Review: Elemental Herbology Facial Glow Radiance Peel

AHAs have become an essential part of my skincare routine over the past few months, whether it's daily exfoliating toners or weekly masks. My current favourite weapon against dull and lifeless skin is most definitely the Elemental Herbology Facial Glow Radiance Peel, which is infused with a tropical cocktail of vitamins, enzymes and skin-brightening botanicals to stimulate cell-renewal and even out the skin tone, leaving you radiant and glowing.

Apple serum, papaya, orange peel, tangerine and jojoba beads are responsible for sloughing away dead skin cells to pave the way for new epidermal growth, while vitamins A, C and E work alongside green tea and pomegranate to prevent free-radical damage. But it doesn't stop there. Manuka honey and water lily provide a powerful anti-inflamatory action to soothe and calm the skin.  Pomegranate, argan, macadamia and olive oil provide essential fatty acids to hydrate and nourish. And the multi-mineral complex of zinc, copper magnesium revitalise the skin, kick-starting cellular metabolism. So all in all, it's like a super-food for your skin - a power-smoothie, if you will!

I pop this on once or twice a week, smoothing it carefully over clean, dry skin and leaving to sit for a few minutes. The recommended time limit is four minutes, which originally led me to believe it was going to be really strong on the skin, but these days I can happily leave it for up to ten minutes if I'm a little bit busy and everything is fine (if your skin is sensitive then perhaps don't so this, though!). When the time is up, I remove the mask gently with a warm, damp muslin cloth - you could do so with water alone, but I find a cloth is really effective at getting rid of any stray jojoba beads, as well as giving skin that extra bit of exfoliation.

After use, my skin is soft, smooth and radiant. It really does leave it glowing with health, and is yet another product I would hate to be without. I'm now nearing the end of this tube, which I got as part of the Weekend Facial Set. If you are new to Elemental Herbology then I couldn't recommend this kit to you enough - for £30, you get a 30ml tube of each of their three star face masks - the Facial Detox Purifying Facial Mask, Biodynamic Facial Souffle and, of course, the Facial Glow Radiance Peel - all of which are absolutely fantastic.

The full size Facial Glow is available from Feel Unique, and is priced at £40.

What are your current favourite face masks? 

Are you a fan of AHA treatments?

xx

The Weekly Selection

I always enjoy doing my monthly favourites, but as time has gone on I've found myself leaning more and more towards making videos about them, and once I have done that I always think twice about posting about them as well, as I feel it might be a bit much. However, I do know that some of you would much rather see a post on the topic, as a lot of people do tend to do their catching up via mobile phone on the go, and nobody wants to be blasting out a video on the tube or the train for all to hear.

So, The Weekly Selection is born. In this series of posts, I'll be sharing with you whatever has made it onto my most-loved list this week, so expect to sometimes see a few old favourites making their way in amongst my newest finds, as often I will have a bit of a root around in my collection and come across a little gem I had forgotten all about (I will always mention if this is the case).

This week, it's been all about the Elemental Herbology Bio-Cellular Super Cleanse*,  a creamy cleanser containing apple AHAs (alpha hydroxy acids) to boost cell turn over and gently exfoliate the skin. I've been wanting to add some regular acid exfoliants to my routine for some while now, as I wanted to see whether doing so would help me out in the war against hormonal breakouts, and being able to work this in daily in the form of a cleanser is handy when it comes to both time and money. I've been using this as my evening cleanser, as it's great at removing every last trace of makeup, as well as giving my skin a good, deep-down clean, leaving it feeling soft, nourished and comfortable.

Continuing with the theme of acid exfoliants, I've been trialling this mini size of the Clarins Gentle Exfoliator Brightening Toner,  a light  lotion which again this uses AHAs to break down any debris and dead skin that might block the pores. I swipe this liberally across the skin every evening, after double cleansing, and by morning my skin is baby soft and smooth. I have to say, this really seems to be doing the job when it comes to keeping blemishes to a minimum, and as an added bonus, will help to strengthen the skin's resistance to wrinkles when used regularly. I have already ordered the full-size bottle of this, as it has definitely made it to 'can't live without' status in a short space of time.

Makeup wise, my biggest obsession of the week has undoubtedly been my new Sleek Face Form Contour Kit. I went for the 'light' version, which contains a flattering matte contour powder, highlighting powder and the infamous Rose Gold blush. The bronzey contour shade is great for sculpting the face and adding a subtle wash of colour, and definitely isn't too over-powering or obvious on pale skin. The Rose Gold blush is just beautiful - a shimmery, peachy pink that is not dissimilar to Nar's cult Orgasm blush. This won't leave you looking like a glitter ball, but it will leave you with glowing cheeks - in fact, I don't really find that I need a highlighter when using this, as it does the job just fine on its own. My only gripe is that it doesn't blend as well as some of my other powder blushes, but the shade is such that I can let that slide. The highlighting powder is a pretty, subtle, champagne shade, and looks lovely dotted on top of the cheekbones on top of a more pared-down blush. Again, the effect is really natural, without a hint of overkill in sight.

Last but not least, I have fallen in love with Revlon 'Fearless' Nail Enamel, a zingy, vibrant orange-toned red that just screams summer. This goes perfectly with the Mac Lady Danger lipstick, for any of you who like to match your nail polish to your lips, and is sure to make a repeat appearance on my nails over the coming months, again and again.

What have your most loved products been this week?

xx