Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish Rose and Lavender Special Edition: ComingSoon!

If you liked Liz Earle's flagship product, the Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser, then you'll like this news - the award-winning formula is being updated to include rose and lavender essential oils.

Starting 6 September, we will see the launch of the Cleanse & Polish Rose and Lavender Special Edition, which I'm sure will smell absolutely heavenly. The calming and relaxing lavender oil combined with the soothing properties of rose make this product ideal for night-time use. The Special Edition Cleanse & Polish retails for £19.25 for 150ml, and wow, the bottle is beautiful.

(Image source)
Also, Liz Earle will donate £2.00 from every product purchased to The Prince’s Trust, helping young people into jobs and training. So you can indulge yourself and do good both at once! It's a little more expensive than the current Liz Earle 100ml (£12.75) and 200ml (£24) sizes for the normal edition, but hey, you're doing a good deed! (If you remove the £2 donation from the cost of the Special Editon Cleanse & Polish, you actually get a better deal per ml than the normal editions.)


There's actually a further backstory to this, centering around Liz Earle's involvement in The Tomorrow Campaign (basically the new Special Edition Cleanse & Polish is a result of the company's work with the campaign which will be sold to raise funds for the Trust), but for beauty fanatics, all you need to know is that the favourite Cleanse & Polish is going to have a gorgeous smell, and that if you buy it, you'll be contributing to charity!

(Information provided by company. I am not affiliated to the company and do not benefit in any way from sharing this information.)

Liz Earle Special Offer on Favourite Bestsellers: One Week Only!

From 13th August, Liz Earle will be running a special offer on their everyday favourites, featuring four skincare and haircare bestsellers.

So what does the deal entail? The Everyday Favourites set consists of a Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser and two pure muslin cloths, Botanical Shine Shampoo and your choice of Botanical Shine Conditioner (Normal, Dry or Damaged, or Fine or Oily - I've reviewed the Botanical Shine Shampoo and Oily Conditoner before), as well as your choice of either our Orange Flower Botanical Body Wash (my review here) or Men's Face and Body Wash. The set costs £39.50, so that's a total saving of £14.50 as compared to buying each item individually.

Plus, when purchasing this offer, you'll be entered into a prize draw for a chance to win a luxury family trip to the Isle of Wight, the home of Liz Earle. I've tried most of the items before, and I've liked what I've tried, so this is a pretty good deal. This offer lasts a week only, so do check it out quickly while you can, it will be available on the Liz Earle website on August 13.

Liz Earle Orange Flower Botanical Body Wash Review

I haven't done a bodycare product review in awhile, so I thought maybe I'd start again with one of my favourite bodycare brands - Liz Earle. Orange flower is one of my favourite all-time scents (almost all the perfumes I like have some derivative of the orange flower scent inside, like Annick Goutal's Neroli), so I was pretty excited to be able to take it one step further and not just spray the orange flower scent on myself, but bathe in it too!

The Liz Earle Orange Flower Botanical Body Wash is a body wash that toutes itself as being naturally-formulated and free of sodium lauryl/laureth sulphates, and gets a lot of raves from people with sensitive body skin who can't stand SLS. While I myself don't personally have sensitive body skin (facial skin? Oh yeah. But not body.), I appreciate that this is a viable alternative for those who want an alternative. It comes in the standard Liz Earle packaging - fuss-free blue bottle with a flip cap.

The Orange Flower Body Wash seriously smells heavenly, and is very aromatic. The moment you pour it out of the bottle, you are met with a very intense, heady orange flower fragrance - and I mean that in a good way. This isn't your average drugstore artificial-flowers-and-fruits type of scent, this is a little bit more special than that - there are a number of essential oils in the product, and they contribute to the scent. For those who don't like strong scents, it may be a turn-off, but for me personally, I love the scent, and it makes me feel like I'm being treated to a spa experience rather than just a shower, you know?



One of the things I really liked about the Liz Earle Orange Flower Body Wash is the ability to lather. Of course, being free of SLS, it doesn't lather as much as your average drugstore body wash. However, even with me just using my hands and some water, you can see soapy bubbles. I imagine that if you really want a greater lather, a washing mitt or glove would help greatly.



All in all, I really like the Orange Flower Botanical Body Wash. It isn't the cheapest body wash around, but I can see why someone would want to buy it over cheaper alternatives. If you generally like Liz Earle products, then this is pretty much in the same vein, so you'd probably like it too. If you are looking for a SLS-free body wash, or a body wash with a gorgeous, aromatherapeutic fragrance, or if you like essential oils in your skincare, then this is just the body wash for you.

