hand cream Archives - Conversations through the middle

Honey, honey – Nuage manuka skincare

September 7, 2012

I’m loving the Manuka Honey skincare range from Nuagé – I’ve tried the hand & nail cream and the face cream, both of which smell delicious.

The products contain vitamin E and shea butter as well as antibacterial manuka honey, which is usually present in mid market to expensive skincare products. This however is a budget range – great news – with the most expensive product coming in at under £10.

With a unique manuka factor (UMF) of 10+ Nuagé’s formulations fall into the therapeutic skincare bracket; they’re also paraben-free, suitable for all skin types and are said to moisturise the skin for up to 48 hours.

I find the hand cream absorbs quickly, though it did leave a slightly greasy feel afterwards (perhaps I applied too much product), however my hands now feel softer. As for the moisturiser, the consistency is light, the fragrance more subtle but other than that I haven’t been using it long enough yet to form an opinion.

There’s also a body lotion, which I haven’t tried.

These also get the thumbs up from Dot who is constantly swiping the hand cream for her own use.

Ole Henriksen Hands Forward and Miners Tin O’ Tint – reviews

August 23, 2012

Regular readers of 40s Chic will know I’m a bit of a geek when it comes to hand cream, I’m always looking for that perfect product and I have tried many in my quest, yet still that ‘holy grail’ of hand care escapes me. The latest contender is Hands Forward by Ole Henriksen.

First off, it contains sunscreen, so it’s already way ahead of so many others in that respect. I suffer from really dry skin on my hands so the last thing I want is more dryness and age lines to boot. Including an SPF of 15 in the formulation offers a general level of sun protection I usually only see in facial moisturisers. Why is that I wonder?

This contains Shea butter, known for its moisturising and softening properties, blackcurrant oil (not sure what that’s for) and fruit acids to exfoliate and even out skin tone, reducing dark spots.

The consistency is lovely – not too heavy, but not too thin either, it sinks in quite quickly and does not feel greasy afterwards. My only query with it is the fragrance – I can’t decide if I like it or not. It is medicinal rather than herbal and a little too disinfectant-y for me, but then the fragrance dies down to a lower herbal level, so it’s not too overpowering…

Results-wise it delivers. My hands feel softer after using this and they look better, which after all is what it’s about. Find it here

Miners has expanded its Tin O’ Tint lip gloss range with three new flavours: cocoa bean, mango and pink grapefruit. When Dot saw these she couldn’t wait to get her hands on them as they smell so good. They add a slick of colour to your lips and a lot of shine, while the packaging adds an extra touch of luxury.

Miners is a great, inexpensive brand and the products are often highly fragranced I find, which make them popular with teens, or in Dot’s case tweens. I prefer unperfumed make-up generally, the exception perhaps being lip gloss, so while I’m not a big consumer of the brand I do like these. Find them at www.minerscosmetics.co.uk

Beauty reviews – face and hands

July 13, 2012

Sensiderma Moisture Soothe from Queen is a bit of a find. It is designed for people with dry but sensitive skin and, says the company, it also helps with conditions such as rosacea.

When I first received my sample of Moisture Soothe I wasn’t sure I was going to like it. Texture-wise it is wet, for want of a better word. What I mean is it doesn’t have that rich feel about it that so many other moisturisers do. Yet, when I tested it on the back of my hand it sank in quickly.

I then used it on my face, first for daytime then at night. Surprisingly, considering its thinner consistency, I found it too heavy for day use. The cream is absorbed quickly but you can still feel it, which is why I found it unsuitable as a day moisturiser. For night though it’s ideal – it’s cold to apply, which I find soothing in itself, and even better, the morning after using it my skin feels softer. That’s not a one off, it happens each time, which is lovely.

If you’re unfamiliar with the brand then let me enlighten you. It was founded in 1927 by three dermatologists and all of its products are geared towards caring for skin that is prone to flare ups, eczema, dermatitis, acne or is just simply sensitive. They are fragrance-free, contain no essential oils and have never been tested on animals.

The collection covers skin care, hair and body care, and there’s a make-up range also. www.queen-cosmetics.com

The smell of roses in one of my favourite things in the world. It takes me back to my childhood and the garden across the lane from our house. The couple who lived there – Aunty Mary and Uncle Stan – had the best rose garden, which they tended lovingly every year. The perfume from their roses surrounded the garden so you can imagine how intense it was when you were in it – and we kids often were.

So of course when I was in The Body Shop I homed in on their Wild Rose hand cream. I’m not sure when it launched but it was sometime in the last couple of months, and it hits my olfactory spot dead on.

