Ambre Rhassoul Clay Face Mask review

Tags

Ambre, Ambre Botanicals, Atlas mountains, Morocco, natural ingredients, raw ingredients, review, Rhassoul Clay, skin care

The Ambre Rhassoul Clay Face Mask is a face mask which contains Rhassoul (or Ghassoul) clay which comes from the Atlas Mountains in Morocco. It is a highly esteemed and popular SPA treatment known around the world for its rejuvenating, cleansing and nourishing properties. Rhassoul is extremely high in minerals such as Silica, Magnesium, and Calcium, which are known to help tone the skin and improve its resilience. With a high absorption ratio, this clay is a superior detoxifier and efficiently draws toxins, absorbs excess oils and impurities from the skin. I used this mask for three treatments. Suitable for all types of skin, including sensitive, for vegetarians and vegans.

To apply it they advise you to add water until the clay turns into a thin paste. What I used instead of normal water was rose infused water because my skin is very sensitive. Then I applied it on my face with a brush and wait until the mask dried ( 10 – 15 minutes ). I rinse everything off with warm water then I applied the Luxurious Oils Blend Vitamins & Fatty Acids Rich Face Serum, previously reviewed here.

– oh, look! there’s a little troll with a mask on her face! classssy!

This mask really smooths the skin and absorbs all the impurities, and if you have any spots at their incipient stages, this will bring them to the surface immediately and allow a faster heal time. It also brightened up my dull face. This has successfully replaced my favourite REN clay face mask.

See you soon, beautiful!

xx, Annie

INTERESTING FACT: Disambiguation. The complete name of this brand is Ambre Botanicals but if you find it only as Ambre it is ok because it is the same. It is just that Ambre alone was already a registered name so they had to call it Ambre Botanicals. You can read more on this independently owned raw skin and body care brand on my previous posts here and here.

Ambre skincare products – get the best of nature at home!

Tags

Ambre, mint, natural ingredients, no chemicals, raw sugar, rosemary, saffron, skincare, thyme

I have to admit that I have been a bit of a skincare fanatic these days. As I do my research for my posts, I daily stumble across more and more products, which appeal to me more that they used to.

The Ambre products are more on the natural ( 100% raw plant source ) side of the skincare items, and I was so intrigued to try them that I ordered almost the entire range. I already have a blog post fully dedicated to the brand, with a review for an amazing face oil here and a post on how I use them to pamper myself, here. So I won’t insist with all the details.

I will only add the fact that this London based mini factory uses only raw, pure, natural ingredients to create skin care products that will be your favourites, in your skincare routine.

And here are my body products…

The Ambre Costa del Azahar Warming and Moisturizing Soap. The story behind this soap begins in the orange orchards from Costa del Ahazar, in Spain. To bring to your bathroom the warm and vibrant notes of the region, saffron petals have been mixed with orange zest, they added cloves and as a finish touch, to invigorate the product they mixed in essential oils of ginger and orange. It is the most dense soap I have ever used. It goes on the skin more as a cream… No! A body butter! Yes, the best description would be: a body butter in a shape of a soap. It doesn’t lather as much, but I came to like this particularity on natural cleaning products with no sulfates.

The Ambre Raw Sugar and Garden Plants Herbal Garden Body Scrub. This body scrub made of botanical ingredients has been created to take extra care of your sensitive skin. This ground-breaking formula contains raw sugar and a refreshing mélange of eucalyptus, basil and sage, in an emollient base of apricot kernels and saffron oil, which will efficiently hydrate your skin during the exfoliation process. The granulation of the raw sugar is so fine and it will give you the most gentle and careful exfoliation you have ever experienced.

The body scrub and the soap as well have a herbaly scent with the high notes of the dominating herbs and oils used in the mixture.

The last product I have here is Ambre Rosemary, Thyme and Mint Invigorating Herbal Bath Oil. This is a bath oil which with a mixture of refreshing, pure natural oils promises you to bring the SPA to your own bathroom. It has important therapeutical properties, given by rosemary, mint and thyme essential oils. They will help relieve stress and fatigue and relax your body muscles as well. Plus, the saffron oil and the macadamia oil nourish your skin, leaving it supple and perfectly hydrated.

All Ambre products are suitable for all skin types, sensitive skin included.

See you soon, beautiful!

xx, Annie

 

 

 

 

 

INTERESTING FACT:

– all Ambre products DO NOT contain water, so NO CHEMICALS. The product you use is in its purest form.