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

Liz Earle Sheer Skin Tints: Swatches, Review, FOTD

Liz Earle has launched the Sheer Skin Tint, their first foray into colour makeup! I'm sure you've heard all about this already, as it's been receiving quite a lot of attention over the blogosphere over the past month. For a first-time effort into the infinitely complicated colour market, I'm pretty impressed, and I feel that the product is a pretty great all-rounder in terms of performance. While not all Liz Earle products may work for everyone, as with all brands, you can't deny the effort that the brand puts into maintaining product quality.

As always with Liz Earle, the packaging is sleek, minimalist, pretty, and very functional. I've had quite a few Liz Earle products in my time, and I don't think I've ever met one with a packaging that made me think, "Man, this is stupid." This comes in a slim, dark navy blue tube, with a nozzle at the end to dispense the product in small-ish beads at a time. Convenient and sanitary.

I've been a little bit slower in my post on these, because I wanted to get in all three shades in before I started reviewing the Sheer Skin Tints. You know I'm all about swatches, so I simply had to swatch all three shades for you guys, and I hope these swatches helps someone who is shopping online for the right shade! So here are the swatches. These are swatched pretty heavily on my arm so you can clearly see the differences between the three shades:


L - R: Bare 01, Beige 02, Beach 03

Bare 01 is the lightest shade, and is a beige shade that leans a tad pink. It's not too pink, though, and as you can see, it blends in quite well into my NC20 arm, although it's not quite the same colour as my arm - it's a little bit more pink than that. I'm guessing that if you were around my shade, this may be the best choice.

Beige 02 is a beige that's a shade darker and yellower than Bare. It's a warm leaning shade - I'm going to guess maybe NC25-30 may be around this shade.

Beach 03 is the darkest of all the shades, and is essentially a yellow leaning tan. This would be the obvious choice for girls who are too dark for either Bare or Beige.

Now I did pile on the Skin Tints for the swatches. In reality, they are actually pretty sheer, and my guess is that unless you're very fair, most girls would probably find that either Beige or Bare would probably work well for them. I've done another set of swatches of the Sheer Skin Tints, applying them more normally as you might on your face, just to give you some idea of how sheer they really are, and how well they blend out into the skin.



L - R: bare 01, Beige 02, Beach 03

As you can see, Bare pretty much blends out and becomes invisible on my skin (I swear it's actually applied onto my skin), while Beige also blends out pretty well, but if you look reaaaallly closely you can see that it's a teensy tiny bit darker than my actual arm (the contrast is best seen at the edges of where the shade was applied). Only Beach is obviously showing up on my skin as a different colour. I could use either Bare or Beige, really, since the shades are so sheer, as once blended out they do look similar on the skin.

So that's it for shade selection. Now let's move on to product performance. The Liz Earle Sheer Skin Tints actually feel quite thick and creamy when they are first squeezed out of the tube - the consistency actually reminds me of the BB Creams we have here in Asia. However, despite the thickness of the Skin Tints, they actually apply really easily on the skin, and because they are so sheer, blend in without much effort. I apply my Skin Tint the traditional way - first dot small amounts of the Skin Tint on various parts of your face (forehead, cheeks, nose, chin) and then blend in with my fingers. I actually get a pretty good, fuss-free application that way.

The finish of the Skin Tints is quite glowy and dewy looking, but devoid of any shimmer or glitter particles. I rather like the finish - I think it strikes a good balance between being glowy, and just looking like an oil volcano erupted on my face. For reference, my skin is normal (oily in some places), and sensitive. The photo below shows me wearing the Sheer Skin Tint in Bare. (And for anyone interested, on my lips I'm wearing my mauve rose lip shade I mixed a while back from my Sleek Pout Paints.)



As you can see, the finish is glowy, dewy, and soft-looking, without too much obvious shine. I also found that the Sheer Skin Tints tend to sort of "set" on their own, so I didn't need to apply a loose powder over it. However if you wish to, you can - I tried it both ways, and was happy with the result. The only difference I found was that with I loose powder, the time it took for my skin to look shiny and oily was longer than without powder. Personally, my skin does get the oilies pretty fast, so I prefer to wear the Skin Tints with a bit of loose powder over (I use a self-created mixture of random drugstore face powder and silica powder).

All in all, I think the Sheer Skin Tints herald a pretty great start for Liz Earle's foray into colour cosmetics, and if this is the quality of the products the line is coming out with, then I will definitely be eagerly awaiting the introduction of more products to the line. This would be good for girls who want a sheer base with a glowy finish, as well as for girls who would like a makeup base that doesn't dry out your skin. Even for oily girls like myself, this would be fine for wear, with a quick dusting of loose powder. The only catch is that since it is sheer, if you have blemishes or undereye circles to cover, you would still need to pair it with a concealer. Otherwise, I'm pretty glad I tried this product, and I certainly hope to see more of Liz Earle's colour line coming out in the future.

