Hero Product - Eve Taylor's 100% Hyaluronic Acid

I'd like to introduce you to Eve Taylor's Hyaluronic Acid part of Eve's Advanced Therapy Cosmeceuticals* range, this serum is my bestest friend!

Contains 100% pure Hyaluronic Acid and nothing else!

Image source

*For anyone who isn't clear, 'Cosmeceuticals' are a combination of cosmetics and pharmaceuticals resulting in Advanced skin therapy.

So What Is Hyaluronic Acid?
Skin care's favourite ingredient - Hyaluronic Acid naturally occurs in the human body, it's a humectant (retains moisture) and attracts from 600-1000 times its own weight in water - WOW! Its job is to hydrate, lubricate and cushion the connective tissues - bit like your mummy!

Hyaluronic Acid molecule - image source

This gorgeous textured serum is super nourishing, hydrating and moisturising. And bonus it carries other ingredients into the skin!

Because of it's amazing ability to retain moisture it gives your skin a generous dose of pure hydration while helping protect against bacterial infections and environmental threats; ninja kicking those free radicals into touch.

Who Is It Suited To?

• A God send for dehydrated and extremely dehydrated  skin
• Perfect for sun damaged skin
• Great for outdoor types exposed to the harsh elements - hot and cold
• Anti ageing buddy - due to its plumping and smoothing action it slows down the ageing process, making your skin look more youthful - now tell me, who doesn't want that?!
• Ideal to use on car journeys, rail travel, buses and flights to stop the much needed but incredibly dehydrating heating and air conditioning from irritating and sucking moisture from your skin.
• Great for anyone working indoors to protect against the heating or air conditioning
• I have many clients who work in hospitals and schools who find this product a must - as the environment in these places are unbelievably dehydrating.

Who wants dehydrated skin? - Image source

I use this serum all year round and have been using it religiously twice daily under my moisturiser since the autumn and throughout the winter as my skin reacts badly to central heating and extreme change in temperatures between the indoors and outdoors. It not only hydrates my skin perfectly but also calms down the prickly irritation I experience.

I also pop it under my weekly face mask to give my skin an action packed hydrating treatment.

I highly recommend giving it a try, as with all of Eve Taylor's products a little goes a long way - literally one pump covers your entire face, neck and décolleté.

How I Build a Serum into My Skin Care Routine

• Cleanse - dry face if rinsed with water
• Apply Facial Oil**
• Spritz Toner over (to lock in the facial oil - remember oil and water don't mix)
• Apply Serum - let it dry (takes seconds!)
• Apply Moisturiser - easy as that!

**For more details on Facial Oils and why they are my MUST have product click here...

Available from Rituals Beauty for £29.99 for a 30ml pump. Remember a little goes a long way!

To order any product from Rituals Beauty, call 0789 4120073 or email hello@ritualsbeauty.co.uk. If you aren't local, I offer a postal service for a little extra cost. Now taking PayPal.

Hero Product - Lush's 'Helping Hands' Hand Cream

I would like to introduce you to another of my 'Hero Products' drum roll drrrrrrrrr... my wonderful caring friend 'Helping Hands' Hand Cream.

This generous tub of miracles is from Lush - formerlly 'Cosmetics To Go'.

I discovered this little gem when chatting to one of their incredibly knowledgeable and enthusiastic sales assistants about another product and she gave me a sample of this gorgeous cream (they are so generous with their samples so you get to have a good number of applications of the product to see the benefits).

I just happened to mention I suffer from very dry cracked knuckles. Washing your hands constantly goes with the territory when your a therapist, and even though I had stopped using harsh antibacterial washes; I was still having the problem and no hand cream I had tried had helped. To top it all off I was developing sore itchy contact dermatitis from the gloves we are required to wear for treatments such as waxing and nails; exacerbated by (sorry to say it) erm sweating like a pig inside them!

This gorgeous concoction contains nourishing Almond and Coca Butter, conditioning and healing Shea Butter, healing and antithetic Honey, soothing Chamomile and anti-inflammatory African Marigold. All natural and incredibly effective. It's rich in Vitamin A so it's great for keeping the hands looking youthful.

It was invented for nurses and people like myself who have really dry over-washed hands. I would personally like to thank Mark the aforementioned inventor. No I don't know him personally but it says so on the pot!!

Instructions on how to use - it does make me chuckle!

