Caudalie Vinosource Collection Review

Caudalie is a brand I tend to return to time and time again, and certain products sit highly on my list of favourites.

They recently launched some new moisturisers, which are part of their Vinosource range, and I have been trying out the products over the last month.  All of the products are rich in organic Grape Water, which contains polyphenols and polysaccharides that are good water binding agents and antioxidants.

All of which help to hydrate, moisturize and soothe the skin.

They've created a collection of 4 essential moisturisers with different textures and key ingredients that allow you to pick and choose which one to use depending on your skincare needs.

1. Moisturising Sorbet (Dehydrated Sensitive Skin)

A gel cream that melts into your skin upon contact, this works well for combination/dehydrated skin and leaves it feeling moisturized and nourished.  It does contain fragrance, which is important to mention for those with particularly sensitive skin, however my skin can sometimes be a little sensitive and I didn’t have issues with it at all.  

It retails for £23 for 40ml

     2.   Moisturising Mattifying Fluid (Combination Skin)

This has become my go to when I want my makeup to stay matt.  A lightweight fluid, it has a blotting effect on any excess oil and its velvety texture acts as a bit of a primer before my makeup. 

It retails for £23 for 40ml.

     3.   Intense Moisture Rescue Cream (Very Dry Skin)

Although this is meant to be for very dry skin, I found it worked well for me as a night cream and with the addition of glycerin, squalane and shea butter it really packs a moisture punch. 

It retails for £23 for 40ml.

      4.   Moisture Recovery Cream (Dry Skin)

A rich velvety cream that comforts and nourishes the skin. This is one I like to use if my skin is feeling a little dry, and it contains nourishing grape and borage oils. Although I lean more towards combination skin, I found that this wasn’t too heavy and my skin was moisturised but not greasy.

It retails for £23 for 40ml.

5.   Grape water

A lovely botanical mist made with 100% organic grapes that refreshes, moisturises and soothes in one easy step. This has been perfect for using after washing my face and just before applying my moisturiser. It acts as a moisturising mist and is instantly absorbed by my skin. I also love it as a refresher for my makeup during the day if it’s looking a little tired or it’s been a long day.

At only £6 for 75ml it’s a no brainer for me.

This pink bottle is a limited edition but their Grape Water in its usual packaging is one of their signature products and can be found at selected stockists.

Have you tried anything from the Caudalie range? What are some of your favourite products?

The Review: Clayspray Chococlay Face Mask

 

Face masks are one of my favourite items in my beauty routine, and I tend to use them once or twice a week, picking and choosing a mask according to my skins concerns to either deep cleanse, exfoliate or hydrate my skin.

I was recently sent Clayspray, a Spanish skincare brand to try out and upon seeing the packaging and product, I was intrigued.

The science bit

Clayspray is described as the first emulsified clay in a spray can (first time I have ever seen a face mask spray out of a can), which helps the clay mask last a lot longer than say clays that come in a jar, tube or powder, simply  because once opened they are exposed to air so tend to become hard and dried out.

It is said to "incorporate up to 60-65% of pure clay mineral, spring water and hydrogel in a luxurious texture". Which is extremely high in comparison to normal clay masks, that are said to "only contain 10-15%" in their formulations, so this is one of the highest concentrations I have seen.

The macromolecular hydrogels are meant to retain up to 800 times their weight in water, which in turn is  meant to infuse your skin with moisture as opposed to drying it out, whilst also removing excess oils and impurities.

I tried out the Chococlay - Red Clay and Cacao Mask which aims to nourish, balance, smooth and brighten.

How to use

Like most clay masks, you need to start of with a clean face, then lightly mist your face with the H20 water spray and apply a thin layer of spray to your face.

I have to admit that it applies beautifully - it has a slight liquid type consistency, which makes the application of it so much smoother and easier than any other clay mask I've used previously. If you are a fan of clay masks, you will know what I mean here, they tend to be quite thick and hard to apply.

