10 x 10/10’s…(or at least an “8”!), just wanted to share a quick post about this random mix of products, I’ve been using them for a few days to a couple of weeks and really have liked them and you’ll probably spot a few of your favourites here as well.
But first, a bigger picture so you can see the brands better:
Starting at the top:
DELILAH’s Retractable Eye Line Pencil, in Twig (once you’re past a certain birthday, black eyeliner can look alarmingly ageing, the problem is you can’t see the wood for the trees sometimes – so you might be wanting to ditch the ebonies and dark charcoals for a lighter palette of sables, chestnut browns and Twig-like shades). Twig floats somewhere between a milk and a dark chocolate shade. Switching from black to brown can really work wonders in de-aging the eye area.
Delilah’s rather brilliant pencil is soft, long lasting and glides on, not unlike Urban Decay’s but I prefer this one. The lipstick in the pic is also by DELILAH, it’s their Vitamin E-enriched Velvet Lips, a comfortable, long-lasting formula. Definitely a makeup brand to delve into if you haven’t tried it yet, the products I tested were made in Italy (always a good sign). Their Ultimate Shine Lipgloss is fab, too, and come in a burst of pretty pinks for summer. www.delilahcosmetics.com
Underneath the eye pencil is DHC’s Liquid Eyeliner in black – that silvery looking pen. I’m a firm DHC fan, now, and this just goes on and stays on, so easily. (Shake it and press it gently on the back of your hand the first time you use it).
L to R
Ah what can I say about Tisserand? I love this aromatherapy-centric brand, it’s super-affordable (tick), the products smell good (tick) and they work and feel good to use. This is the TISSERAND SIGNATURE BLEND HAND & NAIL CREAM (note the little awards logos on the tube!) Part of their “intensive” hand care range, it’s a mix of essential oils and cocoa seed butter among other things. Brilliant when you’ve got a tan as it leaves a glossy – but not greasy – sheen on your skin. I really like this scent but they do others, too, including a fabulous straight-up Lavender version.
Some Tisserand products are on SALE at Tesco at the moment – including the Lavender Hand Cream for £5 I just mentioned – and you’ll find the whole, beautiful range at www.tisserand.com
PAI ECHIUM AND ARGAN GENTLE EYE CREAM – formulated for earlier signs of ageing around the eye area and very dry skin, this is such a creamy “quencher2 for the eye area. You’ve got to press the pump gently as quite a lot comes out and you won’t need much. Ultra-nourishing and a good one to try if you’re anywhere near a Pai Skincare counter in the next few weeks. www.paiskincare.com
CLARINS DAY SCREEN SPF50 Multi-Protection – I think this was a new launch about 2-3 months ago and I’ve been able to put it through its paces in full-on Portuguese sunshine this week where summer has arrived early. I put it on in the morning and walked around in the sun all day Saturday from about 9am to 7pm while popping in and out of the Sagres Surf Culture Festival at the stunning Memmo Baleeira Hotel in the Algarve and when I got home I expected to look a little red in the face but…nothing. (Result!) I’ve used it for about 4 days on the trot now and hereby declare it ultra-protective. My face goes red fast without a strong SPF so kudos to Clarins for coming up with an easy-to-wear, never cloying feeling, no-white residue formula. Nice one. www.clarins.co.uk
SOPHYTO’s Natural Glycolic Foaming Cleanser with Italian Olive Leaf, Raw Sugar Cane and Whole Apple Extract – Sophyto is so up there with my desert island skincare brands. It’s just brilliant. Such intelligent, nature-meets-science formulas, founded by an amazing British woman, Karen Sinclair Drake, based in California, who *really* knows her stuff and whose opinion I rate very highly. I wouldn’t normally use this type of product, I’m more of a Liz Earle or Pai Skincare cream cleanser person so I don’t actually feel that qualified to rate this. All I can say is Sophyto is a seriously good brand and if you like glycolic foaming cleansers this is one to look at. Sophyto’s serums and facial oils are among the best I’ve ever used. A very well priced range – products of this calibre could have triple the price tag – and the lovely LoveLula stocks them in the UK! www.lovelula.com
BEAUTE CHINOISE Balancing Facial Oil, YIN No.4 – the also wonderful Maggie Brown, an acupuncturist who practises at the Garry Trainer Clinic in Primrose Hill, London has come up with a bespoke capsule collection of facial oils and therapeutic teas. I find the concept of Facial Acupuncture fascinating, as acupuncture literally cured me in 4-5 sessions after a car accident in LA after the specialist I saw, because I could hardly turn my neck to the left, said I’d never be able to recover fully and would have to get used it. Always a fan of second opinions (get 3 if you need to!!) I trotted off to an acupuncturist in Santa Monica, Jackie Stein, and lo and behold, after a few sessions my neck was back to more or less normal. So if something’s happened to you and doctors say “sorry, that’s it”, always search for answers and alternative opinions, I am a firm believer in that. You could be lucky! Don’t accept the first opinion you get as the official verdict, it often isn’t.
More on Maggie at www.beautechinoise.co.uk
Almost done…!
MURAD’s AGE-BALANCING BROAD SPECTRUM DAILY SPF30 – Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant! Love this. Probably the best texture/feel of any daily SPF I’ve ever used, but it’s so much more than that. It works like a moisturiser-SPF hybrid and you won’t even notice you’ve got it on. It’s a 50ml tube size v. Clarins SPF50’s 30ml so it lasts longer. Both are good but if I had to stick to one it would be this because it’s literally like using a light, anti-ageing cream and it disappears in 2 seconds – not a single trace of residue yet you get great protection, although Clarins’ SPF50 is obviously a bit stronger if you need more of a sun barrier. I won’t be switching from this unless something better comes along and it’s going to take a lot to beat this SPF. www.murad.co.uk
Last, not least, is STRATUM-C’s NEW Complete Hand Care Cream for Mature Skin. My hands have always looked older than the rest of me so I am an ideal hand cream tester 🙂 Here’s what’s different about this one. It helps with age spots (which I don’t have, so I can’t vouch for this), strengthens nails, blocks UV rays and has anti-ageing peptides in it. Personally I think hand serums and anti-ageing hand creams are going explode sooner or later but there aren’t that many around right now (Liz Earle’s hand serum and Ark Skincare’s Anti-Ageing both spring to mind). I’d almost say that in summer, especially, your hand cream NEEDS an SPF in it, by default, and I have a feeling this will start to happen, as an add-on to all the daily SPF moisturisers flooding the market now.
Stratum-C are one of the more mature skin demographic pioneers with their Menopause Skincare range – and perfectly timed it is, too, as the spotlight on the 45+ market brightens…
Read more on this interesting brand at www.stratumc.com