Pamper
Summer is coming (honest, it is) and I’ve been testing out a selection of wonderful creams, sprays and potions to protect from those naughty, ageing rays (the sun, lovely as it is, accounts for some 80%+ of all skin ageing, as well as aiding and abetting the formation of thread veins and hyper pigmentation. Boo).
For the reasons just stated, I wear some sort of SPF all year round – usually SPF15-30 in my moisturiser until April/May. After this point I crank it up to some SPF50+ value until the leaves start to turn golden in Autumn. So I was delighted when long-time beauty fave, Clarins brought out two new High Protection Sun Care products – a 50+ UVB/UVA Sun Wrinkle Control Cream for Face (£17 / 75ml flip cap tube) and 50+ UVB/UVA Sun Care Milk-Lotion Spray (£17.50 150ml natural spray bottle).
Clarins High Protection Sun Care for the Face.
Promising smart multi-cellular protection, moisturisation and dark-spot protection, these products are part skin-case, part sun-care. Wonderful. They come in bright-yellow packaging that would look pretty fab in any beach bag.
They both apply easily, without leaving a heavy sticky residue (though the facial product does leave your skin a bit shiny, but then this is pretty standard for sun protection products), smell nice and leave the skin feeling very comforted.
Clarins Sun Care Milk Lotion Spray.
We Love: Both excellent products, the 50+ UVB/UVA Sun Wrinkle Control Cream for Face will definitely replace what we were using for facial sun protection (Boots No7 Anti-Ageing Facial Protect SPF50, £11 / 50ml).
Not Crazy About: The price, particularly for the 50+ UVB/UVA Sun Care Milk-Lotion Spray is a third to double more costly than a comparable sun care product in, say, Boots. Which could work out quite expensive given how frequently I slap the stuff on! Though this is a lovely, effective product, we’ll probably stick to annual staple Boots Soltan (SPF 50+ £9.25 /200ml) for sun protection for our body.
Clarins High Protection Sun Care is available online now and from Clarins counters and Spas nationwide, including John Lewis in Norwich.
Zoya Intimates: Marley, Gemma, Jules.
For the past week I’ve been trying the new Early Summer 2011 nail colours from Zoya. Named ‘Intimate’, this collection of 6 metallic and creamy shades with names like ‘Gemma’, ‘Dove’ and ‘Caitlin’ are intended to evoke images of temptation, dreams, secrets, illusion, lingerie, kisses…The collection was designed to translate the custom looks developed for and inspired by the runways of New York Fashion Week to our talons.
Self-described as ‘ultra long-wearing’, Zoya ‘nail lacquers’ are free of harmful industrial chemicals including toluene, camphor, formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin and dibutyl phthalate (DBP). Having been a chemist in a past life, I can confirm that these are some serious nasties.
The Zoya Intimate Collection.
For me, these girly (but edgy) shades are somewhat outside our usual comfort zone of colours by Chanel that include the term ‘Noir’ somewhere in their description.
On my toes, I plumped for ‘Gemma’, an iridescent green. Easy to apply, the colour was sheer and subtle at first, although more solid after two coats. Very ‘different’ and young, I quite liked it. Although I’m not 100% convinced the shade is ‘strong’ enough for toes, I think it would probably look fantastic with nice, tanned tootsies.
For my fingernails, I applied ‘Marley’, a pearlised lilac. This is a highly pigmented, creamy shade – certainly not sheer. The pale yet solid colour reminded me slightly of the time I painted my nails with Tippex (6th Form, Hewett School). It is, however, subtle and actually quite flattering. I could see it being a perfect shade of choice for wedding high-season and it may just be my colour of the summer this year.
After 48 hours, the colour was still holding its own, despite the fact that, as a very hard-working Mum my nails are subjected to huge numbers of dowsing in bath water, washing up water, etc. etc. In all, it lasted 6 days before having to be removed.
We Love: High shine. Great, ‘new’ colours. Easy to apply. Free from chemical nasties. Hardwearing.
Not Crazy About: No real negatives so far…
Zoya Intimate RRP £11 / 15ml from www.zoyapolish.co.uk.
Clarins Instant Smooth Self Tanning is the new, summery sister to Clarins’ Instant Smoothing Perfect Touch, one of the first (if not the first) of a style of products that fills and smoothes to give an image of beautiful, flawless skin.
Caramel-coloured in a brown pot, this new little marvel not only instantly smoothes and creates a subtle golden glow, but it develops over time to give a lasting healthy colour that is just perfect as Spring becomes Summer.
Easy to apply, this mousse-come-cream also contains Vitamin E and Aloe protect the skin and prevent dehydration.
Clarins recommend everyday application to achieve your desired depth of oclour and then every 2-3 days to maintain.
Already a longstanding fan of Clarins Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch, I was slightly weary of the brown colour (am always a bit nervous about self-tanners for the face anyway) but have to say that I really liked this product.
On application it has a nice scent (although this does transform later into the usual self-tan aroma, not too strongly thankfully). It is easy to apply and, as promised, instantly gives a smooth, sunkissed complexion (ideal for folks like me who never actually let the sun’s rays near our SPF 50+ slathered face). After a couple of days I had quite a nice colour going on, sans streaks and very natural-looking.
This is a great innovation for summer and one that I will be using regularly. A great addition to any early summer holiday vanity case. Lovely.
RRP £17 / 30Ml jar. Available online and from Clarins counters and Spas nationwide, including John Lewis in Norwich since the end of April 2011.
We Love: The ease of application. The fact that it really does smooth & provide a natural glow. Not a bad price. Didn’t stain hands like some self tanners (even after washing them).
Not Crazy About: The self-tan smell that develops as the self-tanner does. Not a deal-breaker though, and to be honest, I’ve yet to find a self-tanning product that doesn’t have this smell about it. Even the ones that say they don’t. Pot may need to be bigger.
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- 18/05/2012 - A Walk Through Time: The Victorians May 18, 2012
- 18/05/2012 - Norwich 20 Group – Looking into 20 – paintings and sculpture at The Forum May 18, 2012
- 18/05/2012 - Tony Foster Paintings/Angela Harding Prints May 18, 2012