Simone Loves Kiehls-and what I love!

Photo credit-Simone/Simone Loves Makeup

Last week I was invited to the 'Simone Loves Kiehls' event at the Kiehls store in Dubai Mall, hosted by one of my fave bloggers Simone.

It was a fab evening with lots of Kiehls specialists on hand to answer questions plus Simone herself shared her top 5 fave Kiehls products.  It was great to chat to all the guests and sample some of the amazing nibbles on hand-including an amazing caramel shortbread!

Kiehls is a brand I have loved for such a long time.  I remember years ago you couldn't get it in Dubai and being rather overexcited when I saw it in Bangkok and having a good old stock up!

Now there are 3 stores in Dubai, and I am reliably informed 3 more stores coming soon, enabling us UAE residents to get our Kiehls fix easily.

Simone's all time top 5 Kiehls products are:

Midnight Recovery Concentrate-A replenishing nighttime facial oil with distilled botanicals that visibly restores the appearance of skin by morning.  One of Kiehls top sellers-I have been through 3 bottles myself.  

Creme De Corps-A rich, non-greasy, hydrating body moisturizer 

Ultra Facial Moisturiser-Light moisturiser for 24 hr hydration

Skin Rescuer-A highly efficacious formula that reduces the visible signs of stress on skin

Rice and Wheat volumising shampoo-A lightweight volumizing shampoo that revives thin. lifeless hair 

It got me thinking-if I had to recommend my top 5 all time faves from Kiehls what would I choose?

Here's my picks......

            

     

Creamy Eye Treatment with Avocado-a godsend for me recently, curing a small patch of eczema under one eye that suddenly appeared.  This is a thick, nourishing eye cream that I use in the evenings.  It's very gentle, my eyes can be extremely sensitive to eye creams but this does not irritate or sting them at all.  A little goes a very long way and I can see this being a constant repurchase 

Ultra Light Daily UV Defense SPF 50-This has now been repackaged and is called the Super Fluid UV Defense SPF50+ but I am sure a lot of you will recognise the original packaging above.  This is an ultra light daily sunscreen for everyday and essential for living here in Dubai.

Ultra facial moisturiser-Sharing a pick with Simone, this is my 'go to' moisturiser when my skin is playing up.  I always go back to it.  It's light yet hydrating and comes in a versions with or without SPF

Creme de corps-Sharing another pick with Simone, if I could bathe in this stuff I would!  It's everything Kiehls say it is-rich yet non greasy, hydrating and absorbs easily.  It's pretty much fragrance free but I know when I am wearing it although it doesn't interfere with any perfume I put on top.  I say go big or go home with this one, I am working my way through the giant 1 litre size bottle now.

Superbly restorative argan dry oil-This is a multi use dry oil for use on the body, hair and face.  I personally use it on my body, it's great after a bath for hydration and also gives a beautiful sheen to the skin if you're going out and wearing a skirt!  I honestly don't know what constitutes a 'dry' oil but this absorbs brilliantly without living any sticky or greasy residue

I'd love to know what your favourite Kiehls picks are?  Next on my wish list is definitely the Skin Rescuer and the Creme de Corps body butter-Vanessa bought some when we were shopping together in Dubai and when the Kiehls consultant put it on her skin the texture immediately looked amazing.

Thank you to Simone and all the team at Kiehls Dubai Mall for such a fab event and for the chit chat and treats!

You can find Kielhs in Dubai Mall (standalone store next to Starbucks in the main entrance and next to Bloomingdales) and in Mall of the Emirates in Harvey Nichols

Don't forget to check out Simone's Youtube channel (for the best vlogs ever), twitter and blog

Disappointing products-The Controversial Ones

Ok so I have always been very honest on my blog about the products I review But I do fall for hype around products very easily-it's been said if I was an Eskimo I would buy ice-but these much hyped products just aren't doing it for me personally.  I wish they did but sadly they're wasted pennies in my opinion.

