Who doesn’t love a free gift?! The glossy mags are giving away the BEST pressies at the moment, and they seem to be getting better and better!
So, I thought I’d let you know how I’ve been using some of them to get the best results….
A couple of months ago Glamour magazine included a free gift of Balance Me products, I bought 2 mags to get the ‘Pure Skin Face Wash’ and the ‘Radiance Face Mask’. In Marie Claire’s July issue they are offering some Elemis classics; ‘Pro Radiance Illuminating Flash Balm’ and ‘Papaya Enzyme Peel’, I opted for the latter. I’d first like to say how pleasantly surprised I was with the Balance Me products; I think in my head I’d muddled them up with another brand (found in supermarkets) with a similar packaging and ethos, that I do not like at all (sickly smells and not very effective on me) so I wasn’t expecting much from them, but then I opened the face wash and was greeted by the most gorgeous scent! I think it was the frankincense and grapefruit that I picked up the most, delish! The face wash is 98.8% natural and doesn’t contain any sulphates (sulphates are what make a product ‘foam up’ but they have been known to temporarily aggravate the skin of some people, causing redness, dryness and/or itching) yet it still thoroughly and effectively cleanses the skin removing all traces of make up and grime. I did a double cleanse; first, manually to remove my make up and secondly with my Foreo Luna mini for a deeper cleanse.
*I am slightly biased with the Foreo Luna mini as I did some work for Foreo a while back (I launched and introduced the brand to the UK market) however I could only do this successfully because I believe in the product. A healthy complexion starts with a good cleanse but we are in a tricky 21st century situation of needing a ‘strong’ cleanse to remove our long-lasting make up/commute/pollution etc but our skins being so much more sensitive nowadays with daily stresses and all these external aggressors, don’t always react well to said ‘strong’ cleanses! The Luna is a t-sonic cleansing device made of silicone so it has a gentle touch on the skin whilst giving a deep and effective cleanse.
Once per week after cleansing at night, I’ll apply the Elemis Papaya Enzyme Peel over my face and neck and leave for 10 mins before rinsing off with luke warm water. I then apply my regular night moisturiser (at the moment I’m using Trilogy Certified Organic Rosehip Oil) I would steer clear of any AHAs/BHAs/glycolic moisturisers on this night so as not to over stimulate the skin (this is a personal choice). *TECHY BIT ALERT!* It is said that the desquamation process excels overnight -this is effectively our own in-built exfoliation system whereby new cells from the deeper layers of the epidermis work their way up to the outer layers and old ones are sloughed off – so after using the Papaya Enzyme Peel I would expect this process to be much more productive and efficient and perhaps leave me with lots of sloughed off dead skin cells on my face in the morning! Nice! Hence the importance of cleansing your face in the morning as well as the evening! In the morning I use the Balance Me Radiance Face Mask, in their words it “polishes, hydrates and smoothes” and it really does! For me this works perfectly after the peel as the kaolin in it draws out the last of the sloughed off cells from my pores and moisturises at the same time. I cannot stress enough- this ‘double exfoliation’ will not be suitable for everyone!! It works well for me because my cell turn over is quite slow (judging by the thicker appearance of my skin) and I am not sensitive to products (people with sensitive skin or acne should avoid over stimulating their skin, if in doubt do a patch test). I then moisturise (currently the Omorovicza Illuminating Moisturiser) and most importantly apply my spf! (I use La Roche Posay 50+). To perform such a thorough exfoliation and not apply spf is like opening a can of worms! Please protect your lovely new skin cells!
Anyway, that’s how I do it! It sounds like a lot of work but it really isn’t, in addition to your normal cleanse it’s just a 10 min peel in the evening and a 10 mask in the morning (which I use in the shower, so no extra time taken at all really!). It’s once a week, it’s worth it and it’s free! Happy days!
Danielle x