Skin care quicky

You may have read about my "travelling nose boil" every bit as attractive as it sounds!  For over a week have had an incredibly sore nose, a lump appears that is hot, hard and red and agony.  Then it moves to a different part of my nose, sometimes there was more than one, nose has been swollen and bruised looking - apparently I looked like a whisky drinker according to Steve, charming!  It does now finally seem to have subsided and I think it may be hormonal as I am at that age. oh. the. joy.  

Anyway whilst all this has been going on the roseacea has been having a bit of a field day too so I decided mid last week to kick everything into touch and only use my Avene products; Gentle cleaners, Thermal water spray, Rich recovery cream and rich anti-redness cream with a dash of Organic Surge night cream (completely love this stuff and recommend without reservation) and have not gone near my Elemis stuff.  Today as well as nose having deflated the roseacea is at the best level mine gets, I have some pink tint to my skin but no obvious red, pimply, sore skin.

   

I suspect the Elemis Pro-Collagen isn't doing me any favours, I know Welsh Beauty had a really bad reaction to it and I did wonder if I would get away with it, seems not.  But think I might conduct a scientific test, if I can be brave enough and just try the pro-collagen day and night cream on one specific area just to see what happens. 

Through all this my other wonder product has been the Clarins Gentle Peeling cream, as the skin on my nose has been stretched and swollen it has dried and peeled, this has been gentle enough to use daily just to take off the flakes so my foundation can actually help rather than draw attention to the problem, so this is something else I can recommend if you have dry, sensitive, skin and don't like a gritty facial scrub.
Right, on with the dross!

Skin care heroes.

If you have read any of my blog you will know that I have issues with red skin on my face, I have mild roseacea that flares up once a month or when I get stressed and general diffiuse redness that is more or less pronounced depending on all sorts of factors.  The one range that I have found that has had any noticeable impact on my redness is the Avene range.  I had used the products in the past but whilst I was happy with the results had overlooked them mainly because I like to treat myself to expensive skin care and at around £9 a product they didn't really fit the bill.  Shallow doesn't really come close does it!

When this winter my roseacea was particularly bad I decided to give them another whirl and I am seriously pleased I did.



The gentle cleanser is heaven to use, its a very light, non scented gel that you can massage in well and rinse with tepid water and a soft cloth or for mornings when you just refreshing your skin rather than removing make up it can be tissued off, which is lovely for me as my skin is not a fan of water.  No tightness or dryness with this at all.

The Rich skin recovery cream is fantastic, it is thick the sort of texture normally associated with a body butter, but on my skin it soaks in well.  I use it as part of my night regime but also add a dab in the morning to any particularly angry looking patches.


The redness solution moisturiser has a light green tint and whilst not sufficient to make any major difference it does seem to tone down the worst of the redness without any shrek effect.


It's a lovely cooling moisturiser and if my skin is being grumpy its all I use.

The eye cream is not too heavy so I don't end up puffy eye'd.  I don't think that is having a huge effect on wrinkles but my eye area and the skin underneath is very crepey and on my mum it was the first area to really show signs of ageing so I am keen to keep it nourished.

When my skin is playing nice I also dip into my lovely Elemis products.
 
Oh how I love them!  Both the pro-collagen day and night are bliss to use.  They are perfumed, not massively in my opinion but enough that they are pleasant.  I love how both of these make my skin feel and whilst they are stupidly expensive if you were ever to buy at full whack you do only need a smidge.  I had a 15ml sample of the day cream on 3rd December and this morning had to cut the tube to get the last of it out, having used it sparingly but pretty much daily since.

I really like the Pro-radiance cream cleanser.  Its a lovely cream cleanser that doesn't lather or bubble, more of a balm effect.  You apply a thin layer to dry skin and massage it in, after a minute it starts to suck up all your make up and gunge off  your face and turn it into a paste, if you have ever used Clarins facial peel its a little like that but with slip so its not dragging on your skin.  My face  always feels super clean but never tight after using this.  I don't use it daily but tend to do every other day, just in case my skin freaks out.

The papaya enzyme peel and the pro-collagen quartz lift mask were also in the gift set I had for xmas.  The papaya peel is a peachy coloured cream with a fruity smell.  I was warned only to use this when my skin was on its best behaviour, which I have stuck to and have had no problems.  The quartz lift mask is heavenly, its a thinner white cream with a lovely warming fragrance it contains Argan Tree Oil and feels intensely moisturising without being clogging.  

I had a full size bottle of the Exotic Cream moisturising mask for Christmas too.

This is lovely, one of the biggest benefits is that you can apply a thin layer at night and leave it on overnight for intensive moisturisation, which my skin LOVES.  It is another peachy cream and if I am being honest I don't completely love the smell, its a bit fruit yoghurt to me but the very visible benefits more than make up for this.  It leaves my skin plumped and glowing even if just leave it on for ten mins and not overnight. 

