Limited Edition Aurelia Cell Repair Night Oil collaboration with Caroline Hirons in aid of The Eve Appeal

Regular readers will know that I have long championed The Eve Appeal and their brilliant work in raising funds, awareness and working hard towards cures for women's cancers. Well now I've had the opportunity to get a little further involved via this Limited Edition collaboration between myself and Aurelia Probiotic Skincare.

When the lovely team at Aurelia approached me with this idea, I jumped at the chance. Anything that combines beautiful skincare with raising funds and awareness for The Eve Appeal is good with me. 

The Limited Edition Cell Repair Night Oil goes on sale today and £10.00 of every bottle sold goes directly to The Eve Appeal. We aim to raise a minimum of £20,000, the proceeds of which will go towards a ground-breaking research programme - FORECEE (4C) - which aims to develop a single test to predict the personal risk of developing the four women’s cancers and save significantly more women’s lives.

'To this day, gynaecological cancers remain too-little known and research in to their development is under-funded. Alongside this, there’s a worrying decline in screening uptake for one of the most common women’s cancers. This is why partnerships such as this which raise awareness, reach new audiences and help support medical research are so vital.' 

Athena Lamnisos, CEO The Eve Appeal

The oil itself is a beautiful multi-tasking wonder that was first on the blog two years ago and of course played a huge part in my very first Cult Beauty Box. The Cell Repair Night Oil is an intensive overnight boosting treatment which works in tandem with the skin's nightly repair mode. This exquisite oil instantly absorbs to work on all fronts, it firms, tones, restructures and regenerates, fights free radicals and reduces oxidative stress.

If you are looking for something to give your skin extra 'oomph' and fancy supporting a brilliant charitable cause at the same time, all the information you need is here: Limited Edition Cell Repair Night Oil

The Limited Edition Aurelia Cell Repair Night Oil collaboration with Caroline Hirons (me!) :) is on sale now on www.aureliaskincare.com priced £45.00 for 50ml, while stocks last. With every oil sold comes an Eve Appeal pin to be worn with pride; knowing the money raised from this partnership is contributing to such a worthwhile cause. 


Further information on The Eve Appeal: www.eveappeal.org.uk
Further information on the FORECEE programme: www.eveappeal.org.uk/forecee


* The Eve Appeal was launched in 2005 and is the UK’s only national gynaecological cancer research charity. Their mission is to raise funds for research and to save lives from these diseases. Every day 55 women in the UK are diagnosed with one of the five women-specific cancers and of these, 21 will lose their lives.

The Eve Appeal registered charity numbers:
(England & Wales): 1091708
(Scotland): SC042612



*Caroline Hirons is not receiving any financial payment for this collaboration.

Travel Bag - or 'How to turn a dehydrating flight into a spa session'

Last week I spent over 20 hours on an airplane. That's not much for some but it is for me. There are a few conditions that really compromise your skin - one of them is an airplane. All that recirculated air, no fresh air and everyone else's germs. Ugh.

The picture above is what I took last week, but the essence of it can be used and altered by anyone, with any skin type, on any budget.

Left to right:

The Body Shop Vitamin E Gentle Cleansing Wipes - for basic forehead, cheeks and chin makeup removal. I also had Ole Henriksen Truth To Go Wipes which I love, but ran out of them on the plane. Any 'won't burn your face off' wipes will suffice. Yes, wipes on the blog. Fannies, flights and festivals.

Muji travel bottle filled with The Body Shop Camomile Gentle Eye Makeup Remover. Soak one cotton pad at a time, hold gently over the eye and swipe across, down and away. Turn the cotton over and repeat - then do the same on the other eye. Please don't rub your eyes like you're using a pencil eraser.

aesop Travel bottle filled with P50. Your usual exfoliating toner/lotion goes here. Use a saturated cotton pad and swipe it all over. I take it across the entire face, under the eyes, the eyelids and over the lips (P50 tastes grim). You aren't getting a proper cleanse here so this can help you out.

Georgia Louise Hydrating Rose Water (travel pack size) - a good spray toner/mist will be your most used product on an airplane. A normal can of Evian will just dehydrate you - it just works better as a toner/floral water etc. Any good alcohol free toner can be used and decanted in to the spray version of the Muji bottles above. Spray liberally. And frequently. Even when the people around you look annoyed. :)

Chantecaille Nano Gold Energising Eye Serum - (gold tube lying flat) God I love this product. No sugar coating - it's prohibitively expensive - so much so that I literally save it for using when I fly. You can substitute any similar roller-ball-effect cooling eye product from pretty much anyone. The joy in using something like this when you fly - for me - is the cooling effect and the hygiene. Look Ma! No hands! I reapply this whenever I can feel I need it. No stiff directions - depends on the length of the flight, your skin etc..

