Les Stars de NUXE - Huile Prodigieuse and Parfum

Behold goodies I brought back from Paris. With an already overflowing bathroom shelf, I don't have space for more toiletries. But I couldn't pass up the opportunity to buy more Nuxe and Bioderma products. They're my favourite skin care brands. 

It's a shame you have to pay a premium for their products in London and heaven forbid, Australia-so when in France, stock up!

I bought a 1 litre bottle of Bioderma Atoderm shower gel. It's gentle for sensitive skin and I like how to you can dispense from a pump. This was only EUR 7 and comes with a full sized sample bottle of moisturiser and a 2 EUR voucher off my next purchase from this range. Amazing value!

I also bought a gift pack from Nuxe. If you love the Huile Prodigieuse oil as much as I do, you will be pleased to know they have a parfum with it's heavenly scent. I tested it in the store and just had to buy it. The smell is fresh, warm and long lasting. The parfum is 15ml and the pack comes with a full sized bottle of the oil. This was just under EUR 20 so both products combined turned out to be only £21. The brands are stocked everywhere in pharmacies so you could get them cheaper if you shop around. I love shopping in Paris!

Longchamp Quadri Cross Body Bag-4 Swiss Francs!

I've had good luck charity shopping for Longchamp. I bought a large metallic pliage for £30 and I found this bag in Switzerland for a steal.

It was no pricier than the other bags on the rack. It looks like authentic Longchamp, smelt like leather and the quality was to be expected from the label. Not familiar with this model, I relied on the hallmarks of an authentic Longchamp-the quality of the stitching, positioning of the pattern of the lining (pictures centered), zipper pulls and stud branding and serial number tag. It even had a care booklet inside the pocket. Real or not, CHF 4 or USD 4.23 was a bargain.

Nowadays anything high end usually gets their own designer section with pricing to match the labels. I'm so pleased have snagged a lucky find in Caritas.

I identified the bag from the Longchamp website. When I tried it on in the Regent Street store, the bag was bigger. I was told last year's model was smaller, exactly the dimensions of my bag. Longchamp doesn't stock it anymore but Selfridges still sell this for £175!

Top Op Red Henna Powder Review

My hair was so knotty, I could'nt pass a brush though without pulling hair out. When this happens there's only one thing to do to bring it back to life and it's not just a trim. It's henna!

I'm rather obsessed with henna, watching youtube videos and reading up on it. I ran out of Rainbow Henna so I bought Top Op (from Pakistan) and Hesh Mehandi (from India) from my local Indian store.

Top Op was the first one I tried. It's body art quality and powder is very fine. The packaging looks cheap but for only 79p for 100g, I couldn't complain. I mixed it with strong chamomile tea, a tablespoon of honey and a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar. The consistency had to be like cake batter to avoid drips.

I left it covered for 24 hours to release the dye. With this henna I don't think the colour released well since it hardly changed colour on the surface. I tested a drop on my palm by leaving it there for 5 minutes and wiping it off. It left a faint orange stain. As I'm impatient, I decided to use it anyway. I figured after 24 hours, it's not going to develop any further.

Before application I shampooed my hair and lightly oiled it with coconut oil while it was still damp. I'm not sure if that hinders the colour setting in but since I didn't add any oil to my mix, I wanted to make sure my hair was conditioned. I applied the henna and left it on under a shower cap for four hours.

After rinsing it off (no shampoo), I towel dried with a dark towel because the henna colour will still run. Then I blow dried my hair so it doesn't drip and stain anything.

The colour release was milder than expected. And that's accounting for my nearly black hair. I'm used to seeing vibrant red highlights. Perhaps the mix has to be tweaked and I need more apple cider vinegar. My hair had a dark orange tinge but I'm expecting the colour to deepen to red over the next few days.

The conditioning effect is unbelieveable. My hair feels soft yet strong. I can't stop running my fingers through it. My hair is so shiny, even a colleague at work complimented it today.

My hair feels stronger than ever. Perhaps the initial oiling had something to do with it as well. I was using henna every 6-8 weeks but I'm going to do it again in two weeks to make my hair stronger and redder. I love henna and Top Op is good for the price. I will post more reviews!

