Products I'm loving...

There's a few products that I've really been loving recently, and I wanted to share them with you!

Garnier Skin Naturals Dark Spot Corrector, £9.99

Much has been made of this product in the US and the reviews are excellent. I think it has faded my spot scars considerably but more than that, I think it's an absolutely fantastic serum/primer/multi-use product. I use it as my night cream now and it leaves my skin beautifully smooth and bright when I wake up. I use it under my makeup and it's non oily texture is a lovely light moisturising base. I use it under my moisturiser and it evens my skin tone and leaves it looking bright and fresh. I LOVE this. I recommended it to my sister and she's also converted. Again, with all skincare, I add the caveat that all skin is different and yours might not respond in the same way as mine, but when I don't use it, there's a discernible dulling to mine, and my skin is noticeably less soft and smooth.

MAC Plumful, £14.00

Ah, Plumful. I've been meaning to buy you for years, but only got round to it this summer. But, where have you been all my life? On me (with my deeply berry-pigmented bottom lip) this is a very pretty, almost neutral soft berry shade. Can a berry be a nude? (I suppose it can, if that's your original lipcolour). It goes beautifully with smokier heavier eye looks, but gives enough definition and colour so I don't look dead (or make my full lips look ENORMOUS, which beigey-peachy colours like Jubilee do). It is totally non-drying and a joy to wear.

Lanolips 101, £11.22

I have the driest, flakiest lips in summer as well as winter and I've complained before about my dry skin (over and over again!) But I've really sorted it with Lanolips 101 - it's very thick and I use it at night on my lips and any sore/dry patches I have and in the morning, they're invariably gone. Plus it's the best balm I've found for preventing those awful nose-flakes that accompany a cold. I've had 4-5 serious colds over the last six months (way to go, immune system!) and my nose has survived all of them without awful peeling! These balms are pricey, but a little goes a very long way, and I bought mine in one of those magical Boots 3 for 2 offers.

Lanolips Lemonaid, £9.18

Lemonaid is my day-on-the-go version. I love the zingy, zesty scent - it is such a pick me up to use (and if you suffer from travel sickness like I do, having something lemony around is very useful!), and the softer texture is much easier to use for day. I'm rather fickle when it comes to lipbalms but I wouldn't be without these two now. I only wish the packaging was a bit less dated looking.

Treat wishlist

I have a good few gift vouchers and Boots Advantage points racked up at the moment. I absolutely refuse to use them on anything practical, and have a few things on my wishlist at the moment I would like to spend them on instead!

Tom Ford Black Orchid, £45

I'm patiently waiting to clock up enough Boots points to buy this, it's a very me-with-a- grown up twist scent. But I'm sad to see that it's gone up by £5 since I first started saving my points towards it :( I was almost there but it's going to take just that little bit longer for it to be in (and on) my rabbit paws!

Laura Mercier Petite Baked Shadow Palette, Golden Metallics, £20

I swatched this in John Lewis the other day, and it's absolutely stunning and such an adorable mini palette. The shades are so sparkly and complex, with numerous different coloured sparkles. Perfect for festive makeup looks!

Estee Lauder Chaos polish, £14.50

A smokey taupe shimmer with pretty blue-green sparkles. Mesmerising when I swatched it.

OPI Every Month is Oktoberfest, £11

I don't have that many shimmery vamps in my collection, and this has got some shadeshifting magic to it which I can never resist.

Chanel Illusion d'Ombre in Illusoire, £23

This smokey, sparkly, plummy taupe is so very pretty!

Do you save up gift vouchers and reward card points? What's on your wishlist?

SLS free reviews - update and wishlist

I've been trying a couple of SLS free products recently that I thought I ought to review for my fellow senstive of skin readers.

