Anyone who reads my blog faily regularly will know how much I swear by this fantastic new British haircare brand Hairbond. It gives amazing matte hold that is flexible throughout the day, but only if you want it to be. I can do my hair first thing in the morning, not touch it throughout the day and then by the early evening, it’s just as it was. It creates stunning natural texture as well as shape and style.

Now the reason I’m posting this is because the distorter only came in a 50ml pot… until now! Hairbond have done some repackaging and released a 100ml size. The packaging as you can see is gorgous and was suprised to see how full it was, you really couldn’t have got a drop more product in there. Now that’s value for money. You need this in your life.

I believe this hasn’t been officially released to stockists as of yet but the 50ml is a mere £6.50 so I can imagine the price of this will reflect.

Check out my Hairbond review as well as the Hairbond Website

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I received these through the post a few days ago to try out and was dubious as to how effective they would be to say the least.

The pack comes with 8 wrappers each containing a pre-soaked wipe. The liquid has very few ingredients which I loved and the active is Aluminium Chloride at 14%. Just before you go to bed, making sure your armpits have been thoroughly washed, dab (not rub, this is emphasised massively as it can cause irritation) the pad over both armpits and then leave them to air-dry for 5 minutes. I just laid backwards on the bed rather than standing like a wacky-inflatable-arm-flailing-tube-man and it dried pretty damn quickly. I did feel my armpits tighten slightly, but it mentions this on the pack and I had no irritation whatsoever, which I was nervous of after experiencing it from a supposed sweat stopping roll on I bought some time ago and had the most horrific skin reaction of my life, but not with this.

So I’ve been going two days now and I just won’t sweat out my armpit, nothing, literally not a damn thing, it’s bone dry down their. I mean, I really can’t emphasise enough just how much I am not sweating, which as a guy is like a gift sent from the heavens. They are an American brand and US made but there are suppliers in the UK and I’ve posted a link below of the cheapest I found, even cheaper than Amazon actually, but I definitely think with 8 weeks supply, these are definitely an investment.

Sweat Block Clinical Strength Antiperspirant £15.99/8 weeks at Health and Care UK

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A few weeks ago, I ended up following a fabulous blogger on twitter called Nicoletta Rocchiccioli. One of her posts was of a beautiful slab of homemade soap that looked out of this world. I soon discovered that she ran a small online business called Marshmallow Blends, a really cute outlet for her homemade products. Well needless to say, once I was on the site, I went mental. I ordered products for myself, boyfriend and mother and spent the next week eagerly awaiting the postman to bring me my box of goodies.

It finally arrived and I opened a big cardboard box filled with pink paper bags, metal tins, pots and jars filled with the most amazing smelling treats. My two favourites have to be the Caramel Soap and the Caramel Cupcake Body Scrub, oh and the Strawberry and Champagne lip butter.

The soap smells amazingly sweet and just like a chunk of caramel fudge. It lathers like no other soap I’ve ever had and leaves your skin feeling incredibly hydrated and not dry in the slightest! It’s fantastically long lasting. I’ve been using it for the last few weeks and it doesn’t even look to have been used once!

The Scrub smells like you can eat it, end of. You would not believe how much it actually smells like Caramel Cupcake, like a fresh batch has just been pulled out the oven. It’s a really powerful and coarse which is everything I look for in a body scrub, not something that slimes and slops about on your skin leaving it not one bit exfoliated, but leaving you absolutely gleaming. One other thing I did love about it was the fact that it foamed slightly and really adhered itself to the skin, giving you much longer to work it in. Yum. It also leaves your skin smelling of caramel long after using it.

I could honestly write pages and pages about every single one of the products I ordered but I think you should try them out for yourself. I was so pleased, I wanted to support the business by giving Marshmallow Blends some space on my sidebar to advertise. Give it a click and let me know what you think.

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It’s been a long time in the making, but the first wave of new look The Body Shop stores have begun to be rolled out. One of the latest was The Trafford Centre store which reopened last Thursday after 3 weeks of remodelling, banging, ripping out and fitting in. All I can say is that the 3 week wait was definitely worth it.

The new stores are cleaner, brighter and more modern and really have propelled the company into the second decade of the millennium. The central feature of the store is the long table that runs from pretty much the back, right the way to the front, filled with things to look at, feel and play with as well as consulting areas for body, skin and makeup.

Along the sides are new bays and everything looks de-cluttered and sleek. There’s a real emphasis on the companies core values of community fair trade, animal protection and human welfare. Each product range has a sign or pointer highlighting where the feature ingredient comes from and what’s happening with the community they’re working with; these are so fun to read and as Mary Portas talked about on her latest programme, really promoting the value of the product, having more to it than just a great price.

