HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a wonderful time of year!! Time to get out the pumpkins, and the Ben Nye face paints, what a rare treat! I love the dark evenings and the falling leaves. Time to be inspired by colour. Time to think seriously about skincare. Two products I am loving at the moment are both perfect for Autumn/Winter and both from Kiehl's. Frst is their Midnight Recovery Concentrate, a rich combination of botanical extracts and oils which gives dull skin a lovely overnight boost. Second is their 24-Hour Ultra Facial Cream, a wonderful product that gives deep mosturisation without being heavy or greasy. It contains various goodies including glycoproteins which are said to help protect the skin from environmental stresses. All I know is it feels amazing on the skin and it is also completely unscented, which is a major boon to sensitve skin. 10/10 to both of these amazing finds!

Vitriol d'oeillet - my Autumn love affair

If you know me at all, you will know that I am a fragrance junkie. My bathroom window sill is crowded with bottles, everyone a much loved friend.

But move over guys, there's a new kid in town, and he's not sharing.

I got a sample of Serge Lutens "Vitriol d'Oeillet" and was just blown away by the spicy intensity. It hits you with pepper and paprika at the outset, then this is tempered by mellow nutmeg and carnation at the finish. I don't find it particularly "gourmande", but still puts me in mind of mulled wine and hot kitchens on cold winter days. it dries down to a lovely spicy oriental with a trace of wood, a hint perhaps of the cedar as in Feminite du Bois, a very intimate scent close to the skin. Also very unisex, there is no feminine softness here, it is rich and complex. Another to add to my Serge Lutens collection. On my wishlist, Jeux de Peau, a confection of milk, coconut and licquorice, smelling rather like a freshly baked brioche, and De Profundis, a pure floral, chrysanthemum at the heart of this beautiful cool fragrance with its gorgeous purple juice. I
MUST HAVE!!!

Another year older...

I realised today that I haven't posted on this blog for over a year. The skincare products I was using at the time have long since been used up, and several experiments have come and gone since.
At the moment I am trying Lancome's "Visionnaire", which claims to do everything except cure cancer and solve the Eurozone debt crisis. (If the truth be told it has exacerbated my own personal debt crisis, if anything). It contains a molecule called Jasmonic acid, a plant -derived compound which signals cellular renewal. They have essentially folded this molecule to make it small enough to penetrate to the dermis of human skin. I must admit I can't in all honesty believe this will work but I am giving it a try because at the end of the day the desire for a beauty miracle is stronger than all my logical impulses.

Initially I felt quite a reaction to the product. My skin heated up quite a bit, and I have resorted to using it around my eyes and on my T-zone only, avoiding the cheeks which are a disastrous mess of telangectasia and just too sensitive for this product. Since it seems to cause some sort of swelling of the dermis, it may do something to even out pore size and tackle fine lines, which are my main concerns anyway.

Time will tell......

Progress.....

I am very much loving my Institut Estherderm regime. The products are just such a pleasure to use, the Day cream is a perfect make up base. The night cream is rich but not greasy, a little more scented than I would usually use but it leaves the skin super soft. I mix a few drops on retinol with the Cellular Concentrate at night. The eye treatment is lovely but I am very bad at remember ing to use it!!

I have also added Alpha H Micro cleanse twice a week and Liquid Gold every night before applying anything, like a toner I suppose.
So far so good. I am trying to decide on a Clarisonic......

Just look at the results so far!!!!

Adam Ant, anyone??

Me using the Eye Repair Lift Patches and looking fab

Institut Esthederm : First Impressions

My package of lovely skincare goodies arrived today from Salon Skincare, very quickly indeed, though I think they are based in Belfast which would explain that. I purchased five items:

Smoothing Protective Day Cream 50ml
Cellular Concentrate Serum 30ml
Firming Night Cream 50ml
Restructuring Eye Contour Cream 15ml
20 x Patch Lift Contour Eye Repair

My first job was to check everything out and make sure thay weren't heavily scented, which would render the products unusable for me. Thankfully they are all unscented and very mild, with lovely textures. I wore the Day Cream today under my Omorivicza Complexion Enhancer and I was very pleased with the effect. My skin felt extremely soft and I also noticed it didn't get nearly as oily as usual, despite being in a hot car all day long. I am looking forward to trying the eye repair patches.

So my initial thoughts are that these products are very good indeed, but we will see, I reckon it will take a few months to use them up and I will reserve judgement until then.

Frailty, thy name is Woman!!

Why am I quoting from Hamlet? Well, I was just reminded of Gertrude, Hamlet's fickle mother, chided by her aggrieved son for flitting from one man to another when the chips were down. sadly, the fickle Jezebel in this case is Yours Truly. At least in matters of skincare, anyhow. (My husband sadly for him, is firmly stuck with me for the foreseeable future). Just recently I made and posted a video extolling the virtues of some skincare products that I had tried and really liked. I quote : " I really love Cold Plasma....I don't think I would like to be without this product.." That was until I bought a sunscreen from a French Skincare company called Institut Esthederm. This company seem to take quite a different approach to skincare products, they use ingredients which you don't find in most other lines. I was so impressed with the sunscreen that I was seduced into looking at their other products. One thing led to another......
Hello Handsome............................


Let's just say that a whole new regime is winging its way to me as we speak. The only thing I can say in my defence is that the products are better value for money, and should last roughly 30-50% longer than the Perricone MD products I was previously using. I know it's a gamble, especially with my ridiculously sensitive skin. I will continue to use the Peter Thomas Roth Peel Pads, to which I remain eternally faithful, and my Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish will keep its place also.


The experiment continues...