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

Liz Earle Sun Protection: Mineral Sun Cream and Aftersun Gel

Liz Earle, the award-winning, much-celebrated UK skincare brand, has two products that are meant to help skin cope with the rough summer sun. One is the Mineral Sun Cream SPF20, for use before sun exposure, and the other is the Botanical Aftersun Gel, which is for use after sun exposure! Looks like we're pretty nicely covered here.

Both products come in sturdy, practical plastic tubes with flip-top caps. Both are also purple - the Mineral Sun Cream is a light purple tube, while the Aftersun Gel is a dark purple tube.



The Mineral Sun Cream SPF20 is a skin-coloured cresam that is meant to be used on the face as well as the body. I quite like the idea of a tinted sunscreen - you can actually use this in place of tinted moisturizer, and you can cover your spots and still get some sun protection! However, although I liked the colour, which is just the right shade of light beige, I felt that the product was a little too sticky for my liking. Also, being a physical (as opposed to chemical) sunscrren, you do need to blend in the product well to avoid that white sunscreen cast. However, since it's a physical sunscreen, it would most likely work well on most skin type without any issue, so girls who find their skin exhibiting sensitivity to chemical sunscreens could definitly turn to this and see if it works for them.



However, as you can see from the photos above, the Mineral Sun Cream does blend in pretty well into my NC20 skintone, and once blended in, looks pretty okay. I know you aren't supposed to rub your sunscreen too much as it decreases the sun protection afforded (since sunscreen is supposed to form an unbroken layer on top of your skin in order to be effective), so I'd recommend caution when you apply it - minimal rubbing if possible!

The Aftersun Gel is definitely my favourite product of the two. This one tingles with a cooling feeling when you apply it, and is really excellent at cooling and soothing sunburned skin. And it also absorbs pretty well. Definitely worth checking out if you are one of those girls who burns easily!



In fact, why stop at using the Aftersun Gel for just sunburns? This product is mainly emulsified aloe vera anyway, (the first five ingredients are Aloe barbadensis (aloe vera) leaf juice, Polysorbate 20 (a wetting agent), Glycerin, Tocopherol (vitamin E), Cucumis sativus (cucumber) fruit extract), so I can definitely see this being a multi-purpose product. I'm thinking it could potentially be an aftershave gel for girls with sensitive dry skin, and if your skin doesn't react to natural plant oils, this can even be used in face masks! I'd totally use the Aftersun Gel as a base for a DIY aspirin mask. If you know anything about DIY masks, you'll know that aspirin masks are so easy to DIY, and so effective too. Just crush the uncoated aspirin to a powder, mix it with some of the Aftersun Gel, apply to face, wait for 10mins and rinse off!

So would I recommend these products? As I'm sure you know, the Mineral Sun Cream is good if you want a tinted physical sunscreen, but the Aftersun Gel is something else altogether. It's a great multi-tasker, and I suspect I'm going to be keeping this around not just for aftersun care, but for other types of skincare uses as well!

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

Liz Earle Sheer Gold Shimmer: Summer Up Your Skin

Liz Earle has come out with a great summer goody - the Liz Earle Sheer Gold Shimmer! This is a lotion with gold shimmer thaat can be applied to skin, to sexy up your skin with a little bit of sheen. I thought I'd show you guys this product, since it seemed perfect for summer.

The Sheer Gold Shimmer comes in a sensible transparent plastic tube, with a twist-off plastic top. Simple and easy. From the plastic tube, you can see the individual shimmer particles inside the product, so the shimmer in there isn't exactly super-fine.



The product is also quite watery in texture, making it different from other shimmer lotions I've encountered, which tend to have a thicker, more gel-like texture. This one is pretty fluid, so you can layer on as little or as much as you'd like. It also has the smell of your typical Liz Earle product - it smells sort of herbal, which I quite like.

Here are some product swatches:



As you can see from the swatches, the product isn't as shimmery as I thought it would have been. While I do think the individual glitter bits are probably a bit too big for full-on use all over the face, this product will probably be perfect on your legs, cheekbones, arms, etc. It's also perfect for that since it's watery texture feels light on the skin.

I think that this would especially useful for people who would like a small tube of shimmer lotion to carry around, and apply on the go. For the rest of us, a lightweight, shimmery gold lotion would also be great for this summer season.

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

Liz Earle is Officially Going into Makeup!

How awesome is this - Liz Earle is going into makeup! I've always thought it was a pity that it's a pity the brand doesn't do makeup, but now they are launching a colour range!



