Sandwiches of New York #4.

Time to share another NYC sandwich!

What is it? Yoghurt Koulouri.

Where is it from? Pi Bakerie, 532 Broome Street, Soho. pibakerie.com

How much does it cost? $6.00 + tax

What's in it? Greek yogurt and cucumbers with arugula and Kalamata olives.

Pi Bakerie is a Greek bakery/cafe on the S.W. edge of Soho. 

They have a small range of Greek produce (oil, honey etc) for sale alongside breads, sandwiches, salads, savoury pies, Greek cakes and desserts, such as baklava, as well as hot and cold drinks.

Koulouri is a traditional Greek street food and is simply a ring of bread generously covered with sesame seeds before baking. Here at Pi they are a little thicker than usual and are crafted into sandwiches. The cucumber and yogurt version that I tried was light and refreshing and perfect for a hot summer's day. (There are also Koulouri sandwiches with mozzarella or smoked salmon available.)  While $6.00 is cheap for food of this quality in this area, I must say that if you have a hearty appetiteyou will find this to be on the small side - it wasn't quite enough for me by itself - although it was very yummy and one of the healthier sandwich options around.

The bakery itself is decorated in an original and modern style. It is clean and bright with instagram-worthy copper topped tables and wall mounted drawers piled high with pastries. 

There are tables inside and a few outside and whenever I have visited seating has been available, (Pi is a little off the main drag) so why not stay and enjoy the surroundings?

Order your food and drinks at the counter, grab a table and enjoy! 

The Road To Little Dribbling.

In The Road to Little Dribbling Bill Bryson criss-crosses England visiting and revisiting places that are of interest to him. (Rather than making one long epic journey the author takes small day or overnight trips). 

I'm a huge fan of travel writing and used to read a lot of it, but it's a genre of writing that doesn't appear to be all that popular in the U.S. unless it's of the 'traveling to find oneself 'type (at least that's how it appears to me...) 

Bryson writes about travel in the way that I love. There's interesting factual content (I like learning about the background to buildings and places but don't like to get bogged down with history), but it is his keen eye for detail along with his small everyday observations (that are often lol hilarious) that I find so engaging.

This was a book that was given some mixed reviews. I read more than once that Bryson's constant complaining put some readers off but I didn't experience that. For sure he comes across as a little curmudgeonly at times, but not overtly so, and I found some of the incidents when he does to be the most amusing ones in the book.

Being English I found the places he visited interesting and many of the situations he found himself in were relatable to me. There were places here that I knew well and others that I didn't know at all but he sparked my interest in them (There are now some new places on my 'to see list').

I greatly enjoyed Bryson's first book about England, Notes from a Small Island and am pleased to say that twenty years later I also enjoyed his second 'English' book, both books are informative and entertaining. After having read this volume I may well go back and read 'Notes..' once more.

Recommended if you enjoy travel writing.

Coconut Scented Drugstore Finds.

I do love a summery beachy scent! A hint of a scent of suntan oil brings a smile to my face and anything that's minerally and marine like makes me feel cool and calmed. However, if you asked me to describe the smell of summer in one word it would be 'coconut'. I adore the smell of coconut, which is odd as I don't like the taste all that much, but the scent well it just makes me think of holidays and beaches and lightly tanned skin...

When the weather warms up I tend to end up with something coconut scented stuff in my basket whenever I'm at the drugstore and a recent quick swoop of my bathroom came up with all of the following...

Yes to Coconut Wipes. I'm off the wipes when it comes to 'proper' make up removal but for a quick refresh these are very nice.  Smelling traditionally coconutty these contain coconut water and kukui nut oil to help hydrate skin and (whoop whoop) they are biodegradable.

Hawaiian Tropic Silk Hydration Sunscreen. This broad spectrum moisturusing sunscreen protects with SPF 50. It has that classic coconut x suntan lotion scent - very beachy - practically summer in a bottle.

Not Your Mothers Beach Babe Texturising Salt Spray. TBH this doesn't add much at all in the way of texture or tousle to my hair but it does smell fabulously coconutty and feels refreshing on my scalp.

Nivea Coconut Moisturising Body Wash. This creamy low foaming body wash has a very subtle coconut fragrance. It contains jojoba oil and I found that it left my skin feeling very soft and moisturised so it is a good option if you have had a tad too much sun or if it's simply too warm for body lotion.

Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Shampoo and Conditioner. Oh I do love a bit of Herbal Essences - these shampoos and conditioners are something of a guilty pleasure of mine - I can spend an age deciding which scent to pick and there's always something that is seasonally appropriate. Also they are cheap enough that you can use them generously and I find they leave my hair in a pretty good condition overall. Hello Hydration contains coconut extract and fragrance, it smells sweet like a coconut candy and is the perfect choice for Summer..

OGX Coconut Milk and Hibiscus Lotion. I'm a big fan of OGX. They are at the pricier end of drugstore products (although far from expensive) but definitely worth that bit extra. This creamy body lotion contains coconut oil to moisturise along with milk proteins and sugar cane extract to help soften skin. The hibiscus adds a floral note to the coconut, all in all this one smells very tropical beach.

Funnily enough I can't think of any higher end products that smell of coconut, (maybe a coconut perfume would be a little over the top?) but you know what? When it comes to coconut the drugstore has you covered!

The Murder Man/The Murder Bag.

The Murder Man (released as The Murder Bag in the UK) is the first book in a trilogy of police thrillers featuring police investigator Max Wolfe. 

A brutal serial killer who kills in a grisly trade mark fashion is at large on the streets of London.

 At first the attacks appear random, until Wolfe links them to a photograph of seven men who attended the same Public School 20 years ago. What happened at the school? Who is killing off the men in the photograph? And why?

The plot here is good with twists, turns and red herrings but I did manage to figure it all out at quite an early stage. Wolfe is a sympathetic character to whom I could relate somewhat but I didn't find him to have the charisma and presence of say Cormoran Strike in the series of suspense novels by Robert Galbraith/J.K. Rowling (The Murder Man reminded me somewhat of those books, although it was much less accomplished).

I did enjoy this and it was an easy to read, distracting 'beach' type of book that is easy to get absorbed in but I did have a few gripes with it... At times I found that some of the writing wasn't that well executed, it read a little awkwardly and there were sections of the book that, while I can see they were included to flesh out the character of Wolfe, seemed a tad irrelevant and detracted from the ongoing action (the boxing club and the family spring to mind). And whilst I will read pretty much anything I did find that some of the scenes here were simply too gory and descriptive, in particular the prologue...
Which brings me to the way that the female characters were portrayed. It was for the most part misogynistic, the women were all pretty much caricatures and they all had flawed characters. This was the most off putting part for me and I felt that it let both the book and the author down.

Overall, I probably would read another book in this series simply because I love thrillers but I won't rush to do so. 

Target Beauty Box August 2016.

I'm a little late in discovering Target Beauty Boxes, a monthly selection of full and sample sized beauty products that come at a deeply discounted price and ship for free. It may look like a subscription box but it isn't: the boxes are released on the first of the month and are available online only, sold on a first come first served basis. The boxes normally retail for $10.00 or less, shipping is free and although they sell out fast they are often rereleased later on in the month and they usually contain a coupon for $3.00 off $15.00 worth of beauty products either in store or online.

The latest box (August) contains practical, useable items that add up to far more than it's $7.00 cost. The theme was 'Back to School' and while I'm not sure how well the box fits that theme, it is a great selection of products. If you added a toothbrush, toothpaste and some soap you would be pretty much set for a short trip! Let's take a look inside...

Crest 3D Whitestrips. There is a sample set of teeth whitening strips and while these aren't a product that I will use I won't have a problem with passing them along to some one who will.

Juice Organics Repairing Shampoo and Conditioner. These generous 1 oz minis contain coconut and soy to repair and strengthen hair. They are made with organic ingredients and don't contain parabens, sulphates, phthalates, silicones etc etc so are suitable for coloured hair.

Secret Clinical Strength Smooth Solid Deodorant. I'm guessing this is a half sized product (it is 1/2 oz). I have used Secret solid deodorants before. They are very effective, long lasting and they don't leave white marks on your clothing.

Olay Make Up Remover Face Wipes. Apparently these remove even waterproof mascaras. Although I'm keeping to my resolution to not use wipes to remove make up at night, this handy pack of seven wipes will be great to use for a quick refresh on the go.

up&up Women's 5 Blade Razor. These Target own brand razors are touted as being the equivalent to Gillette Venus Embrace and have an oil based moisturising strip. Razors aren't terribly exciting products but I am always happy to receive them in boxes as they are quite expensive items to buy.