Goodies From Naturally Thinking

My friend buys her organic avocado oil and other natural products from the site Naturally Thinking. When the little decanted bottle she gave me ran out, I checked out their website and I love their concept. Natural, pure, decent prices and all the refillable bottles and tops and spray you need to reduce waste. And no, I'm not paid to post this!

They run courses on aromatherapy and making cosmetics so they really know their oils and other ingredients. Also their packaging is practical and so darn pretty for aluminium bottles. My order arrived in less than a week. It's a little disappointing that you need to spend £80 or more to get free shipping but I felt the value in their products made the cost worth it. You can also pick up from their Croydon store for free if you're nearby.

I bought 100ml rose water which smell beautiful and 100ml rosehip carrier oil. The latter is not a dark as the more expensive kind but is still cold pressed from rosehips. It feels lighter and there is no fried chip smell so it's perfect to use on the body or better yet, hair as I've recently discovered.

I ordered a spray cap to use on the rosewater to spritz my face before applying rosehip oil. The caps and bottles are great value. I also bought a foamer bottle to reduce the wastage on handwash. I fill the bottle 1/4 with handwash and the rest with water. Instant foam and you can get hands clean just as well with much less product going down the drain!

I recently bought a Neals Yard oil burner (for only £4 at the charity store!) and wanted to get back in to burning aromatherapy oils again. It helps me concentrate and makes the home smell nicer. My favourite essential oils are rosemary, lavender and sweet orange. I wanted to try to the palmarosa for the first time because it resembles rose and is cheaper. I will definitely buy more oils from Naturally Thinking when I'm running low.

The Wonders Of Rosehip OIl

I've often seen rose hip bushes but never appreciated the benefits of the fruit until now. Rosehip oil is touted as a wonder ingredient for dry skin and now I've tried it and love it.

I read up on rose hip oil and ordered on Amazon where I've found it to be the cheapest. I paid £16 for 100ml of organic oil in a glass spray bottle. When you buy it, make sure it's stored in an opaque or dark glass to protect it from light. For skin, don't use rose hip carrier oil as it's mixed with cheaper oils or of a lower quality.

For my handbag, I also bought this bottle from Aussie company Moogoo. I love their stuff and I managed to track down a stockist not far from me. It was 25ml for £8 which is good value compared to the Trilogy brand.

You should notice that rose hip oil is orange red in colour and it has an oily odour. It does not smell like roses! It smells like fish oil but it goes away as long as you don't use too much. The oil feels light and absorbs quickly.

All you need is 4-5 drops for your face. Distribute on your palms first and smooth it on cleaned skin. Give your face a light massage and it will thank you for it. Sometimes I spray my homemade moisturising spritz first to get my skin hydrated.

The oil is also excellent for hair as its a dry oil. It's known to fade skin imperfections such as scars and stretchmarks.

The result for me after two weeks is impressive. My wrinkles have definitely softened and my skin glows. The wrinkles around my eyes when I smile do not crease as much-yay! My skin has a sheen immediately after I've applied the oil but it takes only a few minutes for it to fully absorb.

A few months of using this oil and I've noticed an issue. I'm now only using this oil on my crows feet. There's something about it that's causing acne on my chin and since I've stopped putting it all over my face, the acne has gone away.

Homemade Natural Moisturiser: 3 Simple Ingredients

In my plight to go all natural for beauty products, I've mixed the simplest ingredients to make a light moisturising spritz. I use it at home for my hands because I don't like scented products when I'm handling food. Because there are no chemical additives, I can use this until my heart's content and skin is moisturised!

All you need is water (spring or distilled is the best but tap is fine), an natural oil, vegetable glycerin and a small spray bottle 50ml or smaller. As there are no preservatives, only make enough to last you two weeks max. If it smells off, chuck it out and make a new batch.

You can buy vegetable glycerine from health food shops or online. It's good for skin as a humectant. Glycerine draws moisture from the environment and draws it upon where its applied. That's why it's important to use it mixed with water so it's not sucking out moisture from the top layers of the skin.

The oil can be sweet almond, olive, jojoba or grape seed. These are less likely to go rancid when mixed with water. The oil softens the skin and creates a protective barrier from drying out.

Here is my recipe: 6 parts water, 1 part oil and 1 part glycerin. Play around with the proportions to get to the right mix for you. Give it a shake every time you use it. And that's how you make moisturiser out of three ingredients!