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.

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? 

Skincare Heroes and Skincare Zeroes

I have quite a few staple products when it comes to skincare and have myself quite a routine, and thought I'd mini review them and mention a couple that didn't work out. I've got dry (sometimes very dry) sensitive skin, and a lot of face washes and wipes etc. strip my skin too much and leave it flaky, raw and red. Because it's so dry, I don't get breakouts per se but like everyone I do get spots. I have to use gentle products and rich moisturisers but also have to cleanse thoroughly (but not excessively). I've found if I switch my routine around too much, my skin just isn't happy, and becomes dull, dry and sore. Whilst there are a lot of posts out there reviewing products are good for oily skin, there's not so many for skin like mine.

So here are my heroes, some of which have been part of my routine now for over 10 years!

Face Wash

Dr Nick Lowe Purifying Foam Cleanser

This is pricey at £10.16 but it lasts and lasts. In fact, I bought my first bottle perhaps 3 years ago using a £5 off Boots voucher, and then replaced it when the £5 voucher came around again (and the Nick Lowe ones don't come around often, so it must have been a year afterwards, at least?) I use it pretty much every day, morning and night, so that should give you some idea of its incredible longevity. I've just bought a similar type of foaming face wash for sensitive skin to keep at my mum's, a cheap Boots version - and the difference between the two is amazing. The NL one never leaves my skin feeling tight or dry, and definitely reduces the number of spots I get (and those annoying tiny bumps). It leaves it looking bright and feeling soft. Rave! It has a slight medicated kind of smell, but nothing overly offensive.

Day cream

Olay Complete Care Multiradiance

My mum has amazing skin, and she puts it down to using Oil of Ulay (ULAY) all her life. I swear, they should get her on a billboard - she's in her 50s and doesn't have a single line. I have more (I've been less loyal, that should teach me)! She uses the original Beauty Fluid, but it's not rich enough for me. I love the Multiradiance creams though (I use the fluid version in the summer, cream in winter) - it has SP15, is wonderfully hydrating and softening, and the shimmer in it is absolutely finer than fine (no glitter here!) working to just lift my skin tone very subtly. In winter in particular, my skin looks dull but this really makes it look its best, even without makeup. I've used this for over 10 years now!

Night Cream

Olay Complete Care Night Enriched Cream

This is a beautiful night cream, it has the Olay/Ulay scent which makes it wonderfully nostalgic for me, and it feels very soothing, healing and nourishing. When staying at my mum's I switched to a Superdrug Vitamin E night cream and my skin started looking duller in days. Not switching again!

Exfoliator

Olay Regenerist Daily Thermal Skin Polisher

Yes, yes, this is getting to be a bit of an Olay ad. But this is a great facial exfoliant - a chemical rather than physical one, so not too harsh for sensitive skin (though I still only use it once a week at most, I wouldn't recommend using it everyday) which leaves the skin feeling so soft and smooth. I love the warming effect and it smells of apple pie! I always restock when the Boots £5 skincare vouchers come around.

Makeup remover/deep cleanser

Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish

I think pretty much all that needs to be said about this product already has been, but my it certainly lives up to the hype. It really does melt off makeup and leaves the skin so soft and not at all dry. However, I tend to use this only when I've been wearing makeup (surprising, that's not every day!) as using a muslin cloth on my skin every day tends to upset it a bit (it's such a diva!).

Skincare Zeroes

Good Things Creamy Cleanser

Wow did this break me out like a mofo. I'm a bit slow sometimes, in that if I get a whole bunch of spots I'll think it's because my skin is changing from being dry to oily, or because I've eaten badly, but I don't always immediately associate it with changing one of my products. Which is what happened with this, and I have a row of spot scars on one of my cheeks to show for it. I picked this because it didn't have SLS and was one of the few high street face cleansers not to, and I figured all the natural credentials and it being targeted to a youth market would make it quite gentle. I was wrong! I can't imagine what this is like on oilier skin than mine if it broke me out. But, I guess all skin is different so it might work for some. On the upside, it smells lovely, like a fruit yoghurt!

Balance Me Eye Cream

I'm sad to write this as I love the Balance Me body wash range (well what I've sampled of it through magazine freebies). I want to hug any brand that doesn't use SLS, SLES or ALS. But it's ironically the natural credentials themselves that make this not work for me. The eye cream smells lovely as it contains essential oils, but as essential oils can be irritants, this just hasn't worked out for me (my eyes are as sensitive as my skin). I thought I had an eye infection for the couple of days I used this, my eyes were so red, dry and painful. It's fine because the eye cream was a freebie, but I'm still searching for a staple eye cream (currently Boots Sensitive but I'm not keen that it doesn't have SPF).

What are your skincare heroes, and which proved to be zeroes?