Laneige Water Sleeping Mask. I have sampled Laneige products, and this mask in particular, before and I like them. I know from previous experience that this mask (which isn't so much a mask as an overnight gel/cream) is cooling and very hydrating.

It seems that Laneige samples often crop up in Target boxes but that's fine by me!

NYC Get It All Lip Colour. This is a lipstick with a creamy long lasting formula. I received shade 202 FabFuschia which is, indeed, a bright fuschia. The lipstick is very highly pigmented, it's fun and I like the formula but the colour maybe a little too much for me.

Covergirl Katy Kat Eye Mascara in 'Black'. I've seen mixed reviews about this and have yet to try it myself. I'm not overly excited about getting mascaras in beauty boxes as I have so many but on the plus side I can't remember when I last bought a mascara so I am happy to try this one out. 

I think that Target put together an excellent selection of products for only $7.00 especially as I will use everything in this box with the exception of the white strips and possibly the lipstick. I just may have to keep an eye out for September's box...

32 Yolks.

In his first memoir Eric Ripert tells us about his life from boyhood in the South of France until his arrival in America as a young 24 year old Chef.

32 Yolks is a slim volume, the first part of which deals with his childhood, while the later part is concerned with his passion for cooking and the personal growth that forms him into the Chef he is today.

Often finding himself feeling especially lonely after his parents' divorce and wanting to avoid his cruel step father 11 year old Eric finds comfort and solace in food. When his Mother relocates the family to Andorra, Eric begins spending time with an eccentric Chef who takes him under his wing and sparks his interest in not only food but cooking.

After High School and a spell in a Military Academy he attends a dreary old fashioned Culinary School before moving to Paris and working in the famed La Tour D'Argent. Entering the highly competitive kitchen at Jamin (where he was personally trained by Joel Robuchon) he rises through the ranks before heading to work in America aged 24.

Everything in 32 Yolks is recounted with great honesty and throughout the descriptions of food and places are wonderfully portrayed and very evocative. Ripert's hard work, ambition and dedication to his craft are truly inspirational. 

Wicked step father aside there wasn't one thing that I didn't like about 32 yolks - I love food writing, writing that is set in areas that I know well (in this case the South of France) and of course biography.

I simply loved this book and I can't wait to read about his life in America in another volume.

Recommended   

A New Eye Cream and a Fistful of Samples.

I've yet to find an eye cream that is the one, I have bought many, many different ones and plowed my way through a ton of samples and so far there has not been one that has given me a real 'aha!' moment. I'm currently using Sarah Chapman Skinesis Eye Recovery and whilst it's pretty good the pump packaging is far from ideal for traveling with and I'm on the move a lot in the Summer.

Currently, any new eye cream purchase has to be easily portable but I also want something that I can use in the morning as well as at night - I don't want to lug around two creams when one will do. I therefore need something that can be worn under make up that will absorb quickly but it also has to be rich enough for night time use. As my eyes are pretty sensitive it can't be too strong or too oily and although I like the cool feel of gel creams I have used quite a few of them recently and feel the need for a more nourishing cream. Lastly, eye creams can be pricey and I don't want to pay an arm and a leg. 

First Aid Beauty 5 in 1 Eye Cream (sephora.com $32.00 /.5fl oz) appears to tick all of the above boxes. It's packaged in a tube, so is perfect for travel, isn't too expensive, is allergy tested and fragrance free, and promises to smooth, brighten, even out tone, nourish and moisturise. 

I haven't played with this all that much so far but can tell you that while it does feel a little silicon like on application it has ticked all of my requirement boxes - time will tell if it is a keeper - but for the moment I am happy to have a non greasy, non stinging, cheap(ish) eye cream that comes in basic non breakable packaging.  

 I added the Scouted pack of skincare samples to my Sephora order (as the weekly special with any order over $25.00 option) and it is a lovely selection indeed, comprising eight samples, some that I have previously tried, others that I wanted to try...

From Tata Harper, a cleansing and exfoliating duo. 

Regenerating Cleanser cleans and brightens with clay, grapefruit and pomegranate, and exfoliates with apricot seed powder (which is much finer and spherical than a certain well known drugstore apricot scrub).

Resurfacing Mask is a gentle, pink, slightly gritty gel that leaves skin feeling clean and gives a little glow.

There is another cleansing and exfoliating duo from Tatcha. 

