Looking fabulous starts with great skin and we are going to positively glow with health and radiance! Goodbye dull skin, hello compliments!
In December we featured products which created the base of our new skin-nourishing programme and in the highly popular January box, we built on that with some of the most important (and expensive) products that we need to fulfil what our skin needs.
The products in the January box are superb for us and our skin. They have amazing, active ingredients in them so let’s have a look at how we are going to incorporate them and what they are going to do for us!
First up is Abi Cleeve’s SKINSENSE GLYCOLIC PEEL & REVEAL PADS (30 pcs/RRP £34.00). Abi is very much a real woman who created this range when she couldn’t find products that worked for her. These pads are for once-a-day use and I would use in the evening after cleansing, so that your expensive serums and moisturisers have fresh skin to work on. These are NOT toner pads, we don’t use toner anymore, but these really mild AHA acid pads to gently exfoliate the top layer of your skin, which is why they are called “Peel & Reveal”. AHA acid is superb for us in this very, very mild form as it just helps cell turnover and takes off the top layer of dead cells, revealing sparkly new, glowing skin beneath. If you are new to acids on your skin then definitely use just once a day in the evening and monitor your skin. Any reaction, leave it out of your routine for a few days.
SKINSENSE DOUBLE STRENGTH RETINOL NIGHT SERUM 30ml / RRP £46.00
So, once you've cleansed, used the Glycolic pads and sprayed your skin with Gatineau's Alkessence from the December box (have you still got this?), your skin is ready for nourishing.
Abi's Double Strength Retinol Night Serum is perfect for you and me. This is basically Vitamin A, which is scientifically proven to reverse the signs of ageing in skin as well as prevent them from starting in the first place, which is why this is right up there in our high performance skincare routine. Vitamin A is best used at night, the reason being is that it is going to help encourage new skin cell production. These new cells are going to be thinner and so potentially open to sun damage which is why Vitamin A is used (almost universally) at night.
The benefits (and so why we are doing this) include:
Now, if you're new to retinol it can cause skin to be flaky so mix it in with your moisturiser to lower the strength and then build up. In short, LOOK at your skin, which is what we are all about now. Pea size amount, NOT MORE!
Codex Bia Day Cream (50ml / RRP £50.00) has literally just come down in price from £65.00 to £50.00! I chose Codex for two reasons. First, the formulation is second to none. Barb, the founder, is a formula fanatic and has created this moistuiser to be optimal in it's class. Second, the packaging is incredible - that tube is made from sustainable sugar cane!
This moisturiser is packed with Calendula (very soothing, tones down redness) and Wrack (Vitamins A & E to promote skin renewal as above). This is a great day moisturiser.
So, we're doing all this topical work on our skin so now it's time to help from the inside out too. HUM Collagen Love Dietary Supplements 90 capsules / RRP £44.00 are brand new to the UK market and are an amazing addition to our beauty arsenal.
I've created a video with the founder, Walter, who tell us how these amazing tablets work, but key is to take them everyday for a month to get best results.
Bali Balm Lip Balm 15ml / RRP £25.00 is in the box this month because January has dry lips written all over it. I've got a bee in my bonnet about the types of lip balm I want you to use because there's no two ways about it, lip products end up in our guts - we can't help but ingest them. Dan is the man who creates Bali Balm and he did it to ensure that the ingredients both hydrate lips, are safe for us and are sound for the environment. He's spent the last six months repackaging his balm and I genuinely hope you love it. 100% natural ingredients, vegan, 100% recyclable and a supporter of charities in Bali, this is a great product to support and I'd like you to use it liberally to keep lips soft this winter!
These products are incredibly well made, are supporters of our skin and I hope that you love them and the stories I'm bringing you about these brands - enjoy!