Philip Kingsley Neroli and Geranium Elasticizer 1 litre

My hair is long and thin and shedding. I think one is either a long haired person or a short haired person - I have always had long hair, I have dabbled with jaw length bobs and shoulder length nothinging styles but for me long hair (waist length) that can be twisted up into a bun suits.

But, as I rush towards the menopause my hair is thinning and shedding, this product cossets and calms and hydrates my hair like nothing I have ever used. The idea is to apply pre shampoo, one needs to wet the hair before hand, but not to saturate, and then apply from midlength to the ends, for me I start at by my ears. Then one can leave for as long as one likes before shampooing out. I think the idea behind adding a fragrance is to encourage more frequent use and not to see it just as a deep conditioner once a week.

And it certainly works for me, it smells delightful, a lovely gentle citrusy floral. 

It is currently available on QVCUK as their beauty pick of the month, it is currently on advanced order so won't be dispatched until March but it is free p+p and on 3 x monthly payments of £19.52.

Nude Perfect Cleanse Omega Cleansing Jelly

I received a sample of this product after a recent SpaceNK trip.

This is a newish cleaner from Nude Skincare. I think it is a most enticing name, what fun to clean one's face with jelly.

The product is a gel texture, with a slight herbally scent maybe? It is difficult to say, the scent is neutral to my nose. It is easily spread, and emulsifies with the addition of water.

Not the greatest of photos and as can be seen in the background I did go on to buy the full size.

This does remove my makeup but I would not use it primarily for that, for me and my skin it is an anathema to use a product which washes off as the first step in makeup removal. For me this is an am cleanser, and maybe a pm cleanser after the makeup has first been removed.

What I like about this product is that the packaging is slim and elegant - sad but true packaging has a big influence on my intent to purchase, and I could make all sorts of snorty nudge nudge double entendres about packages and satisfaction, but I won't, suffice it to say the slim elegance of the tube with its matte lilac shade is visually pleasing.

I also like the fact that the ingredients list is relatively uncomplicated;  Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Coco-Caprylate, Water, Glycerin, Sucrose Palmitate, Sucrose Laurate, Arctium Lappa Root Extract, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Fruit Extract, Iris Florentina Root Extract, Bixa Orellana Seed Extract, Tocopherol, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract, Fragrance, Limonene.

And it is a joy to use, the texture is dense enough to allow for some concentrated massage, when the water is added it becomes a thick lotion rather than a thin runny lotion and it does rinse clean away.

£32 for 100mls. I purchased mine from SpaceNK

The Brow Shaper by Lilibeth of New York

This is a nifty little tool to tidy up one's eyebrows without resorting to tweezers. 

It is in effect a safety razor, and it is perfect for those barely perceptible vellus type hair, which seems to sprout all over my eyelids.

Of course my problem is that there is too much excess skin on my eye lids, so to tauten them is nigh on impossible, but the shape of this allows for accuracy and it really is very effective.

This is around £6 and can be found in department stores. QVC do multipacks.

By Terry Hyaluronic Hydra Powder

This is a finishing powder, but with hyaluronic acid, so rather than drying the skin it smooths and mattifies without rendering one's skin as a dead, dried up bit of old leaf. 

My skin is oily, but my skin always looks flat and dead with powder, until about an hour in when everything then melds together and my skin looks alive and real, that lasts for about an hour and then I look like a pool of oil.

It is white, and I have piled it onto my old dehydrated hands in an effort to show its shade.

The shade is white, but this picture makes it look like a smattering of flour, albeit of the 00 variety, but that is to do it a disservice, for this is light and almost without substance, it flies upward as soon as the plastic covering is pierced with a few holes.

I use this, applied carefully with a brush to set my makeup across the oiliest areas of my face, the nose and chin, and around my eyes, and it pretty well lasts for most of the day.

I also put it on post evening skincare routine to minimise any oiliness and I suppose "set" my skincare.

In the last three months or so of use, I have found this a rather invaluable product, and I would like to see how it fairs in the warmer months.

I purchased mine from SpaceNK where its £42 price tag was rendered a little less painful by the careful use of Ndulge points.

Aurelia Eye Revitalising Duo

My eye woes are of the baggy craggy variety - I have awnings for eyelids, you have heard of the pencil test for under the boobs? Well I could support at least a couple of cocktail sticks under my upper eyelids. 

When I purchase an eye product I am not expecting it to act on my eye slackening, really I want a product which is moisturising and refreshing and a pleasure to use, and this duo from Aurelia has been a sheer delight to use.

I bought this last year. I have bought several products from Aurelia's Probiotic skincare range, and have been impressed with the texture of the products which are light, but deeply hydrating, and the scents which are again light, but inviting and pleasurable. 

This duo has a cream in a jar and a serum in a roller ball.

The Illuminate & Smooth Puff Reduction Eye Cream has a spatula and is quite dense in that it needs a spatula to get at it, but is easily dispersed and does not drag, it feels instantly hydrating, and moisturising, suprisingly so given that the texture on application really is very light.

The Revitalise & Brighten Eye Dew has a serum texture and is cased in a glass bottle with a metal roller. Instantly cooling and hydrating, I found that the serum itself was not quite moisturising enough for my eye area, but its zinginess makes up for that, and if I layered the Eye Cream over the top it was more than enough moisture and comfort.

The roller ball is reuseable in that one can purchase a refill to attach the metal ball which is perfect as I found I whizzed through the Eye Dew in a couple of months because it was so pleasurable to use. The Eye Cream was like a bottomless pit and lasted me a good four months of twice daily use.

The duo is £90 for 10mls of Eye Dew and 15mls of Eye Cream, the refill for the Eye Dew is £40. So not cheap, but so very very pleasing to use.

More information from the Aurelia website which really is worth a good look.

Eve Lom Cleanser

I first used this cleanser some 23 years ago. I remember reading an article in the much missed Marie Claire Health and Beauty magazine about spending £50 on a beauty regime (shows how long ago it was). I bought and I was hooked. 

To my mind this is the first of the balm cleansers, and if I am honest the benchmark with which I compare all newcomers.

So, a thick, somewhat grainy textured balm, someone likened it to goosefat in texture and look and I would agree. The scent is herbal and slightly medicinal, to me, not unpleasant, but distinctive. 

This is not a cleanser for those who like something quick, which emulsifies and removes grime with a quick addition of water and a quick rinse away, although it does emulsify if water is added. No this is a "dry hands, dry face" and massage away, a fingerful should suffice.

I have thin, aged skin with a fair smattering of thread veins and general redness and I have never had a reaction to this product, it is the most effective makeup remover for my skin and my makeup that I have used, on a single pass.

Of course the elephant in the room is that mineral oil is large component of this product. I am no scientist, all that I know about mineral oil is from my aromatherapy training (I completed 3 out of the 4 modules of a professional aromatherapy course with Penny Price) and mineral oil was dismissed as a carrier oil because the molecules are too large to penetrate the skin, not that anything can get in very deep, they just sit on the skin's surface. For a far more eloquent and knowledgeable post please read Colin's post here 

Of course balm cleansers have moved on in the intervening years, and I use many, and enjoy them all.

This was a limited edition 500mls pot from QVCUK, one can purchase 450mls from the Eve Lom official website for £140.

First post

I have been here before in various guises; lipstickmama, beautydiarist, to name but two. I post and I delete, but "as a dog returns to its vomit so a fool repeats his folly." And here I go again. As a sort of aside, I am no expert, apart from what works for me, and then I often get it wrong. I like beauty products and I like organising my thoughts and views about said products, but that is all it is. For anyone reading this, welcome.