Going by the mysterious looking Liz Earle Makeup Page, you can't tell what on earth they're going to launch. But word is that the first product will be the Sheer Skin Tint, and that will be launched in September. We won't know any further details until the actual launch - for example, whether there are multiple colour options for different skintones, or whether there are different formulas for oily and dry skins, but you can sign up on the Liz Earle website to stay tuned.

Liz Earle Sheer Pink Lip Shimmer: Moisturize with a Hint of Shine

Liz Earle is a UK-based brand that is pretty popular within the UK for its brand of quality skincare emphasizing natural, plant-based ingredients. The brand's focus has remained squarely on skincare, and thus they sadly doesn't produce makeup, but being a makeup junkie, I got my hands on the most makeup-like item in their entire range - their Sheer Pink Lip Shimmer.

Liz Earle's Sheer Pink Lip Shimmer is marketed as a lip salve with a sheer hint of shimmer, so it's still a skincare product, as opposed to, say, a lipstick with moisturizing properties. But it's very pretty. The Lip Shimmer comes in a simple, tiny little pink tub that matches the pink colour of the lip shimmer. You get a decent 5g (0.17oz) of product, which is about the same size as most lip balms on the market. I have to admit that I don't really like lip products in tubs - it just seems more fussy to apply and more unhygenic - but I guess given the texture of the product, it would have trouble keeping its shape in stick form, and would be too solid for a squeeze tube.



The ingredients list is pretty impressive - unlike other lip balms that start with mineral oil and petrolatum, you can clearly see that Liz Earle made an effort to consciously use better quality ingredients. The first three ingredients are hazelnut oil, shea butter, and rosehip seed oil. Here's a close up shot of the balm.



Although the Lip Shimmer looks flat and hard on the surface because the oils in the product are in solid form, once you touch your finger to the product, it quickly becomes a shiny, emollient, very soft balm. Despite the pink shade in the tub, the product doesn't actually have much colour once it's applied, as the swatch below shows.



On the lips, the Lip Shimmer feels very emollient, without feeling waxy. Because of the high amount of plant oils in the Lip Shimmer, it feels a little more liquid in feel than your average lip balm in stick form. And although it doesn't have much colour on the lips, it does impart some sort of shine.



All in all, I rather like this product. The ingredients are those of quality, it's emollient without being waxy, and it's moisturizing on the lips. However, this functions as a lip balm, and imparts barely any colour, so if you're looking for a tinted balm with more colour, you'll be disappointed by the lack of colour in the Liz Earle Lip Shimmer. I'd recommend this if you want a lip balm and don't care about the colour, and if you don't mind the fact that it comes in a tub.

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

Liz Earle Line Smoothing Serum: Size Doesn't Matter

As the saying goes, size doesn't matter, it's how you use it. Now before you start thinking this is going to be an R-rated, post, I'm going to disappoint you by making this post all about skincare. I've always been a firm believer in the "you don't need to spend a lot to look good" theory, especially so when it comes to skincare. After all, it's really about knowing your skin, and what ingredients work for it, as opposed to chasing after brands or the lastest new thing. The Liz Earle Line Smoothing Serum is tiny, but it does work pretty well.



When I say tiny, I'm not kidding. The product comes in a teeny little box, and you get 10ml of product inside. Well, that's a pretty small amount, although I have seen serums in tubes as small as 15ml being sold as well. The good thing about this product is that unlike some other serums which come in jars, this one comes ssensibly-packed in a tiny plastic bottle with a pump top.



The serum itself is a clear, thick gel with a yellow-brownish tinge. Because the product is so thick, a little goes a long way. It also does take awhile to skin into the skin, so to me this feels more like a night-time use only product, but if you're planning to wear this under makeup, I'd recommend that you let it settle into the skin first.



The first thing you notice is that this product is very moisturizing. I also like that it doesn't contain any ingredients that tend to break me out. On my sensitive skin, a lot of plant oils actually break me out, so a brand heavy on the botanicals (like Liz Earle and a lot of other natural-skincare brands) can have products that are likely to break my skin out, since some plant oils can be clogging on sensitive skin. But this isn't one of them, and I rather enjoyed using it.

Although the Line Smoothing Serum is marketed as a line treatment product, prevention seems to be its strongest suit. I feel like using it has made my skin feel a lot more moisturized and a teensy bit plumper, which I guess counteracts the appearance of any lines (I'm not sure if any product actually helps lines to disappear, to be honest).

If you're looking for a good serum with moisturizing properties, this would definitely be worth a look at. And if you do get this, don't be scared by the small size. Remember, a little goes a long way with this baby.