I also use the Clarins gentle facial peeling, once a week generally sometimes a couple of times and its a great prep before one of the masks.

So thats me, skin care for a 44 year old with red, stressy skin! 

Oh and one other thing I have been meaning to say.  As you know I take photos, some of them of people and I always feel a duty of care for those people so apply a little skin softening or maybe get rid of a blemish, in the way I would want someone to do for me!  One of things I have really noticed when taking photos of older ladies is that irrespective of how good the skin on their face may, or may not be, generally their necks are in less good nick.  Having noticed this I resolved to make sure I ALWAYS make sure my neck gets a good slather of moisturiser too - in the past I have been guilty of overlooking this but with the photographic proof that in your mid sixties this oversight will come back to haunt you I am being extra careful and wanted to share! (Relevent only if your mid sixties are only 20 years away, any more than that and I guess you can forget about this advice for a while, but be warned!!)

Hot rock back massage and Elemis mini facial

Taking a break from taking a break to report on a simply stunning hour spent in the Saks salon in Halifax this pm.

They were offering a hot rocks back of body massage and mini Elemis anti aging facial for £55 with an Elemis goodie bag worth £40 to take home. I have always been ok with facials but am so not chuffed with my body that the idea of any one massaging it or even seeing more of it than they need to has left me cold. But I am 44, its frankly not likely to improve any time soon and I really felt I needed a treat with all the stress and hassle at the mo. Becky made me feel really comfortable right from the off and although I had a moment of thinking "aaagh" laying on a table under a slip of cotton in just my knickers I soon forgot to be body concious. Frankly I almost forgot to breathe!

Is there any thing more delicious than being massaged with hot stones? If there is I don't think I could stand it! It was heavenly, the treatment started with a light body brushing and some reflexology (bugger should have spent less time on the hair removal and more time sanding the hooves) and then the hot stone massage was done on my legs first, deep massage with stones that on initial touch feel almost too hot but they move so quickly its never uncomfortable. I have to admit to blanching at the point Becky moved from legs to back, I had assumed knickers would stay pretty much covering my horrid butt, it seems not, quickly slipped down to reveal rather more buttock that I suspect either of us was really comfortable with for the most extensive back massage. I really did quite quickly adjust to having most of my arse out, I think the fact that my legs were covered made it feel less exposed and before long I genuinely forgot to care.

Once the massage was finished I flipped over onto my back, Becky draped lovely thick bedding over me and began the facial. For a mini facial I think it was pretty extensive, lots of lovely hot cloths, wonderful smelling oils and massage. I have had a few facials in the past where they slapped on something cold and clammy and then went outside, on one memorable occasion for a fag - is there anything worse than fab breath during your facial? Not this time, each time something was being left to work Becky massaged my head or neck and shoulders and then finally left me wrapped in a cocoon whispered that I should relax til I felt ready to move and then get myself dressed whilst she went and made some notes on my skin. She was very lucky not to come back 10 mins later and find me snoring blissfully!

I was amazed at how nice my skin looked, Becky confirmed that the red areas on my cheeks are roseacea and gave me some diet suggestions to help with this although said stress is the biggest cause so not much chance of it clearing up any time soon! I left with a £10 voucher against future treatments, a list of recommended products, a guide to the most suitable of their xmas gift sets - many of which come with a free facial or massage which makes them incredible value - and 15ml of the famous Pro-collagen marine cream, Exotic Cream moisturising mask and the same of Payapa enzyme peel - only to be used when skin isn't flaring up. All in all an absolute result and I really think I might ask Steve for a facial for my Christmas pressie to give me something to look forward to in January.

Anti redness skincare

Have decided I need to be a bit more proactive in my skincare to try and mitigate the redness that I have on my cheeks, nose and chin. As usual I have spent 40 hours googling what would work best. I am interested in the clinique stuff and the plan today was to buy an eyebrow pencil that I need and request a sample of the moisturiser just to check it would be rich enough for my very parched skin. That all went tits up as I had to take husband shopping. Need an outfit for a wedding on 29th December and every thing I showed him was either "too old" "too short" or just "too ugly". What he seems to have missed is that his old, short, ugly wife is also rather fat and so if you are having to buy a size 20 choice is limited and sometimes you have to go with if it fits buy the bloody thing and get the hell home. You have seen married couples shopping like we were today, hands in pockets, heads down, not speaking. He suggested I look in Evans. I just could not be arsed to explain that A) all Evans clothes are tat and B) for some inexplicable reason Evans make dresses up to a size 60 without freaking sleeves. Nearly everyone that I know that is either past 42 or over a size 16, or god forbid both, seriously needs to cover their arms up so why in gods name Evans make sleevless dresses is quite beyond me and it never fails to pee me off. So in complete bitch fit mode I walked into Evans with him trailing in my wake, stomped up the left side of the shop, crossed over at the top, stomped down the right side and straight back out the door without picking up or looking at a single thing. And do you know what? I think he got the message! So by the time I got to Boots I was so underwhelmed I forgot all about the eye brow pencil and the clinique sponger tactic. I grabbed a facial wax, so that even if I am fat, old and short with a red face it wont have hair on it. I also nabbed an Avene Rich anti-redness moisturiser and a small can of the Avene thermal spa water spray in lieu of toner.