SPA AT HOME – Luxury products 2 – Face

Tags

Ambre, dior, Diptyque, Maison Francis Kurkdjian, Melvita, SPA, Yon-Ka

Here you have part two of the SPA AT HOME mini-series which is entirely dedicated to how I take care of my face. For the other two SPA AT HOME – Body posts, click here and here.

This is going to be my luxury approach and it will be followed by a DIY post featuring natural and affordable products.

It is my skincare routine at the moment, if you like, since I really wanted to write a blog post about what products I use on a daily basis to take care of my skin, but I always seemed to postpone it without any decent reason.

These are the steps:

First I double cleanse my face with the Diptyque Nourishing Cleansing Balm which is a beautiful and easy-to-use cleansing balm. I have a review on it here if you want to read more in depth about it. I use it with plain water but I also use it combined with the next product from my skincare list:  the Diptyque Infused Facial Water. And to remove it I use a muslin cloth. The smell of the products combined with the hot water give me a sensation of relaxation and make me think of a sunny holiday in Bali.

For a deep cleaning I use the Diptyque Radiance Boosting Powder for Face an innovative exfoliating product which leaves my skin clean and glowy.

After washing my face with the cleansing balm and using the radiance powder as a gentle exfoliant, I use the Diptyque Infused Facial Water on a cotton pad as a toner to calm and soothe any irritation. I use gentle patting motions all over my face and I bring it down to my neck too.

The next step is hydration. To hydrate my skin I use two amazing products the Ambre Luxurious Oils Blend Vitamins & Fatty Acids Rich Face Serum a lightweight face oil/serum which is suitable for daytime and for nighttime as well. I reviewed it a while ago ( click here to read ). It absorbs so fast into the skin and leaves no greasy residue. On top of that I use a cream. My current daily moisturizer is the Yon-Ka Age Defense Anti-Oxidant Anti Pollution Day Cream, a natural anti-aging product which acts as a barrier between your skin and the pollutant agents in the atmosphere.

Another step is to take care of my eyes. To clear them I use Visine drops. I have photo sensitive eyes so it is easier to get THOSE(!) fine lines… Since I ran out of my Aesop Parsley Seed Anti-Oxidant Eye Serum, I went through my stash and found this long loved but forgotten Melvita Argan Oil and Rose Hip Oil Targeted Roll-on for Wrinkles and started using it again. What I like to do is to apply it on my eye area straight from the fridge, where I keep it. Like this the coldness of the roller ball helps the oil penetrate easier into the skin. And since this is my absolute pamper day, I take my time and apply another layer of the Melvita Eye Oil and put on a Cooling Eye Mask ( The Body Shop ). I wait 10 to 15 minutes then I take off the mask, and gently massage in whatever is left of the product.

Cooling eye masks might not be everyone’s cup of cake but I know that for me they are since they help me a lot with dark circles, wrinkles, making easier to achieve the minimal/natural makeup I like to wear during the days I have to go to work.

The last ones I’m taking care of are my lips. I don’t have the driest, flaky lips ever. So the scrubbing step it is not a necessity. I only like to use a good lip balm, or a lip oil. I absolutely love my By Terry Baume de Rose but right now I can’t apart from my Dior Lipglow. I love the rosy tint it gives my lips and makes them look plumped, natural and very moisturized.

That is it!

See you soon, beautiful!

xx, Annie

March 2014 favourites – Dior, Rancé, Diptyque, Maison Francis Kurkdjian, Cup&Candle…

Tags

Ambre, Cup&Candle, dior, Diptyque, Maison Francis Kurkdjian, makeup, perfume, Rancé, skincare

This is my very first favourites post. That’s why I’m trying to be a bit more organized than usual – and not to write only with my heart, and classify my items according to how much I used them and how much I liked them. So…

1. I will start with my absolute, absolute favourite this month: Rancé – Rose de Rose Eau de Parfum Très Riche – a perfume of which I got a free sample in January ( post here ) and started to wear constantly at the begining of March, when I bought the full size bottle. *Constantly really means every single day.

2. Makeup. In terms of makeup March was dominated by this one lipstick that, if you follow my blog there will be no surprise… It is the Dior Rouge Dior from the Trianon Spring 2014 Collection, in #744 Allégresse and not another  single word about that. You can read posts here, here and here, instead.

3. Skin care. This moth and a half I had the chance to try the new Diptyque skincare range which, I must admit, is pretty amazing. Another favourite was the Ambre Luxurious Oils Blend Vitamins & Fatty Acids Rich Face Serum read blog post here ). And to moisturize my body I used the Diptyque Eau Rose body lotion and hand cream most of the time.

4. Hair care: the natural products by Rampal Latour ( read post here ) and lots of DIY – but the star of the show is the coconut oil.

