Anti-Wrinkle & Anti-Stress Bonanza

Dove Firming Nourishing Lotion: Dove firming nourishing body lotion is ideal formulation combines rich nourishment and white tea extract; skin elasticity is boosted and skin is more toned only 24 hours after a single application; contains the deep care complex with natural skin nutrients and rich essential oil; gradually improves skin starting deep down; dermatologically tested. I quite like this firming lotion – it’s good for those crinkly thighs for sure but I suspect that the Dove Uplifted Lotion might be just that little bit better! However, I have got some back-ups for this one, and I’ll mix and match the two products in their turn. You can get this one for £5.50 for £250ml at Amazon.

Freeman Anti-Stress Clay Mask: This calming mask instantly absorbs excess oil; clarifies and purges clogged pores; Dead Sea Minerals contain natural supplements that are essential for maintaining healthy skin; Sea Salts help replenish and balance moisture; Lavender and Bergamot promote relaxing aromatherapy. I love this mask – I even love the turquoise colour of it! It’s easily spreadable, non-drying and leaves the skin smooth and clear. Just make sure you wash it all off before you go to bed, LOL! You can get the full-sized tube (which I also have) at Amazon for £4.00 for 175ml. A real bargain.

Masque Bar Anti-Wrinkle Sheet Mask: Masque Bar Anti-Wrinkle Sheet Mask is a collagen-infused facial sheet mask that contours to your face to help reduce the appearance of wrinkles and hydrate your skin, leaving it feeling soft and looking refreshed. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this mask!! So much so that I’ve actually used one twice this week – once when I was brushing my teeth – okay a bit awkward with a sheet mask, but I managed, LOL. Then I was just SO impressed with the magical disappearance of my wrinkles (how did that happen??!!?) that I used it again for a full 15 minutes in the bath this morning – and the results are even better! I’ve always been a bit dubious about collagen in the past, but now I’m a real fan and am going to use this one once a week – I already have back-up stock, hurrah! You can get it at Boots for £9.99 for a set of 3 masks and I can’t recommend it too highly!

Savlon Advanced Healing Gel: Promotes FASTER healing. Helps REDUCE the likelihood of SCARRING. This is an old faithful which I’ve always given house-room to and it really helps with spots and blemishes. It feels lovely and soothing on the skin too, which is fabulous. I use some each morning. You can get it at Boots for £3.43 for 50g, as there is a 20% discount there on selected Savlon products at the moment.

Ted Baker Body Wash: Sparkling fruity grapefruit, mandarin and mango are teamed with subtle floral notes of neroli and jasmine, while the base of patchouli, sandalwood and musk completes the scent. I wasn’t expecting to like this very much as I’m not a fan of Ted Baker products but I started using it as it was a Christmas gift and actually, I do like it very much. The scent is lovely and floral, but not too sweet, and it lathers up very well indeed. I’m not sure I love it enough to repurchase it but I wouldn’t kick it out of bed if it turned up again, LOL! You can get it at eBay for £7.99 postage-free.

Have a great Sunday and, of course, happy St George’s Day!

Anne Brooke Books

 

Mists, Masks and Matis

Products I Love

Hope everyone has had a happy Christmas! I’ve had a great time, partly because I’ve LOVED a lot of products I’ve used up this week, hurrah!

The Innisfree Bija Sheet Mask is lovely, and I’ve used it before. It’s great for my acne-prone skin, the mask stays on easily and it’s incredibly softening and refreshing. You can get 1 for £1.00 at the Innisfree site but I buy mine at Ebay and have already restocked. I’m not even a fan of face masks, LOL, but this one is an exception.

Keeping with the acne solution theme, SebaMed Clear Face Gel is just marvellous – though I use it as a spot gel rather than as a gel for the whole face. On the other hand, I might try using it as it’s supposed to be used for once and see how it goes – it’s not at all drying but it does the job I want it to very well. Again, I have already restocked this from Amazon where you can buy 50ml for £5.55. A bargain and one I definitely recommend.

