Rose Kiss Spritz Floral Water

This is the 3rd product under my English Rose Cosmetics brand of skin care and I’d like to share with you how I’ve developed this product.

What should we expect from a Toner?

The main function of a toner is to cleanse the skin and shrink the appearance of the pores.  There is a danger that if we over cleanse our skin, it can lead to excess oil production and throw the skin out of balance.   For that reason I make moisturising more of a priority and try not to over cleanse and always make sure that if I do use a toner, it’s very gentle.

Sensitive skin – a mild toner with virtually no alcohol i.e. rose water, water and humectants to keep the upper layers of the skin moisturised

Normal/combination skin – a tonic with up to 20% alcohol i.e. orange floral water, water and humectants is recommended

Oily skin – an astringent with 20-60% alcohol i.e. witch hazel, anti-bacterial ingredients i.e. tea tree, water and humectants

Benefits of Rose Floral Water

Rosa Damascena Flower water is an aqueous solution of the steam of the distillate obtained from the flowers of the Damask Rose, Rosa damascene and Rosaceae.  Rose Floral Water is naturally self-preserving and therefore no preservatives are needed.

Rose Floral Water can be used for the following applications:-

• Gentle cleanser and toner
• Soothes sunburnt and irritated skin
• Balances skins ph.
• Suitable for all skin types
• Suitable for aftershave burn

Rose Kiss Spritz from English Rose Cosmetics

Is 100% natural and preservative free and contains only one ingredient – Rosa Damascena

It is packed in a recyclable 100ml bottle with spray mist. 

Available from English Rose Cosmetics

Treating Dark Circles Now, Will Prevent Bags later on in Life

Why do we get dark circles and under eye bags?

Dark circles and under-eye bags are due to a slowing down of microcirculation causing blood to congregate in capillaries, which weaken and lead to water and lymph leakage; supporting tissues also weaken with age.

Cytobiol™ Lumin Eye at 5% is a synergistic blend of the following ingredients:-

Esculin and Fraxin from the bark of a European Ash tree (Fraxinus excelsior) are clinically proven to reinforce capillaries, reduce blood leakage and eliminate the pigments responsible for skin coloration and erase signs of tiredness.

Organic Silicon is already present in collagen and elastin and helps reinforce the structure and elasticity of the vessels and makes the connective tissues stronger and more flexible. Organic silicon helps reinforce capillary structure, complementing the action of Esculin and Fraxin.

Vitamin B3 also reinforces the structure of the blood vessels and helps to maintain or restore a normal blood flow in capillaries.

Cytobiol™ Lumin Eye has been used at 5% in Bright Eyed and Bushy Tailed Eye Cream, available from:-

www.english-rose-cosmetics.com

Cocoa Ration Body Butter

This is my 4^th product under my English Rose Cosmetics brand of skin care and I’d like to share with you how I’ve developed this product.

Cream, lotion, butter, oil or soufflé – which is best?

The main thing to look out for is how compatible with the skin it is, i.e. how quickly it sinks into your skin.  A product that is rich in any of the following ingredients; almond oil, apricot oil, canola oil, coconut oil, jojoba oil, lecithin, olive oil, shea butter, and soybean oil etc. are all similar to skins own lipids (oils) and will hence boost the existing lipid barrier.

Synthetic products such as Silicones, Petrolatum, Paraffinum Liquidum sit at the skin surface and act as a barrier to environmental aggression and help prevent TEWL (Tran epidermal water loss) so they can be classed as moisturisers.

• Oils that have high natural oil content (a lot contain silicones) will be the most compatible, but can be messy to apply.
• Lotions often take a long time to be absorbed as they have a high silicone content, however in more  humid climates they may be preferred
• Creams, butters and soufflé are typically thicker than lotions.  My preference is for butters as I like the buttery texture usually attributed to high cocoa or shea butter content.  The natural characteristic of these is that they are solid at room temperature yet melt when applied to the skin.

What should we expect for a Body Butter/Cream, lotion, oil etc?

When applying a body product to our skin we are enhancing the function of the skin in its role as a barrier against the environment.   If we lose too much moisture our skin becomes dryer, thinner and less elastic, and more vulnerable to environmental attack and wrinkles.  Therefore we need to preventing moisture loss (TEWL) or boosting skin moisture levels with skin compliant oils and water.

Skin that is not looked after will manifest by being dry, flaky, inflamed, redness, wrinkly so the message is look after you skin and it will look after you. 