Now I can’t talk about the brand launch without mentioning Lilly. The fabulously stunning model that is Lilly Cole is now the companies brand advocate, the public face of the brand if you please. She’s got her own range of makeup launching in store soon and she’s already been travelling to community projects around the globe, highlighting their work. In brand videos and interviews, she comes across as such a warm and educated individual, perfectly in-tune with The Body Shop.

Finally, the packaging is getting a well needed facelift, starting with the famous Body Butters. I wrote an article on them a while back as they had just been announced, but seeing them in store was so wonderful. As well as the picture, the plastic has changed to a more matte effect, which sounds like something not worth mentioning, but when you’ve got moisturiser all over your hands, it makes them so much easier to open.

Overall, it really shows what an influential and heritage rich brand it really is and the stores are so much more inspiring and welcoming. You really need to get yourself down to one of the new stores to see it.

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A good few months back, actually the beginning of easter, I was sent these two fabulous products through from Molton Brown who wanted to give me loads of time to live with the products before deciding if I’d like to write about them before their launch, this week. Needless to say, the products were superb and a warmly welcomed addition to my Molton Brown product collection. Both will launch this Thursday the 17th.

Skin Firming Lipoamino Hydrator

Now this was a little too rich for my skin as I’m an oily/combination and from reading the packet as well as the ingredients, I don’t think it’s been designed as such and is really for a normal/dry combination. So, as always, having test subjects constantly around me, I gave it to one of my good friends who I thought it would suit perfectly. The product is designed to plump and firm skin whilst intensely hydrating. It does it using japanese hinoki extract that delivers the lipoamino acid to fill out skin cells. My tester found an immediate plumping effect of the skin, particularly around the eyes and mouth. They also told me and showed me that their dry patches that often accumulate around the nose were reduced and felt more comfortable. It was safe to say that I would never be getting this product back from them any time soon.

Navigations Through Scent: LONDINIUM (51° 50’N, 0° 09’W)

Wow. Getting its inspiration from the city of London, timed perfectly for the arrival of the Olympic games, this fragrance really encapsulates the bustling, vibrance of London. If you close your eyes and smell, you really could be stood in Oxford street eyeing the windows of the beautiful stores that line it, watching people hurrying past as buses and taxis line the streets. It’s really quite a magical blend of urbanity and regality. With top notes of Bergamot and Juniper Berries, middle notes of Myrrh and Oak Moss Absolute, all constructed on a foundation of Incense, Malt Accord. This is a fragrance to really get excited about and I found that it really stays with you during the day with very little need to reapply. The fragrance will be launched with the moisturiser this Thursday the 17th as a limited edition, but apparently may end up staying as a permanent item in the collection.

Skin Firming Lipoamino Hydrator £38/50ml  // LONDINIUM £75/50ml – Launching 17th May and will be available at Molton Brown Online

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I was emailed fairly recently asking about my experiences in the beauty industry and what does it take to be a part of it, so I thought I’d reply here and that it might make a change from my usual reviews. I can’t really go into specifics about particular companies other than saying I worked for The Body Shop, then for Clinique and now for The Body Shop once more.

I think it’s a much harder industry to work in within the retail sector. I believe it’s one of the few businesses on the high-street where you need to know absolutely everything about your product as well as being able to adapt so violently quickly to changing circumstances, whilst looking your gleaming best, being obscenely flexible and being able to make recommendations based on flows or sometimes trickles of information, all within a split second. Anyone who’s in this position will agree when I say it’s almost enough to give you schizophrenic tendencies.

I think the only thing that might come close but I rarely see carried out well would be in mobile phone stores, although finding someone who knows what they’re talking about can be like gold dust, particularly as you may often be sold the most expensive tariff and phone even if it’s completely inappropriate for you: “I make 5 calls a month, send 10 texts and only need a cheap phone”… “For £55 you can get the iPhone 4S with 1000 minutes and 5000 texts and we’ll tie you into it for 24 months”. Sounding familiar?

In beauty there’s no reeaal script, and to make matters worse, customers enter entirely prepared for the possibility of being pounced upon. Even a warm and friendly “Hello” can be met with “AAARRRGHH! LEAVE ME ALONE!” and in some cases, walking away completely. Just give people some space and room to breathe; at least allow them past the threshold first! Letting people having a play with testers and a look at what you’ve got first is hugely important.

Although saying this, I love being customer serviced, because I’m an absolute bugger (there’s a much better word for me than that but I shan’t write it) and the customer from hell, this is my sport, and when pounced upon, it’s challenge accepted. I will ask every question under the sun, often knowing the answer full well, just to test if I’m being lied to. If told something I believe not to be true, I’ll say something like “I don’t actually think that’s correct” and then give a full explanation as to why, as well as the fact that I believe I have every single skin concern under the sun. I am a truly nightmare customer but if I’m treated honestly and kindly, I’m all yours and will spend until you’re bored of me. I think it’s out of revenge for the fact that men got so bloomin’ marginalised, and we’re automatically written off as a paying customer and often seemingly, a human being with a head.