The scent is beautifully understated and mild, so it doesn't over power your other delicious smelling lotions and potions like some hand creams can. The texture isn't greasy but is rich enough to sink in whilst leavings your skin feeling softer, nourished and protected.

AND as with all my favourite products it doesn't contain paraffin - so no leaching your skin of moisture...

Mineral oil or Paraffin (cheap by-products of petroleum) based products draw moisture away from your skin making the area dry out further when the product wears off. Read more about this in my article Are you using the right Lip Balm?

I urge you to try this product, it's frankly ruddy marvelous! I know the smell of the shop can smack you in the face like a 'sweet smelling but not fishy smelling wet fish' from 100 yards away!! BUT their products are fabulous, natural, ethical, not to mention down right clever and deliver amazing results.

Oh and if you take back clean 5 pots you get a free fresh face mask and they will recyle the pots to make new pots!

It’s as simple as scrubbing them clean and popping them to your local store where they are whisked back to the factory at Poole. Once there our supplier helpfully grinds them up and makes them into brand new pots again, it doesn't get much more closed loop than that. Via Lush

One last thing I simply must mention is that Lush make their pretty Knot Wraps (alternative eco-friendly, re useable gift wrap) out of their recycled bottles; heaven knows how and believe it or not they are super soft! See I said they were a clever bunch!

Flower Print Knot Wrap

Helping Hands is available in 100g tub for £7.15 - believe me a little goes a long way so it lasts for ages.

Hero Product - Eve Taylor Active Rub Muscle & Joint Gel

I can't rave enough about this incredibly effective aromatherapy Muscle & Joint Gel from Eve Taylor. I often pop some Active Rub on my clients at the end of massage treatments and get great feedback. In fact many of my clients have a tube tucked away in their bag when they need some soothing.

Image via Eve Taylor

It contains a combination of Aloe Vera and a wonderful blend of time honoured warming and pain killing essential oils such as Marjoram, Rosemary, Ginger, Clove Thyme and Black Pepper. It smells fab too!!

Active Rub is so effective and has so many uses, I thought it deserved a blog post all of its own!

The new alternative to conventional muscle and joint gels. Easily applied, Active Rub is immediately effective, (kicks in, in about 2 minutes) without the nasty lingering smell.
Active Rub does not rely on any heat process and with no uncomfortable burning sensation can be effectively used for all ages.
Unlike current brands available active rub’s combination of Essential oils in an Aloe Vera based gel provide a triple active effect.
Active Rub is formulated to soothe sensitivity, draining toxins and stimulate the circulation.

Active Rub is like Wonder Woman in a tube!

Image via From Heroes To Icons

Times when Active Rub has come to the rescue:

• On my foot when tripped over a huge concrete block on holiday! Ouch!
• On my hands when they have become tired from massage - before I learnt my hands free tricks!
• On my son's twisted ankle
• On my shoulders from a hard day's work in the salon and at the computer
• On my sore tummy muscles from Pilates class!

Other uses:

• Any activity or job that creates extra stress and strain on the muscles i.e. computer/desk work, nurses, teachers, gardeners 
• Aches from lugging around young children - I like to call it 'mummy shoulders'! 
• Tired aching feet - after a night out in heels or shopping!  
• Pre and after sports - I always carry one in my gym bag.
• Great for joggers
• Golfers
• Marathon runners
• For those whose mobility may be impaired due to muscle or joint sensitivity.
• Sprains
• Repetitive strain
• Helps ease discomfort for Rheumatics and Arthritis
• Children's growing pains - on children be sure to use a very small amount
• Eve Taylor herself uses it every morning on her shoulders, hips and knees. She is an unbelievably sprightly lady at 80 years, but she tells me her stiff joints do need a kick start when she gets out of bed.

The list is endless....

The lovely Eve receiving her OBE. Image via Spa Business

Available from Rituals Beauty at only £6.99 for a 75ml tube. Remember a little goes a long way!

To order any product from Rituals Beauty, call 0789 4120073 or email hello@ritualsbeauty.co.uk. If you aren't local, I offer a postal service for a little extra cost. Now taking Paypal.

Hero Product - Jessica Fusion for Peeling Nails

I have many clients with peeling, flaky nails that chip easily. Well I have a fantastic product that will solve the problem. The most common mistake is people using the wrong basecoat which exacerbates the problem.

Image via Beauty Gossipologyst

The rule is if your nails peel/flake the only basecoat treatment you should use is one specially designed for peeling nails. Strengthening treatments will just plump out the peeling layers making the problem worse.