First up is the newly formulated YSL Couture eyeshadow palette but the limited edition Swarovski crystal encrusted version that was exclusive to Selfridges for £69 and named #4 New York (and in the normal range is called #4 Saharienne).  There are a couple of reasons for my disappointment.  Firstly the packaging gave YSL license to add a huge premium to the RRP and after having it once in my make up bag the 'sticker' on the palette is starting to come away on the bottom left corner.  For the £69 price tag a sticker is really poor quality and unacceptable.

But the formula does not wow me at all.  I really like the YSL Chromatics eyeshadows but this formula isn't hugely pigmented or smooth and doesn't blend as seamlessly as the Chromatics.  I have so many eyeshadows and this formula is disappointing.

My next disappointing item is the Wayne Goss #1 Foundation brush.  I am gutted that I don't like this as the quality of the brush is excellent-and I love the eyeshadow blending brush I have from Wayne Goss.  The bristles on this brush are super soft and don't shed at all but I find this brush so difficult to work with.  I find that the bristles soak up a lot of foundation and that the handle and the head are too small to get a good buffing action going.

I know, I know, the By Terry Ombre Blackstar being featured here is probably making you gasp right now but really I do not get the hype!  Granted they are better than the Laura Mercier Caviar Sticks (except Amethyst which is really good) but they just don't look as good on me as they do on others.  Here is Bronze Moon and Frozen Quartz.  I also owned and blog-saled Misty Rock which just looked really insipid and didn't last on me.  Don't get me wrong I think they are alright-they make a good base for eyeshadow but used on their own, again I just think they're ok-they crease a bit and I don't find the lasting power to be great.  They're nowhere near as good as the Trish McEvoy version-I cannot get enough of those!

Admittedly I don't hate the NARS creamy concealer but I do find it very thick and a bit difficult to work with.  I did use the whole tube but it's just such a hyped product I think I was expecting miracles and when it didn't deliver I was disappointed.  I actually prefer the much much cheaper Rimmel Wake Me Up concealer!

Finally, another controversial one...the Oribe Dry Texturizing Spray.  I am so glad I only bought the mini trial size (although it was still an eye watering £18).  I find this spray does nothing for my fine hair-it doesn't give any ooomph or grit to my roots or give me any volume or body.  I much prefer the much less expensive label.m or Charles Worthington versions.  I'll probably use it all up and in a way maybe it's a good thing I don't like it as that is one expensive addiction to develop!!

So tell me-am I insane for not liking some of these or do you agree with me?

SHOW Beauty Premiere Haircare

I remember the day I shot this photo.  It was one of the hottest days in August at 9am in the morning.  If you look closely you can see the humidity on the products above.  I was outside for about 5 minutes but wowzers it was searing heat.

And I have been trying these four products from the incredibly beautiful Tamara Ecclestone's line 'Show Premiere' ever since to give them a good try out before posting my thoughts.

Because they're expensive right?  And if you're going to splurge on anything beauty related then it makes sense to read a couple of reviews.  I have to say I don't always stick 100% to this mantra but I figure most sensible people do!

I was actually gifted these four products by my best friend who told me they smelt amazing.  Whenever I visit London I tend to stay with Dani and I always find some amazing new beauty product she has picked up in her make up bag.

Considering how much I love beauty products, hair care is something I don't tend to buy that often or spend that much on-mainly because I am terrible at styling my hair.  Most days it gets straightened and a bit of texturizing spray spritzed through it.  Yet I think nothing of dropping £30 on a lipstick so I am not sure why I don't splurge so much on haircare.

So celebrity ranges?  Gimmicky?  Maybe some.  I have to admit I am really liking three of these products and have been using them daily.  They don't give me hair like Tamara's (mores the pity) but they definitely improve my hair.

There is a very grown up and glamorous air about these products.  I mean just look at the packaging-it makes me smile every time I see the decadent gold and crystal lidded bottles on my dresser.  You want to display these in the open.  The reason the products smell so good is that Tamara has worked with luxury fragrance house Givaudan.  Personally I love it but it is quite heady and noticeable so it's definitely worth a spritz in store if you're in Harrods or in Harvey Nichols where they are stocked here in Dubai.

