Fantastic Skincare And Where To Find It

[Pupsiecola]

In honour of bo who has been so helpful on the first thread, which can be found here...

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/style_and_beauty/a2759152-Skincare-Ingredients

Chocolat look at the Face Theory moisturisers. I have been very impressed with them and they're cracking good value.

somerset brilliant idea. Thank you. I am drowning a little here. I have just PM'd you.

Oooh spill the beans bo on retail space trickery!

I'll take a look at that vid thanks bo
Don't get me started on the well-designed effects of retail....I swear down the first time I set foot in Sephora in France, I actually did have a proper rush - heart racing, slight palpitations...the lot. It was a bit mad....I managed not to overspend too badly, but mind you, that's how I've got a Sephora mini travel palette I neither want nor need...

If those glasses were a thing I'd be selling them .

I'm not going to divulge all those secrets, I'm not mad! It's way too much to explain anyhow, people do entire PhDs on the psychological impact of retail spaces or just light on its own. It makes for interesting reading anyhow, in brief the cheaper the retailer (think Primark, H&M, etc.) the more they'll spend on this kind of thing. Lighting is a huge part of it and can get outrageously expensive but it all pays off. High end retail is actually quite tricky to design because basically they want everyone to walk out there with a low priced item rather than a few with one expensive bit as the margins are lower on those and therefore needing it to feel somewhat accessible whilst still maintaining a threshold of prestige that allows people to buy into the brand as that's how they make their money. Pretty sure Sephora spent a lot of money getting that balance just right, they're part of the LVMH group that are known to invest a lot of money researching this kind of thing and one of the few that still spend a lot on physical retail stores.

Thankfully the import duties are always so insanely high on the Sephora website as I've loaded up carts there far too often choosing not to purchase in the end still want to try the bloody Drunk Elephant stuff.

Sephora is coming to the U.K. soon hopefully. Well, coming back I should say. Boots need to seriously sort their website out, if they do.

I have spots. Booo! Blaming the Clinique ttdo balm. Knew it was in the rejects basket for a reason. So another over priced pot of EH is on its way to me.

Somerset Hope today was an ok day for you and you've managed to rest a bit. x

Enid - weirdly my skin loves the TTDO balm! I'm prone to spots, it's weird how individual it is

When was there a Sephora in the UK then?

When I lived in Singapore it was impossible to avoid them!

Hollin I know! It's so tricky. There's nothing in the ingredients really. All I can think is that it's slightly too 'stripping' (for want of a better word) for me. I know lots of people love it.

Pupsie Way back. Think they had one store in London but somewhere that didn't get a lot of passing footfall so it failed and they decided that meant there was no demand in the UK. Years ago though, possibly before online shopping etc and the way we shop now and people's knowledge is very different. I think Boots owned it at one point too.

Found this. It was only in 2005! And they had 9 stores so that kills my theory. m.propertyweek.com/news/soaring-rents-force-sephora-to-leave-uk/3048560.article

I think it's the Ethylhexyl Palmitate, my skin isn't a fan of this ingredient either, after a few days it will react to products with this in it in high concentrations.

I finally remembered another balm without shea butter, Enid, it's probably more expensive than the EH though so probably useless but the Darphin one is beeswax based without Shea butter. I've still been toying with the idea of making my own CB, it appears to be a lot easier than I thought and I even found a European supplier (based in the UK, unfortunately the shipping is on the high side) with a good emulsifier for it, similar to the one used by EH and a few other balms.

m.propertyweek.com/news/soaring-rents-force-sephora-to-leave-uk/3048560.article

Link doesn't work...

"Soaring rents force Sephora to leave UK
24 March 2005

Sephora, the perfume retailer owned by luxury goods conglomerate LVMH, is poised to pull out of the UK after incurring rent hikes at many of its stores.

Sephora has nine shops in the UK, including one at Bluewater, all of which will close by the end of May.

A number of retailers, including Tom Hunter’s Qube footwear chain and fashion chain Bank, will take stores.

Interest has been shown in all the branches except the Southampton store in Hammerson’s West Quay development.

It is understood Bank, founded by joint chief executives Andy Scott and Hoss Mehjoo, has signed an agreement to take over the Kingston store and is in talks to take the Merry Hill outlet in the West Midlands.