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

Liz Earle Intensive Nourishing Mask: Perfect for Mature Skins

Liz Earle is a British brand that is not just popular in the UK, but has been making waves across the Atlantic Ocean and gaining a slow but steady following in the US as well. The company is primarily known for its wide range of skincare, from masks to cleansers to serums, and while not everything I've tried from the brand has worked for me, you can't fault the thought and quality that goes into their products.

One of Liz Earle's such products is the Intensive Nourishing Mask. It can be bought alone, or in a little starter kit, which consists of a little pouch, with the mask and muslin face cloth inside. I personally would pay that little bit more for the starter kit, since it isn't much more expensive than buying the mask as a standalone. Also, the face cloths (which I've blogged about before) are of pretty good quality, so they're worth paying for.



The mask itself comes in a very sensible tube packaging. The tube is quite interestingly-shaped, being flat and rectangular.



The tube has a small tube opening, that allows you to squeeze out just what you need, and no more. I like the tube packaging - it prevents wastage, and is a lot more hygenic than having to dip my fingers into a jar.



The mask itself is a white cream with a thick texture. It's not your wimpy gel or watery-textured mask - this one really feels very rich, intensive, and luxurious. Definitely a mask for a "pamper me" kind of mood!



Sadly, this mask didn't work as well for me as I liked. That's not to say it was bad. While I felt the mask was of good quality, I felt it was just too rich for my young(ish), oily skin. It would probably be better for someone with more mature skin, who might really appreciate the richness of the mask and its nourishing properties. On my young skin, it was just a little too much.

So, the mask and I weren't meant to be. But if you are interested in a rich treatment mask for dull skin, or planning to get it for your mother, aunt, or another loved woman in your life, this would be worth looking into.

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

Liz Earle Daily Eye Repair: A Luxurious Eye Cream

Liz Earle literally provides top-to-toe care when it comes to your skin. They literally have it all - body washes, face creams, and of course, an eye cream. I've been looking around for a good eye cream for awhile, and this is pure luxury to use.

The packaging itself is already so pretty. It comes in the cutest paper box ever.



The box is seriously pretty. Check out the cute little purple flowers printed on the sides! Totally superfluous, I know, but it's just so pretty!



Inside the box, is a small 10ml tube of eye cream. I do wish it was in a bigger 15ml tube like most other eye creams I have, but the quality of the eye cream is good enough for me to be willing to repurchase another 10ml tube. And I personally like the tube packaging when it comes to eye creams, because it's a lot more hygenic and a lot neater when you're using the product inside. I absolutely hate jars for skincare products. It's just begging to be contaminated. Seriously!



Here's a shot of the nozzle of the tube. It's very fine-tipped, so you'll be able to squeeze out exactly only what you need, and no more. One of the things I've come to appreciate about Liz Earle, in addition to their quality products, is the sensible packaging that comes along with it. I've yet to come across a product that made me think, "What stupid packaging this thing comes in!", which happens from time to time with other brands. So kudos to Liz Earle for that.



The eye cream itself is a plain, white, unscented eye cream. Don't be fooled, though, this is one of the most luxurious eye creams I've had the pleasure of trying. Some of the other eye creams I've used feel rather thin or watery, but not this one. This one has a thick, rich, creamy texture that was absorbed fairly easily by my skin. I do feel like it really does moisturizes and really hydrates the area around my eye. I was also glad that it didn't cause any irritation or sting my eyes (believe me, it has happened with eye creams).

Another good thing about the cream is that it works well under makeup, and did not interfere with my concealer or powder. It also contains a physical, as opposed to chemical, sunscreen, which would please people who have sensitivities to chemical sunscreens, but still wish to have an SPF in their eye cream.



The Daily Eye Repair is also billed as having light-reflecting particles to brighten the skin, which worried me quite a bit initially, as my past experiences with creams with such "light-reflecting" properties have been universally decidedly negative. Usually, these were either very gimmicky (think craft store shimmer in your eye cream), or irritated my eye to no end (shimmer bits in your eye - sexy!). However, I didn't even notice any light-reflecting particles in my cream, and when I applied the cream, I didn't notice that my skin had shimmer particles. I think there was a slight glow, but I couldn't really be sure. In any case, this turned out well for me - no eye irritation, and no huge shimmer bits on my undereye.

So would you like it? Yes, if you're looking for a rich eye cream, and want an eye cream that doesn't contain chemical sunscreen, this is worth checking out. I'm quite happy with this cream, and I imagine that the only people who might not like it are people who prefer their eye creams to have a thinner or more gel-like texture.

