like they are beneficial in various different areas of our day to day life. I have normal skin and this works wonderfully on me (I prefer to just use it at night), I also have a friend who has very oily, but also very sensitive skin that gets irritated by a lot of stuff. When I told her about this she immediately went and bought it and it works great for her too. So I feel comfortable saying this is suitable for anyone and everyone. Also you don't need much, folks. You don't need much at all. So this is 50 ml and I feel like that will last quite a while for me. Even using it every. single. night.

​Next would probably be the Problem Solver Mask. Once again, a multi-tasking product and it's huge, 250ml. This is something I use mainly when my skin feels congested or just bleh...you know what I mean? This is packed with antioxidants, raw cacoa, activated bamboo charcoal, spices, salts, etc. It's a warming mask and it truly is warming. It's in powder form which I tend to prefer in masks, because I'm a mad scientist at heart.  You mix it with water and it turns into a mousse texture. I use a paddle brush to paint this onto the skin. It's a brown/black mask and I prefer to do a thinner layer, don't get me wrong I make sure it's opaque and not sheer but I just like doing a thin layer if I can. I leave this on the skin for sometimes an hour. I just kick back relax and take it all in. It has some of my favorite ingredients like Vitamin C (in the ascorbic acid form no less). It also has Frankencense, another favorite of mine and actually used in quite a bit of botanical skincare products. It also has Turmeric, another favorite. This gives me more of the traditional exfoliating "scrub". Skin always feels very smooth and almost "re-vamped" after using it. However, I do go in immidiately with my next favorite because I don't like to leave the skin exposed to the elements too long before I start slathering all the nutrients I can find onto it. 

​That product would be the Youth Dew. It's a balancing facial serum with 20 various botanicals and other ingredients as well as CoEnzyme Q10. Which I love in my serums. This is actually being re-packaged into a 30ml bottle instead of the current 20ml bottle. It's a pump packaging which I also prefer. This hydrates the skin without having the oily sometimes heavy residue left behind. Meaning it absorbs pretty quickly and it's not super thick anyway. It makes my skin quite luminous and smooth, I use it at night and I rotate it in with other facial serums. I enjoy using it and Blue Cocoon together. For a little while to clear out their stock of the 20ml bottles on the website they were giving you a free Youth Dew with a purchase of $200+. Literally wanted to kick myself for not catching that deal until the day after. That's right....seen it the day after. That is my luck friends. Ah well, all good in the hood. I'm very happy for those who got to take advantage of it because I don't think you'll be disappointed.

​Lastly, is The Honey Mud mask. This is my favorite mask, of all time, in the history of ever, I do not think another mask will be able to top it. I love "honey" masks in general, this one however makes you feel like you should be eating it, instead of wearing it. Apparently you can eat it actually. What I find interesting is that you can use this to cleanse the skin or use it as a mask. I would not use this as a cleanser. I just wouldn't, it's too expensive, it smells too good, and I want it on my face as long as possible. So I use it as a mask. As with all the other products this is a multi-tasker too. It not only cleanses the skin but it also hydrates, or revives your own natural hydration, while it "feeds" the skin active enzymes. It is a bit sticky but most "honey" masks are.  As for the other "honey" masks, I've not seen one I didn't like but this one still holds the top stop. Not just of those but of every mask, ever, in the history of time. EVER.

So those are my favorite products by May Lindstrom. They aren't cheap by no means. Could you find products that are cheaper, yes. Would they be up to this quality? I don't feel like they can. Nothing comes close to Blue Cocoon so there's that. There are several other serums out that have similar ingredients to The Youth Dew, and I've tried dozens of them. So I guess it's personal preference there. I do feel like this one is better formulated and more potent than other serums I've used. The Problem Solver Mask can't be duped in my opinion. You don't may not warrant that as a need though. It's top of the line in ingredients and how it works for the skin, not to mention it will take me forever to get through that nearly 8.5 oz jar. I feel like it's worth the money but like I said it may not be a "need" for you. I prefer to put my money into skincare that is going to be of the biggest benefit like serums and oils and then go much more simple with cleansers and moisturizers or creams. The Honey Mud mask is what I'd recommend as a "treat yo self" type of thing because it is heavenly. Plus it works as a cleanser if you want it to. Meaning you can use less and massage into damp skin and it will take off makeup, dirt, sunscreen, all that jazz. Using it like that could possibly make it last longer or maybe not. Depends on how much you like to do "masks". I like using it once a week.

Also before we wrap this up, I want to point out that these aren't just skincare products, or "sensory" products to relax you. They are very much a work of art. You can tell that the detailing is important to them. The Masque bowl is from an artist who lives in California I believe, and makes all the pottery bowls and glazes them, each one being unique in some way. Whether it's the way the glaze drip dried or some other "perfect imperfection". Then of course it has the gold May Lindstrom emblem inside on the bottom. From the choice of packaging, the formulation, being hand poured, it's very much a work of art. Each and every product, even the ones I didn't mention are all part of "artisanal" skincare. So yea, it's expensive and if you aren't down with that then that's cool but if you want  to find the best possible products and experience for your skin I would point you in this direction. I can only speak for myself but it's been money well spent for me.