Temple Spa Eye Truffle (this gem is on sale from tomorrow) - Tried and Tested review

Wow! That really is the only way to begin this review. After years of fruitless searching, I have finally found my eye cream gem. It’s a bold statement, and such high praise I don’t heap lightly, but Temple Spa’s Eye Truffle really is astoundingly good.

For me finding the right eye cream has been a long and arduous task, matched only by my search for my dream eye mask. I am incredibly picky when it comes to eye products. Can you blame me? Our eyes are usually the first feature others notice about us and, in a cruel twist of irony, they are also the first part of our face to show signs of ageing.

I have lost count of the number of different eye creams that I have tried over the years, and never before have I felt compelled to say that I have found ‘the one’. But then Eye Truffle is no ordinary eye cream.

The Most Fabulous Celebs Over 40 – Do You Agree?

Pic Credits: David Shankbone (Cameron Diaz) and MingleMediaTVNetwork (Gwyneth Paltrow) 

The Anti-Ageing Health & Beauty Show poll proves revealing

If you follow @AntiAgeingShow on Twitter you may recently have read some of their fascinating tweets revealing our thoughts on ageing and on the options available to us to slow its progress.

The insights come from a study conducted by The Anti-Ageing Health & Beauty Show, ahead of its annual event at Olympia in London in May.

I’m a bit of a sucker for a good survey, especially when it’s centred on something as controversial as anti-ageing. We all have different thoughts and opinions on the subject, and no doubt, like me, there will be aspects of this survey that you agree with and others that you don’t. That is what I like about surveys – they divide opinion and provoke debate.

The show organisers have kindly sent me a full copy of the study, which involved more than 100 women respondents aged 25-60. I have pulled together some of the key findings below. I’d love to hear your thoughts:

Q: Which over 40 celebrity do you think has aged brilliantly?
A: Gwyneth Paltrow came top with 39%, them Cameron Diaz at 33%, followed by Sharon Stone and Madonna at 23% and 5% respectively.

My thoughts: Given that Gwynnie and Cammie are both just 41 I’m not that surprised they came top but big thumbs up to Sharon Stone, who is gorgeous at 55 years young.

Q: Which physical feature would you most change if you could?

Tried And Tested: Sunday Riley’s Good Genes Treatment

This serum comes with some bold claims - instantly creates a flawless vibrant, brighter complexion. Reveals younger skin, plumps fine lines. Long term reduces scars and mild to moderate hyperpigmentation. Evens out skin tone and increases epidermal thickness. Goodness!

With a billing like that, I was waiting for a good time to test it. As I mentioned in my Kiehl's wrinkle cream review last Monday, I developed pretty bad sun-induced hyperpigmentation last summer. Most of it has now shifted thanks to a course of ReAura home laser, but a few spots remain on my left cheek and below my left eye. I'd really like them gone now and before embarking on another round of ReAura, I thought I’d give Good Genes a good try.

New Products: Aromatherapy Associates, M&S, Realine Beauty, Sisley

A real mixed bag of new launches stood out for me this week, ranging from products to treat trouble spots on the body, hands and face, to a fragrance invoking images of fresh tropical rain forests.

Aromatherapy Associates Renewing Rose Hand Cream

Designed to help reduce the signs of ageing, this hand cream combines the fragrance of rose with sea daffodil and omega rich kukui, the former to tackle age spots and the latter to deeply nourish and protect the skin. Launching 1st March, Aromatherapy Associates Renewing Rose Hand Cream will cost £23 for 75ml. Aromatherapy Associates website here.

The Josh Wood Blending Wand

Tried And Tested: Kiehl’s New Powerful Wrinkle Reducing Cream

Having largely got on top of the brown spots I inflicted upon my face last summer in Spain by stupidly forgetting to reapply my broad spectrum SPF after swimming, I’ve now re-focused my attentions back on my original number one skin concern: wrinkles!

Don’t get me wrong, my wrinkles are not horrendous as they are still quite faint. But I know that as I get older those linear grooves on my forehead and around my eyes in particular are only going to get deeper. Anything that can be done now to slow the advancement of these enemy lines in a natural way - count me in.

Consequently, the name of this new Kiehl’s product (launched at the beginning of this month) got me very excited indeed:  Powerful Wrinkle Reducing Cream. If this really does pack a punch on wrinkles then I’m going to be one very happy skin obsessed customer.

I’ve been testing this cream for just over two weeks now and, while I don’t like to tempt fate, I can honestly say that I’m really liking the early results I’m seeing.

