LCN GUAVA SUMMER HAND CREAM REVIEW

I love hand cream and I'm always more than happy to try something new.  I am constantly washing my hands throughout the day or using one of those antibacterial gel hand washes, which also means I am very regularly applying hand cream.  I was intrigued that LCN had launched 2 seasonal hand creams and was delighted to be given the opportunity to review the Guava one.

What they say......

The fruit of the guava is exceptionally rich in vitamins; the content of vitamin C is six times as high as that of orange. The fruit contains pectin, vitamin A and B-vitamins, iron, calcium and phosphor. These active substances contribute to the skin being provided with moisture and its regeneration. Their anti-oxidative characteristics protect the skin from stress and the free radicals ensuing there from. The fragrance of the cream is fresh and fruity sweet and awakens memories of fruit compositions of pear, peach, guava and maracuja. 

Available in Acai Berry, Guava, Cranberry & Goji Berry, Pomegranate & Sallow Thorn 

What I say......  This is a lovely light cream that is absorbed very quickly.  It smells absolutely delicious, like a bowl of  fresh peaches.  The hand cream is free from parabens and mineral oil and is just perfect for everyday use.  I took this product into work with me and asked my colleagues to try it throughout the week and then let me know what they thought.  10 out of 10 from all of them, they loved the texture and the fact that it didn't leave an oily film on the skin.  All of them absolutely loved the aroma.  

FYI this product was provided by PR

XEN-TAN PERFECT BLEND REVIEW

You would think that as a trained beauty therapist I would be an expert at applying fake tan wouldn't you?  Well let me tell you something, I trained with St Tropez and several spray tan companies and I can apply a flawless tan to anyone other than myself.  Due to several disastrous attempts at tanning myself I gave up and these days if I want a bit of colour I tend to use the instant tanning gels that wash off at the end of the day.  I was a bit nervous when I was offered this well known brand to review but intrigued at the same time, so I thought why not.

What they say...... Finally a tan that you can blend to the colour that you require, that blends to your skin tone perfectly and blends flawlessly to create a natural olive glow.  No more nervousness about whether it will be too dark for you or not dark enough.  Perfect for self tan beginners and experienced self tanners alike.  Perfect Blend can be customized to match your unique skin tone.  The secret to this state of the art technology is the dual chamber system that holds separate tan perfecting formulas designed to work together, self tan on one side and instant bronzer on the other, simply twist the dial to deliver your steak-free instant tan, which will last up to 7 days.  The shimmer bronze adds depth and long lasting benefits to the colour, and allows you to experiment with contouring by highlighting and giving definition to areas like cheekbones and decollete.  The light sheen enhances the contours of the skin so you can highlight your best feature.  Xen-Tan is renowned  for it's wonderfully natural colour and Perfect Blend makes it easy to achieve the exact degree of tan that you require for different occasions.  It has a quick dry formulation and contains a breakthrough ingredient that neutralizes any self tan odour and provides a delicious fresh fragrance.  Rich in ingredients for soothing and hydrating, the unique paraben-free formula also contains a firming complex that leaves the skin lifted and toned.

What I say...... First of all I just love the choices that you have with this product.  If you haven't got time to do the whole self tan routine you can use the bronzer on it's own for instant colour, if you are tanning through the night you can use the self tan on it's own, or you can use the self tan and the bronzer together so you have the best of both worlds, an instant glow whilst your tan develops underneath.  You can choose to have a weekend away hint of colour or a fortnight in the sun full on tan.  

The Bronzer on it's own.  A little goes a long way.  this can be used for instant colour or for highlighting once the self tan has developed.

The Bronzer and the Self Tan together.  The tan strength I selected was number 3 out of 9 shades on the dial.

This was the lovely subtle colour after 3 hours of developing time.

As far as self tanning products go this is absolutely idiot proof, you just dial up your colour and glow (see what I did there).  The pre tanning rules are the same as with any other self tan, exfoliate and moisturise any dry areas, elbows, knees, ankles etc.  I didn't use gloves or use a tanning mitt, I was just very careful about washing my hands immediately afterwards, I didn't end up with orange hands either.  There is no funny biscuit smell once the self tan has dried, it actually has quite a subtle fresh smell.  The next time I use this I will definitely be going up a notch or two on the dial now that I know how easy the application is and also that I won't end up looking like a streaky oompah loompah.

