#99 I'm Sticking With You

I'm a fan of the exfoliant - mechanical or chemical - and have a list of firm favourites I return to 2-3 times a week. There's the Vit C System from Agera and the Elemis Tri-Enzyme Resurfacing Gel Mask (both mentioned in other posts too) plus Korner Sparkle Brightly Renewal Mask which is a skin staple.

Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant is extremely good at creating an even surface and instant brightening boost, but DO NOT buy into the DAILY part. When used every morning (as recommended) my skin started to feel a little wind-whipped and thin around the cheeks, nose and chin. Save it for special occasions - although, I've also noticed that if I've used it in the morning, I'm more prone to a shiny t-zone throughout the day.

Then, last week I found myself at Energy Bodies, atop John Tsagaris' Treatment Bed, having 80 fine acupuncture needles placed in my face in a bid to fade pigmentation marks, even out pores and address the hormonal blips I'm prone to in the week prior to my period. There were a lot of pluses on the day, not least that he's intuitive, nurturing, kind and puts you at ease. On the down side, he is rather a bit too keen on talking about himself and sharing the miracles he's worked on other clients. He is 40 years old and looks good on it, but is not the boy-child other beauty editors would have you believe he is: he has strong, smooth skin, but it is far from flawless. Nor is the treatment painless (which appears to be the experience most reviewers have had at his hands) - there were at least 5 yelps as needles went into sore spots (when pressed through old scar tissue it really stung), but for the most part it was bearable. In fact, for me, the worst bit was the perfunctory cleanse (with a 2-in-1 cleanser/toner cloth) and speedy slap of moisturiser post-treatment. When he showed me my treated face in a mirror, in bright daylight, I could have cried. My skin was flushed and flaky and all I wanted to do was run home, give my complexion a loving cleanse + steam, chased with a generous massage with ESPA's Balancing Face Treatment Oil (I have been using it morning & night for 6 weeks & it's RIP oily t-zone! Hooray!).

But, the next day, the most bizarre thing. The old forehead patches that marked faded spots had almost disappeared, a looming blemish on my chin had bitten the dust and my brows seemed raised, eyes wider and brighter, and cheeks more chiselled. It was not a 'wow, have you just come back from holiday' style change, more of a subtle 'salad for lunch' shift... for which I was thankful, and retrospectively impressed.

Oh, and there is another thing I ought to thank Mr Tsagaris for: his recommendation of Origin's Modern Friction. You see, while working on my face he felt that my skin was slightly sensitized and asked if I used a scrub that contained Salicylic Acid. I nodded - that morning, I had used Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant. He suggested I try this instead. A call to the lovely PR later and I'm four uses in. I've noticed that 1) less is more - I've had better results from thin layers (which emulsify nicely when water is added as directed) than thick layers which over-scrubbed certain areas; 2) it's great before a moisturising mask (I have just discovered Nude Intense Moisture Mask - very very good at getting rid of dehydration lines on the forehead) and 3) it did not irritate my skin even the least bit.

So, though I may not return to Energy Bodies for another sticking (or getting stuck with a plus-£100-a-pop bill), I'm more than happy to stick to a regular installment of Modern Friction.

#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.

#74 Back to Black

I’m ashamed of myself. It’s been weeks and weeks. I have a valid excuse, I promise. Well, almost. Glasto was one of the best experiences of my life – despite a spate of malodorous moments that will continue to haunt me until the end of my days – and taught me some extremely important beauty lessons.
Namely, that...

- no matter what you put on, through or over your hair, if you have no access to water, you’re buggered.
- that you can still remain relatively sweet-smelling without washing if you’re eating well (vegan and veggie food galore!!), not getting pissed (yep, I sorta forgot to drink a single drop for four whole days and nights…?!) and are stashing a massive bounty of baby wipes. Really. I got home, stripped off and had a good ol’ sniff and it wasn’t half bad. Apologies if that’s the most disturbing thing you’ve ever read, but, well, it is true…

The other thing I learned is that if you are going to spend over 12 hours a day out of doors (I’m a city girl, I’ve never done that in my life!) that permanent rain and an entirely grey sky will not protect you. You still need a hell of a lot of sunscreen. My skin, which in ten years has not left home without an SPF15 veil, really really suffered. The worst thing? My hands. I’ve got a massive spray of dark spots – or funky freckles, as my husband kindly described them – across the back of my right hand and they’ve yet to fade. It’s rather upsetting to know that just four days in the great outdoors might have resulted in mottled hands that last a lifetime. I’m using Clarins best-selling Hand and Nail Treatment Cream, which claims to reduce discolouration – we shall see. I promise to report back. The other problem I encountered – alongside sleeping for 3 days straight on my return – was with my complexion. Despite tons of fresh air, lots of water, walking and healthy food, I seriously broke out – simply because I could not adequately clean my skin. I packed Olay’s Daily Facials – for combination skin – which contain Beta Hydroxy Acids. I’d packed high sunscreen too, so didn’t think it’d be a problem (acid exfoliation + sun = AGEING ALERT!), but had to eventually accept that I had been wrong. Basically, my skin burnt – even under regular SPF40 applications – and I never ever burn. I woke up with a slightly pink nose and hairline – hardly devastating damage, but still damage nonetheless – which caused me to ditch the wipes from day two onwards. On returning, my skin was bumpy and uneven in colour – spots had developed beneath the surface on my forehead, around the hairline and across my nose and chin. Luckily I had 5 days before I needed to be back at work, so I took it easy and focused on exfoliating to get my skin back to smooth, even normality – I’m currently loving Agera’s Microderma Crystal C Activator, which is one of the best exfoliants that I have ever used in my life – and the gentle, calming products from Omorovicza, which I’m remaining loyal to until further notice. I also packed Dermalogica’s Hydrating Mask on for three days in a row and my skin drank it up like Amy W on the vodka (that’s not me being bitchy – I was there and saw her…) So now, spots cleared up, skin evened out, dry patches disappeared and I’m almost back to my old self. Almost…