If you want to work in cosmetics, just know your product, do your research and know skin, just KNOW IT!. The amount of rubbish I hear come from some people’s mouths when I’m out shopping is unreal, which is sort of inexcusable especially as there is just so much reliable information on the internet that will really help you understand your product and therefore your customer, just Google it, it’s all about going above and beyond. Make sure you know understand common skin concerns as well, such as acne, rosacea and exzema, these can be and are often so easily mistreated through skincare, which even though we’re not providing medical treatment, can have enormous beneficial/detrimental effects. Is it really appropriate to use a grained face scrub on Acne? I think not. However, if you don’t know something, then say you don’t know, no one will think any less of you, they’ll probably respect you more for it, just find someone who does.

I’d say only work in the industry if you care about people and skin. If you’re just looking for any old job and couldn’t really give a damn about your product or people, then I’m afraid your in the wrong business. Because there is so much competition out there and so many companies selling products all designed to do the same thing, one bad customer experience is enough to repel that person away from your brand for life. Beauty boys and girls get such a bad rep as being bitchy airheads, which maybe rode well 10-20 years ago, but the customer is so much smarter when it comes to skincare these days, as I pointed out with the internet, we’re not the oracles that can decide life or death anymore and particularly as we’re in recession, people are researching so much more before buying, so make sure you do the same.

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This is a stunning mask and/or overnight treatment with Red Seaweed, White Tea, Hyaluronic Acid, Pure Essential Oils and vitamins A, B5, C, D and E. Created by Urth, a producer of Asian inspired skincare created especially for men.

I have to say it’s absolutely amazing. I will warn you however that as you apply it on the skin it feels very tingly indeed, but judging by the ingredients, it should be. It’s got a weird jelly-like consistancy and feels really cool. I applied a fairly liberal layer over my whole face not going mad with it though, making sure to avoid my neck and eyes. I opted for the 15 minute treatment option.

So whilst I wait, I’ll tell you a little more. The ingredients are designed to intensely hydrate, so will be greatly suitable for oily skin types as even we can be dehydrated (lacking in water). As well as putting the water back, it also puts the snap back and firms the skin. I have a wrinkly forehead already and get some nasty little lines right in the middle that I’ve got my eyes on for Botox already, so in theory it should reduce them a little. It does feel really calming on the skin and the tingly feeling has gone away and it now feels really calmed. This thing also has a bucket load of anti-oxidants in which are amazing at protecting your skin from damage causing, free radicals. I’m gonna watch the rest of Chatty Man now on 4oD; I’ll be back when I’ve washed it off.

Right, I’ve just been to rinse it off with some warm water and nothing else. My skin feels really smooth and moisturised. It’s soft to the touch and even though it’s been a couple of minutes since I rinsed, my skin doesn’t feel tight like it usually does. I did apply my moisturiser for safe measure. My couple of wrinkles are still there on my forehead but I think it would take concrete to fill those, but I’ll update if I see some long term improvements. Finally my skin does look brighter and fresher, now obviously I have just washed but it still looks more radiant than normal. I definitely suggest trying this for a quick and easy mask that gives some great high impact benefits and longer term protection!

Urth Hydra Therapy Antioxidant Treatment £54/59ml at NkdMan

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Last week I was and still continue to have a real craving for vanilla. Hunting for sweet, dark, rich scents in everything I was looking for, something really quirky and noticeable, nothing at all like traditional Men’s fragrances. Something really weird. I decided to tweet this being an avid twitterer, and my non-sensical rambling was actually kindly responded to by Nick Gilbert who writes a great fragrance blog and is from a company called Les Senteurs, a fabulous site that has sourced some of the world’s truly finest fragrances. He sent me through the post 4 sample cards with vials of what he believed would satisfy my craving, and oh was he right. I’ve reviewed the four fragrances individually and I’m sure you’ll be able to tell which was my favourite. If you click each of the names it’ll link you to it’s page and they also offer a fragrance sample service as well before you buy a full bottle.

Mona di Orio Les Nombres d’Or: Vanille

Rum, Vanilla, Tonka, Orange are the notes that I picked up most strongly from this incredibly deep and intoxicating unisex scent. It has this old musk to it that just melts into the skin with this black, chocolatey edge. I wouldn’t say this fragrance was particularly sweet, more bitter but still very rich. It has outstanding lasting ability and really you need the tiniest amount. I can’t remember the last time I wore a fragrance that so many people commented upon. This is my favourite out of the quad.

