February’s Wellness Picks: Our Favourite Products Of The Month

Happy February & hope your year of the monkey is off to a great start. We love to keep you up to date on the latest and greatest goodies on the city’s health & wellness scene. Shop clean, vote green xx

Pumped HK Women Sleeveless Top “Cheeky Double Under”

Remember the days of hitting the YMCA gym in your old sweats and your dad’s old T-shirt? That time has come and gone. 2016 is the year of athleisure, and you gotta bring it with the style when you show up at your morning HIIT sesh. Luckily, Hong Kong’s fitness apparel scene is heating up. We just discovered Pumped HK‘s fun, colorful workout tops, especially designed for the Crossfit lot. With their wink-wink slogans, clever digitally-printed graphics (we love the Cheat Day Octopus!), flattering silhouettes and organic cotton fabrics, it’s hard not to put the entire range in your shopping cart. You probably don’t think about this much, but it’s actually kind of important to work out wearing organic fabrics. When you sweat, your pores are open and your skin is more likely to absorb toxins that are leaching off your clothing. Another reason to love Pumped? They are a totally local brand: all their products are made in Hong Kong. You know how we feel about support our homegrown entrepreneurs. Our pick to start the Lunar New Year? The Cheeky Double Under coral tank. Just don’t get up to too much monkey business…

Cheeky Double Under Tank in Coral Red,  HKD 280. Available through their e-shop.

Rafferty’s Garden Organic Baby Rice Cereal

Newly launched in Hong Kong, Rafferty’s Garden has been available to mothers in Australia since 2007. The brand’s philosophy is to make delicious baby food and snacks made from only the best ingredients, most of which are organic in order to make life easier for busy mums on the go. We especially love their rice cereal made from only three ingredients: organic brown rice, sunflower lecithin and electrolytic iron, the latter being a very important nutrient for growing bubbas. The quality ingredients mean that the cereal is free from added sugar, dairy, wheat, and preservatives. Plus, the rice is certified organic from the US, meaning that you can trust the food is safe and the rice is free from arsenic and lead. Honestly wit the many scares over rice coming from China, you can’t be too careful! The cereal is perfect for children four months and older and is super simple to make: just mix with water, formula or breast milk! Rafferty’s Garden offers a whole range of nutritious baby food including purees, snacks, teething rusks, bars and pouches.

Organic Baby Rice Cereal, HKD 27.50. Available at these grocery stores throughout Hong Kong.

Le Mont Botanique Super Hydrate 8-Hour Serum

Winter can be tough on your skin, especially with these recent schizophrenic weather. A lot of us mistakenly forget to hydrate, thinking that Hong Kong’s high levels of humidity protect us. So wrong. We actually need more more moisture. Enter your cold-weather cure, SuperHydrate 8-Hour Serum from European botanicals skincare brand Le Mont Botanique. LMB’s skincare is potent: each application comes in single ampoules,  ensuring the active ingredients stay fresh and don’t lose any potency. Performance skincare, like the best raw oils, is not meant to be exposed to air or sunlight for fear of oxidation. The SuperHydrate Serum contains Bulgarian rose hip oil and rosewater in a base of jojoba oil (Bulgaria is famous for its prized roses) and is packed with vitamins A and C, as well as essential fatty acids. Your parched skin will be soothed, nourished and rejuvenated. Le Mont Botanique‘s product range is as natural as it comes, you won’t find any artificial preservatives, thickeners, parabens, parafins, phthalates or animal products. Just the goodness of quality oils.

5-Day Super Hydrate Serum, HKD 99. Available through their webshop and at Watsons outlets around Hong Kong.

Bad Food Gone Good Paleo Banana Cake

We love cake. Unfortunately we do not love what it does to our waistline. Luckily, the clever folks at Bad Food Gone Good (BFGG) went and created a whole line of paleo-friendly and gluten-free cakes including tiered affairs (perfect for your healthy pal’s bday celebrations), cupcakes (we are crushing on their chocolate cupcakes with cocoa buttercream, ginger snaps and cinnamon cake) and cake loaves. BFGG are especially well known for their banana cake (though they also do cinnamon and chocolate chip), which is our favorite. Made with no added sugar and from the highest quality ingredients, their cakes are being gobbled up at gyms across town. And did we mention they have a banana cake variety for everyone? They offer banana cake cupcakes, a two-tiered cake with whipped coconut milk frosting, banana cake with walnuts, banana cake with dark chocolate…all refined-sugar free!

Paleo banana cake, price upon request. Available for order through their Facebook page and at Coast Fitness.

Gourmet Skin Bar HYNT Eyeliner

Gourmet Skin Bar has become our go-to site for clean cosmetics. This Hong Kong based operation offers a wide range of coveted cult beauty brands and products, all of which the owner personally tests. We love that we can lounge around at home whilst shopping for non-toxic, gorgeous makeup and skincare. We recently tried the FORTE High Definition Eyeliner from HYNT Beauty and we could not recommend it more. US-based HYNT is a cosmetics brand that is vegan, PETA-certified and completely free from nasties such as parabens, petrochemicals, titanium and artificial preservatives. As anyone who wears contacts or suffers from allergies knows, eyes can be incredibly sensitive. Conventional cosmetics can wreak havoc on your precious peepers. Luckily, HYNT‘s pencil is made from nourishing natural coconut oil so you don’t have to sacrifice your smokey eyes. Available in both brown and black the pencil has a smudge tip and does not run or rub.

FORTE High Definition Eye Liner, HKD 180. Available through their webshop.

Images courtesy of Pumped HK, Rafferty’s Garden, Le Mont Botanique, Bad Food Gone Good and Gourmet Skin Bar.