 Naked Ooh La La Body Wash, £3.79, 250ml

This brand is one of the most readily available SLS free ranges out there, stocked in most Boots. It's the first one I tried, and I've gone through most of the fragrances. The Rose is quite lovely and sweet, but a bit one-dimensional for use everyday, and it's not half as moisturising as Ooh La La. This one isn't foodie-scented, but it does have a deep, sweet and very soothing fragrance that is a joy to use. The lather is creamy, and it doesn't leave skin feeling stripped or tight. It's a lovely little everyday indulgence.

Liz Earle Botanical Shine Shampoo, £8.50, 200ml

Oh my days. This is THE best SLS-free shampoo I've ever used, hands down. (And I've tried many, including Daniel Galvin Junior, Naked, Body Shop and more). This lathers ok (much better when I repeat, which I tend to do because I wash my hair twice a week), but cleans so very effectively without at all drying or stripping the hair. And I have very dry hair. It has never irritated my dry, sensitive scalp, and the scent is pleasantly soapy-herbal and doesn't leave a trace when hair is dry. Most importantly, it leaves your hair so shiny and swishy and soft. I've never had that from an SLS-free shampoo, particularly the shine. An £8.50 tube lasts me months and months, so I view it as excellent value. Really, a godsend in shampoo form if you have a temperamental scalp. Or if you like your hair.

Faith in Nature Chocolate Shower Gel/Bath Foam, £5.45, 400ml

My hunt for foodie SLS free bath and shower products is neverending. Is vanilla an irritant? Because it seems that all SLS free products are scented with either geranium (the poor man's rose in my opinion) or lavender, or both. It's. So. Boring.

So I was quite excited when I discovered this product online over the summer. Chocolatey? SLS-free? Yes please. Reviews led me to believe this had a wonderful, soothing scent.

And it does smell faintly chocolately and rich when you open the bottle and take a good sniff. But that's about it. It is barely detectable on lathering. Furthermore, I was really cross to find that this brand that markets itself as "natural" and SLES-free in fact uses ammonium laureth sulfate, which is just as bad as SLS (and I've had terrible reactions to some ALS shampoos). I'm usually very careful about reading ingredient listings, so I'm not sure how this passed me by, but I was really disappointed. The massive bottle for £5.45 is ok value in theory, but I can't actually wait to finish it and move on. I haven't tried it in the bath because I very much doubt there'd be any scent at all, but it might be a good way to finish it!

And what will I be moving on to? I'm very curious about the following:

Korres Vanilla, Freesia and Lychee Shower Gel, £9, 250ml

I've heard great things about this in shower gel and fragrance form, and the combination of floral/fruit/vanilla sounds both sophisticated and delicious. In fact it provides SLS free folks with a rare opportunity to layer scented products because so many regular fragrance sets use the cheapest foaming agents available.

Soap and Glory Whipped Clean Shower Butter, £8, 250ml

Ooh, "shower butter." That sounds lovely doesn't it? When I was at uni, and only had access to a shower, and was stressed out of my brain trying to finish my PhD, I searched and searched for products that could give a bath-like experience (soothing, comforting) in the shower. Lush's now discontinued Almond Coconut Shower Smoothie was as close as I got (and it was lovely, sniff). But this sounds pretty on the money too!

I've tried to find out what Sodium Trideceth Sulfate is, and from some googling it seems it is much milder than SLS and its variants, so the scent of this and the promise that it is moisturising makes me very keen to try it. From a quick try in Boots, it smells INCREDIBLE.

Greenscape Organic Cocoa Butter Shower Gel, £7.15, 500ml

Ah John Lewis/Waitrose. How I love thee, and thy stocking of diverse SLS-free ranges. I happened upon this range in my local JL, and had a bit of a sniff, and it smelt sweet and promising. Before I encountered the Soap and Glory, this was highest on the list, but I'm a fickle rabbit and the massive size of this is putting me off!

S&G will be the next I purchase once I've finished the Faith in Nature one.

Have you come across any delectable SLS free ranges? 

