Grapefruit, Ginger and Peony

I received another DHC sample package in the post recently – I had the Eye Bright (£19.50 at Amazon), the Deep Cleansing Oil (£23.98 for 200ml at Amazon), and the Face Wash Powder. (£10.50 at Amazon). The Eye Bright was fine, and the Deep Cleansing Oil is okay – I’ve used it before as a first cleanser but I have others I prefer. But it was the Face Wash Powder that was seriously weird! It’s literally a powder that you dab onto your skin and then add water to make it into a foam. I really didn’t like it as it felt disgusting – like making glue on your face, yuk! Personally I’d avoid it, and on the whole I’m still not sold on the DHC brand, LOL!

I also received another sample Lioele Beyond the Solution BB Cream – which I used as it was there, but I’m not rushing out to buy it. It doesn’t seem available at Amazon any more, but I’m not that bothered …

It’s a whole other story for the sample Yves St Laurent Black Opium Nuit Blanche perfume though – I LOVED it! Live the night with BLACK OPIUM NUIT BLANCHE, an electrifying new interpretation of the iconic BLACK OPIUM coffee signature. A seductive white coffee floral fragrance designed to give the wearer a burst of energy to last through the night. NUIT BLANCHE translates to ‘White Night’, a night in Paris once a year when rock chicks take control and make the city their playground until dawn. The iconic white floral heart of the original Black Opium Eau de Parfum is electrified with a burst of energizing aldehydes and aphrodisiac white musk for an all-night adventure. Well, I’m no rock chick and I adored it – a perfect mix of sultry and sweet and strangely right even for the office if you want to go for that essential hint of sophistication. I got loads of compliments on this one! Sadly, it’s way beyond my price range, being £64 for 50ml at Boots, but if you’ve got the cash, then grab this one for sure.

From the sublime to the ridiculous, I’m nothing without a handful or two of HSL Epsom Salts in my bath – so very cleansing, my dears! And only £10.29 for 3kg at Amazon and I’ve already restocked it.

Meanwhile, me and my super-sensitive teeth absolutely LOVE Sensodyne Pronamel toothpaste – I usually go for the whitening one as it’s really good so I must have picked this one up by mistake at some point. Still good though. It’s only £4.50 for 75ml at Boots, and they have a 2 for £6 offer on Sensodyne toothpaste at the moment – so don’t forget to pick up the whitening one too!

I’ve at last managed to finish off the dreaded second bottle of the frankly appalling VO5 Volume Boost Gel Spray. Does anyone really still believe in this? It’s sticky and doesn’t boost the volume, though the scent isn’t bad. I won’t be bothering again, but if you’re feeling foolhardy, you can get it for £5.98 for 200ml at Amazon and there appear to be only 8 bottles left. Which is surely a blessing, eh.

I wasn’t really prepared to like the Greenland Fruit Emotions Grapefruit & Ginger Body Butter, but actually it’s not too bad. It’s not available on Amazon any more, but costs 14 Euros at the Greenland site. I think that’s far too pricey for such a small tin and I won’t be bothering again, I think. However, on the plus side, it doesn’t smell cheap, which is great, and it sinks into the skin well.

I totally LOVE the Marks & Spencer Peony Shower Cream – the smell is wonderful and very grown-up too. Sadly, M&S don’t seem to do this separately as it was part of a Christmas set – but I really wish they would produce this on its own and in a bigger tube. I would rush to buy it!

The Olay Firm & Lift Anti-Wrinkle Booster & Firming Serum is quite nice, as well as being a mouthful to say, LOL! I use this in the evenings, after work as a primer for my evening top-up make-up, though I’m not sure I’m going to buy another one, as I have others to use. It costs £4.99 for 50ml at Boots, which I believe is down from £9.99 so do give it a go.

And I absolutely would NOT be without my trusty Max Factor Pan Stik in Fair – it is GENIUS and covers every possible spot, blemish and redness you can imagine. I don’t like using it as a foundation – though I know many people to – as I prefer to have a liquid surface on my face. I use this as a concealer instead and it makes my skin look totally amazing. You can get it for £7.99 for 9g at Boots and it is worth its weight in gold, I tell you!

Last but not least, my Lancome Love Your Age sample which came in the post last week. I didn’t expect to like it, but actually it’s very good, and certainly smoothes my skin out. I’ve been using it day and night, and am impressed. The Youth Activating Concentrate goes on first, and then is followed by the Renergie Multi-Lift. They make my skin look brighter and smoother without causing any irritation. The only thing I’m not happy about – and which means I sadly won’t be trying out the full-sized products – is the horrendous price! £47.20 for 30ml of the Concentrate, at Boots, and £53.60 for 50ml of the Multi-Lift, again at Boots. Really, you’d have to take out a mortgage! But if I ever won the lottery (which I suppose means actually entering it!), I would buy this set.

As ever, have a beautiful week!

Anne Brooke Books

Scents and Sensitivity

Lots of products to love this week, hurrah! It’s not a beauty product as such but Beconase Nasal Spray stops me snorting like an old horse and wanting to gag all the time (ah, the joys of throat sinusitis are so many and glorious that I couldn’t possibly recount them all here, LOL!) so it’s a health & beauty necessity in my book. I have to have mine on prescription from the doctor, but other nasal sprays can be found in all good chemists and and are also very good at stopping The Beast (as I like to call it). Just try to balance it out with the inevitable nosebleeds and if you’re a serious sinusitis sufferer (yes, you know if you are – all those nights being unable to sleep and being sick all the time will give you the clue …), then try my short guide to coping with the worst of the effects, Atishoo and Bless You! The ABC of Mucus Management – only 99p for your Kindle! Advert over, phew …

4160Tuesdays are my go-to perfume provider for special occasions – and I try to mop up their products whenever they have a sale on. They’re not cheap but they last a good long time and people always comment on how nice they are. They also have some FABULOUS names for their scents – the handbag sized one above is The Sexiest Scent on the Planet Ever (IMHO) and it’s perfect for both day and evening wear. Their description calls it “smooth, soft and seductive – lemon meringue pie, blended with velvety woods. Really.” And I can’t argue with that, LOL. The 9ml handbag size ones are £15.00, but they send small samples with their parcels, so an added bonus.

