As a chronically sensitive soul, it can be hard to find products that rank high on the sensorial scale without sending my skin into a meltdown. As anyone prone to reactions will know well, the things that are the most fun to use are often the riskiest, with essential oils, thick scrubs and cosseting creams often inducing a dermatological disaster.
And while there are plenty of brilliant skincare brands out there catering to those of us that need to squint at the ingredients lists, it’s also true that a lot of the best products are utilitarian and, frankly, joyless – which is exactly why I’ve become so enamoured with one recent discovery in particular.
Mount Sapo – named after a mountain that, according to Greek legend, bore the first ever natural soap – is a burgeoning British brand producing the most delicious hair and body oil. Beauty journalist and creative director Nellie Eden actually put it forward as her favourite beauty discovery last year – and I have to say, I’m equally hooked.
The ingredients list is exemplary: the argan base is blended with 16 other oils, from irritation-calming calendula to uplifting ylang ylang, via lemon and lavender. The formula is 99% Cosmos-certified organic, with the remaining 1% representing the palo santo, which can only be wild-harvested.
This honeyed oil can be used pretty much anywhere, in any way you fancy: slather it onto your hair as a pre treatment, or employ a tiny drop to stop frizz after styling. Use it to soften skin and make your foundation look dewier, as a bath oil, or even a massage medium at the end of a long day. I’ve been applying it head to toe after a morning shower, and can attest it keeps dry limbs feeling more supple than my body cream with a triple-figure price tag.
The brand isn’t promising to perfect your face, correct your complexion or do anything to make your body fit whatever the zeitgeist is serving up as the standard this season – but nor is it shouting performatively that you must love yourself at all hours of the day. It’s body neutrality at its most simple: a product for you and you only – well, maybe also anyone that gets close enough to smell you.
Speaking of that addictive scent: it’s bracing and herbal – medicinal, but in a really good way – with dominant notes of green vetiver and deep, earthy palo santo. More subtle and sensual than a traditional perfume, it'll cut through the cloying humidity that seems to be the weather’s only setting right now and keep you feeling clean and composed through the stickiest of commutes.
Really, this simple, soulful oil is just the kind of product the industry needs more of: it'll encourage you to sit, phone-free, for a few minutes longer in the mornings, paying attention to yourself rather than slapping on seven expensive serums and running breathlessly out the door. And, proving this level of luxury doesn’t need to cost more than your water bill, a bottle comes in at £28 and will last for weeks.