SLS-free Shower Gels: Three Reviews

I'm trying to rid my routines of all SLS and ALS products, now that I've seen the difference it's made to my scalp (no longer sore or bleeding) and split ends (I have none! none whatsoever! and I get my hair cut every six months and blowdry it every three days!) I have super itchy dry skin (oh how I love being atopic: the holy trinity of eczema, asthma and allergic rhinitus are mine for life, hooray) and so using a decent non-drying shower gel is a must for me. These are three I've tried recently.

Naked Love Me Rose Shower Gel

This is a good shower gel, if you like rose scents. I like my rose scents on the foodie, Turkish Delight side, rather than the floral, but this is a definite fresh, floral rose and really pungent. If you like that kind of thing, it's lovely. It's also not as moisturising as I'd like and leaves my skin feeling a little tight before I slather on the Aveeno Skin Relief Lotion for Extra Dry Skin. But the £4 bottle lasts an absolute age. But it's not one I'll rebuy - I've bought the Coco de Mer one to try next instead.

Waitrose Organic Reviving Body Wash, £3.90

I love the scent of this stuff! Like chocolate orange with a hint of spice - a milk chocolate version of Green & Black's Maya Gold, if you will (it's very sweet rather than bitter, hence milk rather than dark chocolate). So few SLS-free products smell sweet and edible - generally scents seem to be of the lavender, geranium or citrus varieties (I imagine these essential oils are most intensely perfumed). But this - it's delicious! It's really comforting, and I used it up really quickly because I loved it so much. It's rather runny and doesn't foam well but I don't care. The next time I'm at a Waitrose, I'm picking myself up 3 of these babies. It's going to make my 6am starts in winter a lot more pleasant.

Cowshed Lazy Cow Shower Gel, £16

No, I didn't spend £16 on a SHOWER GEL. I got it free with Marie Claire and used it on holiday in Turin. As you can tell by now, I'm not a fan of floral or musky scents: I like mind sugary sweet, so I wasn't looking forward to using this jasmine and sandalwood scented gel. But I actually really liked it  -it was heady and exotic and somehow very soothing and relaxing. I do really love jasmine flowers and it's a true representation. It left my skin moisturised too. If Cowshed shower gels had about £10 knocked off their price, I might consider purchasing but at £16, I'm not going to. Shame, as the scent will always remind me of one of the best holidays of my life.

Anyone else out there converted to the ways of SLS-free? I would really love a vanilla or gourmand scented showergel that is SLS-free, can anyone suggest one?

Body Scrubs: Three Reviews

I have really dry, sensitive skin that flakes and itches all the time, so using a good (but not harsh) scrub every couple of days is essential for me. Here's a rundown of the last three I've tried: 

Origins Incredible Spreadable Ginger Scrub, £21.00

I got this for my birthday, and it's amazing stuff. It smells like a ginger and citrus cordial - it's spicy but definitely sweet and gourmandy too (just how I like my scents). It's oil-based so I do have to wash the tub down properly afterwards (my mum has osteoarthritis and an Origins induced fall would not be good) but it's fantastically moisturising as a result. The scrub grains are very scrubby - just right. It's not one I'd repurchase because it's too pricey for me to use on a day to day basis, but it's excellent and I'm going to struggle to find a better one.


Bliss Body Buff in Vanilla and Bergamot, £28.00

This is like a scrub, but used on dry skin before you shower. I actually think this might be a good technique if you end up buying a scrub that's quite lame (as I have in the past) - on dry skin you get a lot more friction and scrubbability. (Hey I have a PhD in English, it's practically a license to coin words). It's a fine-textured scrub but using the dry skin method it's really smoothing. It feels like there is salt in it, because it washes off very easily and my skin was left satiny-smooth. The scent is wonderful, like vanilla rooibos tea, soothing and aromatic, and it also lingers on the skin for a few hours. A lovely gift to receive, but um, not one I could justify purchasing for myself. £28? For a scrub?