£125/100ml

Etat Libre d’Orange: Tom of Finland

This is fun. Top notes of rounded, smooth, mouth watering citruses are backed up by woods and musk and as the fragrance develops, you can really pick out the sultry suede. This is a great work fragrance, suited and booted and carrying your Kindle, this modern fragrance is the perfect partner for your working day to both lift and energise.

£59.50/50ml

Parfumerie Generale: Felanilla 21

To me this smells like fresh opened paper, an intelligent, wise and mature fragrance. Tahitian Vanilla comes through really well backed up by Iris, Hay and Amber. It’s warm but not overbearing. Once on the fragrance is crisp and sharp, but settles into the background quite nicely whilst still being quite prominent, with the hay and vanilla exuding a sort of heat.

£105/50ml

Perfumerie Generale: Cadjmere 18

An incredibly crisp and fresh fragrance with rosewood and sandalwood that smells like beautiful indian incense backed up with vanilla and myrtle. It reminds me of being sat outside in the garden on a late summer evening with good food and good drink with hot humid air – not quite sure if I mean in Britain or not, doubtful from that description! Like the other PG fragrance it reminds me of books and I’m not sure why but there is just something so ‘grown up’ about it and I feel not quite sure that in my twenties I’m mature enough to be able to pull it off. A definite for Father’s day though!

£117.50/50ml

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This is it; this is my definitive review of BB creams. Back in September of last year, I started to hear the rumblings of the word BB, beating like a drum coming over the seas from Asia. I’ve got to say they are perfect for men in every single way. They reduce the appearance of spots, minimize the appearance of pores, and even out skin tone whilst giving often high sun protection which is essential in any daily skin routine. They should always be applied after your daily skincare routine.

I’d read a couple of Japanese beauty magazines that I was using to study with at university and read about these products that had come over to Japan from Korea and had become all the rave in Japan. It talked about how they were perfectly designed for combination-oily skin types, concealed spots and redness but looked natural, leaving skin with a healthy glow with an undetectable finish.

This revolutionary technology is widely attributed to Polish born Dr. Christine Schrammek, who came to be one of Germany’s most successful dermatologists. She developed the Blemish Balm to cover and treat skin stresses that often come hand in hand with cosmetic procedures of her patients. It was then expanded from the cosmetic procedural market to the general mass market,  becoming huge in South Korea where many brands took on the letters BB.

There are now so many BB’s out there on the market and it has become the latest buzzword; any company worth its salt has one. The giants such as Estée Lauder Companies, L’Oreal mainly launched their products onto the Asian market, but they’re gradually being transitioned over to the UK, with differences being made to shades, as the demographic skin colour is different. After 7 months of trying them out, here is my definitive list of what I believe to be the best BB Creams out there despite there being absolutely loads, however these have been chosen based on quality, price, accuracy of promise and innovation.

BRTC Gold Caviar BB Cream

This one took a while to come and really delayed the release of this post, so I apologise, but it had to be ordered from Kore (I just love eBay sometimes!). This is one of the more famous products and one of the ‘original’ BB creams. I have to say, I love it. It’s fairly rich in texture but designed for oily/combination skin so hydrates but definitely doesn’t leave skin feeling greasy or shiny, but it’s lovely putting something thicker onto my skin without dreading spots and shine. The coverage is a little darker than normal BB creams, and on my veeeery white skin you could see the slightest of shade changes but nothing anyone would notice in a million years, but I would recommend this for someone who is a  ’normal’ colour and not paper white such as myself. Redness and blemishes immediately disappear and skin is left feeling soothed and calm. This product leaves an undetectable finish on the skin and lasts all day, there is no way this product feels or looks like makeup once on and is definitely a quintessential BB cream. I took this with me to Germany last week where the weather was unseasonably hot and bright. My skin felt hydrated all day, more so than normal and as with the others I used my standard Clinique Anti Blemish 3 Step as a control to my experiment. Spending all day in the hot, bright sun, my skin didn’t burn or even have the slightest hint of redness.

Clinique Age Defence BB Cream

Well this product will give you, like with Shu Uemura’s, one of the broadest possible sunscreens, with an SPF 30 that’s PA+++, which for daily wear is more than enough. It features ‘a unique complex of optics’ helping to ‘reduce the appearance of lines and wrinkles on contact. It’s also packed full of our wonderful friends, Antioxidants to ‘defend against environmental aggressors’. There is also moisture content that really keeps your skin soft without it feeling or looking greasy plus Anti-Irritants so soothe skin concerns (for me and my ocassional blemishes).
When you apply the product, it does make you look a little lighter in colour, but not that noticeably and you may think that it has some coverage to it, but as you gently rub it in, it fades and blends very nicely, leaving you brighter in complexion, but definitely not looking like you have a drop of cover on at all! This product is skincare and not makeup, providing long lasting effects and oil control for all skin types.