Show Beauty Sheer Thermal Protect // £35

'The must have'

My favourite of them all, this makes a massive difference to my hair when I blow dry it.  This spray protects your hair from intense heat whilst improving its condition.  I spritz it onto damp hair and then blow dry.  It's difficult to explain but my hair feels protected.  The spray feels weightless but I can feel something on my hair.  My hair is very soft and manageable after using it and my straighteners literally glide though my hair.  It's love.  I'm halfway through the bottle already.

Show Premiere Dry Shampoo // £30

'The extremely luxe treat'

I wouldn't blame you for baulking at paying £30 for a dry shampoo when most of us are hooked on Batiste.  But I have to admit this has been my go to dry shampoo for the past few weeks.  It's a very fine, clear mist that leaves zero powdery residue in the hair yet mops up any excess oil.  It smells incredible and my hair is again very soft and manageable.  Would I buy this again for myself?  Probably not at £30 but I will definitely use every last spritz of this!

Show Premier Decadence Hair Fragrance // £55

'The one I am addicted to'

I could wear this as actual perfume I love it so much.  So yes, decadent and unnecessary but luxury personified this hair fragrance contains rosewater and coconut, caramel and almond, Madagascan vanilla and patchouli.  It also has aloe vera and vitamin E to protect the hair and jojoba oil for extra shine.  Spritzing this through my hair is my last step before walking out of the door and I am loving this little luxurious ritual.  It's longevity is really good and I am loving this paired with my two current favourite scents-Si by Armani and Fico di Amalfi by Acqua di Parma.

Show Premiere Working Texture Spray // £30

'The one I could live without'

This is an award winning product from the range but I just can't get it to work in my hair-I suspect that it's just too heavy for my fine straight hair.  The spray is a wet spray rather than a powder texturizing spray and I suspect perfect for curly haired and thicker haired girls and for giving ooomph to up dos!

It does dry instantly and there is no stiffness but it just doesn't add anything significant to my hair.

What do you think?  Do you splurge regularly on hair care and have you tried anything from Show Beauty?

Nails Inc Gel Polishes

Nails Inc launched a range of gel effect polishes and I picked up two when I was last in the UK-the cool mushroom 'Porchester Square' and the vampy berry 'Kensington High Street'.  Porchester Square is also available in the permanent polish range and is one of Nails Inc's most popular shades.

The gel effect polish gives the high sheen and 'plumpness' of a gel manicure (something I love) but without the need for a UV lamp or a soak off (my pet hate).  You just apply as a normal polish.

I really love Porchester Square.  It looks so polished and shiny.  It lasted the longest a nail polish has ever lasted on me-five days and it was still going strong with not one chip (I am the girl who has to usually change her polish every two days).  It applies smoothly and streak free.  I applied Essie First Base, 2 coats of polish then a top coat of Seche Vite to add more gloss and cut down on drying time.

Kensington High Street is a gorgeous vampy winter berry shade.  Slightly more difficult to apply without a streak free finish but the wear time was equally as good.

Removal is super easy with your usual nail polish remover.

I really can't knock this new formula-I suspect I might pick up the bright pink 'Downtown' and the baby pink 'Mayfair Lane' when I am next in the UK.

I purchased Porchester Square and Kensington High Street from Debenhams for £14 each.

Have you tried these new polishes?

Marc Jacobs Twinkle Pop Eye Stick review

Marc Jacobs Twinkle Pop Eye Sticks // $28 each // Sephora

After a poor start with cream eyeshadow sticks I have recently finally had some success.  After disappointments from Laura Mercier and By Terry I feel like I have found two brands that have cracked it.  First up was the amazing Trish McEvoy 24hr Eye Shadow and Liner which I reviewed and adored recently and then these, a little surprise package in the form of the Marc Jacobs Twinkle Pop Eye Sticks.

