#91 Princess of Persia

So. The Mister and I are thinking of joining the baby trail. Thank god this blog is anonymous or the batphone would already be ringing - sure to be first on the line, my mother. I've had some hormonal blips of late, linked to my one of my oldest pals, Mr S Tress, so the skin's been a wee bit naughty, with the forehead bumpier than a low-rent carnival ride. Things have, within the past week, returned to normal, but not before a 4-day cold parched my skin faster than Marty McFly's Turbo-Dry jacket.

Looking in the mirror on day five, I realised that my skin looked... hungry... and that perhaps I hadn't been treating it as good as I should have.

Despite having had fantastic results with Sarah Chapman's Skinesis range I had taken a two week break last month & on my return to the line, well, it was back to square one. That's the problem with Retinol. It makes for a seriously vengeful spurned lover. I knew that I needed to ride out the downs (spots, redness, mild inflammation) by reducing the application of the creams & serums to 3 times a week as Sarah herself suggested, and, in time, things would go back to 'normal' as they had done the first time I trialled the line... but... but...

...but it just felt like time for a change and having recently graduated from the Zoe Irwin school of hair colour, with my natural golden brown now a deep, bitter chocolate (the result of a super-shine-inducing vegetable gloss), I wanted skin to match, in an inner glow, organic cotton, rooibos tea, nature reserve, save the elephants, prairie plaits sort of way. I'll also admit that when I think of myself as a pregnant lady, this is the idea that comes to mind: me, a rocking chair, long shiny hair, munching on those pecan and banana muffins you get in Planet Organic. Christ, I need therapy.

Into my malaise fell the cleanser that has been recommended to me more than any other. I tell people that I love Omorovicza and Sarah Chapman and Spiezia and Agera cleansers and they're chomping at the bit to find out if I've tried SAAF. I always smile, politely, and say no, not yet, but I have heard wonderful things about it. There was no better time to test the word of mouth. First up, it's a thick oily balm, which is precisely what I want from my cleansers - three of the four mentioned above being just that too. It smells delicious, is made up solely of natural oils (97.8% organic) - think nourishing safflower and jojoba, along with skin purifying lavender and grapefruit. A chickpea sized amount is enough for the entire face and neck and it melts into skin, the essential oils intensifying in aroma as you massage it in, and feels cosseting and luxurious. Nice nice nice. Then, the customary steam with the muslin cloth and buffing away, leaving skin spongy and comfortable, and entirely ungreasy. I chased this with nothing but two drops of Organic Complexion Boosting Serum - another oil, well combination of oils - which is full of the sort of lovely things that might find their way into a Julie Andrews song: rosehip, lemongrass, juniper berry, jojoba and blackseed oil; your anti-ageing, blemish-clearing, purifying and hydrating bases covered then. At first my skin looked oily and I thought, ah, what a shame, this is not one for the day, but then, ten seconds later, any shine was imperceptible and my skin had clearly glugged down the serum, and left nothing but a soft base, ready for make-up. Two hearty thumbs up.

SAAF, Persian for PURE, seems to have put its money where it's mouth is - and the founder has a knack for getting the best from nature. Her lengthy and laborious clinical trialling methodology (nothing is left to chance) will have a lot to do with that. It's also just the sort of line I would gravitate towards when preggers - all those ethyl poxy para-wotsits you find in regular skincare not really fitting into my grand, green, design...god, I sound like a pre-razor-bobbed Gwyneth Paltrow.

As for my skin...

...so far, Saaf good.