A tale of 12 moisturisers..

I jumped onto the bandwagon of daily body moisturising back in 2005 when I had finished my law degree and was working the summer before doing my LPC..a bandwagon which I quickly disembarked when I realised just how heavy the workload of the LPC was.

But, I hear you say, that was nearly 6 years ago, why are you still packing heat?  Well, I was moisturising during the interim, albeit sporadically.  I also kept buying more and more in the hope that I'd once again have the time to moisturise everyday because, you know, getting the LPC out of the way was the hard part, not what came after it *ahem*. 

I've reviewed the Aveeno ones in detail here but pace yourselves for a speed review of the rest.

Olay Body Quench Mousse:  If you use too much, you will feel sticky and greasy for ages.  I find the best way to use this is to squash it into your skin and then slide your hand down to let it soak in.  This makes your hands sticky and this will transfer onto the canister.  On the plus side, the bottle lasts an age.  It is also very cheap.  It cost me £1 from the Pound Shop and it is a permanent fixture as I have always seen it there.  They have another variant for people who have normal skin.  If you moisturise after shaving/waxing, don't use this as it stings like a motherfudger.  

Would I buy it again? No.  It doesn't give my skin enough moisture and takes ages to dry properly.

From Russia with love

I have always wanted to go to Russia, I've seen it on countless TV programmes but I truly fell in love with it when I saw it on one of Anthony Bourdain's shows.  It was the furry hats and the thick snow that drew me in.

I'm not ashamed to say that I let out a squeal of delight when I was told I'd be going.  I got an email the other day from someone who was going on holiday to Moscow and they asked which products helped me keep my skin in decent condition whilst I was there.

Here's what I took..

1. Aveeno Skin Moisturising Lotion.  I have reviewed this before (click here).  My skin is drier than the Sahara as it is so I was applying this like it was going out of fashion in Moscow.  It kept my properly hydrated and for that I am very grateful.
2. Purity Organic Skincare Facial Moisturiser.  I am really loving this brand, I raved about their cleansing makeup remover and I have just as much love for this face cream.  It manages to hydrate my skin (which was going through a horrible dry, flaky patch before I started using this) without making me greasy.  The only issue I first had with it is that it feels a bit too solid and you have to work it into your hands and then into your skin but I have found that the massaging part helps really sink the cream in.  I used more of this in Moscow than I would in England and it did a brilliant job of keeping me moisturised without turning me greasy which is no mean feat.
3. Jessica Nails Nourish Cuticle Formula.  I have reviewed this before and of all the cuticle smooth makers (we're hot on technical terms around these parts) this is the best one I have ever used.  I was using this every morning and every night whilst in Moscow.  It also helped keep the finger tips moisturised and it healed up a cut I had on my thumb in record speed.  This is seen as a product you think you don't really need but once you start using it, you do wonder why you didn't start earlier.
4. Carmex Lip Balm.  I love this.  I've mentioned this before.  I forgot to use it on the first day and my lips were crying out for it come the evening.  I applied copious amounts of this and it never failed to work.
5. Aveeno Hand Cream.  You will see that I took two hand creams out with me, this is because I rely too much on it.  This moisturises my hands like no other so it was the first thing I put in my skincare bag.
6. Liz Earle Superskin Concentrate.  I love this for many reasons.  Firstly, it works.  It looks like a mixture between oil and water (ha!) and I find it is a very indulgent product.  This is the kind of product that I can imagine someone with a dressing table having.  The kind of person who has time to sit down at the end of a day/start of a day and look into a massive mirror whilst savouring the products they are using.  I do not have time for this..and even if I did..I don't have a dressing table (boo!) The directions say to warm it up in your hands but I find it warms itself up once it touches skin.  In England, I just used on my face and was done with it but in Moscow I decided to rub it on the decolletage because touching that part of your body is quite comforting when you're freezing *ahem*.  It doesn't leave behind a greasy film and just gets to work overnight.  My skin always looks better in the morning for having used it.  I can see it lasting me ages as one pump is all I need (double entendre FTW).
7. Anatomicals Help the Paw.  I love love love using this whilst in London as it gives me the perfect amount of moisture. My hands also really dry out when I'm on the aeroplane and this cream is the perfect consistency to moisturise but also not leave my hands so greasy that I can't hold a glass/fork/knife.

Now, about Russia.  I still love it.  If you've seen it on TV and it looks magical..just wait til you get there.  I went to Moscow and I have fallen in love with it.  I went to Prague earlier this year and announced that it had stolen my heart..it is now my bit on the side, Moscow is my love.  Me being the idiot I am wanted to know how cold -25 °C actually was so I decided to go out in the dead of night.  It was freezing..well, about 25 degrees MORE than freezing.  We did the old "take out a glass of water and see how quickly it freezes" experiment.  It was about 2 seconds before we saw little icy bits forming.

Discover Aveeno..

A while back I was accepted to be an Aveeno Discoverer, which basically means that they send me stuff and I review it..

Now we have that out of the way, time to give you the rambles that you have all, by now, become desensitised to..

The boxes remind me of the boxes that Harrods ship their ties in.  Simon ordered a few a while back and when these turned up, I assumed he'd ordered more.  When I saw the boxes, the Aveeno part was covered with a letter..hence the confusion.  I can actually read!

This is what I got..times two.

The Skin Relief Moisturising Lotion was a blessing in disguise.  I've mentioned before that my skin went from being normal to being really dry.  I tried so many moisturisers which promised to sort it out lickety split but they wrote cheques they couldn't cash.

I didn't think this would do anything as others hadn't.  How wrong was I.  I used this and it sunk in nice and quickly, was easy to rub in and it didn't have an overpowering smell.  My skin was still soft the next day and I didn't have to reapply which is something I had to do with every other moisturiser I used.  It says "24 hour moisture" but I find that I can skip a day which is brilliant.  I've already finished one tube and am close to finishing the second.  If you have dry skin I would recommend this until the cows came home.

The Hand Cream smells of nothing when it comes out of the tube but as you rub it in, it smells of almond slices but the smell fades quickly.  It feels greasy when you put it on your hands but as you work it in, you feel it melting and the grease vanishing.  I think grease is equated with sticky hands when it comes to handcream and you don't get that here either.  I like it but I like this more but that's only because it smells like sweets and I'm a pig.

The Daily Moisturising Lotion (Lavender) is the one on the left hand side.  I first used this to moisturise my legs after shaving them.  I shaved my legs in the morning of the last Bank Holiday and decided to moisturise when Eastenders finished (half 8!)  My legs stung like mad for at least 15 minutes.  I'm writing this part of this review at 9 p.m on that Bank Holiday so the pain is fresh in my mind.  The stinging fades within 20 minutes and the moisturiser does sink in nicely.  My skin also feels pretty nice and soft.  I'm yet to use it on skin I don't shave.  However, no other moisturiser I have has ever stung me like this has.  I like the smell of this over the Skin Relief Moisturising Lotion but then again, this has been marketed as having a fragrance whereas the others haven't.  Also, it's not as moisturising as the Skin Relief Moisturising Lotion, I had to apply this every day.  If you have super dry skin, buy that instead.

The Daily Moisturising Lotion (no fragrance) did not sting my legs at all which was odd.  Putting my expert detective skills into gear, I realise that the fragrance must be the irritant.

Overall, my favourite is the Skin Relief Moisturising Lotion and I will be using this as my exclusive moisturiser from now on as the search for one which provides me with the moisture I need is off!