my stuff & no sense

Here are a lovely jumble of my daily lotions and potions. Yes folks, I'm a secret beauty addict. Whilst remaining a healthy sceptic, I long to believe in their promises, like fairy tales in a bottle, their packaging is full of tall tales.
I love brands with integrity, brands with love for their products and the strength of their conviction that goes as deep as their souls. Brands that believe, brands that make you want to believe also
Aesop is one such brand, Le Labo is another.

Let's start with Aesop, a brand I've always loved.
Their B triple C gel is fantastic. For a couple of years I used to have weird lumpy middle aged acne, nothing seemed to solve it, until I discovered this gel and Dr Andrew Weil for Origins and started using them both.
This gel is very strange when you first start using it, it is the consistency of runny honey, however once you get used to that, it is a truly great moisturiser. I use it nightly and every so often when I don't, I really feel the loss in how my skin feels the next day.

Le Labo, is another truly inspiring brand. They have soul, integrity, wit, intelligence and personality. I first fell in love with their Vertiver 46 fragrance and for years wore nothing else, recently I moved to Santal 33. It stinks, in a very good way! I've tried other fragrances since, but nothing else comes close.

And then to Dr Andrew Weil for Origins, I used to use the complete range and it completely cleared up my middle aged lumpy acne! I still use the face wash and now I've recently started using the Mega-Bright serum, it is a relatively new purchase that I love, it makes my skin feel great.

Guerlain's Midnight Secret is a promise in a bottle, a promise of your skin having 8 hours sleep even if you haven't. Does it work? They say so, even the woman on the counter said don't get addicted, use it like a headache tablet, to be used only when needed. I can't tell you if it works or not yet, sorry, I've only had it for 2 days.

I can't live without MAC's Strobe Cream, it is luminous skin in a tube, I mix it with my tinted moisturiser (approx 50% of each) and it adds a lovely healthy radiance, to my face each day. It's what we all want these days, the words we long to hear used to describe our complexions - glowing, luminous, radiance.

And then if even more luminosity is required, add this - MAC's lustre drops. Remember that glow of a young Brooke Sheilds, in her first Calvin Klein Jean ad? If you want you skin to glow with the healthy youthful vigour of a 15 year old, use this. It gives great all year round radiance. Just use it sparingly.

Nars new tinted moisturiser, uses the self same word, radiance. It is a lovely lightweight lotion. It looks and feels great on my face.

The ever reliable Laura Mercier's lip stain is part of my every day life. I find I just can't keep lippy on my lips and I'm just not the type to be constantly reapplying, so this is not just a good solution, it is a great solution. I used it first on my wedding day and had perfectly coloured lips all day long, it has been a staple for me ever since.

This isn't how my dressing table normally looks, normally all the lotions and potions are hidden away, but for the purposes of this story, I pulled them all out just to show that I truly am a secret addict.

and finally...back to Aesop, some of the other great products that I love - their Parsley Seed Anti-Oxidant range from the face serum to the eye serum and then, great for a holiday in the sun - their Immediate Moisture Facial Hydrosol and last but not least their gorgeous Resurrection Aromatique Hand Balm, the best hand cream ever!