The prospect of snow is one thing. Dealing with it upon arrival is quite another. I took one step outdoors on Friday and my skin dried up like a raisin. It isn’t the snow so much as the wind that whips across it, turning my Clarins plumped cheeks into dehydrated pouches.
With the joyful synchronicity that often happens in my job, a parcel arrived containing Dr Organic Manuka Honey Rescue Cream.
I slathered it on, & ventured outdoors. An hour later, after dog walking, sheep feeding and general falling about in the snow I came indoors, defrosted and prodded my face. Still moisturised, still plump, no flakiness or wind burn. Impressive. I was glowing too, but I’ll put that down the effect of unaccustomed exercise.
I usually test a product for a good few weeks before writing it up but, given that this is not an daily face cream, that I have used it for three days in below freezing conditions, and that my extremely sensitive skin hasn’t broken out, (which happens almost instantaneously with the wrong product), I’d say this was a winner.
Unlike many heavy creams, which are dependent on mineral oil & petroleum (Crème de la Mer springs to mind), this relies on organic Manuka honey, known for its restorative & healing properties, hyaluronic acid which aids skin water retention, giving a plumped up look, soothing aloe vera, mosqueta rose oil also known for reducing scarring, sweet almond oil which is a lubricant, borage oils which restore moisture and reduce flakiness, and shea butter & cocoa butter instead of mineral oil.
Best news of all? It’s just £7.99, and the range is produced by British health food store Holland & Barrett. It’s hypo-allergenic, free from parabens, sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS), perfumes or artificial fragrances, GM ingredients or mineral oil.
Now I just need to find something similar for my wind ravaged hair. I suspect the hairdresser’s scissors may be the best answer, as no product on earth can glue my split ends together.
Organic Manuka Honey Rescue Cream 50ml
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Just bought the lip salve, purely by chance as it was all that was available in Holland & Barratt by tube station. Need this kind of cream desperately and was thinking of lashing out, but will immediately take your advice today and go and get it.
SOLD. *runs down to Holland and Barrett*
Oh that is good. I’m out of of moisturizer and there’s an H&B near me — I shall hie me there.
Though what I really need is a good day cream sans parabens etc but *with* SPF (don’t see the point of having lots of good things for the skin in a potion if it’s still going to get damaged by sun). I like Green People’s but it’s getting increasingly hard to find over the counter and I’m a bit disorganised re internet shopping for beauty products — never remember to do it in advance of the previous one running out.
Any suggestions?
Waitrose’s baby bottom butter is also rather fabulous — I now use it as a cheap alternative to elizabeth arden eight hour cream. At £2.40 a tub and organic and free from all the nasty stuff it is a little gem!! x
Good find.
I do think that when you want to SLATHER on something during the winter, then you don’t want to spending lots on yr product. Of course, ’tis lovely if you have something posh, but ingredients & price wise I’m impressed with this. So Caroline, Cal & Hodmandod, do, please report back!
Fordgredial — great tip!
LLGxx
very interesting. I am a face cream fuss pot– my skin and eye area are quite sensitive– so I’ve used Dr Haushka for a long time and though it’s expensive it works– but of course that means I’m not very good at trying new things. I’m interested in manuka though and Dr H is only getting more expensive with the Euro strengthening (I used to get it from a friend in Germany) so I might try this. I also like Weleda for budget friendly but decent masks and bath/ shower products.
Thanks for the recommendation– it’s brought out my inner beauty junkie and she has been lying dormant for some time
A genuine thank you for this recommendation. I have been in real trouble trying to find something suitable for my skin in this weather, and even my trusty decleor wasn’t helping. I will give this a go. For your hair, I recommend a hat. I find that although I may look a bit wild when I remove it, my hair is staying silky and glossy. xx
Finally reporting back. I did go out and buy some. Generally I don’t pay too much attention to my face and skin so I wasn’t quite sure whether it was making a difference. But then this morning I slathered it on around 10am and I’ve just run my hand over my cheek now at 7.30pm and it feels soft and lovely. And that’s despite a very late night (though not too much alcohol) and a bracing 1.5 hour walk in the cold earlier.
So I think it’s a winner. Thank you so much for the recommendation.
I rushed down to Holland and Barrett to buy the cream after reading your review. I was afraid it would be too greasy for my mixed skin type, but have found it to be truly amazing. I’ve used it for a week and my skin feels softer every day. The body lotion is great too.
So thank you for the thumbs up (and for a great blog that has been in my RSS reader for quite a while
I have used many of the items from the Dr Organic range before..the aloe vera body lotion is an all time favourite of mine to soothe my skin in the heat and random rashes i get in africa. Never tried any of the face creams, will give this a go definitely!
I thought I should report back, that having read your review in December, I bought a jar for my sister for her Christmas stocking, and also one for myself. Whilst I used it primarily to battle the snow induced dry patches on my face, I started using it as a night cream in April, having suffered for months with unusually dull, and latterly, spotty skin. Now the cream is almost all gone, and my skin is the best it has ever looked. Although the texture is quite heavy for the Summer, I don’t want to give it up! Thanks for the recommendation!