When Vancouver-based esthetician Daniela Belmondo set out to create a natural skincare line, she looked to her Italian roots and explored the healing and nursing properties of olive oil. The result is Belmondo (also coincidentally meaning “beautiful world” in Italian), one of the most thoughtful lines in the world of organics. Its hero product, olive oil, is sourced from Italy, while the products are manufactured here in Vancouver. Belmondo ingenuously named each product after an appropriate natural phenomenon, the face cream becoming The Cloud and the face toner becoming After the Rain. Each product is lovingly packaged in sustainable glass jars, featuring the most elegant hand-rendered typeface labels, really communicating the preciousness of natural skincare. Here, this skincare aficionado shares her beauty philosophy.

Beauty Motto
My beauty philosophy is less is more. I believe in treating the skin as gentle as you can and listening to what it needs, and often times this means using less or nothing at all. There is serious healing power in just letting your skin breath and repair on it’s own. Freckles and laugh lines are charming and should be embraced, and diet and exercise play an important role in beauty and overall vibrancy. There is no ‘magic’ cream that will make you beautiful, it’s a combination of taking good care of your health and being happy. It’s a choice to be happy and I encourage you to seek this in yourself.
Morning Beauty
My morning beauty routine includes starting my day off with a warm cup of water and lemon. It’s just such a nice way to start my day, it’s also a bit of a ritual for me. I also like to dose my skin with After the Rain Face Toner in the morning, it’s the perfect way to start my day because my skin is refreshed and the scents are very soothing.
Family Beauty Secret
I’m extremely grateful to have been brought up in an Italian culture where beauty, pleasure and enjoyment were encouraged in everything, from the food we ate to the beauty in other people. I grew up in Italy where we grew our own food and I was an active participant in duties in the home from a young age. My grandmother took great pleasure including me in the day to day duties of living life, and she was also an avid devotee of olive oil. We used handmade olive oil soap to wash our clothing, bathe and clean the floors. It sounds very old school and it was. Laughter was encouraged regularly, it lightened everyday life and I learned early on that life is what you make of it and how you choose to look at it, and there is so much beauty in this.
Makeup Must-Haves
I have to be completely honest, I don’t own any makeup. I apply The Balm daily to keep my lips soft and kissable. Some of my other favorites are John Organics Lip Calm and Pangea Lip Balm.
The Signature Scent
Naturally shower clean. That’s it!
Vacation Hot Spot
Peru. I’d love to visit and indulge in their cuisine, meet the people and trek in the Peruvian Amazon.

Belmondo is available from belmondo.ca, Vancouver’s Anthropologie (2912 Granville St.) and these retailers.