A Trip to Moon Juice, Café Gratitude, and The Detox Market

I was in LA for a couple days for a piano duo performance last week and luckily had a couple of hours to go on a short #greenbeauty adventure. First stop, Moon Juice in Venice…

I have been drooling over Moon Juice’s juices, tonics, and powders on Instagram for a couple of months and was just about starstruck when I walked in. I fawned over the juice/smoothie/milk menu, the tonics, the powders (add water and they become a tonic/tea–wishlist for when the online apothecary opens!), and the collection of Alexis Smart Remedies. I was totally ready for a juice/smoothie breakfast and was excitedly picking out smoothies for my traditional Chinese parents, but wanting a warm breakfast, they made me quickly choose a drink (Golden Milk, yum!) and skedaddle across the street to…
Café Gratitude! I couldn’t believe I had forgotten that this was a place I wanted to visit in LA! I think my parents were thinking more on the meat and egg side for breakfast, but I was so thrilled and grateful to have stumbled into this beautiful space. We ordered Open-Hearted, Trusting, and Fantastic, and upon saying each one to the server, he responded “You are open-hearted” and “You are trusting” and “You are fantastic.” Gosh, what a beautiful thing to hear in the morning before breakfast.

After cleaning off all the delicious plates, we braved LA traffic to go to The Detox Market in West Hollywood. I have also been following The Detox Market over Twitter, Instagram, and email newsletter for a couple of months, so I was so excited to finally see it in person.

 

treat collection looked just as beautiful in person as they do on Sonja’s (Life in Blush) nails.

I have sample misters of Infinite Love and Inner Peace that I purchased from Spirit Beauty Lounge and have been loving, so I definitely took a quick spritz break passing by Lotus Wei.

Lilly (Genuine Glow) loves mv skincare and I haven’t taken the plunge yet partially because of price point and partially because I don’t know where to start. I tried some of the moisturizers on the back of my hand and they felt and smelled lovely though!

I purchased a small sample pot of the Suntegrity 5-1 Moisturizing Face Sunscreen in Light right before leaving for LA and have also been enjoying it (held off a while because of the dimethicone–it does have that slippy feeling). I considered buying the body sunscreen (Lilly also mentioned/loved this recently on Genuine Glow) as well as the full-sized tinted sunscreen, but I figured I’m well-enough stocked on sunscreen for now…

This was my first time seeing Olìe Biologique in the flesh! I smelled and tried a bit of Huile Claire Calming Oil and it smells, feels, and looks more wonderful than I imagined it would. Also considered buying the Power Trip Trio to properly sample the oils, but also well-enough stocked on facial oils for now.

The Detox Market has a beautiful makeup lineup. This side of the wall includes Vapour (huge line of Vapour), Ilia Beauty (restrained myself from buying Jump, but I did try some on my lips–pretty!), and Kide (this line with really beautifully marbelized pressed powders with diamonds and stuff).

And here’s the reason I chose to go to Detox Market–Odacité. Fun fact: the founders of Odacité opened The Detox Market.

“After overcoming breast cancer, it became my mission to help others adopt a detoxed lifestyle while staying true to their fabulous selves.” Valérie Grandury, co-founder (from their About page)

I’ve been following and humming and aahing over Odacité for a couple of months and at different times have nearly jumped the gun on the discovery kit, the Private Collection oils, and the Pure Elements line. I figured I couldn’t turn down a chance to experience them in real life!

Since I’m growing into a cleanser junkie, I jumped on the Gentle Rejuvenating Cleanser and the girl in the store at the time (beautiful blonde girl with beautiful skin) was kind enough to indulge my questions. Apparently the cleanser can remove makeup, and if you’re acne-ish and dry like me, the combination discovery kit is for you. The difference between the kits are the toners which are catered towards skin type, and since I was straddling the fence, she kindly let me sample the oily toner (Mint & Green Tea) as well as the combo toner (Rose & Neroli) in my discovery kit, though in the process, I think she took out the sample of the Hydrating Masque, which was fair, but sad.

Oh, the Pure Elements line. I came in knowing I was going to walk away with at least one of these, and then I left with two: Black Cumin + Cajeput (for pimples) and Papaya + Geranium (for hyperpigmentation). She recommended Bl + C as a good starting point for the line, saying that she herself had gone through two of these, and she also mentioned Pa + G was also a favorite of hers. Megan (Seed to Serum) had just posted about her love for Green Tea + Lemongrass as a radiance booster, and I nearly got that as well (who doesn’t want to be radiant??). Since I’ve also been on a jasmine kick (blame it on May Lindstrom’s soon-to-be-released Jasmine Garden), I had to smell Blueberry + Jasmine (cell energy), and it was more blueberry than jasmine–more blueberry and less jasmine than I had expected.

You know rms beauty has cult status when a beach babe strolls in and asks, “Do you carry rms ‘un’ cover-up?” Yeah, true story. I’m on a semi-break from coconut oil, so I just tried a bit of the Demure lip2cheek on the back of my hand, swooned, and put it back with a sigh. My mum’s on the search for a new mascara, and the girl and I attempted to talk her into rms beauty defining mascara (recently reviewed here) since its tiny brush would be perfect for her tiny lashes, but my mum didn’t want to deal with smudging.

This was also a first encounter for CV Skinlabs! I know this is a huge favorite of Britanie’s (Beauty By Britanie) and during the past long and dry winter, I nearly purchased the spray as well as Calming Moisture on a whim. I tried some of the Rescue + Relief Spray and it was indeed very calming and soothing. Added that to my toner wishlist…

 

I wish I had had more time to ask questions and poke around, but I had to run to warmup for the performance. I really enjoyed visiting The Detox Market, and I also wish I could’ve had time to visit Evolue Beauty and Strange Invisible Perfumes. Next time! You are lucky to have so many of these beautiful places, LA’ers, but I definitely don’t envy your traffic.