The Neutrogena Concentrated Unscented hand cream is a MUST, at all times of the year for me, but absolutely vital in these cold winter months. I always use it in the mornings as it’s just so good. You can get this for £2.77 for 50ml from Boots at the moment as they’re having a special 25% Neutrogena discount – so well worth popping this in your trolley.

The Roger & Gallet Fig Extract Hand Cream is a new one on me and I have loved it. Roger & Gallet is my new (to me) Rising Star beauty company! The smell is subtle –  fig isn’t my favourite scent – but the quality of the cream is brilliant. I will be buying more of this, but think I will try a different scent just to see what it’s like. This one is £6 for 30ml from FeelUnique and I admit I will buy this hand cream again even though I rejected the Body Shop 30ml hand creams which are only £4 – yes, I am a hypocrite!! – but R&G is just so much better. You get what you pay for, LOL.

I have liked using The Body Shop Smoothing Eye Cream and it has been quite effective, but for £16(!!!) for a mere 15ml, I’m afraid I won’t be restocking. I think I must have got this in a half-price offer or something, as I certainly wouldn’t have considered it otherwise. Still, if you have spare cash, then you might like to try this – or even better send me the spare cash and I can spend it wisely for you!…

The Vichy Normaderm Anti-Blemish Care came as one of my monthly free FeelUnique samples and I do like it, though I don’t necessarily love it. I did a tidy up of all my beauty products this week (yay, me!) and found a full size product  ready to be used, so no need to think about buying any more. You can find it at Superdrug for £10.85 for 50ml – which is about £3 cheaper than at Boots. Good old Superdrug!

Due to the Christmas excesses (any alcohol- or chocolate-free days, anyone? Um, no, me neither …!!), I have treated myself to the 7th Heaven Nut Oil Mask which is fabulous. A great smell, and it contains marula oil (I really rate this for calming things down), and it clarifies and softens my skin – yes, I will be restocking this one, though I have loads of 7th Heaven masks in my cabinet which are now in one place (see note re the Beauty Tidy above …) waiting to be enjoyed. At the moment it’s not available at Amazon, but you can pick these up really cheaply at supermarkets and at Ebay for only about £1.00 per mask. I get 2 uses out of each.

I have LOVED the Avene Thermal Spring Water spray for absolutely ages, even though I don’t think it’s very popular now, but it still does the trick for me in terms of soothing my skin quickly. I’ve not restocked this yet, however, as I have a couple of new facial sprays to play with, but I’m sure it’s a product I’ll come back to in the end. You can buy this at Boots for £10 for 300ml, which I think is pretty good for a branded product.

I think this is my last Guinot sample and this time it’s their Dry Skin Face Cream – it’s been quite nice to use and I do like the delicate scent, but at £24.95 for 50ml at the AllBeauty site, I think I’ll be giving it a miss. I’ll probably pick up another sample at some point though (wicked me!)…

Finally, Matis is a new brand for me, and I have really enjoyed their Hyaluronic Performance Cream as it goes on so beautifully and seems to make my skin feel so much better. But – alas and alack!! – it’s a whopping £55.14 for 50ml at Amazon and I don’t think my bank balance can take it! I can still recommend it though – and if you get it, I shall have to sneak round and steal a swipe or two when you’re not looking …

Products I Don’t Like

I picked up the DD Anti-Ageing Cream from Superdrug a while back and all I can say is that it’s okay, but not as good as my usual CC creams which I mix with my foundation. I think it’s just too watery and doesn’t smooth over imperfections very well. However, it claims to do marvellous things, so perhaps someone else will have better success with it. At a mere £4.95 for 50ml with the current Superdrug half-price offer, it’s worth a go.