I am going to Halifax for a facial with a friend on Friday and intend to do the brow pencil/sample scam and maybe pick up the Avene extra gentle cleanser too. Cant wait for Friday, Saks in Halifax is 6 years old and they are doing a terrific offer to celebrate, hot stones back of body massage, which I have been dying to try since forever - I have rheumatoid arthritis and warmth on my aged aching bones is just bliss! And then after your hot stones massage you get a mini Elemis facial, had an Elemis facial a couple of years ago with my sister and it was heavenly so this will be a real treat. £55 the lot and you get a gift bag with £40 of Elemis products to take away, far too good an offer to not indulge. So lunch in Halifax, a spot of light retail therapy, massage, facial and home for the Festival of Light in Huddersfield that evening with husband and the kids, the perfect antidote to all the stress of selling the business and moving into our new home and our new life and trying to organise Christmas when you have no idea where you are going to be living!

NOTD 4 - Nails Inc St Johns Wood

Oh is there ever a story behind this one. Are you sitting comfortably? Good, then I'll begin. Manchester March 2010 and I was on a mission - Nails Inc Jermyn Street or die trying. That may sound a little over dramatic, if you had been there you would know, it isn't! Hauled sister and daugher straight into Debenhams and to the Nails Inc counter, Jermyn Street was £10 on its own or for £18 I could have the "Griege" collection: Jermyn Street, The Thames (grey), Taxi (black) and a white/pale cream - cant remember the name. Well they say a fool and her money are easily parted and I am no exception. Was beyond delighted and over lunch shared out the spoils, hey, I am nothing if not generous - Em got the black and Ness got the pale cream and I had Jermyn Street, that lush Chanel Particulere (sp?) dupe and The Thames a fab grey cream. Was ecstatic til I came to use them, the brush on Jermyn street was straggly and un-even, the polish was thick and gloopy and I was peed off. Thames was worse, more straggles and at one point I dipped the brush into the bottle and it came out with a really long hair/fibre wrapped around the brush, yeuakk. The only other experience of Nails Inc polish that I had had was a freebie on the front of a mag and it too was super gloopy and nothing to write home about.

So in the interest of finding out how the hell Nails Inc could justify £10 something for a bottle of their polish I emailed customer services to ask if the polishes in the collections were of the same quality as the individual bottles. Got back the reply that they were and that I must have had a duff set and that they would be happy to replace the collection. I was pretty pleased and very impressed and waited for my new collection to arrive. And waited. And waited. You can probably see where I am going with this!!

After 2 months I emailed them again and said that whilst the offer of a new collection had been a lovely gesture, that was all it was - a gesture. Finally got a reply saying that the original contact had left but they would now send me a bottle of Jermyn Street. Of all the cheek! Wait 2 months and then instead of the original offer of a new collection get offered a single new bottle instead, I think not. They did then offer the Griege collection again but I am a bit over all that grey and beige so asked them if it would be possible to have a single bottle of St Johns Wood instead.

On Saturday this arrived.

How fab is that? Frankly had it been empty I would almost have been happy to have had the jiffy bag. ALMOST.

Inside the jiffy bag, was a Nails Inc black box and inside that, wrapped in black tissue was this

St Johns Wood - I am going to describe it as lavender cream, isn't it be-you-ti-ful? Actually in this photo its looking a bit darker than it truly is.

Just to give you a comparison here it is next to Purplicious - much more accurate on the colour.


Yesterday afternoon I finally had chance to get some on my nails. I am here to tell you that Nails Inc polish rocks. Seriously after having used 3 bottles and been pretty not impressed with the brushes and the formula this one has made me totally change my mind. The polish is very smooth and incredibly opaque, you could almost get away with one coat, but that just doesnt feel right so it got 2, did have some slight streaking caused by the brush, the polish is still fairly thick but it does go on like a dream.


This is 2 coats with Boots Expert strengthening base and top. Bit of tip wear and a whopper of a chip as I didn't get round to photo'ing this til this pm and I had done 3 hours house work and a spinning class by then!

You may have noticed my rather plump and luscious cuticles. Of course you did. This is due to this wonder product


It is amazing and makes my hands feel so moisturised without being greasy it is chock full of shea butter and smells like heaven. It was a b'day pressie from Rachel who is a bit of an Elemis fan and wanted to share the joy! Lucky me. She also got me a tube of their pre-tanning cream which I am going to use in the 2 week run up to my holiday in Corfu and if I tan, rather than doing that glow in the dark white, bright red lobster and back to glow in the dark all in the space of a day thing that I usually do I will be a convert for life! Cant wait to try it and of course will let you know how I get on!