A Winter Skin Saviour? - Trilogy Everything Balm*

Despite a lot of wind, heavy rain and a little bit of snow, this winter so far hasn't been too bad, When you consider though that we're more likely to get snow in February and March than on Christmas Day, we still have quite a bit of winter still to go.

I know I've talked about it a gazillion times but the cold and wintry weather can play havoc with your skin. The cold temperatures and the howling winds, can cause dry skin, chapped lips, and sore and flaky hands. As well as covering up and wearing gloves, the most obvious solution is to moisturise, moisturise, moisturise. Not only does moisturising help to soften and soothe the skin, but a good moisturiser can also help protect the skin from further damage. So for one of December's My Pure reviews I decided to try an all in one moisturiser that's perfect for this time of year

Trilogy Everything Balm is an all in one moisturising balm that's designed to be used on all parts of the face and body.

It's crammed full of natural ingredients and extracts including rose hip, coconut and jojoba oils to help nourish the skin, and ingredients such as vitamin E, Manuka Honey, calendula and paw paw which help to protect and heal the skin.

This balm comes boxed and in packaged in a screw top, white metal tin which is beautifully decorated in a bright, autumnal flower and leaf design.

This product is a solid waxy balm, that melts on contact with the skin to produce a light, moisturising oil. Because it's a plant based balm it isn't as oily or greasy as some similar mineral oil based products, and it seems to sink into the skin as opposed to just sitting on the surface.

To be honest there is hardly anywhere that you can't use this, if you've got a dry or a sore patch then

pop a bit on. I've mainly been using this as a cuticle treatment on both my fingers and toes, and on some dry patches on my legs, hands and feet.

I've also been using it on my left  hand on a pretty nasty burn that I sustained after a fight with an oven shelf, and I have to say I think it's made a difference. This balm contains both rose hip oil and vitamin E which are fabulous for scarring so that's why I think it's helped take away the flakiness and tame the redness.

This balm has a gentle, rose geranium type scent, it isn't too strong, or too overpowering so you can actually also use it as a lip balm. Again because of the natural plant oils and waxes it seems to absorb into the lips, providing instant relief and moisture.

These are just some of the ways to use this product, there are probably hundreds of different ways and places to use is, which is the reason why it's so economical and versatile. Obviously if your melting it in your hands to use it as a massage oil you'll use quite a bit but in my experience a little goes a long way. The picture above shows my pot after around 4 weeks worth of daily use, and as you can see it looks virtually untouched.

I can't recommend this product highly enough, in fact I'm hard pressed to think of any negatives. It does what it says it does and more, and a little goes a long way. This isn't just a winter saviour I think it's a fabulous all year round product that deserves it's place in any bathroom cabinet. Trilogy Everything Balm comes in two sizes, the 45ml which you can see here, that retails at £12.50 and the 95ml which retails at £20.50, both of which are available from My Pure x If you have any questions please leave me a comment x 

(*Sample)

Getting Your Feet Party Ready With Footner Exfoliating Socks*

Nothing seems to divide opinion more then feet. Some people love them (?) and some people? well they can't stand them. Whilst I'm fairly indifferent my mum definitely falls into the latter category and can barely even tough her own without squirming. Love them or hate them though most of us have them and as a result we need to take care of them

In the summertime the majority of us do exactly that. Because our feet are often on show, we exfoliate and moisturise our tootsies, and make sure that our toenails are painted in all manner of pretty colours, come wintertime though and everything changes. Our poor feet are crammed into socks, tights and boots, and like waxing (come on admit it!), caring for our poor feet just isn't as big a priority when the weather gets colder.

I have to say this is me to a tee, in the wintertime my poor feet are usually lucky if they get an occasional massage with foot cream. It doesn't really pay to be lazy though does it? It gives us more work to do later on to get our feet summer ready and what about those Christmas and New Year Parties? A lot of us show off our feet in strappy sandals throughout the party season and believe me sparkly sandals, and cracked heels is not a good look. The obvious solution is to dig out the foot file and the foot cream but thankfully there is now an easier way.