Now, here’s a list of La Roche-Posay fails, sad to say – as I have other products from them that I totally LOVE, but these aren’t they. The Toleriane Ultra Eye Contour Gel only came in a 2ml sample which isn’t enough for a pinhead really – but I didn’t rate it much, I’m sorry to report. You can find it at Boots for £14.90 for 20ml. Hmm, not sure it will be worth it …

In similar fashion, the Toleriane Ultra Intense Soothing Care was a ridiculously small sample and didn’t leave any great impression on me. Actually, I can’t remember a thing about it, to be honest, but as it was only 2ml, I might well have blinked and missed it. If you fancy giving it a go, you can find it at Escentual Beauty for £17.50 for 40ml – though if you wait until January, you can get one-third off ALL La Roche-Posay products, so don’t click too soon! A special mention for Escentual for actually telling us that before we buy – well done, folks!…

Finally, in this section, I was so looking forward to trying my sample of the Effaclar Duo+ as I’ve heard amazing things about it wherever I travel on the Interweb thingy. La R-P must have been feeling generous (not!) as this sample was actually a whole 3ml – well, perish me timbers, me hearties, as they say!! Whatever next? Maybe La R-P might ease the purse strings a tad and give us decent-sized samples we can properly test out? Don’t hold your breath … Anyway, this did nothing for me and indeed it vanished into my skin and did zilch – if you see what I mean. That saves me a bit of money then, hey ho. You can get this at Boots for £15.50 for 40ml, and everyone else but me loves it!

Happy New Year to you all, and I wish you a fabulous start to 2017!

Anne Brooke Books

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Hair & Teeth Week

Products I Don’t Like

This week I’m afraid I’ve taken against the Innisfree Bija Mask – as though it’s nice enough, sheet masks are still a bit of a faff all round – I’m happier with normal masks so I won’t be restocking on this one after all. It is good for sensitive or congested skin so if you like sheet masks, then this is one to consider. You can get it from eBay for £1.89, postage free.

I started off really liking the Alberto Balsam Tea Tree Tingle Conditioner but I soon got a bit bored with the scent and struggled to finish it. My verdict is it’s okay but I have other more interesting hair conditioners. It’s available at Boots for £1.00 only so a real bargain.

I don’t have anything drastic against the No 7 Instant Illusions Airbrush Away primer as it does the trick but not as well as other primers. Its main and unsurmountable problem is that it costs £16.50(!!) for only 30ml at Boots – so way overpriced to my mind. Then again, it’s currently part of a 3-for-2 offer so you could get it free if you can find anything you want in Boots that is more expensive. Good luck with that, LOL. There are other alternatives out there, girls!

Products I Like

Teeth! Teeth are my bugbear at the moment (no, don’t ask!…) but I would NEVER be without my trusty Dentyl Active mouthwash – a lovely minty taste and it’s alcohol-free, which is very important to me. If I’m going to put alcohol down my gullet, then I want it be the Real Thing, not a health product with it added. It costs £1.30 at Boots – though currently out of stock online – and it really does the trick. Watch that plaque go!

I started off not liking the Olay Anti-Wrinkle Booster and Firming Serum – now I can’t live without it, so thank you very much to ever-lovely Mrs Strawberry Blonde for tipping me off on this one! I use it on my face in the evening and it just smooths out my skin ready for the evening make-up touch-up. Bliss! More than that, it’s now HALF-PRICE at Boots at only £4.99 so grab your bottle now!

I’ve used Rimmel’s Hide The Blemish Concealer (Ivory) for years now and it’s a pretty decent standby – these days, I’ve got other better concealers I totally rely on and which do a wonderful job, but this one is like an old friend I can’t quite let go. I’ll always love it and it’s well worth a try-out, but I suspect I won’t be restocking it once my supply has run out, sob! It will cost you £3.99 at Boots.

A new discovery for me is L’Oreal Perfect Match Foundation in Ivory Rose (1R1C) – I picked up a sample size very cheaply at eBay and have enjoyed using this one – it blends into the skin superbly well, covering all my imperfections (hey, let’s not list those then, LOL!!) and stays on pretty decently too. I’ve now bought a full-sized bottle, also from eBay as it’s cheaper than at Boots (£9.99 for 30ml, though there is a 3-for-2 deal on L’Oreal products at Boots …), and will look forward to getting that soon. I am indeed a TOTAL Foundation Tart!

Anne Brooke Books

 

Tea Tree and a Bit of a Rip-Off

Here are the products I loved this week:

The Avene Eau Thermale is a facial spray I’ve used for a long time and I really love it – it’s very soothing and I tend to use it several times a day, whatever the season. It’s only £3 from Boots, so well worth it.