Ole Henriksen Truth Serum  (small size) - love love love this. Massive antioxidant boost to help protect against what is essentially a locked room of free radicals and other people's germs. Also, smells delicious (not relevant, but joyous nonetheless) and gives you a lovely glow. Nice if like me, long-haul flying leaves you looking like you've given birth. No-one, NO-ONE steps off a plane looking like a supermodel. Not even supermodels. They go straight to the toilets in the VIP section with their 'team'. Stop with the nonsense.

Darphin 8 Flower Nectar  (GWP sample size) - I love this oil but only really use it if I have an overnight flight. Whack it on, try and sleep (or get no sleep, end up watching 3 films and exit plane as above) and let it give you a layer of lovely smelling protection. Substitute any of your normal facial oils that you can decant into smaller bottles.

Chantecaille Magnolia, Jasmine and Lily Healing Emulsion (GWP sample size) - lovely, light, super-hydrating, really good for layering. Substitute any good hydrating, light lotion. You can layer this over other products, add extra layers on during the flight without it rolling...just keeps you soft and hydrated.

Aurelia Cell Revitalise Night Moisturiser (trial pack size) - pretty self explanatory. If it's a night flight/red eye: cleanse, P50, spritz, eye, serum or oil, then this. Marvellous.

Ila Day Cream for Glowing Radiance (travel pack size) - OK so my travel products clearly have a theme. Call something 'glowing radiance' and I'm in. Arriving during the day? When the seat belt signs go on for landing I do a quick spritz and apply this. You can substitute any of your daytime moisturisers and decant into travel pots. If you're landing in a hot climate remember your SPF.

Ole Henriksen Truth Creme Advanced Hydration (decanted into brown pot front right) - This is probably my current favourite for travel - really seems to keep the moisture in and doesn't 'roll' when you layer. The citrus scent is again brilliant for being up in the Gods with no air.

Carmex/Duwop LipVenom - standard lip and a slightly more 'zingy' one to wake me up when necessary!

Chantecaille Gold Energizing Eye Recovery Mask - these are new. They're nice - but to be honest, I much prefer the roller. It's amazing.




*purchases and samples - no affiliates

12 Days of Giveaways. Day Six Winners are...

The winners of the Aurelia Giveaway are:

Miracle Cleanser - Karioka88 (Posted: 15 December 2013 00:42)

Eye Revitalising Duo - Emma West (Posted: 15 December 2013 11:18) 

Cell Repair Night Oil - Wheelingalong (Posted: 15 December 2013 08:19)

Congratulations everyone - and a huge thank you to www.AureliaSkincare.com

12 Days of Giveaways. Day Six. Aurelia

One of my favourite launches this year - and one of the best launches in my opinion, (frankly, their website puts brands that have been around for much longer to shame) Aurelia are very kindly offering three of their products (one per reader for 3 readers) including their beautiful Miracle Cleanser, Cell Repair Night Oil and....

The brand new and amazing Eye Revitalising Duo...

Dear Team: I need that rollerball to be available individually so I can have one on me at all times. Alrighty then.

Check them out if you haven't already www.aureliaskincare.com

So THREE winners will each win one of the above (I get to pick who gets what! JOY!)

To enter simply...

• Leave a comment below (Because of hideous spam, I approve all comments and will be asleep for the first 6 hours of this giveaway, please don't worry if your comment doesn't show - no need to send it more than once.)
• Giveaway closes at 11.59pm this evening (15th)
• This giveaway is open to UK readers only (don't worry non-UK residents - there are more coming!)
• By entering this giveaway you are confirming that you have read the Giveaway T&C's.

A nice combination. Una Brennan Rose Hydrate Oil and Aurelia Miracle Cleanser

So I'm using the Una Brennan Superfacialist Rose Hydrate Miracle Makeover Facial Oil (!!) pretty much every evening. What's not clear with her two oils, despite the inordinately overlong name, is that they are designed as a pre-cleanse. I've been asked if they are suitable as a facial oil - I can't see any reason why not - although I only use it as pre-cleanse. I prefer my treatment facial oils to be slightly thicker - better massage.

It's a strange one the Una Brennan range, I suspect the line is a joint venture with Boots - it's still the only place you can buy it and there is little from Una herself directly online. No website, just reviews from mags/blogs. Having said that - it's a good priced range and the products are for the most part, good.

