I do get asked to review quite a few skincare products for my blog and it is an honour to be asked and I always appreciate the opportunity, but I am far from a beauty expert, in fact I tend to have a very simple routine and don't buy a lot of different creams.  I am just like you, trying to work out what is best and navigating the ever-changing list of benefits and new miracle ingredients to try and find the holy grail, the best anti wrinkle cream!  I have been faithful to Liz Earle for many years.  But it is also lovely to experiment and find different beauty brands, especially ones I have not heard of, or as you know, I love to support small business owners.

I have been trying out a range of collagen supplements and meaning to write this post for ages and then something happens and it gets put back down the to do list!  I've been having a particularly challenging time recently with some personal stuff that I have needed to give lots of time to.  But despite the madness I still love writing my blog posts and I don't want to give them up.  My blog post today contains gifted items from FutureYou Cambridge/Prime Fifty and LQ Collagen. Read on to find out what I thought and more about collagen and if we should add it to our beauty routine!

​Firstly, let's start with Prime Fifty, this brand were incorporated into the FutureYou Cambridge brand a few months ago and is now available to purchase from the FutureYou website.  I have worked with FutureYou in the past, in particular I use their Magnesium+ supplement on a daily basis.  I love the company and the offer excellent customer service and advice.  They sent me their Collagen+ for hair, skin and nails.  I was also recently sent a sample pack from LQ Collagen, I chose their Joint Care collagen.

In 1994 a young mother was inspired to create a truly organic skincare range when her daughter was struggling with severe skin allergies and eczema which resulted in the launch of her skincare company Green People.  I remember when my own son was born in 1997 and he began suffering with severe eczema, we tried everything to help him.  He was a good baby but the eczema was so bad on his wrists that he would make his skin bleed and be unable to settle at night.  We must have spent a fortune trying out different options.  Charlotte Vøhtz, in the same position, searched the high street for natural products that would be gentle on her daughter's sensitive skin, but even the so called natural skincare brands used synthetic ingredients which can aggravate sore skin.  Charlotte realised that we are all children of the chemical age and that man-made chemicals are found everywhere, this combined with our changing dietary habits, means the affect has been massive.  As I can testify from my own experience.

Fast forward 25 years or so and consumers are much more knowledgeable about what goes into the products they buy.  And natural is increasingly an essential requirement on our list when looking at beauty products.

I gave the 'natural' vs 'synthetic' dilemma some thought a while back when I did a review of Tropic skincare vs Liz Earle.  My conclusion .... From doing a little bit of research it does seem to be that even the experts are divided and in the end it comes down to personal choice and finding a product that works for you and that you love

But without a doubt those with skin allergies and eczema really do need a natural product, my son has to be very careful what he uses, even now, and the wrong product can cause a flare-up and very sore skin.  And our pets are no different, I have two Westies (West Highland White Terriers) notorious for having skin conditions like atopic dermatitis which can cause irritation meaning they want to scratch and lick their skin causing it to become very aggravated.

The time has come, I will own up, along with every other menopausal woman out there, I also get facial hair (did I just publish that) - yep chin hairs!  It was the most devastating discovery (well maybe devastating is a bit dramatic but you know what I mean) when it started appearing in my mid-40's and I have spent the last ten years trying to either pretend it isn't there, disguise it, remove it or (and this is the worst) realising when I am out that I have failed and I can see every tiny little chin hair in the mirror of the ladies loo which means I am now convinced everyone is looking at me!  A bit like a spot!  Chin hairs, hair on the jawline, moustache - help!  Another one of those embarrassing things that we think everyone else can see but they probably can't!  Or are too polite to say anything because they too have to remember to check the mirror before they go out in public.  We're all in the same boat girls!  So is there a good method for permanent facial hair removal?
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Last week I was on a zoom call with my bestest girlfriends and the conversation came up, my friend was convinced it is even more visible on the screen and was horrified that we were all horrified at her appearance!  We weren't. But she asked us for advice on what to do, and we came up with a few ideas.  But I decided it was time to come clean and talk about it on my blog - the last taboo!  So I messaged Lucie of L&A Evolution in Maidenhead, my trusted beauty therapist who looks after all things hair removal for me - sugar waxing and laser hair removal and ask for some tips.