The fragrance is real, it doesn’t smell in the least bit artificial, and the colour is the palest pink. It’s quite a light cream and doesn’t take much rubbing in, but you don’t need a great deal of it. My problem is I always apply too much, getting carried away with the fragrance, then of course I end up with greasy hands. Unfortunately because of this my tube is almost empty so I’ll be heading back to the store soon for more. www.thebodyshop.co.uk

When I first tried Green People’s new Hydrating Firming Serum it almost jumped out of the container at me – note to self: don’t press bottle pumps too enthusiastically. This I believe is an update on the company’s Gentle Tone, and they make some impressive claims for it, including it doubles your skin’s natural collagen production and it reduces wrinkles by more than 7%!

Ingredients include rose geranium, chamomile and seaweed, and there’s no parabens, artificial perfumes, colours or petrochemicals to be seen.

I know it’s a serum and not a cream, but I decided to see if it would work on its own. It felt okay without moisturiser on top, but it felt better with. Green People suggest mixing it with their Anti Ageing Facial Oil or with your regular foundation as alternative ways to enjoy its benefits.

I think I applied too much to begin with as my skin was left sticky. Now I use just the tiniest amount on my face and neck (a bit more where my neck is becoming – horror of horrors – a little lined), then I leave it for a few minutes to sink in before applying moisturiser.

It does make my skin feel firmer, but I’ve only been using it a short time so I haven’t noticed me looking any younger yet, hopefully that will come next.

As with all of Green People’s products, the serum is cruelty-free, ingredients are mainly organic, suitable for vegetarians – this one is vegan friendly also – and the packaging is recyclable. www.greenpeople.co.uk

Beauty reviews – fragrance, sunscreen, hand cream

July 7, 2012

Verveine EDT, Fragonard
This is something I’ve been searching for all summer, though I didn’t know it. When it’s hot and sticky outside (I know that hasn’t been the case very often with the weather so far this year), I don’t want to wear my regular fragrance, I want something light, refreshing and cold. Many, many moons ago No7 satisfied that need with its lemon fragrance, but still many moons ago, they stopped selling it and I’ve found nothing else that comes close. I did have a brief fling with a passion fruit perfume in the 1980s that I discovered in France while at Bordeaux Uni, but my love for that waned as quickly as my relationship with my then French boyfriend.

So I was overjoyed this week to find an eau de toilette that – I think – is what I’ve been looking for. It’s made in France (!), in Grasse, which is renowned for its fragrances, and contains lemon, verbena, petitgrain, benjoin and chamomile. Verveine EDT is by the parfumeur Fragonard and I found it nestled in the corner of Marks & Spencer’s new beauty hall at Marble Arch.

About the new beauty hall – it’s fab. The idea is to stock niche and little-known brands, introducing people to a cosmetic world outside the mass market. It’s a great idea but my only criticism is, the assistants did not have product samples for people to take away – and frankly who is going to spend a fortune on something they haven’t heard of if they haven’t tried it first? They didn’t even have information leaflets for the different products, which is ridiculous and surely defeats the object?

Back to the perfume. I’m wearing it now and I love it, but only time will tell whether or not it wins a long-term place in my heart. It’s £22 for 100ml, which is a big enough bottle for lots of liberal spritzing.

Rituals Sun Protection Face Cream is a bit of a revelation. It is factor 50, which according to everything I’ve ever been told about SPF creams, means it should be thick and sticky. It’s not. The consistency is light and non-greasy, and it sinks easily into the skin. The fragrance is pleasant, not overpowering, in fact it doesn’t smell of sun screen at all. I found it a pleasure to wear – usually when it’s hot I find facial sun screen melts and feel greasy on my skin, but not in this case.

Rituals is a brand I’ve been learning more about recently and I blogged about a couple of their products here. I love cosmetics with a story behind them and this company, with its ethos, natural ingredients and focus on traditional bathing rituals from around the world, is impressive.

A couple of months ago I subscribed to one of those beauty box services that deliver a selection of products to you each month. The one I chose is She Said Beauty because they had a great subscription offer on at the time, but there are other ones out there.

My first beauty box included a Balance Me Super Moisturising Hand Cream, which I’ve been using before going to bed at night. This was an award winner at the Beauty Insider’s Choice awards in 2010, taking the accolade for ‘Best New Certified Organic Skincare Product’. It contains 98.8% natural ingredients and is free of sulphates, parabens, mineral oils, DEA and petroleum oils.

The cream is thick and luxurious, which is why I use it at night (I find it too rich for day as it can leave my fingers feeling greasy). I’m not sure about the fragrance – it’s a herby smell but a little too medicinal for my tastes, however, it does make my hands feel soft so I’ll keep using it. Tip: one way to cope with a heavier hand cream is to wear cotton gloves over the cream, overnight. I do this when I’m using intensive products, especially in the winter when my hands tend to crack and age about 50 years. It’s too hot at nights to wear gloves at the minute though.