I am pale- and I like to think interesting- but what is certain is that I am pale, can burn very easily and must look after my skin (although in truth of course everybody should).
Before the holiday a delightful and very appropriate giftMineral sun cream SPF20 of sun cream and foot spritzer arrived from the lovely people at Liz Earle.
From these pages I think you will have gleaned that when it comes to skin care I am committed to natural products- but sun care is extremely important and I have found historically it’s been one of the areas where I have had to compromise and use chemical products and have felt frustrated- so I was keen and hopeful about trying this new, natural option.
Very happily and to be honest with some surprise I can report that the factor 20 sun cream kept my skin from any kind of burning throughout a holiday in very sunny Hollywood (although I used a different, higher SPF on my face- but I always do use a different product on my face). I probably do have some base from the smattering of summer we’ve had in the UK but even taking that into account I was extremely impressed. I genuinely had no redness or soreness starting to appear on my skin and I sat on open top buses, by the pool and on roller coasters (I know, don’t hate me).
The scent is also very pleasant- mostly there is a natural shea better smell with perhaps a little of the green tea ingredient. I was really pleased that it was different to the usual sun cream smell- although there is still something of that lovely, oceanic air of the beach. It is more subtle than the usual onslaught of coconut you get with suncream and therefore- for a fragrance fan like me- allows for also wearing your own perfume without having to worry it will clash badly with your protection.
I had thought the foot spritz was a lovely extra but a product I wouldn’t normally buy and perhaps wouldn’t use overly much. I was completely wrong and was very grateful to have this with me. My feet swelled quite badly which is the first time this has happened to me, although it was a long flight. When I arrived at the hotel and collapsed on the bed the spray was the first thing I reached for- and it worked- my feet were a smaller (I assume the rosemary ingredient helps to get your circulation going), happier and more refreshed almost immediately.
Not sure how to follow the above comment but here goes! With a slight sense of bathos..
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of mineral sunscreen too so I'm glad to hear it worked. I am a huge fan of Liz Earle and I adore the fragrance of her toner and skin repair moisturiser - the skin repair somehow reminds of the scented pages of a book I've had since I was small, 'A Victorian Posy - Penhaligon's Scented Treasury of Verse and Prose'. I've just got the book down and they are quite different, but if you know the moisturiser do you think there is any similarity between the two scents? I think the book is scented with the Penhaligon's Victorian Posy fragance, which I have never actually tried.
Interesting tip re the foot spritz, I've had a similar problem recently and found the Liz Earle hip and thigh gel (also love that scent) the best thing to bring down the swelling, I think it might be to do with the horse chestnut.
I was longing for Liz Earle to bring out a fragrance because I love the smell of her other products, but I was shocked to strongly not like the new perfume on the only occasion I tried it. Very sad about that, perhaps should pluck up courage to try again. What do you think of it?
Hi Lucy- no that comment was strange- I've deleted it!
ReplyDeleteIt's a really good sun cream and yes it's a similar scent to the face care line but not exactly the same- perhaps lighter actually.
Penhaligon's have a book! How exciting! From what I remember of Victorian Posy I think there is some similarity yes but there is green tea too and something ozonic.
I have only tried the fragrance once and I liked it but though it smelled very like the line- I tend towards the darker side of perfume, the L'heure Bleu and Mitsouko's of this world so while I appreciated it I am probably not it's target audience! I imagine it works very well for an uplifting scent, like a Clarins type one that mood enhances as well as makes you smell good.
Mitsouko is my favourite scent actually so I think I tend towards the darker side too, I like the lighter fragances and use them but I can't get the same emotional commitment too them, I prefer some mystery! I known Mitsouko all my life because my Auntie wears it too, and yet somehow every time I put it on it surprises me, which is ridiculous after all this time but probably why I like it!
ReplyDeleteI think the Penhaligon's book is out of print but you can get it second hand, though the pages may have lost their scent. Mine still have a reasonable amount but I've kept it in a kind of hardback case/cover it came with.
Funnily enough I didn't find the Liz E perfume like the line, so I think I must have been having an olfactory off day and I'm going to go and try it again.
I tried again at the weekend Lucy and thought it was really very nice and a good all rounder- but Mitsouko is hard to beat!
ReplyDeleteI love Liz Earle stuff!
ReplyDeleteI've been using a Body Shop foot spray for years (I get very hot feet) but her one is just in a different league - bliss!