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

Liz Earle Brightening Treatment Mask: Quick and Easy

Liz Earle is a UK-based skincare brand that has been steadily gaining attention for its quality skincare products, most of which are made of natural, plant-derived ingredients. Even if you don't particularly care about whether the ingredients in your products are naturally-derived or not, you can't fault the care and quality that goes into them. And I actually had the fortune to meet Liz herself once (well, to be honest, bumped into her for five seconds is more like it), and she has absolutely gorgeous skin - possibly the best testament to her products.

One that I've tried and really liked is the Brightening Treatment Mask. This is a mask for dull skin, and is meant as a "quick fix" for skin that needs a bit of radiance. The instructions say to leave it on for between 30 seconds to 2 minutes, so this is really a mask that you can literally use every morning - just slather, pause, and rinse! Cool, huh?

I got the starter kit, which comes really nicely packaged with a little zipper bag containing the Brightening Treatment Mask and a muslin face cloth for removing the mask.



The Brightening Treatment mask comes in a plastic pump bottle, which I really like, because it ensures that the product remains as clean as possible inside the packaging, and minimal mess during usage (unlike jars, which I have to continually dip my fingers into). It comes in a 50ml size, which is quite sufficient, since a little of this mask goes a long way.



The muslin cloth that is provided is the typical Liz Earle muslin cloth. I really love these cloths, as they are god for exfoliating the face slighty, without making them feel sensitive or sore. I used to use the Buf-Puf Facial Sponges for washing my face, but I always had trouble finding the right degree of abrasion. The "Gentle" ones were always abit too rough, while the "Extra Gentle" ones were too soft and went out of shape easily. I prefer these clothes in a way, because they still provide some exfoliating action without being too harsh, and wipe off the mask easily.

The muslin cloths are also quite porous, as you can see in the photo below, which lets them air-dry easily for use the next day. They don't stay soggy wet for too long, and you could wash them by throwing them in the washing machine.



The Brightening Treatment Mask itself consists of white clay, and feels a bit thicker, grainier and less moist than most masks I've tried. I guess this is because of the clay content. And although one of the ingredients is sweet almond oil, it doesn't actually feel oily in anyway. In fact, I only realized there was sweet almond oil in it by reading the ingredients list.

The mask doesn't have any particular smell, but it does give the skin a slight tingling sensation upon application, which fades rather quickly. Although Liz Earle says that the Brightening Treatment Mask shouldn't be used for sensitive skin, I didn't feel like it made my skin react, and I have pretty sensitive skin.



The mask also washed off easily without leaving any residue, although removal is aided by using the muslin cloth that comes with the set. Just wet the cloth, wipe over your face, and repeat til most of the mask is gone. I usually splash my skin with water afterwards. After usage, I did feel like my skin looked a bit brighter and less tired, which was pretty good, considering that the mask was probably only on my skin for two minutes or so.

I really like this mask for its effectiveness and its ease of use, and I'd recommend this to anyone looking for a quick and easy pick-me-up for their skin, or for someone who wants to work some skincare into her everyday routine without adding to the fuss.

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

Liz Earle Mother's Day Gift Set: A Quick Peek!

A couple of posts back, I was alerting my readers to Liz Earle's Mother's Day Gift Set, which contains a selection of deluxe-sized travel sizes of their Superskin range for just £30. I managed to get my hands on it just yesterday, so I thought I'd give you guys a quick peek into what's in this set!



The set arrived in a very pretty green paper box, with the Liz Earle logo on it. Inside the box, everything was wrapped individually in pretty paper with Liz Earle branding, and the entire set was again wrapped and padded with the same pretty paper.



And the products themselves were very pretty - they were all individually packed in their own little boxes. I really appreciated the attention to detail that went into packaging the set.



The products themselves were really pretty too, so here's a quick shot of all of the items together. The set consists of:

Superskin Body Cream 50ml tube
Superskin Moisturiser 15ml jar
Superskin Concentrate 10ml
Sample size sachet of Superskin Eye & Lip Treatment



Looking at the individual items in the set, I actually think it's a pretty good value for money. With the exception of the Superskin Eye and Lip Treatment, which comes as a sample sachet, all the items are actually products that you can buy off the Liz Earle website, in the same sizes that they appear in the set. I particularly thought the 10ml of Superskin Concentrate were particularly generous, since for products like these, a little goes a long way.

Let's do a few cost comparisons: the 50ml size of Superskin Body Lotion sells for £12.25, the 15ml of Superskin Moisturizer costs £12.25, and the 10ml size of Superskin Concentrate retails for £18.40. So these three items already would cost more than the £30 price of the set. It's actually a pretty good deal if you're into skincare.

So that's what the set looks like! If you think your mother (or yourself) might be interested in it, it's available on the Liz Earle Website. If you've been thinking of getting travel-friendly but still sizeable sizes of skincare products, this set is also worth looking into - it's like getting a discount on a bundle of items.