One Step Camelia Cleansing Oil which I have used this before is very good at dissolving make up and has a fresh, almost citrus, scent but I do prefer balms as I find them easier to use and generally more effective than oils. 

Rice Enzyme Powder is a very gentle powder exfoliator that you apply to a wet face with wet hands and massage until it becomes creamy. I'm not fond of the scent of this but it is extremely gentle and leaves skin feeling super soft.

From Drunk Elephant there is a vitamin based day time treatment duo. 

C Firma Day Serum, contains Ferulic acid and Vitamin C to protect skin and brighten it over time. 

B Hydra Intensive Hydration Gel moisturises and gives a boost of B vitamins to skin.

Finally there is a pair of night treatments from Sunday Riley both of which I have been longing to try.  Luna Oil is an oil based retinoic acid complex. There are five single use ampoules of Luna along with a sachet of Tidal, a gel moisturiser with hyaluronic acid which also contains brightening papaya enzymes.

Three standard samples also came with my order. 

I chose Kate Somerville Goat Milk Moisturiser which is an old favourite. It is very mild and gentle with softening lactic acids.

 I also chose two perfume samples. 

Miss Dior Blooming Bouquet EDT is a peony based scent which is floral and a little zesty. I'm not too keen on this, it's very feminine scent and a little generic for my taste.. 

Derek Lam 10 Crosby Something Wild EDP is exactly my kind of thing though. At first it smells very floral and intense but when the top notes mellow it develops an incense base that is quite creamy and soft. 

That's a whole lot of good samples and hopefully a new favourite eye cream! 

   

Bedsit Disco Queen.

Ah, another memoir by a female musician! 

This time it's Tracey Thorn who is best known as being one half of Everything But The Girl, a British jazz/pop duo who were immensely popular in the 1980's.

Like most English teenagers, Tracey was a huge fan of popular music from an early age but it was punk and it's do it yourself ethos that encouraged her to buy her first guitar and form her first all female band, The Marine Girls, who had a moderate amount of success.

On her first day at University she meets another musician, Ben Watt, who would become the other half of EBTG and her future husband.

Bedsit Disco Queen captures the essence of the lifestyle of English youth in the 1980's very well and details what it took to become a pop star in the days before Pop Idol/XFactor etc. 

Tracey's personal style and her musical acts are unpretentious and unassuming and I found it extremely interesting that she managed to combine being a successful pop star and a student at the same time.

Of course it's not all plain sailing, being in a band with your romantic partner doesn't always make for the best of times. The couple are both somewhat naive when it comes to promoting themselves and their products, but it is inspiring how they maintain their relationship and develop their respective careers.

Tracey comes across as being down to earth and genuine. Her writing style is very personal and easy to read but although I found her to be likeable and her tale to be interesting there was something (I'm not quite sure what) missing, no pun intended, from the book. 

It took me a while to get through this as it didn't draw me in and I kept putting it aside, I finished it thinking that it was just too long. I don't regret reading it, it's very interesting and I like the overview of  the '80's lifestyle, politics and music but maybe it is better suited for fans of Tracey and EBTG.

Free Birthday Goodies 2016.

August is my birthday month and one of the great things about your birthday month is that retailers take note and push little freebie treats your way - anything from a money off voucher to a free drink or snack. Of course the ones that I like the best and look forward to are the ones from beauty retailers!

Sephora sephora.com always have a nice little treat for members of their VIB Rewards program and this year they even offered a choice of gift - skincare or make up. The make up option was a 

Marc Jacobs mini Creme Lipstick and mini Highliner Gel Eye Liner Crayon. It's a very nice gift if you are a make up fanatic and while I am interested in trying out this range I feel like I have more than enough mini lipsticks and eye liners... 

Rather than adding two more to the pile I chose the skincare option - now there's  a surprise -  from Fresh which comprised of generously sized deluxe samples of their Soy Face Cleanser and Rose Face Mask. The cleanser which I have used before has a fresh cucumber scent, does a great job of dissolving make up, doesn't leave skin feeling stripped or tight and comes in a  travel friendly

tube.

The Rose Face Mask is another Fresh product that I have used previously and loved. It is a brown gel that you apply and leave on for 5-10 mins (although I like to wear it for 15 or 20 minutes) before rinsing off. Unlike other gel masks this one doesn't feel tacky as it dries and it rinses off very easily even with the extra wear time. It feels cooling, it's light rose fragrance is pleasant and relaxing to sit with and it leaves skin velvety soft and well hydrated. When I have used this my skin feels plumped and juicy to the extent that fine lines disappear for some time -  would go as far as saying that this is one of the best moisturising masks I have ever used!

