Snowberry’s Nourishing Rich ?Day Cream from New Zealand.
Photo: Davies + Starr beauty
You can’t get these items in a shop near you—unless you live in Turkey or maybe Japan. Here, six of our favorite finds from around the world.
From October 2010 By Christine Ajudua beauty
Appeared as "Beauty Products Worth the Trip" in T+L Magazine
Fragrance
Based on the formulas of 16th-century Franciscan monks, model turned hotelier and perfumer Nicolas Malleville mixes his Coqui Coqui eaux de parfums with essential oils of agave, coconut, and other fruits from Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. Coveted by the style set, they’re only at his three eco-chic beauty Coqui Coqui hotels in Mexico. From $47; coquicoqui.com.
Soap
Since 1910, the Müftüoglu family has been extracting the oils of olives and laurel leaves in Antakya, in southern Turkey, to make their organic Daphne soap (named after a forest nymph who, while fleeing from the affections of Greek god Apollo, was turned into a tree). Locals swear by it; they even use it as a shampoo. $3.50; muftuogludaphne.com.
Mask
When you add water, LB Cosmetics’ Ghassoul de Fès Aromatisé—a powder of volcanic clay from Fez, Morocco, with the essences of lavender, myrtle, and rose—becomes a revitalizing mud mask for your face, body, and hair. It’s part of the traditional hammam experience. $10; lineaire-b.com. beauty
Moisturizer
We love New Zealand’s all-natural Snowberry skin-care line, infused with antiaging bio-actives from the indigenous harakeke tree—cultivated in the company’s gardens in Northland. The Nourishing Rich Day Cream also includes essential oils beauty from rain-forest plants like pejibaye, as well as white-peat extract to boost collagen production. $43; snowberrybeauty.com.
Oil
Kabuki actors have been using camellia oil, derived from the Japanese tea plant, as a makeup remover for centuries. This triple-filtered solution from Kyoto’s Aizenkobo workshop can also be used as a hydrating moisturizer and conditioner. beauty
Puffs
Powdering your nose is much more glamorous if you do it with one of these swan’s-down poufs from Caron Paris, sold exclusively in the brand’s Paris boutiques. $45 each; parfumscaron.com. beauty