Shu Uemura UV Under Base BB Mousse

I love this; it’s so unique and innovative. I’m really going into depth with this one, as it’s the most expensive out of all of them, so I want to show why I think £29 is completely worth it. The product comes out quickly, so depress the nozzle gently and aim into your forefingers; look to apply it like shaving foam. Out pops a globule of silky, matte, skin coloured foam. Spread this between your two hands and press onto the skin and blend using the whole hand. It disappears into the skin and I didn’t feel it changed my skin’s oil/water balance at all, which is brilliant! My pores looked dramatically smaller, which will be due to silicon, acting as an amazing non-comedogenic filler and smoother. Opacifying Aluminum Hydroxide et al helps to conceal redness, spots and dark marks gently. The sunscreen is physical as opposed to chemical in the form a Titanium Dioxide mineral for good, gentle protection with SPF 30 PA +++. Finally I’m enjoying the added Vitamin E; this will help to protect this skin against environmental damage.

My skin feels amazing all day with this product and looks flawless but not overly so, although you’d never know it was due to any form of cover whatsoever, even if you came right up to my face. There is next to no perfume in the product and I tell you, I have very sensitive skin and perfume is one thing that can set me off, not only did this product not cause me to react, it actually made my sometimes raw feeling cheeks, calm, cool and protected.

The Body Shop Moisture White Shiso BB Cream

Annoyingly, this product is not available as of yet in the UK. The Body Shop had a range a while back that was only available in their top 40 stores called moisture white, that to my despair was discontinued, only to reappear in the form of Moisture White Shiso which if you can track some down, is unreal! Anyway, this product is a really great all in one and designed for again, an oily / combination skin. It’s quite light in cover compared to some of the others but gives a great balancing effect, really evening out my skin tone and concealing any red blemishes. The product did not leave my skin shiny at all, really matte and smooth. The product contains their Community Fair Traded Aloe Vera so it really will sooth and I think this product is great for anyone with sensitive skin that has concerns of overloading with loads of different products. Shiso is a japanese herb that is famed for having skin brightening benefits and the products from the range are predominantly made in Japan as far as I’m aware which in my opinion is always a sign of quality. It feels comfortable throughout the day and you may just want to top it up by the afternoon, but this wasn’t strictly necessary in my case.

KIKO BB Cream Coloured Beauty Balm

This is great value at only £8.90. In a thin, white tube, squeeze out some of the lotion into your fingertips and then massage straight into the skin. The white cream then starts to change colour and it really starts to match my very pale skin tone. Its oil free and did a great job of keeping my skin looking matte and the SPF was warmly welcomed in the Spanish sun, which is where I’d picked it up.

The finish was completely undetectable, even really close up there was no possible way you could tell I had this thing on, but my skin looked more balanced and dramatically brighter!

BRTC Gold Caviar BB Cream £VAR at eBay

The Body Shop Moisture White Shiso £VAR at eBay

Kiko BB Cream £8.90/30ml at Kiko Online

Shu Uemura UV Under Base BB Mousse £29/30g at Shu Uemura Online

Clinique Age Defence BB Cream £25/40ml at Clinique Online

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Last week I was incredibly lucky to receive three Superdry fragrances from the fabulous company themselves and have spent a good week wearing the fragrances to be able to give you some honest feedback of the trio.

The fragrances are Black, Steel and Dry Oil. Black and Steel are a new duo set which go together whereas the Dry Oil is part of their dry fragrance collection, a range of odd yet stunning colognes. I remember when they launched the dry fine fragrances, it was back when I was in Selfridges and they had this amazing pop up site with, if I remember rightly, an old car, and then all the agency staff wore some gorgeous super dry outfits.

Black

Presented in a bottle with a zippo lighter cap inside a beutiful black matt varnished box emblazented with the Superdry logo. The fragrance as you might expect is very dark andn bruding. Superdry themselves list the notes as: a heart of lavender, jasmine, thyme, coriander and nutmeg, sweetened by a juicy lime note and rich ripe fruits completed by a deep base rich of sandalwood, balsam, incense, leather and moss. When it goes on, you can really smell the lavender and lime, then as it wears throughout the day your definitely left with more leather, moss and a little of the sandalwood, but unlike some men’s fragrances, you’re not just left honking of sandalwood. It wears quite well and even though the top notes don’t stay around for too long, they sweeten up the fabulous and prominent base notes.

Steel

Steel, presented in the same gorgeous style except with a silver zippo lid and a white box, this is definitely the brighter and livelier of the two fragrances. Where as I would think Black is great for night, worn to a meal out or hot date, this second fragrance would be great for work, going out with mates and general liveliness. Superdry list the fragrance as having: lime and bergamot, a heart of cardamom and violet leaves and rich base notes of cedarwood and moss. You can really smell the bergamot and violet, and then the base notes come through, but particularly the cedar wood. The cedarwood and lime are the two most prominent ingredients that seem to stay around the longest. This fragrance is fun.