Space NK us.spacenk.com  offer N.Dulge members  a deluxe sample of Lancer Intensive Night Treatment. Packed full of peptides and hyaluronic acid this night time moisturiser promises to be ultra hydrating. While the sample may not look like much it is worth $23.00 so it's well worth picking it up and trying it out.

 Kiehl's kiehls.com give their My Rewards members one of their cult classic #1 Lip Balms. Not the most exciting gift but a practical one that will always come in handy - you can never have enough lip balms around the house right?

I also received perks from Caudalie  us.caudalie.com and Cult Beauty cultbeauty.com.

 Caudalie give 30 bonus points to participants in the My Caudalie program, simply add them to your points total and redeem points for products (most of which are full sized), and if you receive Cult Beauty emailings you can enjoy 15% off purchases during your birthday month.

 Why not take a look at the above sites and enroll in the their loyalty programs if you haven't already, it's always nice to get a little gift.  

Are there any other birthday beauty gifts that I should know about?  

Good at Games.

Estate agent Suzy Curtis finds herself becoming very publicly engaged to policeman Harry who has recently been in the news and is seen as being something of a small town hero. The problem is that Suzy doesn't love Harry and she suspects she is in love with his brother Leo. How can she let Harry down lightly and find out if Leo loves her back?

There are lots of other story lines in this madcap rom-com and a whole host of characters including Suzy's ex rock star husband, his new girlfriend, his housekeeper, Suzy's workmates and her family, including a recently discovered half sister.

Set in Bristol, it's written in Jill Mansell's usual fun lighthearted style and is an easy read that's a perfect beach type book. Having said that, for me, it wasn't one of her best books, I didn't love any of the characters and so wasn't rooting for them and the storyline and the situations in it were somewhat shallow and rather silly. 

If you are a huge Jill Mansell fan then maybe you will like Good at Games, otherwise, I would be inclined to give it a miss and read some of her other books.  

(Good at Games was published in 2008 in the UK but has only recently been released here in the US.)

Month of Foil - Hair.

Every so often I have what I term a 'Month of Foil' during which I aim to use up as many sample sachets as possible. In the past I have always used up samples of everything - skincare, body care, make up and haircare but this Month of Foil features only hair products, simply because the amount of hair care sachets that I had was so plentiful. 

If there's an option to choose samples with an online order and shampoo and conditioner are available I inevitably choose them thinking "that will be handy when I travel" forgetting that I already have a ton of mini sized hair products that are much more likely to get thrown in my toiletry bag it seems...

Anyway,  I managed to use up twenty eight hair care sachets in July. (Interestingly in the last Month of Foil proper I used up 27 sachets of haircare). I still have a ton of Rahua sachets left that I will enjoy using in the near future but I managed to use up all of my R+Co samples and almost all of my Oribe ones as well as a selection of random ones. I loved everything I used by Oribe - I mean everything in this range smells so amazing that even if the product were crappy I'd be enamored! (Oribe products are all exceptionally good in my experience if very expensive.) But while the R+Co products were nice I  didn't  think that they are all that great, very stylishly packaged though...

I usually only use the regular Rahua Shampoo and Conditioner but I tried out the Voluminous range this month and liked it immensely, it didn't smell quite as nutty as the regular products but gave my hair a subtle root lift making it look fuller. Rahua Finishing Treatment was good, very nourishing, but I needed to be very judicious with the amount I used - too much and my hair looked greasy which isn't good...

Discovery of the month was Bumble+Bumble Thickening Shampoo and Conditioner. These gave my hair so much lift and volume (the shampoo in particular - I needed to use only a very small amount of it to make a difference and I can see that a bottle of it would last me a long, long time.) that I think I may prefer it to B+B's Surf range.

I have to admit to not getting my act together to use a hair mask even once in the whole month which is somewhat lame as I have a few that I should have used up. Overall though, I'm happy to have gone through something like half of my hair care sachets.

Now I really should do a month of sheet masks as I have quite a few of those hanging around... 

  

Twisted River.