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

Liz Earle Mother's Day Gift Set Offer!

If you're in the UK, you'd know Mother's Day is just around the corner! (Fear not the rest of the world, you don't need to panic to get a present just yet - everyone else celebrates it in May.) And since Mother's Day is coming soon for my UK readers, Liz Earle has put together a Mother's Day Gift Set.

The kit contains generous travel sizes of our Superskin Moisturiser (15ml), Superskin Concentrate (10ml), Superskin Body Cream (50ml) and a sample size of Superskin Eye & Lip Treatment. From now to 3 April 2011, this set is available for £30, which means you'll be saving £12.90! To the best of my knowledge, it does seem that Liz Earle products cater very well to mature skin, so the set would be a great present for any skincare-loving lady.

Click here to check it out, as well as other gift sets for the occasion. And for the rest of us who celebrate Mother's Day in May, this may also be a good opportunity to do some advance shopping!

Liz Earle Botanical Essence No 1: Perfect Summer Fragrance

Finding the right summer perfume can be a tricky matter, because most perfumes billed as summer fragrances tend to smell very sterotypically department-store-ish. You know, they're all flowery or fruity or gourmand, sweet, and generally nausea-inducing if you aren't into smelling like Barbie. In all the sea of pink flowery, overly synthetically sweet fragrances, it can be hard to find a summer scent that stands out from the crowd.

Liz Earle, a brand better known for skincare, released their one and only fragrance so far last year, the Botanical Essence No. 1. And, unlike most other summer fragrances, this one isn't cloying, sweet, or synthetic-smelling at all. In fact, it's quite different, and I can really appreciate that.



The first thing I noticed about this perfume is that it isn't floral. OMG, guys, a summer perfume that isn't floral or fruity! Liz Earle Botanical essence No. 1 is actually more on the green side. The perfume itself comes in a green-and-white bottle decorated with images of plant leaves, very reflective of the scent inside.

The bottle is a basic, solid square bottle, containing a gold-yellow liquid. Nothing much in the way of fancy design, but very functional. It looks tiny, but it does contain 50ml of awesome perfume juice inside (the usual amount you get in a perfume bottle), so don't be mislead by the small bottle size.



The perfume itself is actually very pretty, if unconventional for a mass-market fragrance. I'd call it a leafy, citrusy green perfume, although it's a bit more complex than that. There's a hint of spice in the drydown that gives what would otherwise be a light, green scent a bit of complexity, and darkens the final tone of the fragrance. I couldn't make out any notes, but in addition to the leafy, citrus scent, I could also smell hints of something herbal. I really liked this scent - it really reminds me of running around in open plains in good sunny weather, and does smell like summer to me, even if it isn't billed as a summer fragrance.

The only complaint I had was that the perfume didn't evolve all that much on my skin, although it could just be my body chemistry (and you know, everyone's body chemistry is different). I got a big gust of green and citrus at the start, although the green headiness quickly settles down into a much more muted leafy herbal green scent with a hint of spice. Other than the big bang of green citrus, and the emergence of spice at the end, I didn't really feel like the perfume evolved a lot. And I wished it could have lasted longer on my skin - but then again, given that 98% of the ingredients are natural, it's a tall order, since natural perfumes do tend not to last as long as synthetic ones.



Much as I like the perfume, and much as I think perfume fanatics might like it, I'm not too sure how your average girl who doesn't care about perfumes is going to like this. I know plenty of female friends who aren't exposed to fragrances, and they generally like your usual cookie-cutter cloying-synthetic-overly-sweet-fruity-floral fragrance. I could imagine them scrunching up their noses at this one, although I personally think it's a lovely scent. I think that Botanical Essence No. 1, like so many other green perfumes out there, need a more developed nose to fully appreciate its beauty. Otherwise, it risks being consigned to the depth's of someone's drawer, which would be a waste of something so pretty.

On another note - why should this just be for girls? Because it's a leafy green scent, I do think it would be great for guys in addition to girls! I know it's not a unisex perfume, but I could imagine both men and women pulling this off with aplomb. You know those "For Him/For Her" perfume sets we always see around? Now you don't have to share a perfume set, you can even share the bottle! Some of the most famous perfumes of all time were unisex perfumes, like Annick Goutal's Eau d'Hadrien, so that's pretty cool.



So would I recommend this? If you're into green fragrances, or would like something a little less sweet and cloying than the usual summer offerings, this is a good one to look into. Or if you want to wear the same fragrance as the man in your life, this is also a great one to look into. Summer, we're all ready for you - please come soon!

