Yippee!

My babies would be sorely miffed at being referred to as babies now, so I asked my friend Katherine to test the Yippee Playtime range from Little Me Organics on her 12 month old. Lots of essential oils and much more appealing-looking, smelling and to use than some of the ultra-sweet, heavily perfumed and bright pink lotions that are recommended for babies' skins.  My daughter, 7, insisted on inspecting and trying the product, as she does on everything that arrives.  "Is this for babies?" she asked incredulously.  "It smells VERY grown up.  Babies normally smell of washing but this is like a grown up lady perfume."  That's the rose element, I think.

Katherine tried it out and said the bath time bubbles didn't last very long but that is probably because of the lack of sodium laureth sulphate (if you want to avoid chemicals, you're going to have to reconcile yourself to a less bubbly life, I'm afraid) but loved the body cream.  "I'm not that sort of mum," she said shiftily, "but I did do a bit of baby massage on him and he sort of went into a trance.  He absolutely loved it.  But then I stole the body cream and I've been using it ever since."  Life is hard when you're one.

I'm saved!

I was sent (a bit of the) Myreen Young Winter Saver Kit, pictured here, to try out.  It's natural, organic and vegan, with simple packaging.  I tried the white tea and evening primrose oil Cleanser, and the Hydrating Masque with strawberries and lime.  


The masque is absolutely fantastic.  I never think about masques as hydrating as normally I use them in summer when I am feeling hot and gritty and I need to calm my skin down.  It smells beautifully of strawberries (and has strawberry pippy things in that are reassuringly lifelike) and really did perk it up, and after a day spent chasing people around Birmingham New Street station concourse in a howling draught followed by three hours on a train heated to a balmy 96 degrees, I really needed it.  My skin is being ultra-neurotic at the moment and has not reacted at all.  


The cleanser I was not so keen on, simply because I have now got so lazy with using wash-off cleansers I strongly object to the 0.02 extra seconds it takes for me to grab some cotton wool and remove it.  It was effective though, just not speedy enough for me. 


 The kit is priced at £52 (over £12 cheaper than if you buy the products individually.  

Self defence

There is something reassuringly bracing about Neutrogena.  It is those faintly Nordic looking colours that look icy, clinical and dependable.  And so they proved.  I tried the facial scrub, which I am not crazy about as once again the exfoliating bits were too big and just rolled over the face rather than refining the pores.  Jane, my case study, has extremely dry skin.  "When I apply moisturiser in the morning and then go out in the cold, I generally have dry flaky patches on my cheeks twenty minutes later," she says.  "I tried the Neutrogena Multi-Defence moisturiser and was sceptical as it didn't absorb for ages.  I am more used to using lotions or oils on my face as it's so dry.  A whole morning marching about in the cold went by and I didn't feel dry once so I was pleasantly surprised.  I think I am just so used to thick lotions that anything else feels weird."


She then spied the Betty Hula anti-ageing oil on my desk, (a "luxurious anti-ageing oil combining Grapeseed Oil, Apricot Kernel, Avocado Oil, Hemp Oil, Vitamin E, Rose Absolute and Jojoba Oil, (50ml £15.99 RRP)) and asked to try it.  "Now this is more what I would usually use," she said happily, smearing it on, "and it smells lovely.  Oh dear - I forgot I had the Neutrogena still on, but my skin feels so nice now....."

She took both away with her, and is currently applying the Betty Hula to absorb and the Neutrogena as a "shield", as she puts it.  And no more dry patches.  So as cocktailing with hair products, according to celebrity hairdresser Errol Douglas, is the way forward, Jane may well have invented a new trend in skincare.  Neutrohula, anyone?  

Face-ache

Stop!  In the name of time... or something.  Love the fact that marketing people have to come up with increasingly bonkers phraseology to avoid making claims that something will make you look younger and can only use terms like "de-ageing" or whatever.  Time Arrest Creme de Luxe made me snigger...until I tried it.  I get a little scared by rich creams as I worry that I am going to appear shiny like a small satellite dish.  It was so damned cold this week though that I slapped it on and for the first time in ages felt dewy in the cold, rather than that my face was about to crack open.  No particular smell, reassuringly creamy, very expensive but like all the Dr Brandt products I have tried, marvelous.  I care not a jot for the Age Reversing Platinum Technology but I love the fact that I no longer feel ravaged by the elements when I trot off on the school run.  It's like a cashmere face blanket.   Buy some for someone you care about more than anyone...ie yourself.

Snowy souffle

My office has no heating. None. Zip.  It has three draughty doors though which work together to create a nice through gale.  Add to this a builder who puts a nail through a water pipe resulting in all the water and heating being off on the snowiest day of the year and an allergic reaction to washing powder  and you have my life this week.  As a result my poor skin looks like that of a recently plucked chicken that's been left on a radiator - sort of dry and raw looking.  The perfect time for Ted Baker Body Souffle to arrive.  I didn't exactly scream with delight at the smell when I first took the lid off, but it's a grower;  the fact that it smells v strong in the pot means that the perfume actually lingers and smells gorgeous once it's calmed down a little.  Bergamot and pink peppercorn and rose, apparently;  I get mostly rose but gentle rose, not old lady rose.  And it is very, very soothing. I tried it on one arm and not the other and the other felt very dessicated, itchy and grumpy all day.  Very indulgent-seeming and yet economical, excellent gift particularly for anyone whose skin goes into rebellion in the winter months.