5. Fashion: flowy materials in pastel colours: H&M skirt and these Il Passo shoes you can buy here.

6. Random: blogging like crazy, my home scents by Maison Francis Kurkdjian and my latest little finding I absolutely adore – my gracious Cup&Candle lilac scented candle in a cup ( read post here ).

See you soon, beautiful!

xx, Annie

Ambre Luxurious Oils Blend Vitamins & Fatty Acids Rich Face Serum – first impressions

Tags

Ambre, beauty, oils, organic, review, skin, skincare

I have already featured Ambre products in a previous blog post – the SPA AT HOME – Luxury products 1 – Body. But I have never done a proper review on any of these amazing natural findings. So, I thought it would be about time to start appreciate them also in writing.

Ambre Botanical is a small business based in Islington, London which produces raw, pure, natural skincare products. Every item is handmade, produced in small batches, using 100% natural ingredients and nothing else.

They source their ingredients from a local UK, fair-trade and organically certified suppliers. Their products are industry certified and fully conform to the European Cosmetics Products Safety Regulations. Free from any chemical additives, Ambre products deliver a healthy, effective, enjoyable and luxurious skincare experience.

Their products are created based on simple, effective, highly concentrated formulations that DO NOT contain any water and consequently NO CHEMICALS. They use ingredients derived from the plant source and a special cold process to retain their natural, potent, active nutrients in the final product.

They say that to create the Ambre Luxurious Oils Blend Vitamins & Fatty Acids Rich Face Serum they used the most rare and precious pure oils in generous quantities. It contains Marula Oil, one of the most valuable African oils, extremely rich in antioxidants and oleic acid. Also, cold pressed Rosehip Oil wich helps the regenerative cellular process helping reduce the lines, scars or burn marks. Another one is Primula Oil that is very rich in ama linoleic acid ( GLA ) to help restructure and maintain skin’s elasticity.

My thoughts on this particular face serum, after using it for a while, are that it helps regenerate the complexion without leaving a greasy film on the skin. Therefore it can be used at any time of the day, even before applying your makeup. It is very hydrating. After using it my skin didn’t felt dry or devitalized anymore. So it was easier for me to approach a no-foundation makeup look.

It has a very concentrated formula because it contains no water. So, a small amount of product is enough to cover the entire face area and neck. It also comes in a small 20 g bottle with a pipette – very convenient because I don’t have to stick my fingers inside the recipient to use the product. Hygiene matters!

It is suitable for all skin types, sensitive skin like mine included.

I got mine here, but you can also buy it directly from the company’s site here.

See you soon, beautiful!

xx, Annie

 

SPA AT HOME – Luxury Products 1 – Body

Tags

Ambre, body lotion, body scrub, Diptyque, eco oils, luxury, Maison Francis Kurkdjian, perfume, salts, skincare, soap, SPA

Once a week, on Saturdays usually, I keep the day all for myself and I like to have a SPA session in my own bathroom, to relax and to pamper myself. To get ready for the week that is ahead of me…

It is the only day I like to take long, relaxing baths with oils, salts… just like in a SPA. It is my own, personal SPA at home. So in this post I’m going to show you what I do when I want to get fancy. It is a Luxury SPA option I very much enjoy!

So, first of all I like to prepare my bathroom – to make it a bit more SPA-like. And I do that with candles, solid perfume, oils and even with incense paper – my personal favourite. All those scents are complementary and they will create a cosy atmosphere. And let me tell you that my entire house smells ah-mazing! I add some soothing music and some dim light and the decor is ready!

Now it is time to take the long-awaited bath. Under the running water I pour some bath oils, I add some bath salts to help me relax and in I go! After a couple of minutes I scrub my whole body with a gentle body scrub then I like to wash my skin with a moisturizing soap, to remove any excess oil from the scrub.

After washing myself I use a good body lotion. What I like to do is to apply it on damp skin and work it in, giving my whole body a good relaxing massage at the same time.

I never forget about my hands, since at this time of year they tend to get particularly dry.

Here you have a list of my favourite luxury products I like to use at the moment:

– Maison Francis Kurkdjian – APOM Incense Paper  ( link )

– Ambre – Rosemary, Thyme and Mint Invigorating Bath Oil – review

– Ambre – Herbal Garden Body Scrub – review

– Ambre – Costa del Azahar Warming and Moisturizing Soap – review

– Diptyque –  Eau Rose Body Veil

– Diptyque – Eau Rose Hand Cream ( click here for a poetic review )

This is how I treat my body in my own LUXURY improvised SPA, in my own home! And so can you!

See you soon, beautiful!

xx, Annie