(Product sent for review. Review is my honest and complete opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

Liz Earle Energising Body Wash and Scrub: The Perfect Bath Combination

Liz Earle is quickly making waves for its quality skin and body care, and I can see why. While I can't personally claim to like all their products, even when they haven't worked for me I coudn't fault the quality of the products. The last time I reviewed their products, I looked at the Energising Body Lotion, and guess what - there's a complementary body wash and body scrub to go with that too!

The Energising Body Wash and Energising Body Scrub all come in the same pastel sky blue plastic container packaging. Once again, as with the Energising Body Lotion, these were sensibly packaged products with flip-top caps for easy access in the shower. And like the body lotions, these come in packages that aren't actually that big - 200ml is a decent amount of body scrub if you don't use it everyday, but I can imagine 200ml of body wash being gone quite soon.



As with the Energising Body Lotion, the accompanying Body Scrub and Wash are both scented with the same herbal scent that's actually quite strong. However, while the scent seems to linger around more with the body lotion, with the scrub and the wash, the scent didn't seem to last as long - which could be a good or a bad thing, depending on your preferences.

The Body Wash is in a gel form, and comes with all these cute litte bubbles inside the gel, that I think are actually pretty cute!



It's not creamy or liquid-y like most other body washes that I've used in the past, so I found it rather refreshing to use, tying in very nicely with the "energising" portion of things. Also, I found that this did not lather as well as some of the more commericial brands of body wash, probably due to the fact that with natural ingredients, it can be hard to find something that causes lather. It does seem to me that, as a general rule, natural skin and body care products don't seem to foam as much as conventional products. Still, I was quite impressed with the lather that was there:



I found the Energising Body Wash to be pretty moisturizing, and it rinsed off well without leaving any residue on the skin. And I actually also quite liked the faint scent it left behind, so I have no complaints about this product at all.

The Energising Body Scrub is also in gel form, but this one has little brown bits that are meant to scrub and exfoliate your body. The little brown bits are actually ground up olive stones! Cool, right?



The scrub also smells like the body wash and body lotion, and I really enjoyed the scent wafting up as I scrubbed my skin. One of the things I also liked very much was that the olive stones weren't harsh on my skin at all, but at the same time, I could feel the exfoliating going on. It's a fine balance to strike, and I think this was well acheived in the product.

I was also quite surprised to see that this one lathered very well - in fact, I think it lathers almost like a conventional product! I have no idea what natural ingredients were used to acheive this, or perhaps it could have been my scrubbing motions, but this one produced quite a nice amount of foam and bubbles.



Like the body wash, it also washed off well, and didn't dry out my skin, or leave it sensitive and red. I actually really like this product.

So do you need this? If bathcare products are one of the things you treat yourself to, or if you are a bath junkie, then this would be worth your while. But of course, body washes are available cheaply and can be picked up anywhere for cheap, so if you'd like to try just one, I'd probably spring for the Body Scrub.

(Product was sent to me for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with the company.)

Liz Earle Energising Body Lotion: The Perfect Summer Lotion

If you live in a hot climate, or experience hot summers, then you'll absolutely understand my perpetual dilemma surrounding body lotion. Often, I have dry skin, even in hot weather, but most lotions feel too heavy in a humid climate, and don't absorb well. So I often end up stuck between a rock and a hard place - do I want dry skin, or sticky skin?

The latest Liz Earle product, the Energising Body Lotion, promises to solve just this problem. It's a lightweight lotion that still has all the powers of moisturization. So you can imagine how excited I was to get my grubby little hands on this one! Would it be able to solve my hot weather moisturization woes?



The Liz Earle Energising Body Lotion comes in a sensibly-packaged tube with a flip-top. The tube contains 150ml of lotion, which isn't a great amount considering it's a body lotion. But as we all know, great things can come in small packages.

The lotion is white, and very light in terms of texture. This definitely isn't one of those heavy creamy body lotions. It also has a very invigorating herbal scent, that kind of reminds me of the scent that Liz Earle uses in its haircare range. I imagine the scent is probably a love it or hate it thing. The scent is pretty strong, though, so if you're going to be applying this, it'll be lingering around for awhile before dissipating. I personally like it thought - the herbal scent wafting on my skin kind of reminds me of aromatherapy, and is actually quite stimulating.



So how does it work as a body lotion? I'm pleased to report that it actually absorbs really well, without leaving any sticky residue or any icky I-just-applied-lotion feeling. And it actually moisturizes, too, although I don't think it would be sufficient for those freezing cold winters. But for warmer weather, I think this would be perfect.

So do you need it? Well, not if you live on the North Pole, or rarely ever see hot weather, or don't like strongly scented lotions. But if you have been looking for a lotion that's perfect for summer, or hot climates, and you love scented products or are into aromatherapy, this one is worth checking out.