Moisturiser for dry sensitive skin - Apricot Kernel Oil 100ml

One ingredient! That really is all you need to keep your skin silky smooth, soft and hydrated, without upsetting your skin. Why did we ever use anything else? No artificial fragrances, preservatives or additives needed here, just a pure and natural ingredient that does the job.

It comes in a recyclable 100ml glass jar. A very useful size jar for reuse (in the kitchen) too once you’ve finished off the apricot kernel oil as well, very handy indeed.

As well as being long and arduous, the quest to find a plastic-free moisturiser was also almost extortionately expensive once I had topped up the amount I’d spent overall on samples. The problem was, that I was attempting to find a moisturiser which wasn’t hideously expensive (£50 for a 100ml tub anyone? Who is paying these prices?!) which made the search a lot more difficult. I cannot stress enough the mad prices I’ve seen very simple moisturisers advertised at, many with few ingredients that would be quite cheap to put together, and even considering labour prices; when that brand was selling other goods with similar ingredients, they would be usually half the price of a moisturiser which was frustrating. 

Moisturiser is seen as a luxury product. Fair enough, only those with enough wealth have enough time and money to worry about ageing and the state of their skin. (In the UK, everyone is in the top 10% of income earned in the world, frown on that for a second. …It’s nice to be able to worry about a few wrinkles, isn’t it?) This means it is priced accordingly. Expectation plays a huge part in the world of cosmetics, and the more you shell out, the better you think the product will have worked. This is due to the placebo effect and the fact you don’t want to feel silly about having paid £50 for a product that does the same job as a £10 one. 

I was not willing to play into this devious trend, and after something affordable, that was also plastic-free and worked as well as previous plastic packaged products I had used. Which were, to be honest, very cheap. It would be impossible to find a moisturiser that was as cheap as what I was used to, for a few reasons. As before, my previous choice of moisturisers was manufactured by enormous brands who could push the prices down to just over zilch and still make a fortune doing it. Swapping to an eco-friendly version then, sold by a small, independent business, who would be hand-making their products …Not gonna happen. This is economies of scale at play. Ingredients are more expensive if you buy smaller quantities, and labour costs are higher when products aren’t made by machines or cheap labour in developing countries. Therefore, we have to pay more to get what we want, which makes perfect sense if we shake all the ‘cheap buy it now’ style marketing we are used to by these big brands out of our heads. 

This range of products from Akamuti fitted my specifications almost perfectly. As well as working, they were reasonably priced, hurray! Finally, I can smile without my face cracking because it was so dry. A bonus is that you barely need to use any of this oil per go, just 2 or 3 drops do your entire face I’ve found. It spreads easily, so it is incredibly cost-effective in comparison to a ‘cream’ based moisturiser which you have to use more of at once. In testing have gone through about 10ml using it once or sometimes twice a day, so one bottle will probably last me about 10 months. Bargain! I do enjoy cost-effective cosmetics. 😊 

What is it made from?

100% Apricot Kernel Oil (Prunus armeniaca)

 

Where does it come from?

Akamuti is based in Wales. Only ‘100% natural botanical ingredients’ are used in Akamuti’s products. This apricot kernel oil is sourced from Italy.

 

Is it sustainable?

Apricot – Turkey, Uzbekistan and Italy are key producers of this fruit, which needs a dry climate to mature. Apricots can be susceptible to pests and fungal diseases, which it is susceptible to is often dependant on the climate where they are grown, so pesticides may be used in some areas of cultivation to avoid this. They have delicate flesh, so will more often be found dried than fresh. The oil is cold-pressed from the hard seed kernel of the apricot fruit. The kernels are around 40-50% oil, so a lot can be squeezed out of one kernel making them quite a high yield. The oil has a similar composition to almond oil, so is often used as an equivalent or instead of in cooking or cosmetics. The kernels of apricots are often seen as a waste product, so using the kernel oil helps to reduce the impact of this waste.

 

 

How about ethical?

Akamuti’s Ethical Policy – ‘We are passionate about trading ethically and fairly. This means we try to think holistically about our ingredients, i.e. where they come from, where they are grown and harvested and the environmental impact that this may have on their immediate surroundings. Whether it be argan oil from Morocco or shea butter from Ghana – we believe in promoting sustainability from start to finish, so that everyone benefits!

We believe that by paying fair prices to small businesses for their produce, it will provide growers with a sustainable income. This enables them to build a better, more sustainable life for themselves and their communities. Fair prices contribute toward protecting vulnerable livelihoods and environments. Poor prices paid for high quality, labour-intensive products result in undermining the value of a product and the people who produce it. Unfair trade feeds the oppressive cycle of poverty and we believe that we can break that chain by supporting fair trade practices and principles.’

 

Extra good stuff:

Environmental Policy – Sustainability is really important to Akamuti – ‘We don’t use any unsustainable ingredients from endangered plants or tree species such as sandalwood and rosewood. If we’re aware that using a certain plant contributes to habitat destruction, we’ll choose something else!’ (…This is a very refreshing pledge, as all too often brands choose ingredients without thinking back through their supply chain, this is true even of a lot of ‘eco-friendly’ companies sadly. We all need to be more holistic like this, everything comes from somewhere after all, who knows what knock-on effects we are having if we are ignorant in this way? As you know, ABP does it’s best to combat this with the research we do on the ingredients and materials in the products we sell.)

Akamuti have an eco-friendly office, using recycled paper and environmentally friendly packaging. They have a zero-waste policy in their office, they recycle or compost all of their waste to try and make sure nothing ends up in a landfill.

Akamuti uses organic ingredients, but for those wondering how this is checked: ‘All of our organic ingredients come from an accredited source, usually the Soil Association or Ecocert. We are not certified or licensed by the Soil Association due to administrative and membership costs.’ (…Sadly, being independently audited/verified by certification schemes is usually very expensive, making it out of reach for lots of otherwise very compliant, passionate small businesses. ☹)

Cruelty-free - ‘At Akamuti, we are totally against all forms of animal testing and ensure that all our raw ingredients are sourced from animal-friendly suppliers. Our fixed cut-off date is the same as our company formation, i.e. July 1st 2003. We have never tested any of our products on animals and it has been our priority to source ingredients from suppliers who uphold the same policy. This means that none of our ingredients or end products have ever been or ever will be tested on animals. Our preparations are tested by willing people and assessed for safety by our laboratory.’

 

Conclusion –

I’m sure I don’t need to grease this transaction; this apricot kernel oil speaks for itself when it comes to tip-top skin hydration!