I didn't read any reviews before popping these into my Sephora shopping cart-I just love the idea of lazy girl, 'swipe and go' eyeshadow.  And I love Marc Jacobs.

The packaging is sleek and silver-I am not a huge fan of the 'colouring pencil' tip but it's not massively offensive, just a bit childish.

Swatched, it was pretty much love at first sight.  They seemed really creamy and pigmented.  There are 9 shades in the range altogether and I chose two very 'me' shades-Au Revoir and Three Shakes.

Au Revoir is a pewter shimmer and can look gold toned and silver toned depending what light you're in.  They're pretty similar in terms of formula to the Trish McEvoy ones in that they're really creamy, don't tug at the lids and don't set hard drying out your lids.  They do both pack on the shimmer though and have a very metallic finish.

Three Shakes is a metallic bronze.   This one is actually a little too creamy when applying-it's super super super pigmented, maybe even too pigmented which I know sounds bizarre but I felt like there was too much product on my lid initially.  But it's pretty easy to blend out and once it's on it doesn't move.

Like seriously doesn't move.

I am so busy at work at the moment I am not checking my make up at all during the day.  Once my lipstick has faded it ain't getting reapplied.

The first time I wore these I caught sight of myself in the mirror in the elevator going up to my apartment (come on we all do it!) and my eyeshadow was still totally in place.  Like not faded or creased or anything.

I was so impressed I took a picture to show you 12 hours wear-with a flash as it was dark.  Ignoring the rest of my face my eyelids look pretty fresh right?

The Twinkle Pop's have an angled applicator meaning it's easy to swipe across the lids and I tend to use a small fluffy brush to smooth the outer edges (I use a MAC 217 for everything). 

I thought these might be pretty gimmicky but actually they're a pretty solid performer for foil finish, long lasting pretty lids.

Lip Six

Happy Monday!  I don't feel like this is the most exciting of Lip Sixes but here's my last six lip picks!

Top row (L) MAC Lustre lipstick in Plumful (R) Clinique Chubby Stick in Heftiest Hibiscus

Middle row (L) MAC lipstick in Faux (R) OCC Lip Tar in Trollop

Bottom row (L) Buxom lipstick in Centrefold (R) Chantecaille lip gloss in Pretty

Do you have a favourite?

Chanel Camelia De Plumes Highlighting Powder for Holiday 2014

At first glance, this highlighter from the Chanel Plumes Precieuses Holiday 2014 collection does not look like something I would not ever consider putting my face.  It looks very 'tin man-esque' with its steely grey appearance. 

I was browsing Harvey Nichols in Dubai and the Chanel holiday collection had just hit the store.  The eyeshadow palette does nothing for me this year, it's just so dull.  And this highlighter looked pretty unwearable.  Until swatched.  You know, just out of curiosity.

And it's so beautiful.  Like ridiculously beautiful.  I love a good highlighter and this one is currently at the top of my highlighting tree.

The compact itself features a feather motif shaped like a camelia flower, a nod to Coco Chanel's signature flower.

The highlighter itself is unique to my collection-most of my highlighters have quite a champagne-y tone to them, but this is a definite sheeny white gold.  Sara from Color Me Loud has a great review and comparison swatches showing that although seemingly very cool toned (and works well on my pale cool toned skin), it's not too white nor silvery nor grey toned.

It's illuminating rather than stark when on the skin and not tin man-esque at all.

It's very limited edition and probably my favourite 'Holiday 2014' item I have picked up this year.  Good job Chanel.

My personal favourite review of this highlighter is from Karen at Make Up & Beauty Blog.  I think Karen's blog (along with her trusty sidekick Tabs) was one of the first beauty blogs I ever started reading and I am still hooked to this day.  She's hilarious, beautiful and her reviews are bang on.

