I, as a beauty therapist, am fanatical about skincare and Dermalogica in particular.  Love it, love it, love it!  Their range has something for everyone and I recommend it to all of my clients.  My power of persuasion is so good, I have even got my caveman of a hubby to try out some of the mens range, and to my disbelief, he loves it!  As long as I bring the products to him, and he doesn’t have to enter the uber feminine enviornment of a salon, then he is happy to do as I say and use what I want him to use.

His favourite product is the Invigorating Shave Gel.  He much prefers it to his old regeime of Gilette Shaving Gel.  He says it gives him a very close shave, it leaves his skin feeling super fresh (probably down to the tea tree and clove flower extracts!), and he knows that it’s much better for his skin than any of the supermarket products.  He would give this product a rating of 8/10, compared to Gilettes 6.5/10!

He did also try a product called Daily Clean Scrub from Dermalogica.  He has since told me out straight that he “does not see the point in it!”.  It is meant to be used before you shave to prepare your skin for shaving and help lift up the hairs.  But, as we all know men ‘just don’t see the point’ of spending more time than they have to looking after their skin, so I say the quicker the products are to use, the better!  I should be happy that I got him out of his Gilette rut in the first place – AMAZING!

This product is priced in the region of €23.

• Recommend on Facebook
• Tweet about it
• Tell a friend

As someone who is ALWAYS allergic to mascaras (other than Clinique), I approached this product with caution and some cold wet soothing cotton discs!  I needn’t have bothered with the discs as this is one of the rare times that mascara other than my old reliable didn’t irritate my eyes.  At first the theory was ‘it’s only been a couple of hours… days… ‘ but no bleeding of the eyes occurred.

As for the actual mascara it went on easily with no clumping or excess product on the brush.   The brush is slightly curved in the shape of the lash line and the holder itself is boxed widening at the brush end.  The consistency is nice and thin so there’s no wastage wiping it on a tissue and it doesn’t clump on the lashes.  It definitely did accentuate the lashes making them longer and thinner which was great leaving a very natural finish.  By the end of the day it didn’t look as fab as at the start but because it’s so thin and light weight you can top it up without looking like Aunt Sally.

Over all this mascara gets the thumbs up and would be recommended to those looking for a natural finish minus any clumping. Value for money on this one with a RRP of €11.99.

Flutter power: 8/10

• Recommend on Facebook
• Tweet about it
• Tell a friend

I don’t know about you but I actually find it quite hard to find a good exfoliator that will not only leave my skin beautifully soft but also take off patchy tan when needed. I have tried and tested SO many different ones and to be honest very little impressed me apart from two! I’ve chosen three to tell you about…

Yes to Carrots – Moisturizing Body Scrub

This body scrub did leave my skin feeling nice and soft but it didn’t make my patchy tan budge an inch! I know it’s only a minor annoyance but I found it very hard to actually squeeze out a substantial amount onto my hand in the shower. It’s a white VERY thick creamy texture and to be honest I felt very few grains in it, so I personally didn’t feel like I could really scrub off those dead skin cells… you know what I mean. I was quite disappointed in this product as they have done a lot of publicity with the Yes to Carrots products and I was dying to try some of them, however one good side to this product is it is Paraben Free (preservatives used in cosmetics).

My rating for this product is 2/5

Clinique – Sparkle Skin, Body Exfoliating Cream

This exfoliating cream was one of my favourites, it leaves you feeling soft, refreshed AND gets rid of patchy tan. So basically it is an all-rounder that does what an exfoliator is meant to do! It has a green hue to it and plenty of small grains to really rub over your skin. After my shower I couldn’t believe how soft my skin felt and it actually had a lovely glow to it also. The only slight fault I had with the cream was it’s smell, but that’s a personal thing, it has a kind of menthol smell to it (as it’s in the ingredients) but it’s easy to squeeze out of the tube as it’s a kind of a gel texture rather than a cream. If you want to get rid of old fake tan or just want to re-buff your skin, give this exfoliator a go and you won’t be disappointed.

My rating for this product is 4/5

Body Shop – Moringa Body Scrub

I’m going to be honest with you I generally don’t shop in The Body Shop, but this Christmas I got a Moringa (yes, that is the correct spelling!) set which contained the Body Scrub. OH MY GOD….. Brilliant… I absolutely love it! It has a smell to die for, really fresh and zingy, it is filled with small grains that you can really rub into your skin. It’s a nice yellow colour and comes in a small round tub which means you can easily dip your fingers in and swoop out as much as you like! When I was out of the shower I smelt gorgeous, felt soft and was glowing…… sorry for blowing my own trumpet a bit! But that’s the effect this scrub will have on you, it will make you feel good about yourself and put a spring in your step.

My rating for this product…. you guessed it 5/5

• Recommend on Facebook
• Tweet about it
• Tell a friend