Cocoa Ration Body Butter from English Rose Cosmetics

Cocoa butter is used at a high level and is 2^nd on the ingredient list, next are emulsifiers and light oils as emollients, 10^th on the list is glycerine which is a natural based humectant (locks in moisture) 11^th is Shea Butter and Avocado Oil is 12^th on the list. I’ve used a little bit of Beeswax to help with the structure, Coconut fragrance (free of allergens) and Vanilla which combined gives it a lovely fragrance that is good enough to eat.

I do not use Petrol in any of my products ie Petrolatum or Paraffinum Liquidum – there are so many more effective vegetable products which are more expensive, but our skin deserves it.

It is packed in a recyclable 200ml jar with retro aluminium lid, with a wide enough neck to put your fingers in to scoop out the butter.

 

Available from www.english-rose-cosmetics.com

Original Source Lemon and Tea Tree Shower Gel

This is an invigorating refreshing shower gel, with an odd stringy texture. There is huge amount of choice when it comes to shower gels with most of them making wonderful promises, most of them mood altering, however most contain the same main ingredients and this shower gel follows the standard water, SLS, betaine base. 

What’s the Difference between Shower Gels?

The vast majority of shower gels will all share the 3 following main ingredients at the very top of the label ie water, SLS/sodium laureth sulphate (cleaning/foaming action), cocamidyl betaine (to reduce irritancy of the sodium laureth sulphate).  If you are looking for shower gel that will get you clean with a pleasant fragrance, than there is no need to spend more than £1.    If there is a deviation from those top 3 ingredients, than I would say its worth paying more, especially if contains a lot of botanical ingredients.

SLS/ SLES free?

In an ideal world no shampoo or shower gel would contain these, and it is possible to product without, but a price, and the risk of losing foaming activity. 

Key Ingredients

Essential Oils – lemon peel oil, tea tree oil, orange oil and bergamot oil – there is no partum so all the fragrance is coming from this essential oil blend
Polyquarternium-7 and lactic acid – to condition
Artificial colours – to give bright yellow colour

Rating

Value for money – £2.20 for 250ml which is an average price for mass market shower gels

Stockists - I got mine from Asda, but also available from all large supermarkets, and druggist

Effectiveness – it has the typical shower gel base as described above, so is effective at cleaning the skin and stripping away natural oil, leaving the skin feeling a bit dried out

Pampering factor – the essential oils are at a high level and do give a nice invigorating fragrance

Recommended – Tea tree oil is a good natural anti-bacterial so I think an effective shower gel for oily/spot prone skins

Dirty Works – Lift & Firm Super Skin Serum

This is brand is sold exclusively through Sainsbury’s and has a retro inspired kitsch packaging is similar to that of Benefit and Soap & Glory.  It’s a low priced mass market range which consists of skincare, toiletries, cosmetic bags and accessories.

Claims

Even out skin imperfections – smoothing
Tighten wrinkles and fine lines – firming
Dewy, radiant glow

Ingredients to Support the Claims

Panicum Miliaceum seed extract (Millet), Panthenol (B5), Hydrolysed Yeast Protein & Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract (Marigold) - for conditioning and smoothing  
Tannic Acid & Escin (Horse Chestnut) for radiance
Ranunculus Ficaria & Extract & Liquorice Root (Ammonium Glycyrrhizate) – soothes irritated skin
Centella asiatica – reduce fine lines & wrinkles

What is a Serum?

Serums tend to be very fluid and have a higher concentration of actives than standard creams.  The majority are water in silicone and water, rather than oil in as silicones impart a silky feel.  However, silicones sit on the skin surface, give a nice matt effect but oils are more effective at moisturising the skin.

Skin Affinity

Although this has a silicone feel, it actually contains very little silicone and sinks in quite quickly but it doesn’t leave a moisturised quenched skin feel behind.  Applied to the back of the hand and face it makes no more difference than any other cream or serum in terms of smoothing, refining and firming.

Rating

Value for money – at £3.99 for 30ml it fits into the lower mass market price bracket
Stockists - available exclusively through Sainsbury’s’
Effectiveness – this contains 8 plant extracts which start appearing from the 5^th – 14^th on the ingredients list so are at higher levels than usual.  Plant extracts tend to have a minimum amount of actives in an alcohol and are rarely clinically tested for their efficacy – claims are more anecdotally based – on this basis I wouldn’t have thought superior benefits would be achieved
Pampering factor – does not leave a moisturised feeling
Recommended – ok for the price but not sure its delivering anything that special