My Clarins Coffer

Do you have a beauty range that you continue to buy. even in retirement or when money is tight?

Mine is Clarins. I think I must have made that known because look what I received for my birthday recently ...

A 12 Days of Christmas chest filled with Clarins goodies!

I was super excited to receive this as there will be some products in my little red chest that I haven't heard of before, let alone tried.  And I may never have received an advent calendar before either, so #feelingsuperpampered!

I'm not rushing to open my drawers (so to speak!) as I don't want to glut my senses with too much too soon.   I want to try out each product individually so that I can truly gauge the merits of the products.  And of course, it prolongs the excitement of opening these cute drawers so that it all lasts that little bit longer.

So I thought it would be good to update you from time to time on which products I've given a fair run.  Starting with these two.

This product is Eclat Minute.  It's a soft coloured lip balm.  I tend to prefer to wear lip balms most of the time as I feel anything going on my lips should be nourishing them.  And this certainly does. 

I suspect this product is going to be a keeper.

I am a little embarrassed telling you about this one - because in doing so I have to fess up.  I don't usually exfoliate my skin.  I didn't think I needed to, but I've been using this product in the morning, about 3-4 times a week, instead of just splashing my face with cold water.  The embarrassing thing is this - I have an area of bumpy skin on my forehead ... and it's reducing as I use this product.  I should have realised that these bumps could be shifted with exfoliation, but instead I shrugged my shoulders and put it down to Aging Lady Syndrome.  I feel that as the bumps keep reducing I will need to continue the process and this product is going to become a keeper too.

So 2/2 so far in terms of product keeperbility.

Opening these little drawers every few days is so exciting. 

It's become a little ritual.  I sit down with a coffee and look over my new product.  And with the mornings still being quite dark now in December, I light a candle - oh and maybe I do add a few spicy Christmas biscuits to enhance the pamper experience!

For that is what this little coffer of goodies is ... it's ultimate pampering.

And I am so thankful that I received this lovely gift, a luxurious reward for being another year closer to 70!

A la perchoine.

'Tis The Season ...

What's happening with you, my dears?

Here things trundle on.  As does my blog format. So many bloggers have changed their sites in recent weeks.  Am I the only one not to get the memo on this?  I've had this format for nearly two years.  It's probably very granny-like, but I like the format and the colour and I think my overall look is in keeping with who I am, so I think I'll stick with what I have right now.  I do hope you're OK with it

The Photographer and I had a Date Afternoon recently.  We went to our local cinema to see Daddy's Home 2.  Hilarious.  I looked over at TP a few times as I didn't think the film was really "him", but there he was, snugged down in his seat and laughing his little head off ... phew!  It's a great Christmas film and I liked it so much I ordered the first film off Amazon.
So that's a film you might want to catch leading up to Christmas to get you in the spirit of the season.


And what's the season?  Well ... 'Tis the season of boughs of holly and sweater dresses.

Yup, this fawn sweater dress from Monsoon was my outfit of choice for a belated birthday lunch with a dear friend.  BTW, I hope you're not starting to think I'm a one-trick pony with a queue of sweater dresses coming your way.  It's just that, well 'tis the season for sweater dresses.

• Brown boots and opaques, Gabor and M&S respectively.

Tried here with a furry muffler.

The piled on with a brown suede jacket.

Then I tried that dreaded blanket scarf look again.

Did it look any better with a long East cardi, I wondered?

Nah, I'm really going to have to google some blanket scarf tuition, as a helpful reader suggested.

Have you mastered the blanket scarf look?  Is it getting any better for you?

 I think a few of us are struggling, there's so much of it.

Maybe a little muffler is simpler.  Yup, that's the one,

And those were the stages required to dress The Pout for lunch.

I met with my friend in the golf club a 3-4 minute drive away.  I'm not going to give you lots of food shots because some may be being careful with calorie intake to fit into something gorgeous for a Christmas party and I don't want to spoil things.

But just gotta say that I've been eating Mrs Fisken's chicken liver pate for about 15 years and it still does not fail to excite my taste buds when I take my first forkful.  Served here on a toasted brioche slice and with a beetroot relish.  So, so yummy.  It's locally made so Guernsey readers may want to dash round to Forest Stores for a slice or two of this lovely yumgrub for a pre-Christmas treat.  You're welcome.

My friend treated to my lunch and she gave me pressies.

Some fab Clarins products.  It must be obvious to those who know me that I love Clarins products and I was so thankful to family and friends' generosity and thoughfulness, as ever.  I have some more products to share with you soon.  Such a consistently good brand

Well, that was a lovely lunch with a lovely person.

That's me done, I'm off to chose an outfit to tonight's meal with friends.  I hope it's good enough to share photos with you!

A la perchoine.

p.s. I apologise for the abundance of selfies right now.  Normal service will be resumed shortly.



Rellies, Balance and Getting Lucky

I'm mostly really on the ball with my admin, but occasionally something will slip through the net. Like this post.

So I'm taking you back a couple of weeks, to when I ignored my own dressing rules and stuck with the day's "lady-wot-lunches" outfit for the evening's bar meal, even though normally I'd prefer jeans.  Pub = Jeans, one of The Pout's simple dress codes!

Out with rellies.  My Sis, two cousins, and me, at The Rockie, my local.  My lovely local ladies.  We had a great catch-up.