Qube has taken the 2,840 sq ft (265 sq m) Uxbridge store and Optical Express has taken the store at Bluewater.

The remaining outlets, at the Harlequin Centre in Watford, Brent Cross and the N1 Centre in London, and in Solihull are all under offer.

Sephora has been crippled by the rent increases at stores; its rent at Bluewater increased by 50% at the last review.

The stores range in size from 2,500 sq ft (230 sq m) to 3,500 sq ft (325 sq m).

Sephora opened in the UK in 1999. It has stores in China, the US, Canada, Spain, France, Poland and Portugal. It pulled out of the Japanese market in 2001.

Harper Dennis Hobbs is the sole agent for Sephora in the UK. The company declined to comment."

bo Could be that. I actually did pause at that when reading the ingredients but wasn't sure why. Maybe I'd seen you comment on it before. I'll add it to my ?? list.

Going to take a look at the Darphin..

Although wondering if I might like the EH more now I won't be using it twice a day. It's too much for a bare face morning cleanse. Never 100% that it doesn't cause a bit of congestion but that was when I didn't have a moisturiser I was happy with etc so we'll see.

Blimey, this thread moves so fast!

Bo is the Kohaku HA lotion really good? I've been using Hada Labo Premium and find it great but trying to go paraben free. Just wondering how it compares!

Maybe it's this ingredient in the INCI (that's why I only bought it once)-

Polyethylene (abbreviated PE) or polyethene(IUPAC name polyethene or poly(methylene)) is the most common plastic. The annual global production is around 80 million tonnes.[2] Its primary use is in packaging (plastic bags, plastic films, geomembranes, containers including bottles, etc.).

We also had Sephora here
They did have an AMAZING sale when they closed though.

bo which emulsifier were you thinking of?

The one I use (the Amber one) is more like the regular/light version of HL so that isn't really comparable. There is a black Extra Moisturising version that's somewhat thicker in substance but I've never used it but think it will be somewhat different to the HL Premium as it doesn't have all the different types of HA in there but it does have a few more moisturising ingredients in there. It would come the closest but if it'll do the same things for you is another question entirely. More info here.

This one, Aurora. Official INCI name: PEG-6-Caprylic/Capric Glycerides, the ones most used in high end CB is PEG-6 Caprylic/Capric Glycerides with PEG-60 Almond Glycerides, I found the supplier of that one too but it doesn't seem to be available for DIYers so basically the same without the Almond Glycerides. It's a coconut and glycerin derivative.

Pupsie I will definitely look at those moisturisers, thank you!

Bo I have always had this problem with congestion and blackheads but I think this routine may have made it slightly worse. It definitely hasn't improved, though I feel less oily and the pimple and cystic issues seem to have calmed a lot.

I still have the remains of a rash on my cheeks from whatever I reacted to, so have just taken an antihistamine. Hopefully it will clear now.

Well that's positive on the inflammation front, Raisin, we'll have to wait and see if the BHA will make a difference for you.

I was thinking about you Rosaceae party people, if anyone's interested in the Japanese SPF offerings I can probably make a shortlist of possibilities there, though you'd have to be guinea pigs of some sort as I haven't tried a whole lot of them as I just really like one of the first ones I tried and stuck with it.

bo you are making me google dangerous websites again

They have such lovely oils, and soooo cheap! I might have to get everything (not before 2017 obv)

Still no sign of BT blush

For the love of god, why don't places list the ingredients of the products they're selling?! That's three times today I've gone on a hunt. I'm amazed people will buy things without knowing what's in them.

Paula's Choice seems to love ttdo. Usually if I like something they hate it, so it makes sense they'd like it.

Sorry to read of the things people are dealing with just now

Ime, the UK Sephoras always looked like a flock of teenage schoolgirls bomb had hit them, testers all smeared and product everywhere. Never looked like the ones in Europe anyway!

I am in love with the TO caffeine eye serum BTW. It really does help with puffy eyes - amazing. I've been poorly for a few days and I'm sure this has helped me look normal. Am keeping it in the fridge a la Pupsie.

Quick q about Niacinamide, is it a cumulative effect or a quick win ingredient? Used daily how soon would you reasonably see results...? Not sure if the pale glow is due to that or being a bit feverish. Lol.