I'll leave you with her thoughts:

If I could bathe in a claw-foot tub filled with this stuff, I would, and with as much as that would probably cost (according to my calculations and based on an 80-gallon tub, about $2.6 million), people would wonder if I made a deal with the devil. Looking at the otherworldly glow of my skin from the platinum gold sheen, they might also assume I was doing an extreme wheatgrass juice cleanse, but I digress… 

When light catches the high points on my face while I’m wearing this, it looks like there are creamy streams of starlight on my cheeks. 

Seriously. Lovin’ on this.

Tell me you're not running to your nearest Chanel counter now to check this out??

NARS Radiant Cream compact foundation review

Just a quickie today with my thoughts on the NARS radiant cream compact foundation.

Am not sure why I bought this compact as I am not usually one for solid cream foundations that need a sponge to apply. (FYI you need to buy the compact and the foundation insert separately.  And I have lost the sponge.  The perils of having cats)

But hey I must have been persuaded to try it whilst browsing Space NK and after testing it out, overall it's surprisingly good.  But sadly not for oily skintypes like mine.

I personally don't like sponges for application but you could use the included sponge or a damp beauty blender.  I use a brush, dipping it straight into the compact and onto my skin.

It's surprisingly (that word again!) easy to work with and blend into the skin, it buffs in nicely giving a light to medium coverage but is easily buildable to a heavier medium to full coverage.  It's creamy but not tacky and leaves a dewy radiant finish.  This foundation is perfect for girls with dry skin-I am sure of it.  I find it gets a little too glowy too quickly for my liking.  A little too much radiance.

It comes in the usual NARS shade range-from Siberia to Khartoum but I had to go a shade down from my usual NARS shade so bear that in mind if you're ordering online your Sheer Glow shade may not be your Radiant Creamy Compact shade.

I bought the foundation for £28 and the empty compact for £7, both from Space NK.

By Terry Rouge Terrybly lipstick in Pink Party

The By Terry 'Rouge Terrybly Age Defense Lipstick' is a truly exceptional lipstick.  Like the best I have tried in aaaages.  And I try a lot of lipsticks!

Before we get on to the ridiculously beautiful colour lets talk packaging.  This is a £31 lipstick (I bought mine from Space NK).  That's about £6 more than your average Armani, Chanel or Dior lipstick-this is 'high' high end luxe.  And the packaging reflects it.  The silver bullet is sleek and sophisticated with By Terry engraved on the lid.  The inner bullet has By Terry embossed on it and the lipstick bullet has By Terrybly engraved into it.  Almost too perfect to use.  The lipstick also comes in a printed silk pouch, like a little sleeping bag for your uber posh lipstick.

The colour I picked up, 301 Party Pink certainly packs a punch.  It's a beautiful blue based bright pink.  I've tried to dupe it in my collection but just can't nail it-Nars Shiap is the closest I can find but the finish of it is completely different.

Sorry but I am going to absolutely gush about this lipstick!

It's wonderfully creamy and smooth to apply but isn't slippery.  I used a lip brush to apply (which I always do for bright colours) and it was opaque with one layer, not sticky and felt lightweight on the lips.  And the colour was so vibrant!!  The initial finish is glossy and lips feel nicely plumped-but with no tingle.  I personally dislike 'plumping' formulas that tingle but this formula uses Hyaluronic Acid which holds 1000 times it's own weight in water to do the plumping as well as collagen (you also find Hyaluronic in face plumping serums like Hydraluron).

It eventually dries down to a matte finish but the longevity is amazing.  The photo of me wearing it was taken 2 hours after I initially applied it.  Even after 10 hours there was a faint stain on my lips and the fade was even-and no bleeding out of the lip line.  It was also incredibly comfortable to wear with no drying.

By Terry call it flawless.  I completely agree.

It is officially lipstick love and I have been googling swatches of the range to add to my wishlist!

A story of a big mattress and lil' bassinet

Holy almost 32 weeks of pregnancy, y'all.

Time is seriously flying by and our lil' gal will be here before we know it! In some ways, I'm still in the whole "it's too early to do blah blah blah..." mindset, but now, I'm realizing that with less than 2 months left until it's go time, we need to get crackin'. So we decided to go ahead and give our little gal a little space of her own in our bedroom. 