Dry Oil

Now then. This is my favourite of the trio and actually my favourite out of all of their colognes. The solid metal screw-capped, leather banded, thick glass bottle comes housed in what looks to be a recycled cardboard box with layered sheets of brown box card stacked up, bound and then a bottle shaped hole cut through to house the product. The packaging alone screams of Superdry and their brand bold and distressed brand image. The bottle is heavy and manly, it feels like you could do some real damage with it if you started throwing it around, not like a frail glass atomiser. So the fragrance:

Combining a striking fougère accord with vanilla notes, Dry Oil is built around a fusion of lavender and iris that is lifted by lemon, petigrain, cypress, cardamom and neroli and strengthened with rich ambery rose. The vanilla accord is supported with cedarwood and patchouli and sweetened with ambrette seed, coumarin and musks.

Fit, just fit. When you apply the fragrance it lures you in with vanilla accord and ambrette building with petigrain, cardamom and lemon. It smells unreal, unlike anything I’ve smelt before. There is a sort of metallic oiliness to it, like the smell of a car engine or factory, but instead of being hard and cold, there is a gentle sweet warmth about it. The fragrance lasts, and instead of simply blurring down to base notes, it seems to change randomly, presenting you with different notes as it fades over the course of a very long day. As well, it doesn’t always seem to last in the same way, and it can be completely different by the end of one day to the end of the next. This fragrance has more depth than the black or steel and because it is so odd, you really think about it when you smell it and it enshrouds you with its mysteriousness

These fragrances are definitely worth a try and are something unique for both Suoerdry as a company, and the world of fragrance.

Superdry Black // Dry Oil // Steel available at Superdry Online

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I’ve always seen Liz Earle about, particularly when I worked with Clinique at John Lewis in Cheadle a couple of years ago, but never actually bought anything. I can honestly say I’ve missed out big time.

On visiting John Lewis in Liverpool I strayed over to their counter for a peruse and what I peruse I had, the mother of all peruses in fact. Their product library is pretty massive and the products feature no animal ingredients or ingredients that have been tested on animals, they’re actually BUAV approved, so I’m happy from the get go. I got a few things from the really helpful consultant, but this is the first I wanted to review as I believe it’s their flagship product, like Clinique’s Dramatically Different or The Body Shop’s Vitamin E day.

It’s basically a clay cleanser, designed for all skin types. Now I’m always dubious when a product is designed for all skin types, but I can honestly say that this did work for me and I’d definitely say it’s for everyone. You apply the product onto dry skin and massage in, it feels amazingly rich and comforting. You then drop one of the two provided muslin clothes into hot water and wring it out until damp, then simply wipe away.

Your skin is left like silk, and especially an oil prone skin like mine was not left shiny and greasy, but soft, smooth and calmed. My moisturiser then sank in like a dream and it felt as though I’d just used a powerful exfoliator except without the feeling of tightness and dryness. I used my normal moisturiser to make the test fair (Clinique Anti Blemish Solutions) and my skin afterwords felt amazing and it just glowed. I mean actually sparkled. The featured moisturising ingredients are beeswax and cocoa, which are non comodogenic, meaning they won’t block your pores. Eucalyptus oil refreshes whilst rosemary and chamomile calms and soothes. My skin did have a reduced shine through the day, and as I used my normal moisturiser, I have to put that down to the cleanser.

The product is designed to be used every day, but what I’ve been doing over the last week is to use it before applying a facial mask and then using again afterwards to remove the residue; I think, just like my favourite perfume, I wouldn’t want to use it every day because it wouldn’t feel as special which is probably just me being daft, but I’m sure you know what I mean. If you’ve never used Liz Earle before, then from what their consultant said and from their products I’ve used, this is the perfect place to start with them. I’m certain you’ll be hooked!

Liz Earle For Men Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser Starter Kit £14.25/100ml at John Lewis Online

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So what is so good about this cream? I see it absolutely everywhere I go, no matter which shop, department store, airport, airplane or country I’m in – there it is, beaming away with its gorgeous white packaging and red door logo.

Designed to calm, protect and hydrate for, you guessed it, 8 hours; this product was designed by Elizabeth herself for every eventuality. The product is great for any damaged skin concern, from chapped lips, dry elbows and flaky patches that can sometimes pop up around the body and I like to put it on any little grazes as it soothes amazingly. As well, it’s often used in makeup artistry for a whole variety of reasons, but as we’re a predominantly men’s site, I’ll tell you that it’s commonly used for keeping eyebrows in check and just gently smoothing them down, giving a little more shape.