You can already see the fish and chips on the left of the table.  And because I've been amiss considerate in withholding food pics until my previous post, let's address that balance some more with the rest of our meals! 

For our table was piled high with other tasty morsels; sausage and mash, a seafood platter.  It groaned under the weight of this abundance.  Then I groaned the next day when I dragged myself on to the scales!  Or the balancing scales, as I think they were originally called, though sadly my electronic scales are a cruel imbalance of aspiration and reality check.

Here's my dish.  You'd think my tempura prawn tails would have had been a slightly calorie-friendly choice with that pile of salad stuff on the plate.

But then a side order of double-cooked chips had counter-balanced any hint of healthiness!

Yes, I'm all about balances today, folks.  And posting oversights.

For if I'm fessing oversights, I'd better open up to this one too.  This little pic was also in my drafts box.

There are a few things I don't skimp on in retirement, like my beauty essentials.  My quality-budget balance.   A few weeks ago I shopped for three of my four staples, YSL false lash mascara, Clarins Gentle Eye Make Up Remover and Clarins One Step Facial Cleanser (orange extract).  I've used these products for about 15 years and I love them for two reasons. 

1) They are one-stop-shops so fit in with my lazy-girl, corner-cutting approach to life.  A flick of the mascara wand or a swipe with the cleansers and the job is so effortlessly a good 'un.

2) These staples leave my lashes, eyes, and skin feeling good.  Noticeably so as when I was in Southampton a few weeks ago and I used facial wipes for travel - well, on awakening after the first day of using them my skin felt so taught and dry.  I don't use night cream, believing that the skin should have time to relax and breathe, and my skin feels so beautifully soft when I wake up after using the Clarins facial cleanser the night before. 

So I stick with these products, hang the cost.  Their priciness is off-set by their efficacy and my life gets balance, harmony, order.

And I got lucky! When I did the essentials shop recently in Creaseys,  my local department store, I totally lucked out and the freebies kept coming! I was allowed to choose three products from Clarins; and the mascara came with two gifts as well.  5 gifts!!  I haven't used them yet so nothing to report back on.  But I will.

Sometimes I have to buy these beauty essentials on line because of logistical issues, like the 100ml flying restriction.  But mostly I buy in the high street.  I get a great personal service and just occasionally I am showered with freebies! 

And we pensioners like freebies, eh?  Life's give-take balance.

Do you have any beauty product must-haves?

Products that never let you down?

Products that you don't ditch, even when money is tight?

I'd love to hear.

A la perchoine.

The Lazy Girl's Approach to Cleansing

I am pretty lazy, especially when it comes to cleansing off make-up at the end of a long day.  It's then that I wish that my beauty routine entailed nothing more than a quick brush of my teeth, or a meticulous brushing and flossing if my hygienist happens to read this :-). 

I have never been a fan of the 4-step palaver of eye make up cleanser, facial cleanser, tonic - gosh, what is it called, it's so many years since I used it, that astringent stuff anyway, you know what I mean - the Night-time Removal Team!   Follow that with night cream and you're talking a 10-15 minute routine surely.  I wouldn't know because I never really subscribed to all that malarkey, for I am a lazy person.

When I was in my early 20s I discovered a wonderful all-in-one cleanser/tonic called Cosmedin - anyone remember it?  It was a magic little bottle and I continued to use the product until it was discontinued.

There then ensued the wilderness years, and really when I look back I can't think of what I used for make-up removal ... if any product at all :-).  Most certainly the full complement of the Night-time Removal Team never came a-knockin' at my door!     It's all a bit of a blur now and certainly no product stands out as being memorable.

Then about 10-15 years ago I discovered .... ta dah ...

Clarins one-step-facial-cleanser-with-orange-extract

It is just what it says on the bottle.  And it is wonderful.  No matter how tired I am, cleansing is but a cotton wool pad wipe away - I actually enjoy the process and my skin is left soft. 

I don't use night cream as I think my skin needs some time to breathe and rest and what better time for that  than during all those glorious heating-free sleep hours.

My skin feels beautifully soft when I wake up and I just splash my face 3-4 times with super-cold water, smooth on some light moisturiser and I am good to go.

Clarins One-step Facial Cleanser with Orange Extract - surely the Clever Granddaughter of Cosmedin?

But, hold on, what's this?  Queue more ta dahs ...

Clarins gentle-eye-make-up-remover

When Clarins came up with its magic facial cleanser it gave it a best friend. This again is what it says on the bottle - just leave soaked cotton wool pads on the lids and lashes for a few seconds then gently wipe away.  It removes even the most challenging of mascaras.

I take good care of my eyes and I am very cautious about what goes on them.  I trust this little bottle with my precious eyes.

It's funny but in retirement I have cut many corners to fit in with my reduced income. Yet not once have  I considered switching these cleansers for something cheaper and anyway, they  last for ages.

Ordering these products from allbeauty.com is such a simple process, their site is so Granny-friendly and deliveries are received within a day, maybe two tops.

That's my cleansing routine in a nutshell.  A one minute nutshell, for that is all it takes to thoroughly cleanse my face of makeup. Follow that with a few minutes for teeth brushing and  Bob's votre oncle!

So, what about you?  How do you feel at the end of the day, ready for some meticulous cleansing?

Are you a night cream person?  Have you mourned a discontinued product but found an equally excellent replacement?  I'd love to hear - you can comment below. 

A la perchoine.