I mean let's just be honest, she'll probably be all over the bed, the bassinet, and everywhere else, but I'd like for her to get used to sleeping in her little bassinet for her first several months.  Something about seeing this little sweet bassinet all set-up in our bedroom really got to me (shocking... I'm a little emotional these days) and really made everything seem even more real.  It's the Baby Bjorn cradle and it's pretty awesome.  We looked at a lot of different bassinets and I researched them like crazy and this one seemed like the best fit for us. I like that it's made of breathable mesh on the sides and doesn't have a ton of plush coverings or pieces that make it feel enclosed. The best part about it is that it is lightweight, yet feels really sturdy. I wasn't crazy about the idea of a rock-able bassinet on a carpeted area. I didn't want it to get knocked over or feel wobbly. This one is very stable, but has a natural rocking motion caused by tension within the stand. So if baby wakes up and startles herself, the cradle moves a bit with her movements and *hopefully* (ha) soothes the baby back to sleep. You can also rock it yourself a bit by gently nudging the sides of it. 

I guess the true test will happen when baby is actually here, so I'll be sure to update you guys then if you are curious about this one!

But until our little bit decides to make her appearance, the bassinet has a nice little out of the way spot...

So speaking of updates, we're going to get into something that has been pretty life-changing. Months back, I posted a pregnancy vlog where I mentioned our new mattress. As promised, I wanted to come back and give you guys some real details on not only the mattress itself, but our experience with it since living with it for a few months now.

I had mentioned my back pain and back issues in a lot of my pregnancy vlogs prior to that one, so I was so thrilled when Beautyrest reached out to me and offered up a mattress of our choice from their Beautyrest Black line. 

Our previous mattress was approaching 9 years old and had some issues. It was sagging in the middle and was something we had talked about replacing for years. I had also suspected that it wasn't doing my scoliosis and sciatica any favors.

So off to Macy's we went, and selected the perfect one, just as if we were purchasing it ourselves. Now, mattresses are a very personal thing. It's not something that someone else can pick out for you. It's also something that may not always work after you get it home. I was really open with them about us not only being able to select the exact one we wanted (if we liked any of them at all), but that it was also something that I would have to actually sleep on for a while before giving my final thoughts on.  

This isn't just a company sending you some makeup or beauty products to review... this is something HUGE that we would sleep on every. single. night. And my back issues make it even more important to find a good one.

We tried all of them and the second we tried the Lexi Luxury Firm Pillowtop (Macy's calls it the Montebello), we both were like, "THIS IS THE ONE."  I could tell it was supporting my belly (no more shoving a pillow underneath it to sleep) and my back, which was huge.  When it came, it was like Christmas morning. We were so happy to see our old mattress go! But we were SHOCKED at how large the new one was!! I don't know if you can tell, but it's pretty tall. I feel like the Princess and the Pea sleeping on this thing!

But, wow. I've never slept so good in my life, even being now 8 months pregnant. I even ditched my Snoogle (my pregnancy pillow) when we got this mattress, it's so good. I know everyone likes something different in a mattress, but I feel like the entire Beautyrest Black line has a little something for everyone.  

We ultimately chose this one because it has the firmness and support of a memory foam mattress, yet is plush and snuggly like a pillowtop innerspring mattress. These really are like a mash-up of both.

While mattresses are for sure an investment, I feel like these are totally worth it. Many of us have no problem investing in certain beauty products, nice homes, cars we like, clothing, etc, but a lot of times we don't give mattresses the importance they deserve. We spend a lot of time there, after all! These come with a 25 year (!) warranty, which is freakin' huge, considering the average mattress lasts maybe 8 years. They also have some absolutely crazy features (hello, cooling diamond dust in a mattress...) that after sleeping on for months now, we can actually say really works.