You then leave the mask on for 15-20 mins, and can spray your face again halfway through with the H20 water to prevent it from becoming too hard and drying. This avoids that tight and horrible I can't speak or move my face experience you sometimes get with a clay mask. (I loved this tip and will be using it for some of my other masks)

Finally, rinse off the mask once the time has elapsed and follow up with another spray of the H20 water and the rest of your usual skincare.

So what did I think?

Review of The Body Shop Hemp Hand Protector & Moringa Body Butter

The Body Shop is one of the first beauty brands I remember going to purchase as a teenager. I used to be completely enamored by their white musk body splash and would douse myself in it every few hours, loving it’s sweet smell and how grown up it made me feel.

So I’m surprised that I haven’t really talked about the Body Shop till now. Well I’m remedying that with not one but two reviews today

The Body Shop hemp Hand Protector

My hands have been incredibly dry recently and this hand cream has been a complete hand saver.

A little bit of information on the key ingredient Hemp Seed Oil. It’s an oil that funnily enough I have been researching recently because I have heard quite a bit about its benefits.

Hemp Seed Oil is known for having particularly high levels Omega-6 (50-60%) and Omega-3 (15-20%), otherwise known as Essential Fatty Acids (EFA’s). EFA’s are essential to the healthy functioning of our body, however we cannot produce them so need to ingest them within our diet.

Hemp seed oil is hailed as a non –clogging oil that is anti-inflammatory. It also helps to protect the skin from free radicals and nourishes the body with essential nutrients.

Smell wise it isn’t what I would call a pretty or girly scent. It’s quite natural and grassy (is that a word?) but not in a negative way.  I honestly prefer that it does what it says on the tin and this does just that. I’m not surprised that it is one of the Body Shops best sellers. It’s rich but not greasy and it leaves my hands feeling incredibly moisturised, soft and not ashy. Enough said!

Beauty Talk: Hyperpigmentation lets talk about it

Not my usual kind of beauty blog post today, but I’m in one of those reflective moods, you know those moods where you just have way too many thoughts going on in your head, so I thought why not do one of the best things possible and lay those thoughts to paper or internet in this case…

I strongly advice you grab a cup of tea and settle in for the read :-)

Unless you have been living under a rock recently, I’m sure most of you have heard about the pop singer Dencia and her infamous new cream called whitenecious! This was followed by the beautiful speech Lupita did at the Essence Black Women in Hollywood Awards ceremony, which completely brought me to tears and more recently followed up with the cringe worthy interview Dencia did on Channel Four!

But just in case you have missed it, here is the image and both videos that have sparked off the world to discuss issues surrounding shadism, bleaching, body confidence and which prompted my reflections for this post

January Favourites

I can't believe how quickly January has flown past and it's now a few days into February! 

So January saw me challenging myself to transform my skin into the skin I have always wanted, which started with me using a new exfoliating brush.  Needless to say, I didn't read the instructions, started off with too high a setting and ended up with a sore and irritated face combined with an angry rash to boot :-( 

So I decided to take it back to basics in terms of what was being applied to my face and these first two products absolutely saved it

The Woman Behind the Business: Antonia Burrell

You might remember a blog post I did a little while ago on my facial experience with Antonia Burrell. Check out the post here

Well todays the woman behind the business is the one and only Antonia Burrell. Facialist to the stars, the lady with the magic hands and someone who inspires me with her drive and determination to succeed.

I met Antonia for lunch and asked her some questions about her business, beauty tips and favourite things.

1) How did you get into the business of beauty?

I started at the age of 19 and as a career it’s all I have ever done. I used to work as a therapist at the Sanctuary spa earning £28 a day! I was then promoted to a senior therapist and I realised I really needed to supplement my income so I also started selling the retail products. I got to know the products inside and out and was promoted to head of retail.

I was then headhunted and went to work with Aveda for 6 years where I won a number of awards for being the best in sales. Following that I decided to launch my own business. I opened up 3 salons and also started teaching aromatherapy at the London College of Arts.