Ren Glycolactic Radiance Renewal Mask

It was my sister's birthday on 14th March - this was bought for her but I am keeping it.

And I am keeping it because I am fed up with relying on cut up sample sizes - see below.

This is an exfoliating mask but sans grains of any sort other than the sort of texture one might come across if spreading melted honey and lemon over one's face.

And to me it is a bit like the hot lemon and honey comfort blanket type mask but with added benefits of exfoliation because when I apply it, it feels warm and comforting, a bit zingy.

I find with exfoliation that a crazy paving network of thread veins around my nose and veering into my cheeks negates the wish for manual exfoliation and I shun anything with a texture. This has enough of something to make me feel that my complexion is receiving a light vacuuming, a bit of a smoothing over. 

I tend to use it about once a week and follow up with extra facial oils and a richer moisturiser.

Ingredients below.

Currently around £30 for 50mls - I estimate that this will last me a good 6-8 months of once weekly use.

Something Blue - Sunday Riley Blue Moon Tranquility Cleansing Balm

I mentioned this product in a previous post where there was a distinctive blue hue to a current slew of beauty products, as can be seen below

But this product deserves a post all of its own - I have purchased, used up and now re-purchased this product for I don't think I could live without it.

It is a thick, waxy balm I suppose, it needs a bit of a dig to get it out, but it does melt quickly and it is blue - I feel as if my second batch is bluer than my first, but that could just be me. It does require a bit of work into the skin, it is not as melty as say Emma Hardie Moringa Cleansing Balm, but that bit of resistance is okay for me as I find I am not slipping and sliding all over my face uncontrollably. It does slacken with the addition of water but it is rather a chore so I prefer to remove with a warm flannel.

I have used it to remove makeup but at only 100mls and £46 for that amount, I am loathe to frankly waste it on that function. For me I like to cleanse my face and then use this as a hydrating mask whilst I am in the shower in the evening, then remove and go on with various oils and moisturisers. 

Ingredients listed below

£46 for 100mls jar which is shallow enough and wide enough to get every last scrap out of.

Something New - Liz Earle Superskin Eye Cream

I don't need a new eye cream, I am perfectly happy with my Charlotte Tilbury Magic Eye Rescue thank-you very much (reviewed here), but when a free sample appears in the post it seems rude not to give it a go.

So Liz Earle Superskin Eye Cream is the newest edition to her Superskin range, which is aimed I suppose at me, with older crappier skin, not that all older skin is crap but mine has woes which seem inexorable so I have to do the best with what I have got - in the eye area that is dark circles and baggy eyelids, the latter I am resigned to, the former I want to disguise.

The premise is that this product will be an eye cream for all ages from mid twenties to sixties and beyond with high levels of plant based botanical ingredients - listed below

Ingredients: Aqua (water), Caprylic/capric triglyceride, Butyrospermum parkii (shea butter), Sodium polyacrylate, Borago officinalis seed oil, Rosa rubiginosa seed oil, Myristyl myristate, Vaccinium macrocarpon (cranberry) seed oil, Soybean glycerides, Propanediol, Tocopherol (vitamin E), Camellia sinensis (green tea) leaf extract, Punica granatum fruit extract, Medicago sativa (alfalfa) seed extract, Spilanthes acmella flower extract, Alaria esculenta extract, Rheum rhaponticum root extract, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium stearoyl glutamate, Lactobacillus ferment lysate, Butyrospermum parkii butter unsaponifiables, Sodium hyaluronate, Xanthan gum, Saccharomyces cerevisiae extract, Hydrolyzed lupine protein, Arginine, Trisodium ethylenediamine disuccinate, Lactobacillus ferment, Hydrolyzed hyaluronic acid, Chlorphenesin, Caffeine, Ethylhexylglycerin, Aspartic acid, Ascorbyl palmitate, Sodium chloride, Citric acid.

And it is reassuring for me to see borage seed oil and rosehip seed oil high up in the ingredients list.

Now there is not much that one can tell from a 2mls sachet - I eked out four applications pm, am, pm, am. And what I found was that the texture is a cream rather than a lotion, it does not have a fragrance that I can tell, it felt instantly cooling but sank in rather too quickly for my liking - I may investigate further but currently I am happy with my Charlotte Tilbury Magic Eye Cream

£35 for 15mls

Philip Kingsley Elasticizer Elderflower & Rhubarb

This is the newest limited edition elasticizer from Philip Kingsley - I am presuming it is limited edition, it may not be, I hope not for it is amazingly scented, of elderflower and rhubarb!

One of my first posts on this blog was about the PKE in geranium and neroli and it is also beautifully scented - see here

I am pretty low maintenance with my hair, in that I hate it, I wear it up and hope for the best. I have my mum's hair, I didn't, up until I was about forty and then all of a sudden it shrivelled and shrank and frizzed and thinned - much I think to do with stress as there were great ropes of it disappearing down the plughole. 

I won't lie and say that this product has lessened my hair loss, but it has made a huge difference to the condition of my hair, it makes it smoother.

Currently this is the Beauty Pick of the Month on QVC UK so it is £57.96 and on 3 easy payments of £19.32 - no p+p for 1000mls - for that size it is perfect to use every time I wash my hair.

Pai Camellia & Rose Gentle Hydrating Cleanser

I have been using Pai Camellia & Rose Gentle Hydrating Cleanser for some little while, and they had a recent offer to purchase the product in its new tube and with and new cloth for £10 off what the usual price. Needless to say I bought it.

Pai have thought carefully about this packaging, I don't personally mind pumps but there is always that little bit of awkwardness at the end when one hacks into the outer plastic, usually with an incompetent implement and injures oneself, all in the spirit of getting the last dregs out. No such difficulties here, I have showed how squeezy this tube is below.

I find that creamy cleansers are becoming a more reached for cleanser and makeup remover than my more usual balms which can feel a bit full on, especially at this time of year when the UK spring is accompanied by stiff breezes which leave my skin needing something cooling and calming and this cream cleanser from Pai is one of my favourites. 

What I like particularly about this cleanser is that it is so gentle and very hydrating, although I have an oily skin, I find that whenever I remove my makeup or generally cleanse my skin, my skin feels parched and in need of something - with this cleanser, my skin can wait until I have at least got the top off my serum/moisturiser.

The new cloth is interesting - I have always found the original Pai muslin somewhat rough in texture and have tended to use an Eve Lom muslin or a bog standard flannel (so saying the flannel which comes with the Votary Cleansing Oil is far from bog standard and is delightfully pile dense).

This cloth has a muslin on one side and a flannel on the other, both have a soft, loose weave which is gentler on my face. And this does remove all my makeup, with 2 passes but then that is normal for me.

Just a word on Pai's beautiful packaging below.

£38 for 200mls with the cloth.