This oil is great for loosening all makeup before your actual cleanse. 

The Aurelia Miracle Cleanse is a really good follow up cleanser. It has the smell and kick of Cleanse & Polish but leaves the skin much softer and hydrated. It's the product I've used the most whilst trialing Aurelia and I previously reviewed it here.

A lovely twosome.

Stop the press: I was just sent this link by a lovely reader: http://www.superfacialist.co.uk/ Apologies Una!

Una Brennan is available here.

Aurelia is available here.

*press samples, no affiliates, not clients! :)

Aurelia Miracle Cleanser - Review

I recently posted about Aurelia's launch and the great promise it seemed to hold for those of us that like clear labeling and conscientious ethics.

Well so far, by and large, the products haven't disappointed. The Miracle Cleanser is the easiest to jump in and use. I know - it's a cleanser - it would be.

It contains probiotic proteins - which is their USP and what the range is built around, coconut derived cleansing agents, fatty acids, shea butter, cocoa butter, kigelia and baobab extracts, Ubuntu Mongongo oil (I have NO idea but I haven't stopped singing the Um Bongo ads since I read it) and a blend of eucalyptus, rosemary, bergamot and chamomile essential oils - which are quite strong, so whilst I love them - if you have problems with essential oils, sample first. Although it contains shea, I haven't experienced any breakouts as a result - the formulation is good.

Full inci list:

Aqua (purified water), Dicapryly carbonate (coconut-derived cleanser & emollient), Cetearyl alcohol (vegetable based thickener), Glycerin (vegetable glycerine), Cocoglycerides (emollient from coconut oil), Butyrospermum parkii (shea butter), Glyceryl stearate (natural glycerides & thickener), Cetearyl glucoside (corn sugar emulsifier), Rhus verniciflua peel wax (berry wax), Theobroma cacoa (cocoa butter), Kigelia Africana fruit extract (Botanical Kigelia Africana ), Hibiscus sabdariffa flower extract (Hibiscus flower), Adansonia digitata fruit extract (Botanical Baobab),Lactose (probiotic bifidoculture milk extract), Lactis proteinum – (probiotic protein), Bifida ferment lysate (probiotic culture), Schinziophyton Rautanenii kernel oil (Botanical Ubuntu Mongongo oil), Panthenol ( Pro-vitamin B5), Sodium ascorbyl phosphate (Vitamin C), Rosmarinus officinalis leaf oil (Rosemary essential oil), Citrus aurantium bergamia peel oil (Bergamot essential oil), Anthemis nobilis oil (Chamomile essential oil), Eucalyptus globulus leaf oil (Eucalyptus essential oil), Xanthan gum (natural based stabilizer), Sodium stearoyl glutamate (naturally derived emulsifier), Tocopheryl acetate (Vitamin E), Benzyl alcohol (preservative), Dehydroacetic acid (preservative), Citric acid (fruit derived pH regulator), Limonene, Linalool

The nearest comparison texture and scent-wise is Cleanse & Polish - but the comparisons end there. This being Aurelia it contains none of the following:

Synthetic fragrances, parabens, mineral oils, silicones, sulphates, propylene glycol, phthalates, GMO, PEGs, TEA and DEA.

This is a creamier formulation and stays that way once applied. Removes all makeup no problem (not sure about waterproof as I don't wear it) and skin feels soft and smooth afterwards. If you are uncomfortable with balm cleansers this could be just the thing you are looking for. I, predictably I know, like it as a second cleanse in the evenings and its lovely for a refreshing quick cleanse in the morning. I'm sorry but I don't trust any brand that says you don't need to cleanse in the mornings. Nonsense. And also this: filth.

It's £34.00 for 120ml compared to £34.00 for Emma Hardie's 100ml. (I'm trying to give broad comparisons about products I regularly recommend as I am always asked for more details after I post!) I would estimate you use the same amount of both cleansers - which is a 'finger scoop'.

A good, strong product from a good, strong, British brand who list their FULL INGREDIENTS on their website. 

*waves Union Jack*

£34.00 from www.aureliaskincare.com

*sample

Aurelia Probiotic Skincare

Just a quick word about this new range from Claire Vero and her team. Whilst I'm still trialing this new range - the favourite of which is (so far) the Cell Repair Night Oil - have a look at their website.

Their story, their team - and hold me down, their full ingredient listing on every product.

I expect great things.

Aurelia Skincare

*pr sample