My nails peeled and chipped for years until I trained with Jessica at college and was introduced to one of my best buddies Fusion. I'm quite sceptical about wonder products but Fusion caught my eye, I had nothing to lose, plus joining the Beauty Industry I was seeing more and more beautiful nails and wanted mine to be part of that gang!

I was amazed with the results, the only time my nails have peeled since have been when I've peeled my gel nails off (embarrassed face!) and when I had pneumonia. I just reached for my trusty bottle and et voila... beautiful nails once more!

Many of my clients have had amazing results using Jessica's Fusion at home too. It contains rubberised resins which fuse the layers of the nail back together to prevent further peeling and chipping. It also contains Vitamin A which strengthens and conditions the nails encouraging healthy growth and layer development. You can wear it as a basecoat or as a clear varnish.

• Apply 2 layers every 2-3 days. 
• Your nails will continue to peel until the problem area grows out, so keep trimming/filing the nails with a soft file.
• File in one direction rather than sea sawing back and forth as this can make them peel more.

Jessica's GELeration can be used with a coat of 'Build' over the basecoat to help peeling nails too. Most importantly tempting as it may be, never peel off your gel nails as you will remove layers of your nail with it!! I learnt my lesson well!

Jessica's treatments never cease to impress me, many clients, friends and family have had excellent results with their different basecoats and cuticle treatments. So why not give it a go?

My nails nowadays!

Available from my salon Rituals Beauty in Newcastle upon Tyne:
Midi size 0.5 fl oz - £11.20
0.5 fl oz -£17.95.

To order yours today call 0789 4120073 or email hello@ritualsbeauty.co.uk. If you aren't local, I offer a postal service for a little extra cost.

Hero Product – Eve Taylor’s Ultra Soothing Cleanser - Much More Than Just a Cleanser

Suffer from very dehydrated, extremely sensitive skin, Eczema, Psoriasis or Rosacea? Then this wonder product is perfect for you. And if you don't suffer from any of these, read on as it has lots of 1st aid uses too. Image via http://gtbnatural.co.uk

Now I know I use Eve Taylor for my face and body treatments and sell home care products in my salon, I don't want you to think I will be constantly harping on about them... BUT I've had so many people recently asking me for advice for their ultra sensitive skin that the timing was just too good.

Eve Taylor's Ultra Soothing Cleanser really is amazing, a real de-stresser for the skin. I can’t rave about it enough! It’s a big hit in my salon and with my family and friends.

This gorgeous creamy gel formula contains anti inflammatory and soothing Organic Colloidal Oatmeal and ultra hydrating and healing Camellia. It gently cleans away debris and impurities and doesn't dry, strip or irritate the skin. As it is ultra hydrating it's also perfect for mature skins to cleanse and nourish.

Image via http://www.fromnaturewithlove.com

It can be used daily to cleanse the skin and also as a 'flash masque' first aider for any skin irritations anywhere on the body including the scalp! A little goes a long way.

I use in facials on for ultra sensitive clients or if anyone’s skin has an unwanted reaction to a product. I had a lady in for gel nails whose eczema was irritating her finger – needless to say she ordered a bottle after literally experiencing this product first hand!

Times when Ultra Soothing Cleanser has come to the rescue:

• I had very sore, red and chaffed skin after using hair removal cream - ouch! It was soothed and the pain and redness cleared after applying as 5 minute flash masque.  I put it on few more times over the next few days and my skin was healed, no scarring and smooth as a baby’s bot!
• I used it on my little boys mysterious itchy legs and hey presto – a full night’s sleep!
• Colds – soothes and heals sore noses from the constant blowing!
• I often reach for this to put on my face and hands when I’ve mistakenly used an anti bacterial hand wash in a shop or restaurant – my skin hates these products and breaks out in dermatitis. As many of my clients do too.
• Calms and soothes redness after shaving.
• Soothes and heals sore cracked lips.
• Soothes minor burns.

The list is endless. Even if you don't have sensitive skin it's definitely worth keeping a bottle in your First Aid Kit. Why not try some and see for yourself? At only £18.49 for a large 200ml bottle, it won't break the bank either.

To order any product from Rituals Beauty, call 0789 4120073 or email hello@ritualsbeauty.co.uk. If you aren't local, I offer a postal service for a little extra cost. Now taking Paypal.

I will be delving deeper into Eczema, Psoriasis, Rosacea and Colloidal Oatmeal in future blogs.