Boots Extracts Fairtrade Mango Sugar Body Scrub, £7.75

This is a product "dupe" for Body Shop's Mango scrub, but at almost half the price for a LOT more product. In fact the scent is nicer - the Body Shop one smells a bit like rotten mangoes to me. But despite that bargainous fact, this scrub left me "meh" because I don't actually like either. It's not scrubby enough and  the oil leaves an unpleasant film on your skin (the Origins one doesn't do this). It's a big tub but I wouldn't repurchase.

A set of mini product reviews

Well, I wanted to post a NOTD, but blogger isn't playing ball. So here are some reviews of new products I've tried recently, some of which have worked and some that haven't,

Boo

Botanics Soothing Cleansing Balm

I ran out of my Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish last year and couldn't afford to replace it, and hoped this would be a good alternative. Unfortunately this is too greasy for me and despite being described as soothing, it irritates my sensitive cheeks, leaving them sore, red and blotchy. I also hated the plastic-coated "cloth" that comes with it - it is very scratchy and went straight in the bin. A muslin cloth it really is not! This would be an up side if it worked for me, but: it lasts an AGE! I'm trying to come up with inventive uses for it because I hate throwing things out. So far - to line my hairline when dying my hair. Thassit.


Meh

Organic Surge Tropical Bergamot Shower Gel

It's fine, but I don't love it, nor does it leave me particularly well moisturised. Thus no desperate urge to repurchase this. Nice citrussy smell though.

Boots Extracts Brazil Nut Scrub

This comes in a BIG tub and retails for £7.50. It smells lovely (a nutty, vanilla-y scent) but I just don't find it scrubby enough. It's practically one of those Radox smoothie shower gels with bits in! If you like a gentle scrub, you might love this, but I need a scrubby one like The Body Shop's Cocoa Butter scrub to keep my KP (keratosis pilaris, or chicken flesh - nice - ) at bay.

Yay

Waitrose Organic Moisturising Shampoo

It leaves my hair very soft and I've had no scalp itchies since I switched to it. I think it might drain the dye from my hair, but hey, you can't have everything. It's probably too moisturising if you have anything other than very dry very thick hair like mine, but on this, it works a treat. Unfortunately, you need quite a lot because of its SLS-free formula and it's got a bit of a funny smell, but nowt I can't tolerate for a scalp that doesn't itch and bleed plus soft hair. At £3.90 it's also one of the more reasonable SLS-free shampoos on the market.

Aussie Luscious Longlocks Conditioner

Now my staple! It also leaves my hair soft and shiny and is the only high street conditioner I've found that manages this (yes my hair is THAT dry).

Aveeno Skin Relief Lotion

Just call me Itchy Itcherson. Along with my dry scalp, dry hair and dry cheeks, I have the driest, itchiest skin. But this has really helped to keep it at bay! I'm not a fan of the slight tackiness it leaves when you apply it at first, but I guess that's just an indication of how moisturising it is. It's the only lotion I've found whose moisturising properties actually do almost last 24 hours.

Shampoo

Not the girl group, alas. But the stuff. I've had an ongoing battle with it - well, with the ubiquitousness of the ingredient sodium lauryl sulphate in particular. Since childhood I've suffered from extremely dry, sensitive skin (it can crack and bleed of its own accord if I don't moisturise - quite the incentive!) and from eczema. I've also had a horribly itchy, flaky scalp that is prone to sores and bleeding (sometimes so much so I can barely put my head on the pillow). Sorry for the gruesome detail!

The funny thing is, that when I've been to the GP about my scalp I've always been prescribed incredibly harsh dandruff shampoos that have further stripped my scalp and made the condition worse. Excuse the pun, but it left me and my GP scratching our heads in puzzlement.

Until I read about SLS when I started to get interested in natural skincare. This foaming agent is in most shampoos, body washes and (yuck!) toothpastes. It doesn't do anything except create lather - which we psychologically associate with cleanliness. And it is a known skin irritant.