Have you visited any of these places? Any #greenbeauty places you love in LA? Any product faves you spotted?

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21 Comments

  1. July 8, 2014 / 6:09 pm

    Really nice post! I wish I was still living in LA !!!! lovely brands and really boutique!xx

  2. Marcella
    July 9, 2014 / 12:44 am

    You are THE cutest! I'm glad you had such a great greenbeauty-filed trip. I can't wait to hear more about the Odacite products you got – please share how it worked for you with this acne-prone gal too!

  3. Eni tas
    July 9, 2014 / 12:28 am

    OOOh my god thanks for this post! probably going to toronto soon, Normally i see all these beautiful product online but HÉ in real wow! I think i will going a little crazy in that store.. like my 3 kids in candy store! I have pigment task due to the sun.. maybe the odacité serum can help… Your photos are beautiful! In Montréal, nothing like this..Nothing..

  4. July 9, 2014 / 12:54 pm

    Oh how I would love to visit LA one day!! It all looks amazing!

  5. shortsmallsweet
    July 9, 2014 / 4:26 pm

    So jealous of you Jade, looks like you had a blast. I'd love to check out Odacite too, but their price range is O_O. Please do review how the oils work for you. xoxo

  6. July 11, 2014 / 3:16 am

    You used to live in LA?? Awesome! Thanks lovely! Hope you get a chance to go back soon 🙂

  7. July 11, 2014 / 3:16 am

    Thanks Jana! xx

  8. July 11, 2014 / 3:17 am

    Thank you lovely! Hope you get a chance to go to The Detox Market in Toronto. Since so much of the green beauty I love is online, seeing these beautiful products in person is so much fun. I'll keep you updated on the Odacité serum for hyperpigmentation!

  9. July 11, 2014 / 3:18 am

    Thanks cutie! Will definitely keep you updated on the Odacité! I've been experimenting with the little serum as an all-over treatment and spot treatment…

  10. July 11, 2014 / 3:19 am

    Hope you get a chance to go to LA someday! It was a wonderful experience 🙂 In the meantime, I will be jealous of you having Content Beauty in the UK!

  11. July 11, 2014 / 3:20 am

    Aww hope you get to visit them sometime, Ru! Odacité's price range can be pretty steep, especially when it gets to the Private Collection oils, but their Pure Elements Collection is a softer blow (trying not to think too much how tiny they are…). Will definitely keep you updated on the oils!

  12. Sandi
    July 13, 2014 / 3:34 am

    Thank you for sharing your trip trip – there's no way I would've made it out without some serious damage! Detox market is definitely on my radar now, especially now that I'm armed with a 10% off coupon!

  13. July 15, 2014 / 8:09 am

    Cannot wait to visit the Detox Market and Moon Juice during my trip next month! I'm staying in Venice, so Moon Juice may become a daily habit 🙂 It looks like you had a blast on your trip! I too love Odacite and have the combo and pimples serum booster thingies … such a fun idea!

    I saw your review on the RMS mascara, and I just posted my thoughts in my mascara guide. I'm still kinda on the fence … it worked well but I'm not sure I'm sold (except, well, I did buy it). Going to keep using it. Does it seem to change at all over time? My mascara experiences sometimes evolve as my lashes either 1) get used to the formula or 2) the formula dries a bit and is easier on my stick-straight lashes.

  14. July 15, 2014 / 10:04 am

    This all looks amazing. The café and juices look yummy (drooling over here) and oh my god. I wish I could visit The Detox Market myself, what a dream!

    find me on 9outoften.com

  15. July 16, 2014 / 2:43 am

    I was definitely tempted to do more damage. Hope you stop by in person or online soon!

  16. July 16, 2014 / 2:44 am

    I was drooling the whole time. Hope you can get a chance to visit them soon 🙂

  17. July 16, 2014 / 7:46 am

    If all goes well with the start up I'm consulting, I might be headed to LA in August. Fingers crossed!

  18. July 17, 2014 / 5:03 am

    Good luck!! Will keep my fingers crossed for you!

  19. July 17, 2014 / 5:11 am

    Can't wait for you to visit the Detox Market and Moon Juice next month! I think you will enjoy them. Aw man, a daily Moon Juice…that sounds so good…funnily enough, I wasn't too into Odacite's mini serum idea when they first came out with it, but now I love it. So customizable and user-friendly…minus that they have so many choices 😛

    At first I was not a fan of the rms mascara because it was so wet and because I wasn't a fan of being half-blind, haha. But the way it made my lashes look made it worth it to me–I thought that was pretty consistent through its lifetime, though it was more lengthening when it was wet. It definitely got drier over time, thank goodness, which made curling after application so much easier. Smudging though…watch out for smudging, my stick-straight lashed sister.

  20. July 17, 2014 / 2:57 pm

    Yeah, it took me a bit to warm up to the mini serums, too, but now I just love boosting my regular serums with it! Kinda fun 🙂

    I wore my rms mascara again yesterday, all day into happy hour and dinner, and it did smudge on me, but just a bit in the corners. Wasn't a total raccoon look, but I was a bit panicked: "How long has this been like this?!" (because I was with a boy, haha). I do like the look! Not crazy thick and lush, but nice lengthening and defining.

    I'll have a Moon Juice for you, sister! 🙂

  21. July 17, 2014 / 6:10 pm

    I'm heading to LA next month and will definitely stop by some of these gems!