It’s key ingredient is petrolatum (not petroleum as in the famous Jelly), a skin-soothing beta-hydroxy and vitamin E. Arden’s site says that this remarkable protectant promotes healthy looking skin and seals in moisture. A universally acknowledged intensive moisturizer that also soothes and protects the skin.  As well as the soother, it also contains Salicylic acid, an old favourite that cheers me up every time I read it in an ingredients list which Elizabeth Arden claims they pioneered over seventy years ago, which until now I did not know. Salicylic acid breaks down the bonds that hold dead skin cells to the healthy surface cells, leaving skin smoother and softer. There are plenty of other fantastic ingredients in here but these are the main 2 that make the product so effective.

I definitely recommend trying this, it does take a bit of working into the skin so make sure you only use teeny tiny amounts, but once it has been absorbed, you’re skin will feel amazingly hydrated and any sore, dry or irritated areas honestly do become more soothed.

Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream Skin Protectant £22.50/50ml at John Lewis Online

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This post is predominantly parts of an email I sent in reply to someone who’d sent me a lovely email asking me about self tanning and what I’d recommend. I found myself writing a reply, quite passionately, about a range of products that I’ve used for years and stupidly never written about here on Manface. I’ve made the email anonymous and trimmed out any parts not relating to the products, I don’t want you to think that I’d just post a private email online!

From time to time, I do like to use a bit of fake tan, I always find it just picks me up a little bit and something so daft can give you a little bit of extra confidence!

My favourite tan of all time has to be Xen-Tan, particularly the mousse. I’d say they’re the best I’ve come across as it doesn’t particularly smell, although it does slightly but that’s the DHA ingredient in everything that causes the colour change, kind of smells like old biscuits if you know what I mean, but this seems to have the least amount of smell. Xen-Tan do however produce a moisturiser that you can apply over the top that suppresses this fragrance completely.

For face they then do an oil free Luxe face tanner, one of the only I’ve come across that is actually oil free, this is important personally as I do have an oily/combination skin type, but obviously it’s your preference and they do do oil based versions.

If you’re like me and massively fair skinned, I’m going to make a recommendation that you might find odd, but go for the medium to dark versions rather than the light to medium. Personally, I’ve found the light to mediums in many ranges, make my pale skin go an odd yellowish colour (obviously this is purely personal and no one else online has mentioned this after researching) so I took the risk a year back in going with the darker versions and afterwards and it looked so much better - just make sure you’re not too liberal with your application otherwise you can look a bit tantastic.

A few tips that I’ve amassed over the years may help:

• Apply to ‘dirty’ skin – make sure you shower in the morning, using a really good body scrub (TBS Cocoa Scrub is awesome, do it on dry skin then rinse off)  to remove dead skin and then do your tanning in the evening. DHA (the tanning agent) is affected by skin’s pH balance and when you’ve just use water and cleanser on the skin, it’s thrown out of whack and can cause the tan to streak and blotch as different areas gradually re-balance.

• Apply on your back – Use 50cm of cling film, fold in half length ways, apply 3 blobs of tanning foam or lotion, then use it as you would if you were drying your back with a towel. This top tip came courtesy of Xen-Tan themselves who sent me this amazing bible on self tanning.

• Always use a tanning mitt rather than hands as it will apply much more evenly and thoroughly wash your hands with very soapy COLD water, as hot water activates the DHA. Really scrub in between your fingers and nails. After drying your hands, gently rub the backs of them with the mitt but obviously being careful not to get it over your fingers again, but you don’t want white hands and brown arms, and being so white this shows up more.

I’m giving this product duo the Manface Recommended Award for outstanding effectiveness and promise of result that this company appears to give consistently in my experience. I have used Xen-Tan for years and I’m certain I will do for years to come.

Anyway I hope all this information helps, but it’s a lot of trial and error I’ve fought with because it’s easier to look wrong on lighter skin for obvious reasons.

Hope you enjoyed reading my emails and if you have any questions then please let me know and I always make sure I reply and be as in depth as I possibly can!

The Xentan products mentioned are available here

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I don’t know I haven’t reviewed this already. I picked a while ago, and it’s just one of those things that you don’t really pay attention to, you just use it when you need it and then forget about it until next time. This teeny-tiny blue plastic bottle with white plastic lid contains 10ml of what to me is liquid platinum. There are soooo many spot treatments out  there that aim to target and treat that odd spot, but so many times I’ve been disappointed, by them either drying the surrounding area of skin up causing dead cells to block more pores causing more spots, or they just don’t do a thing.

I was recommended this before I purchased it by a couple of people, and in all honesty, I’d never really known much about Origins or paid them much attention as like most men in a shop, I need something to literally smack me in the face before I pay it much attention and you don’t tend to see them doing a lot of advertising, which tells me that they do well by word of mouth and if that’s the case, then it must be because their products work.