New Products: Diptyque, Decléor, REN Skincare

Here's an array of new luxury skincare and body care product launches that have caught my eye so far this week:

 

Diptyque Eau Rose Voile Lacté and Émulsion pour les mains

Masters of luxury scent - and a skincare brand too very soon (pop 27th February skincare launch date in your diary) - Diptyque have added two new products to their Eau Rose line. Voile Lacté is a moisturising and softening body lotion, encapsulating olive oil derivative squalane, and musk rose oil. Émulsion pour les mains, meanwhile, is a light and luxurious hand lotion, enriched with macadamia oil and aloe vera. The body lotion is priced at £32 and the hand lotion at £20. The Eau Rose EDT, which combines both the damask and Centifolio roses, is priced at £60 for 100ml. Available here

 

Decléor 2-in-1 Dark Circle & Wrinkle Eraser

Goody Bag Event - At Space NK Stores Nationwide This Thursday

Space NK is holding a Makeup Makeover Event at its stores nationwide this Thursday (13th Feb). Spend more than £75 on the day and you'll receive a free collection of products (in the pic brands include Caudalie, Laura Mercier, NARs and Rodial), as well as a gorgeous embroidered cosmetic bag designed by Sew Lomax. There will be expert artists on hand at the events to help and advise you on good makeup choices. More details here

Tried And Tested: Philips ReAura, My Two Year Journey With Fraxel Home Laser (Part 2 Of 2)

The ReAura experience and my tips + tricks

The ReAura is undoubtedly one of the most lavish at home beauty devices around right now. If you are thinking of buying one, a key question you should probably ask yourself is: will I continue to use it after a first flurry of excitement or will it end up at the back of a cupboard somewhere, collecting dust, never to see the light of day again.

When you are spending this sort of money – it costs £799 – you need to be sure that you will be able to (and want to) keep up with the treatment regime required. In this second and final post (first post here) I’m going to talk about the treatment process, what using the ReAura actually feels like, and finish off with some tips and tricks that I have picked up over the past 2 years.

New Products: Sensai, SkinCeuticals, Sunday Riley, LightStim

A quick round-up of new skincare and devices:

 

Sensai Lift Remodelling Eye Cream

Japanese anti-ageing skincare brand Sensai has launched Sensai Lift Remodelling Eye Cream, formulated to brighten, lift and firm the skin around the eyes, as well as reduce hollowness for a more plumped and volumised appearance. The cream also comes with an ergonomic massager to stimulate microcirculation around the delicate skin in the eye area. Priced £125 for 15ml, the cream is available now exclusively at Harrods

SkinCeuticals Advanced Pigment Corrector

Happy Birthday from Space NK – Are You In The Club?

Space NK clearly know me well. Give me anything with a rose scent and I go weak at the knees. And when it comes to beauty brands, Jurlique is up there amongst my favourites. So imagine my delight at having just received an email from Space NK, telling me they are sending me a Jurlique Rosewater Balancing Mist (full size) as a birthday treat.

I mention this because I am receiving Julique's gorgeous rosewater mist as part of Space NK’s N.dulge customer reward scheme, which sends its members a lovely treat on their birthday. As beauty loyalty schemes go it’s one of the best. If you don’t know it, it really is worth checking out. Details here.
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The Anti-Ageing Health & Beauty Show, Special Preview And 'Face Up Beauty' Entry Ticket Offer

Find Out The True Age Of Your Skin - And More

 

As I write, the countdown clock on the Anti-Ageing Health & Beauty Show website says 4 months, 6 days and 12 hours until showtime (by the time you read this doors opening will be even closer!). With the seconds ticking and the exhibits taking shape I thought you might like to hear about some of the highlights planned for this year’s event.

Want to know the true age of your skin? Fancy sampling new products? Looking for tips on diet and exercise? Or perhaps you're desperate to know more about the safety of cosmetic procedures? Head down to the show at the Olympia Exhibition Centre in London 10-11 May and you can do all of that, plus more.

My Top Rated: Complexion Perfecting Creams

Perricone MD - Kiehl's

Choosing a skin perfecting cream can be baffling. Where once the options were limited to tinted moisturisers and foundations, today there’s a growing assortment of alphabet creams offering skin perfecting and anti-ageing ingredients in an all-in-one solution to ponder too.

The double letter creams began with AA (Anti-Ageing) and have since expanded to include BB (Beauty Balms/Blemish Balms), CC (Colour Correcting), DD (Daily Defence) and now even EE (Extra Exfoliation). It boggles my mind what might come next.

All these products multi-task to a greater or lesser degree, but it’s not clear cut. For eg, a BB cream from one beauty brand will often have different skincare properties to a BB from another. And while tinted moisturises supposedly simply moisturise and colour some, such as NARs Pure Radiant, also provide broad spectrum sun protection.