Since I've opted for shampoos free of SLS and its milder derivative sodium laureth sulphate my scalp has been sooo much happier, I can't tell you how different it is. I can't believe I've had this scalp problem for years and years and all this time it was my shampoo that was causing it. I'm pretty horrified that even many BABY shampoos (including Johnsons & Johnsons!) contain these two ingredients. I also try to avoid it in shower gels now too - and my skin has felt much less itchy as a result. The difference in both makes me realise what toxic ingredients they really are. I've also read the SLS in toothpastes can give people mouth ulcers which I also suffer from, so I'm considering changing that too.

However, the unfortunate thing is that a lot of SLS-free shampoos are very drying on the hair, and mine is long and very thick so it needs a decent, moisturising shampoo and an ultra rich conditioner to stop it being a tangled mess with lots of split ends (though I think those have also reduced remarkably since I switched - and I blowdry my hair every time I wash it). I've gone through quite a few by now with varying degrees of success, so I thought I'd give a lowdown of the ones I've tried so far:

Lavera Almond Milk Shampoo for Sensitive Scalps:

This is a special "natural" brand. This smelt like marzipan, but in a sickly cyanidey way. It was also quite drying on the hair. I felt no desire to rebuy. And the lime green old fashioned packaging's hideous too. I'm superficial, it's true.

Vo5 Soothe and Shine:

This was so cheap at £1.15 and was up until recently easy to find on the high street. This has ammonium lauryl sulphate in, which can also irritate, but I had a good run with this until it was discontinued :( Recently my final remaining bottle has been irritating my scalp, though, so I guess it is time to move on, but what I loved was that my hair was indeed very shiny after using this, and very soft too.

Daniel Galvin Junior Kids's Shampoo in Watermelon:

A great everyday shampoo with a yummy watermelon scent that makes me think of NERD sweets we had as kids. Not drying, and reasonably prices at £3. I'd buy this again if I could find it! I think larger branches of Waitrose stock DGJ but I rarely can get to one.

Danier Galvin Junior Hair Rescue Shampoo with Lavender:

Very very soothing when my scalp is extra-stressed (usually when the rest of me is!) It is rich and non-drying. I really rate this range.

Trilogy Smoothe and Shine:

The priciest I've tried at £11. This has ALS in it like the V05 Soothe and Shine, which narks me a bit given its "luxury naturals" price tag. But it doesn't irritate and it makes my hair look and feel fantastic (it has a really noticeable straightening and de-fuzzing effect!) Though I'm not commenting on the corresponding conditioners, I have to say the Smoothe and Shine conditioner is my HG conditioner - my hair has never felt so soft. I just wish it didn't cost £22 for the two!

Dr Organic Honey Shampoo:
This is £5 and part of Holland & Barrett's new own-brand line of bodycare, all of which is SLS and paraben free. There are tons of products (body washes, lotions, butters, toothpastes and deodorants) and several ranges (Pomegranate, Tea Tree, Lavender and Vitamin E) to choose from. This looked like the most moisturising bar the Vit E (but I'm a sucker for honey scents and so bought this instead!) In hindsight perhaps I should've opted for Vit E as this had the unfortunate effect of drying out my hair and making it greasy quickly at the same time. I also had some scalp itchiness which I was not pleased with! I'm using it up as a shower gel right now. The positive thing about it is that you can actually feel the honey content in it - it's kinda gluey and sticky to the touch! But not sure you really want that in a shampoo!

As my scalp is stressed right now I've bought a new one to try today: Waitrose's own brand Organic Moisturising shampoo. Incidentally, Waitrose's baby shampoo and body washes do not hav SLS or sodium laureth sulphate in them, and they stock a wide veriety of "natural" bodycare ranges including Neal's Yard, Weleda and Burt's Bees. My shampoo was £3.90 and I'm hoping it'll be good. Fingers crossed!