When an family from NYC and a family from Ireland arrange to swap homes for a vacation it seems ideal. But when the families concerned are both troubled and take their troubles with them on holiday, maybe not... I have always been intrigued by the idea of house swaps and I am a recent convert to thrillers so Twisted River appealed to me very much!

After a dramatic opening featuring a body in a car boot I did find that the story was incredibly slow to get going, however, in spite of this I found it to be a very good read. 

The plot is an unusual one and it is very clever. There are enough twists and turns to keep you guessing and you need to pay attention when reading to find out the truth of what happened. I particularly loved the way that the two families' stories came together and became entwined towards the end of the book - it was very well done.

Twisted River is a bit of a slow burner, the tension builds slowly but the end is gripping and exciting. It's not a long book so it's a quick read and it ends in such a way that there could well be a follow up - I am hoping so as all in all I enjoyed this one!

Recommended.

Empties July 2016.

After June's colossal pile of empties, sure as night follows day, July's was on the smaller side. Using up all those products in June meant that I have mostly newly opened products on the go at the moment. However I did manage to use up four full sized products and twelve samples. (I did also use up a fair amount of hair care samples but I'm including those in a separate Month of Foil Hair Care post later this week).

Lets take a look at what I finished up in July...

Body Care.

There's only a shower gel and a body lotion on the body care empties pile but at least they are both full sized products and both of them were budget drugstore products that I was pleased to have discovered. Zest Fresh Aloe Body Wash was a low foaming gel body wash that had a pleasant leafy green fragrance. It felt fresh and cooling and left my skin wonderfully soft and supple.

 Although I find Aveeno products to be very effective as a whole I do find their standard range of products to be, well shall we say, a little boring. But I do like their scented body washes and lotions a lot. Aveeno Energizing Pomegranate and Grapefruit Body Lotion did a great job of hydrating and softening my skin, it absorbed well and wasn't at all greasy. The grapefruit scent, softened a little with a hint of pomegranate was zingy and uplifting and simply perfect for summer.

Make Up.

Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer and Chantecaille Faux Cils Mascara are both GWP staples and products that I enjoy and have used many many times. Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion is a cult classic and whilst it did stop my eye shadow from creasing and/or disappearing I was glad to finish the tube. Honestly, this lasted forever (over a year of daily applications) and I hated the design of the tube - from it's appearance to the fact that the top takes a long time to screw and unscrew. I also found this a little messy to apply and found that if I applied this anywhere other than my lid it left a yellow chalky stain that was difficult to remove. In case you couldn't tell I'm not a fan of this even though it works well.

Sunscreen.

I really liked the Supergoop Everyday Sunscreen. It was very comfortable to wear, felt moisturising and didn't look shiny under make up. The Korres Yoghut Facial Sunscreen smelt so good, creamy and coco nutty, but it left a white caste and felt greasy under make up - I would wear this if I was spending a make up free day at the beach though.

Hampton Sun Aloe Mist was thicker than water so it didn't actually mist when you sprayed it but it was hydrating and cooling. I used this mostly as a hydrating toner and my face felt somewhat plumped when I did. It's a great beach product though in a handy sized tin.

Skincare.

Rodial Bee Venom Cleansing Balm was a light textured balm that I liked, it did a good job of dissolving make up and left my skin feeling soft. Dr Hauschka Soothing Cleansing Milk was a basic cleansing milk that I found to be adequate but nothing special.

Although Pixi Glow Tonic isn't my favourite exfoliating toner how cute is this mini that I used up? The unmarked pot was a sample of MenScience Toner that was a very nice and affordable glycolic toner, it did smell very medicinal however. 

Bioessance The Nourisher Facial Oil had the faintest smell of roses but I didn't find it to feel that luxurious or nourishing, it felt quite greasy to me. I also wasn't a fan of MyChelle Perfect C Serum, a little too oily this one. However Darphin 8 Flower Nectar Oil Cream was a properly indulgent face product. It is the cream version of their 8 Flower Nectar Oil so it is easier to apply, it is rich rather than oily and a little goes along way. It is a pricey product but something that I would buy as this sample lasted me for ages. The deep heady floral scent of this is aromatherapy in the best way. I found this very relaxing and it was an indulgent treat for my skin.

And finally Sisley Express Flower Gel Mask was amazing. I love Sisley masks, they are ridiculously expensive but they are so effective. Just five minutes of wearing this floral scented gel left my face plumped and brightened. Magical!