So you can tell I obviously love it because at this point I'm just gushing (I think Brad may be more obsessed with it than I am), but seriously my final thoughts on this is that it's just awesome. To be this far along in my pregnancy and able to sleep through the night without a pregnancy pillow is amazing. Whenever we are out of town or have to sleep on another mattress, we FEEL it. This mattress has totally spoiled us. 

For more info on these, you can check out the Beautyrest Black website here.

Because I'm a pretty skeptical person and honestly don't trust too many people or reviews online myself,  I've made it a point over the years to not only be myself and honest, but to always be transparent about these sorts of things.  Basically, I would have purchased this exact one myself (we were actually shopping for a new mattress anyway).  I seriously would purchase this again and again. Beautyrest did not pay me for a positive review or require me to say positive things at all. I made sure they knew I would share this in my own way in my own time and completely honestly. I just really am excited to share something great with you all and share our experience.

But seriously, our bedroom just feels so much better. I like our bedroom to feel like a calming sanctuary. Comfortable, calm, clean, relaxing... It's a place we look forward to going every single night. With the new mattress, we've been spending a lot more time in there. We've even started to hang out up there for movie nights (yes, we are "tv in the bedroom" people), instead of hanging out in the family room or even in the media room. We're just so comfortable up there. 

The little bassinet in there just makes it that much better. ...Seeing our little baby girl in it will make it complete.  :)

**Post contains affiliate link (to cradle). Mattress provided for consideration by Simmons Beautyrest (detailed throughout post). Post contains my genuine recommendations and opinions.

Philosophy The Microdelivery Peel

Philosophy The Microdelivery Peel// £59.50

I have to admit, I don't actually remember purchasing this.  My best guess is that I bought it last year from the Philosophy stand in Harrods when I flew back for a weekend wedding dash as that's the last time I remember looking at Philosophy products.

I've used it five or six times now in the past 3 months or so and I have to admit I really do like it.

Ok so lets start with the basics-this is an 'at home' two step facial peel designed to rejuvenate sun damaged, hyper pigmented and aging skin, gentle enough and designed to be used weekly. 

It contains two parts-vitamin c/peptide crystals and lactic/salicylic acid.

For those who are understandable unaware what the benefits of each ingredient listed above is here is a quick low down:

Vitamin C-Brightening, improves the appearance of sun damaged skin, reduces inflammation, boosts the effect of peels/microdermabrasion, promotes collagen production

Peptides-Little anti aging powerhouses, help skin to repair itself

Lactic acid-Classified as an AHA (alpha hydroxy acid), anti aging, helps acne, found occuring naturally in milk, fruit, vegetables and plants and thought to be gentler than its popular counterparty Glycolic Acid.

Salicylic Acid-Classified as a BHA (Beta hydroxy acid), chemically exfoliates the skin and can improve it's texture and helps with acne.

I was a little scared to use this 'peel' thinking it may be very harsh on the skin but I am happy to say that I have had no problems/breakouts/redness/irritation on my combination skin.

Firstly you massage a teaspoon of the yellow crystals into dry skin.  The directions say to massage gently for about a minute but as I am not a fan of manual exfoliants (ie one with scrubby bits in) I tend to massage for only about 20 seconds then leave it.  The crystals are set into a paste and are very fine, like granulated sugar.  You will feel a warming sensation on the skin.

After a minute you apply a teaspoon of the lactic acid solution into your palms and then press this solution on top of the crystals on your face avoiding the eye area.  The lactic acid solution is a runny gel.  Then wash your hands and leave the solution on your skin for up to 3 minutes.  It will foam a little as the crystals interact with the acid.

Rinse off gently, I personally prefer to do this in the shower to let the water wash off most of the peel and then use a damp flannel to gentle but thoroughly remove the remainder.

Afterwards my skin feels really smooth and soft and I have noticed that any recent spot scars are fading significantly after each use.

I'd definitely recommend this at home peel.  My only concern is you get a relatively small amount of product and I think I will get a maximum of 10 applications.  But it's quick and easy to use and I have seen visible results, positive results.