I love everything about Greece and the Greek people. Having spent a great deal of time there, I can confidently say they have this whole lifestyle thing down! In the last few years we have heard so much about the austere situation in Greece. While times are extremely difficult, that will never keep the Greeks from doing what they do best: living and living from their hearts!
But from what I’ve experienced, they may just do it better than we do. Life is simpler there, or maybe it’s just their priorities; food, friends and family matter more than anything else.
The Greeks are famous for their hospitality and it was a reoccurring theme on my journey in Aridea. In Greek, hospitality is derived from the word philoxenia: philos (-φιλος means “friend of”) and xenos (-ξενος means “stranger/foreigner”). Its the friendship to foreigners or strangers.
Everywhere we went, I left with a delicious reminder of the time we shared. The back seat of our rental car was filled with spinach, cheese pies, honey, tea, bread, cookies and love. Each morsel tastes of passion and the fresh ingredients from the local farmers. The hospitality and the food never stops! Even the man at the gas station, when he heard I was from America, ran across the street and came back with a bag of peaches, because when in Aridea, you “must experience the peaches!” Greece is not the place for a diet!
While eating my way through Greece, I decided to look into my other obsession, skincare. Much to my delight, I found two amazing lines that I am now currently crazy about.
Apivita
This beautiful line’s formulations are 85%-100% natural. This is a full line with products for face, hair, body and products for children. They are inspired by and incorporate in their line, royal bee jelly, natural plant extracts indigenous to Greece and organic essential oils. All of their products are bio-certified. They do not use silicones, parabens, mineral oil, propylene and glycol amongst a whole list of other ingredients that have been associated with adverse health or environmental effects.
I love their cleansing oils and I’m currently using their Wine Elixir which is an anti-wrinkle and restorative face oil that contains both grape and olive and Queen Bee, their holistic age defense cream with royal jelly and liposomes. Everything smells heavenly.
Korres
I love this company. The Korres family was once in a pharmacy business, and over the generations it has grown into a natural cosmetics company with a deep track record for using only the best, clinically effective and natural ingredients. They are at least 92.2% natural and eco-certified. They work very closely with their farmers and other organizations to ensure that their ingredients have the highest levels of efficacy. They use ingredients like yoghurt, pomegranate, wild rose, black pine and saffron and they avoid all chemicals that are portrayed to be problematic like silicones, parabens, mineral oil, propylene, and glycol etc.
I can’t get enough of their face and body products. The body milks and butters have the most amazing texture and they smell like what the labels says it should: pure Greek olive smells like pure Greek olive! Not to be missed is their coveted best seller, Golden Krocus Elixir that contains saffron. You have to try the Wild Rose Oil and the Wild Rose Brightening Sleeping facial.