Well this certainly works, better than I’ve ever seen before, ever! Its feature ingredient is Salicylic acid which breaks down the dead skin that’s creating the blockage, allowing oxygen back into the pore, killing the p.Acne bacteria on sight. As well as Salicylic acid to treat the infection, it also contains calming cucumber and apple extracts that sooth the irritation as well as red algae and caffeine to reduce redness.

The reason I write this now, even though this is not a new product to the market or to me, but yesterday evening, I found this painful spot on my forehead that as soon as I noticed it, seemed to balloon instantly. Not taking my own advice, I popped it (gross I’m sorry), and as soon as I’d done that, I placed a tiny finger end’s worth of gel onto it. Today, there is no sign that there was even a blemish there at all; no redness, no inflammation and no repeat infection, it’s well and truly vanished.

When you apply it to the skin, it does feel tingly and cool, but not at all like it’s burning or causing irritation, which can be a bit of a drawback. This little blue bottle (it’s seriously tiny) lasts for an eternity, it just never seems to get empty, mainly because you don’t need to lather it on, just a tiny little dab.

Origins Super Spot Remover £12/10ml at Origins Online

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So it’s time to review this. I’ve had it for a month and wanted to really test it out before I gave my verdict.

Since using this I have had maybe 4 spots, that’s it, and this is from someone who might have one come up every day. It’s a level of physical exfoliation that I’ve not used before and has completely changed the way my skin feels and behaves. As well as the Clarisonic, I still continued to use my Clinique Anti-Blemish 3 Step Skincare System, as I didn’t want to change this in order to keep a controlled element to the test, as I wouldn’t have been able to tell if my skin had improved because of this or the products.

Firstly, the product. I bought the Mia as I wasn’t really interested in the body element of the larger model and also travel a lot so wanted something more compact. The device comes boxed with a sensitive brush head, magnetic charger (so cool!), the device itself and a facial wash from Clarisonic. Even though it came with the sensitive brush head, they do others and in Space.NK, the pore cleansing brush caught my eye so I bought this to use instead as I do have problems with blocked pores on my nose. The magnetic charger is awesome! The device is waterproof you see, so this charger magnetises itself to the front of the device and magically starts to charge it. You need a good 24 hours charge before you use it, and I found you can get a good week out of the device before it needs to be charged again.

I wasn’t that interested in using the provided cleanser although I have heard it’s pretty good, but I actually used my Clinique Anti-Blemish Face Bar and rubbed it against the brush head with some water. Once the device is switched on, it starts to foam up. The amazingly helpful woman in Manchester’s Space.NK told me to go easy at first but as I’m an arrogant bugger sometimes, I thought hell to this, and went all out all over my skin, massaging it for at least 2 minutes on my first go. Needless to say that I wasn’t able to use the device for a good day or so after as I’d ‘burnt’ my skin from over exfoliation.

The rule is 10 seconds on each cheek, 20 over both the nose and chin, and then 20 across the forehead. As it’s the ‘sonic’ that does the work, as with the toothbrushes, you don’t need to press into the skin, just move in gentle, light, circular motions and this I find is actually more effective! I actually used it on my neck and found this helped with preventing ingrowing hairs. The only place you should avoid is the eye area as its not actually that necessary to exfoliate this part of your skin. Oh and when I first used it on my nose – if you’ve ever been to an Anne Summers party (don’t ask), they tell you how this area is one of the most sensitive parts of your body, and so it is – I giggled like crazy when using it here, but I’ve built up a little bit of a tolerance to it, but be warned!

I still used my Clarifying Lotion chemical exfoliator on the skin afterwards, which did feel a little more ‘zingy’ than normal. Multi-pronged exfoliation is still important as some dead cells do not come away with just physical exfoliation and only chemical will do and ‘dead’ skin cells are not at all beneficial to the skin. See how you feel though, its up to you how much exfoliation you think your skin needs/tolerates.

My moisturiser now sinks in like a dream, hardly even needs rubbing in as there’s no barrier preventing it from sinking in. I’ve found a massive reduction in excess surface skin oil and shine, and whereas by midday my skin looks like an oil slick, this has been massively reduced and I can only put it down to this as nothing else has particularly changed! Finally fake tan sits much better as well, and if you get the odd little mark or streak, this blends it out amazingly!

There is no score high enough to rate this product. At first when I saw it being put on the shelves at Selfridges, I thought, “£120 for a bit of a spiny electrical brush! Balls to it!”, how unbelievably wrong I was. This is now a product that I will use for the rest of my life if they still continue to make them.

The Clarisonic receives the Manface Recommended Award for outstanding innovation in the Beauty industry. I’ve never come across an electrical beauty product like this that is anywhere near as efficient and effective.

Clarisonic Mia Sonic Skin Cleansing System £120/each at Clarisonic Online

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