Exfoliating socks really are the answer to mine and so many other lazy peoples prayers. Available in Asia for quite a while now,  it's now much easier to get your hands and feet on some of these miracle plastic booties. I've tried a couple of versions in the past but a little while ago now I was sent some socks to try from one of the UK's best selling brands, Footner.

The idea behind these socks is quite simple. Boxed and sealed in a foil packet, these plastic socks contain an alpha-hydroxy acid (AHA) gel. I'm a huge fan of AHA's in my skincare for their exfoliating and smoothing properties, and they play a similar role in this case.

The AHA's in these socks help to exfoliate and loosen the dead skin on the feet, leaving the feet softer, smoother and exfoliated.

The foil package contains two plastic socks, each sock is lined with a thin paper / fabric type material which is infused with the AHA gel. The socks are sealed so you need to cut along the dotted line in order to put your feet in. A little bit of liquid does come out this point so make sure that your floors, surfaces and floors are protected just in case. The liquid has an ever so slight chemical smell which reminds me a little bit of Alpha H Liquid Gold.

Before you put the socks on it's recommended that you wash your feet in clean, warm water, and thoroughly dry them. These socks fit my size 8 feet with no problem and room to spare, if your feet are smaller the socks do have an adhesive strip which you can use to tighten the top. You can leave them as they are but it's probably safer to put a pair of socks on over the top, just in case you need to move around.

You need to leave the socks on for about an hour. They feel a little bit cold and tingly but they aren't uncomfortable and I didn't experience any real stinging or burning. After an hour you need to wash the excess gel off your feet, again in clean, warm water.

Then all you do is wait. This product isn't for the impatient and those who like to see instant results, it does take time. Over the next few days, your feet will gradually get drier, and drier. Whatever you do, don't use moisturiser on your feet, and don't use a foot file, you just need to have patience.

Eventually the dry, dead skin will start to literally peel off your feel. Soaking your feet in warm water seems to speed up the process, and I know it's gross but don't be tempted to pick it off. The peeling can last for up to 2 weeks and eventually you should be left with much softer feet.

I've been torn so many times over whether or not to show you the photographs of my own experience with the Footner Exfoliating Socks, because to be honest they might put you off your mince pies. That said I do think that they play an important role in showing you just how effective this product actually is, so I've decided to add some links below so you only need to look at the pictures if you really want to ;)

Before 

Before Close Up

After 5 Days

After 5 Days - Close Up

After 5 Days - Close Up 2 

After 5 Days - Close Up 3 

After 7 Days

After 7 Days - Close Up

After 7 Days - Close Up 2 

After 14 Days 

After 14 Days - Close Up

Whether you're brave enough to take a peek at my pictures or not. I can tell you that I was pretty impressed with how this product performed. My feet were a bit of a mess at the start of the trial, and I had lots of dry skin on both my toes and my heels. It took about 3 days before my feet started to peel and that continued for about 10 - 12 days. By day 14, the majority of the dry skin on my feet was gone, there were still a few dry patches on my heels but by and large my feet were smooth.

The worst part of the whole thing was probably when the dryness and flakiness kicked in. My feet did feel pretty itchy at this point, and not being able to moisturise them was pretty hellish. Thankfully soaking my feet in warm water made a huge difference to both the peeling and the itchiness.

If you're after a quick fix then this product probably isn't for you. It takes at least a week to see a result and to be honest they aren't cheap but the results can last up to 6 months. Imagine all that time without scrubbing and filing, it might take a while initially but  you have to admit that this is a much easier way to achieve smoother feet. All I need to do now is slather them in moisturiser every time I have a bath or a shower, and I should have smooth and soft feet right up until the spring. 

The Footner Exfoliating Socks usually retail at £19.99 from Boots and various other retailers

If you have any questions on this product or my experience with it, then please leave me a comment x

*PR Sample