I love Neal’s Yard products, that much is obvious to anyone I talk to about them and it’s why I became a consultant in the first place. It’s not because I’m a skincare therapist or beautician but because I have always loved skincare and beauty products.
In recent years I have become more and more concerned about the contents of many high street beauty and skincare products. When I was a teenager we were concerned about animal testing but these days we’ve also become aware of the chemicals that are used in the most basic of face creams. I don’t like the idea of putting petro-chemicals on my skin – the fastest absorbing part of our body. But I do want to feel good and look after my skin – oh, and if it happens to smell divine too – I’m sold.
I’m sure over the coming months I will write several blog posts on the different Neal’s Yard products that I love but thought I’d start with one of our largest and most popular ranges. Why start with one product when you can cover a whole range!!
I had obviously heard of Frankincense and liked it as an essential oil in a burner and the
resin in natural incense but had no idea of its incredible properties. It wasn’t until I joined NYRO and discovered the jar of Frankincense Hydrating cream in my starter kit that I really began to appreciate it. That summer I took that small jar of cream on our many camping trips as my one-stop go-to cream for everything – face, body, hands etc. It smelt beautiful and went a very, very long way – that jar lasted me a good year. And it had great moisturising properties – otherwise I would not have carried on using it.
After that I was hooked and my collection now includes the cleanser, eau de parfum, facial mist, frankincense and mandarin body lotion and the newest most indulgent addition is the Frankincense Intense Concentrate. I bought some sample sachets of this new product for sample baglets or to pop in with customer orders and of course, had to try one myself.
Just a side line here without getting scientific or salesy, but I found the explanation on how they discovered the new active ingredient in the Intense range really interesting and inspiring so here is a link if you’re interested in reading it for yourself.
Like most people I have doubted the claims of creams to tighten and firm the skin, or certainly to an extent that was actually noticeable. However I have a tried a few things over the years that have convinced me there is something in some of the ingredients. Now I’m an advocate of growing old gracefully, I would never consider surgery and botox injections. But if there is something out there that is natural and will help tighten up the areas I’m noticing are becoming a little saggy (I really want to put a tearful emoticon in here)…………… Well, I ask for help from the Universe and Mother Nature in others areas of life – why not this one?
So, I tried the new Intense Concentrate sample sachet – (you’ll get two (m
aybe three) applications) and I noticed a difference within an hour or so. Yes, REALLY!! Of course it didn’t last more than a few hours – but nice for a special occasion or when I want a pep-me-up.
I then tried it for a whole week – morning and night – by the way, did I mention how good this little treasure smells? Slightly spicy, woody, a little background citrus and delicate floral all rolled in to one – how can it have all those notes? I don’t know, I’m not an expert but I do smell all these and I do love it. It’s like a serum in texture, quite silky and not at all greasy but also spreads really easily. I digress – well after a week the tightened, brightened skin was more noticeable and lasted longer than the one off test had done – result! And although others might not know why I looked different, people did comment on how well I looked at this time – double result!!
However it’s not the cheapest product in the Neal’s Yard arsenal and I hope I’m not saggy enough to need that lift continuously yet. So I have decided to keep it for when I really need it – those days when I want to feel extra good or confident. So I might use it as a one off or for a few days leading up to something special, but all products have a shelf life and I don’t want to waste this so I am using it – it will not go to waste. It doesn’t matter whether others notice it or not – I will know and I will feel special when I use it.
