2020 has been tough, bumpy, taxing, and stressful.
One of the first things I recall reading was an article from Biography: “Isaac Newton Changed the World While In Quarantine From the Plague.”
Lofty, hopeful, inspiring. But ultimately—honestly—somewhat unreal. But what a perfect time, I also thought, to wash our hands of past failure and socially distance ourselves from negativity. Emotionally, we needed focus, space, safety and calm. Physically, we needed…an elixir?
From Websters: (n) a magical medicine or potion. Spot on. Who couldn’t use a little magic about now?
Cultivating some of nature’s most vibrant ingredients and combining them with a decade of hands-on experience in the industry, celebrated celebrity makeup artist Omayma Ramzy has rolled out just that.
Meet the new beauty on the block. Bedouin Elixir Facial Oil by Omayma, born 30 July 2020. A cute, chimerical emerald green bottle weighing 50 grams, 30 milliliters, all handcrafted in small batches only and never tested on animals.
It came seven short months after digital real estate was secured for its debut: omaymaskin.com, born Monday, 30 December 2019, and still its exclusive outlet.
How many iterations this elixir saw in its making I couldn’t even begin to fathom. I’ve studied product lines in detail, spent hours scouring, tabulating and cross-coordinating EWG’s Skin Deep database only to then dive even deeper. Heck, I’ve spent hours with top-line organic beauty product manufacturers. It’s not easy.
I know of a wildly popular beauty brand once on the cusp of being picked up by an international retailer. At the 13th hour, they had to amp up the preservatives if they dreamed of ever hitting store shelves. Shelf life is always a problem and it’s typically proportional to the number of unwanted preservatives. But here, OmaymaSkin has solved even that: the magical Bedouin Elixir maintains stability for 12-15 months (Bravo!) and is recommended for best-use within 6 to 8.
Here’s everything you need to know about it.
- What’s In a Name?
Bedouin Elixir Facial Oil. The Bedouins are a nomadic Arabian people of North Africa’s desert regions. Badawi = desert dweller.
- How long does it last?
Bedouin Elixir Facial Oil by Omayma is available in a standard 30 ml bottle. That bottle contains 600 drops, of which you should use 1-3 drops x 1 to 2 uses daily (morning and evening). Ergo, with both morning and evening application, you’re looking at anywhere from 100 to 300 days (or from 3 1/2 to nearly 10 months) of use with a single bottle.
- How is it used?
Alone or added as the final step to your existing skincare routine. Clean your hands and face, then squeeze 1 to 3 drops into your palms. Press your hands lightly against your face and make upward circular motions as you spread it around and lightly massage it in. Brand new to facial oils? Ease in with evening use only, on its own or beneath your moisturizer.
- What does it do?
For starters, it softens, smooths and hydrates skin, reduces inflammation and fights free radicals. Packed with vitamins (A, B, D, E and K) the primary Omegas (3, 6 and 9) and essential fatty acids, it balances pH values, reduces sebum build up and thus reduces pore size.
- How does it smell?
Goddesly. Natural and fully fragrance-free. “Herbal-floral” is spot on. There are no fragrances added so the scent is entirely from its natural ingredients, which you can read in full here.
- Skin tones and skin types its best for
There’s no way to say this without coming off as cliche. So, all skin types, tones and conditions. All sexes. All ages (please, no young uns). Its organic ingredients are uber effective in bolstering healthy skin to the next level, leaving it vibrant, glowing and even healthier. And for dry, dehydrated, oily or acne prone skins, its Jojoba, Neem, Prickly Pear Seed, Sea Buckthorn Fruit and other oils will swiftly soften and restore it to balance, health and beauty.
- Benefits of Bedouin Elixir Facial Oil by Omayma
- Reduces redness
- Shrinks pores
- Leaves skin feeling refreshed, vibrant and youthful
- Fights sebum build up
- Reduces inflammation
- Calms and softens skin
- Defends and protects against free radicals
- Tackles eczema, acne and stretch marks
- Hydrates and revitalizes
- What’s in it?
Fifteen botanical oils, Omega 3, 6, 9 and antioxidants, blended and bottled in small batches only. As relieving as what’s in it is all that isn’t: It contains no harsh chemicals, no animal products, no synthetic dyes, no fragrances, no phthalates and no petrochemicals, parabens or sulfates.
- When should I apply it?
Mornings and/or evenings—on its own or as the final step to your current skincare ritual.
- Where can I get it?!
Right here: omaymaskin.com, currently available to US residents.
For all that, if I had to center on the thing I like best about the new elixir, it would be integrity. Ingredient integrity. “Pixie dusting” is sadly rampant in supplements, work-out powders and cosmetics. So when I look at the elixir, after the striking bottle, it’s the ingredients that catch my eye: 16 in all, 15 of them phyto-potent botanical oils, 12 of them organic, 4 of them non-GMO, 98.5 percent organic by volume and 100 percent vegan and cruelty-free.
Bottled integrity.
Having built a name for herself over a decade of professional detail—she’s worked the faces of rappers, authors and actresses and her touch is seen in countless magazines—Vogue, Harper’s, NYLON—“private label” could have been all too easy, even welcomed as par for the course.
But, integrity. This debut is totally true to character.