I’ve used a couple of masks this week – one is the Innisfree Real Squeeze Bija Mask – which confused me as I didn’t realise it was a sheet mask until I opened it up. However, it’s very soothing indeed and I shall definitely buy more of that one. The other advantage is that you can wear it at the same time as brushing your teeth and it doesn’t slip off, hurrah! What could be better, LOL? NB I bought this one as part of a really cheap set from eBay so that’s good too.

The Montagne Jeunesse Tea Tree Peel-Off Mask is also very cleansing but not in a horrid way -though I must say peel-off masks aren’t my favourite, I will be buying this one again as it made my skin feel refreshed and ready for action. And that’s a rarity at any level! It costs £1 from Boots, but they’re doing a 5 for £4 deal at the moment so I’d stock up if I were you.

Keeping to the tea-tree theme, I’ve just finished using the Boots Tea Tree Cream– which I use for keeping my spots under control in the mornings (I use a stronger product in the evening for overnight healing). I really do like this cream and I will buy it again. It’s priced at £4.39 for 30ml, but there’s a 3-for-2 offer for herbal products and complementary medicines at Boots.

I’ve also been trying out the Dove Invisible Dry roll-on Anti-Perspirant Deodorant, which is good as it doesn’t leave white marks on my clothes like Mum Deodorant always does. Yes, I think Mum is probably better at keeping me entirely sweat-free, but Dove isn’t bad and at least it’s doesn’t ruin my clothes! This costs £2.30, but Boots are doing a 2 for £3 offer on it, hurrah.

My final favourite of this week is by far the best – I bought a sample product of Dermalogica Ultra-Calming Barrier Repair recently just to have a go – though I know Dermalogica is very expensive and it’s the slippery slope to bankruptcy, LOL. Much to my purse’s horror, it’s TOTALLY brilliant – I use it in the morning after toner and before adding my moisturiser and it just creates an amazing barrier across the skin which feels wonderful and is totally invisible. I LOVE it. I have already bought a full-size version, eek! It’s £36.90 for 30ml (double yikes and call my bank manager) but you can get it cheaper elsewhere if you search the Interweb thingy and it is SO GOOD.

Products Which Have Disappointed Me:

I’ve already spoken about my disappointment with the Soap & Glory Smooch Operator Lip Balm, but have now finished this jar and it didn’t really impress me any more than at the beginning – which is a shame as I normally rate S&G very highly indeed. Yes, it became easier to get out and onto my lips by the time I was halfway through, but it wasn’t anything above average, in my view. It’s priced at £5.00 which is WAY too much for the minuscule size of jar, but you can buy one and get a second S&G product half price at Boots, so you might want to give it a go? Needless to say, I won’t be joining you …

The funny little pink & silver foil package in the picture isn’t a really odd shaped condom (perish the thought!) but a sample of Lioele Triple The Solution BB Cream – no I’d not heard of them either, but they’re very big in Korea, which is where it’s all happening in the beauty world, I gather. My big problem with it was that I got terribly confused and thought it was a serum so put it on instead of my morning moisturiser and was deeply bamboozled, until I got my glasses out and read the packet properly, deep sigh! What am I like?!? There’s nothing wrong with it, as far as I can tell, but at £54.99(!!) at Amazon, it doesn’t inspire me to rush out and buy it, even in order to use it properly!

However the biggest swizzle-stick disappointment of my week was my ‘sample’ of the new Charlotte Tilbury Scent of A Dream perfume. Call me an old fool (many do), but when I think of sample perfumes, I think of actual mini-handbag size tubes that you can get three or four decent sprays out of. This however is just a piece of card that you have to rub to get the scent off so can’t even put it onto your skin!! How are you supposed to know if it suits you or not? When I pressed my nose to the card, it’s a pretty decent scent – though remarkably like the other 150 million scents there are around, but I was so annoyed by the ‘sample scam’ that I couldn’t be bothered to pay £49 for a 30ml bottle. Who would, harrumph? It certainly hasn’t filled me with the ‘light, power and positivity’ it’s supposed to give me, and in my view a good bottle of champagne will give you far more l, p & p and at half the price, hey ho.

Have a great week!

Anne Brooke Books