You can find out more about this product by visiting http://www.xen-tan.co.uk/

A SENSITIVE SUBJECT..............

Sensitive as in 'your moustache is frightening the kids' kind of way.

Now let me just stay that until I started training as a beauty therapist facial hair was not a problem for me, but as part of the training you had to have all of the treatments conducted on yourself.  So off came the teeny bit of upper lip hair I had and this one act has led to 10 years of self conciousness.  Once I left the beauty industry I kept my trusty wax pot and every couple of weeks it would be turned on whilst I was safely locked in my bedroom so that I could deal with this never ending problem.  It became a bit of an obsession, to the point where every couple of hours I would be looking in a 10x magnified mirror and plucking out any stray hairs that I had missed.  A couple of months ago disaster struck, my poor old wax pot died on me, I was absolutely horrified initially, then I wondered if it was time for me to try some of the other methods of hair removal available out there.

So I looked at laser treatment but my hair is not dark enough for it to be successful apparently, not dark enough, how dark does my moustache have to be, I could grow a better one than my husband and mine doesn't have any ginger in it!

Hair removal cream, oh dear I really wished I had skipped this one, the smell was up my nose for about a week after I used it, it tingled like mad and whilst it was busy melting the hair it was also melting my skin, despite doing a skin patch test and following the instructions and timings to the letter.  Yes it removed all of the hair but it left me with raw and blistered skin, so I had a 'Ribena Moustache' for a few days, by which time I also had regrowth.

Next up were the little 'ready to use' wax strips that are designed especially for the facial area, what a disaster, it was like trying to wax with bubblegum, luckily the wax on the strips was water soluble so I was able to wash off the residue, the wax seemed to stick to the skin but not to the hairs, I think I managed to get 3 hairs off each side before I gave up and washed it off.

Then I tried a cold wax in a pen like applicator, it stated that the wax should be held in the hands for a minute to warm it up, well after a few minutes I managed to squeeze a blob out of the end of the pen but I just couldn't get that stuff to spread on the skin at all, it was very painful trying to use the applicator to do this, I used a wax spatula in the end.  The product was so thick that when I used the wax strip the only thing that came off was the wax, leaving my moustache firmly in place.

At this point I was running out of ideas, I had been to a couple of local salons but I just wasn't happy with the results, the therapist, the salon, the lack of hygiene (double dipping the spatula is a pet hate of mine) I am VERY fussy when it comes to salon treatments.  Anyway, for the past few weeks whilst I have been walking through shopping centres I have noticed quite a few areas set up with dentist-like-chairs offering threading.  I would find myself just standing and watching in awe at the therapists performing miracles with bits of cotton.  I came very close on a few occasions to sitting in one of those chairs and letting them weave their magic.  What stopped me was the fact that there were people just standing around watching the treatments, myself included, and I thought to myself  'Do I want an audience whilst my moustache is being taken care of', 'Do I really want to take the chance that someone I know may walk past whilst I am mid-treatment', 'Do I want people coming up to me whilst I am lying there and asking me if it hurts',  'NO, NO, NO'.

On Saturday I went in search of a salon that offered threading so I could have a bit of privacy whilst dealing with this sensitive issue.  I was overjoyed to come across a salon 5 minutes away from work that just offers threading, no appointment necessary, no sitting in the middle of the mall for all to see, very friendly therapists, nice clean environment and only £5 for the treatment I wanted and a loyalty scheme.  Now I'm not going to say this treatment is pain free as it certainly isn't, but it's quick and super effective.  The therapist was lovely and explained everything thoroughly, she kept passing me a magnified mirror so that I could see if there were any areas that she had missed, she even managed to remove those tiny hairs around the lip line.  I was absolutely delighted with the results.  I left the salon with a very pale pink 'strawberry milkshake moustache' but within 20 minutes that had faded and I had a perfectly smooth upper lip.  So lovelies in conclusion I think Threading is fab, it's the way to go for facial hair removal and 5 minutes and £5 a month is all it's going to take for me to stop frightening the kids with my moustache.