This week, I ventured into TK Maxx for the first time in a long time – I always get depressed and confused when I try to shop there so have given it a miss for a while. However, I hadn’t realised they did discount beauty products as well, so ventured in one lunchtime and collected a small stash. The Cettua Clean & Simple Anti-Redness Mask for Sensitive Skin was only £2.00, down from £4.99, so a total bargain. It’s a sheet mask but I managed okay with it and it’s definitely very calming and reduces the redness. What more can you want? If I see it again, I’ll pick up another one, and am definitely tempted by the link above which goes to the Beauty Spin site – there it costs £2.60, so not bad.

I totally LURVE the Max Factor CC Cream in Fair as it just gives my skin a second wind and an added glow when I redo my face for the evenings. I’ll be buying some more when I run out of CC cream again, but I’ve got others lined up in my over-stuffed bathroom cabinet to try out so I’ll leave it for a bit. At Amazon it’s £4.80 for 30ml, which is great news.

The Eucerin Dermo Purifyer Cleanser is very good for sensitive spot-prone skin like mine and I’ve been using it for a while. It doesn’t dry my skin out either, hurrah! I’ve got another back up which I’ve started, but I’m also trying out other stuff so am seeing how I go with everything before repurchasing the next in the line. If you see what I mean! It’s £9.50 for 200ml at Boots, but there’s a 3-for-2 offer on selected Boots expert skincare products at the moment and they’re well worth a go. Have fun!

Finally, in this section, I have to expound the virtues of the Sensodyne Pronamel Gentle Whitening toothpaste – it’s brilliant for people such as myself who have enamel problems (my father was an apple farmer and it’s now known that apples attack the enamel of teeth if you eat too many of them. My dears, as I lived on an apple farm for the first eleven years of my life, you can imagine how many apples – in all sorts of disguises! – have come my way!!). This toothpaste also keeps my front teeth white and is good for my delicate sensibilities too. I use it once a day in the morning, and have other similar toothpaste for the evenings. I like to mix and match for a healthy mouth! At the moment, it’s £3.00 for 75ml at Boots as they have a one-third discount on. Shop early shop often and wake up to beautiful teeth!

However, in the midst of all this beauty joy and happiness, we have one lonely and surprising dud, alas!

The Boots No 7 range is one I tend to rely on in many areas, but this No 7 Restore and Renew Foundation has proved very disappointing indeed, oh dear me. It can’t be just me either because, as you can see, it’s been discontinued and you can’t get it anywhere. Probably a good thing. Anyway, as you can tell if you look closely at the above picture, the actual contents are only about one-third of the volume of the bottle they come in. One third!!! Do they think we’re idiots or something??? Why not just put the pesky product in a smaller jar instead of wasting all that plastic?!? Badly done, Boots No 7, badly done … To add to my rant, it’s not a very good foundation either – rather too runny and feeble for my tastes, and covers nothing that you want it to cover. I’m glad it’s finished and – you guessed it! – I won’t be buying it again, should it ever have the temerity to become available, ha!

Anyway, have a lovely weekend, and keep beautiful!

Anne Brooke Books

Skin Solutions: BB and CC Creams

Call me ignorant but I’d never heard of either of these creams before and was deeply confused as to what they stood for until I looked them up on Google. Good old Google, eh! And, yes, I know that means I am probably the least Girly Girl in the universe, but hey at least I admit it, LOL.

I bought both the Max Factor CC (Colour Correcting) Cream and the Rimmel BB (Beauty Balm) Cream on a bit of a whim though I had done some research on both when I went into Boots in Guildford.

I started off using each them as an individual foundation, but for main daytime use my skin needs something more – though for me it’s fine to use either for the evening if I’m just at home. I’m finding the BB Cream is slightly better for me – and even more brilliant when mixed in with the marvellous Max Factor Whipped Creme as together they provide excellent and moisturising coverage.

This is the first time I’ve ever been brave (or desperate!) enough to mix my foundations, and it’s really working well, hurrah. As an added bonus, adding in the slightly lighter in colour BB Cream to my Warm Almond Whipped Creme foundation makes it lighter, which suits my skin more.

I purchased all these items at Boots, and they are also available at Boots Online.

Anne Brooke

Skin Solutions: Max Factor Whipped Creme Foundation

I bought Max Factor Whipped Creme foundation as I was desperate to leave the matte foundation I’ve used for years – and my menopausal skin was crying out for help! This is really very good indeed and the favourite of the new foundations I’ve tried so far. It feels very smooth and moisturising and doesn’t dry out or cake in lines during the day. It also covers my Old Woman Spots(!) very well, hurrah. It’s a shame the pot is so small (18ml) but a little goes a long way, and I will definitely be buying it again soon.

At the moment I have it in Warm Almond, but this is a tad too dark for me, though not noticeably so, but I’ll try a lighter version next time. I bought mine at Boots online.

Anne Brooke Books