Blackberries Exfoliating Shower Gel by Yves Rocher

My bathroom is starting to look like a store room for Boots at the moment, with tubes of every imaginable shower wash, body polish and toner lining every inch of once available space. I have no idea where 90% of it comes from but that doesn’t stop me from trying them all out! The Blackberries Exfoliating Shower Gel by Yves Rocher had been eyeing me up in the bath (if you actually thought something mildly rude, all I have to say is…..shame on you, shame….).

Now I know that this is the second Yves Rocher post in a row, trust me the blog isn’t going to turn into some kind of love in, but this shower gel is one of those products that you just have to tell people about. I literally started to write this post up as soon as I had finished using it the first time. Not wanting to rush to judgement I have been using it ever since to get a more balanced view - I also committed the cardinal sin of not photographing it to within an inch of it’s expiry date before using it.

You can expect to pay around £3-4.50 for a 200ml tube of the shower gel and this is what Yves Rocher say about it:

'The elegant pampering of an exfoliating shower gel, enriched with Kiwi seeds to gently scrub your skin. It’s formula, deliciously scented with Blackberries, contains organic Cornflour water. 

Leaves your skin perfected cleansed, delicately scented.’

Paraben free, the chances of this drying out your skin are incredibly low from just looking at the ingredients. 

The fragrance is simply put of this world - it's like smearing yourself in blackberry jam, so sweet, it even has a jam like texture that is really easy to apply.

To assist with exfoliation the shower gel uses Kiwi seeds, these are larger than blackberry seeds and stand out in the gel. While these seeds act as a fantastic exfoliant and they really do scrub off that dead skin to reveal a rosy glow. The only thing I would have liked to have seen is more seeds - it's a bit sparse on that front I'm afraid.  

Washing with the gel is a breeze although personally I have to remind myself that while it smells like jam and looks a bit like jam I shouldn't lick myself (weirdo alert).

This does the job. It could do it better with more seeds added to the ingredients but even so the results are great. My skin does have that soft glow after using that you would expect after exfoliating large sections of your body and in addition to my skin feeling soft and hydrated it also smells amazing. If you throw into the mix the fact that the actual exfoliation is so gentle you would harder believe dead skin is being removed and you have a winner.

The fragrance lingers on the skin for a good half an hour and after using this again on Friday I still detected hints of this coming off my arms and over a fairly potent aftershave while travelling on the underground. Heaven!

After going from having never heard of Yves Rocher to stalking their website for new things to try I have to say in firmly converted. 

It's pretty difficult to get excited about a shower gel I know but this has everything. A slight tweak to the formula and you have an amazing product. As it stands it is just a bloody good product.

I'm glad I tried it and have been using it ever since.

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Ambre Noir by Yves Rocher

If I told you that you could pick up a hard-wearing and lovely smelling fragrance (and a 50ml bottle of it at that) for just £16 you would probably be calling for the men in white coats. No, I haven’t fallen for Old Spice (although a bottle of that is nearly £10). I have fallen for Ambre Noir by Yves Rocher.

Read on into my insanity....

When I was told by my other half (affectionately known as the ball & chain or Beautyqueenuk) that one of her PR contacts was going to send me an aftershave to sample from Yves Rocher my response was quite blunt (the expletives have been removed) - “who are Yves Rocher”.

Fast forward (weird flashback to my last job there) a couple weeks and a 50ml bottle of Ambre Noir popped through the letterbox. After looking for the aftershave online to do a bit of research and seeing that the same bottle could be picked up for £16 here my expectations were low - lower than a world champion limbo dancer in fact.

This is what the Yves Rocher folk have to say about Ambre Noir:

‘The intensity of dark woods, the sensuality of amber.

Assert your seductiveness with AMBRE NOIR, which combines the intense and woody character of patchouli and vetiver with the sensuality of tonka bean. At the heart of this fragrance, the subtlety of cedar and lavender accentuates its elegance.’ 

The main ingredients to Ambre Noir are botanically based: essential oils of patchouli, vetiver, bergamot, cardamom seed, mandarin, cedarwood, elemi and lavender, violet leaves and tonka bean absolutes.

First impressions were good, it was very light and fresh. To me, I was sure that the main top note was a light and very subtle lavender which blended with the mandarin to give a rather fruity citrus aroma (if you really do keep sniffing away you can pull out the sharpness of the mandarin just momentarily).

Within fifteen minutes the top notes die down yet the aftershave becomes sweeter on the nose - weird, but a good kind of weird. This sweetness remains for moments, less than five minutes. 

At this stage, the amber and tonka beans blend beautifully. It’s almost a weird union of the warmth of the amber and the sweetness of the tonka bean. Without the amber this would probably have the same sweetness as Versace Eros, Joop or Valentino Uomo, instead it starts to dry down to a lovely warm reliable fragrance very much on a par with Fahrenheit by Dior. 

As I have said, the fragrance on dry down has the warmth of Dior’s Fahrenheit, it has a depth of both spice and wood to make this probably a bit too earthy and masculine for me to wear out and about at night, but perfect for daywear on a regular basis. That depth and the dry down base keeps Ambre Noir sitting on the skin really well and for over ten hours which is always a plus. 

At every stage of wearing this what I found was a series of ingredients that blended so well it was a pleasure to wear Ambre Noir, and I rarely say that. Take into account the excellent, and I mean astounding value for money and the lack of burn when applying after shaving then I can’t sing it’s praises enough. Top notch stuff - one does doth ones cap to the perfumer who came up with this baby (sorry, I think I added this line after a night out).

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The Maze Inn - Cocktails

Update January 2016 - sadly The Maze Inn has closed down and I'm at a loss as to where I can get a good cocktail in North London now.

It may be Thursday but if you haven't already been planning where you should be imbibing drinks this weekend (what have you been doing Monday - Wednesday?!?) I have a place you could try, and for the first time ever you are treated to a joint post. While my friend, Bailey (a.k.a The Bromley Boozer) and expert in all things cocktail and alcohol related has jotted down the bones of this post I have added to it slightly to avoid being barred from one of my local drinking establishments - I am talking about Maze Inn, a bar located next to the London Underground station in Southgate, Enfield. 

Turn the lights down low - on a Friday & Saturday the bar is quite atmospheric

So, on with the show. 

At 2 am on a Friday or Saturday night (it’s open till 3 am) you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who cares much about the quality of the drinks at the Maze Inn; only that it’s still serving them long after everywhere else nearby has called last orders (and yes both I and Bailey have been guilty of this a few times). 

The fact that Southgate, located just a few stops from the end of the Piccadilly Line probably isn’t many people’s idea of a top quality cocktail destination is a problem for the venue. In an area lacking places with a touch of class (glass in the door windows) to drink in, Maze Inn stands out. 

I'm not really this pale, the flash on the camera was set to 'burn retinas'

It has a relatively nice heated outdoor seating area to the front and while I (Stephen) think the interior is quirky and slightly moody with the absence of bright light, Bailey thinks different. As I may be slightly bias knowing what used to be there before Maze Inn opened I have left the descriptions of the interior design to her. 

Anyway, without wandering off topic too much, we’ll continue! On our specially timed early evening visit to sample the cocktails a couple of weeks ago we sauntered in, searching and needing a stiff drink. 

Maze Inn is a bar that turns into a nightclub on a Friday and Saturday night. It doesn’t particularly get busy and it’s the kind of place you can do and have a nice drink if you don’t want to be hassled, jostled or bumped around a city centre bar or local boozer. 

Every bar or restaurant needs a concept these days – whether it’s playing poker to set the price of your dinner, playing with cats with your cup of coffee or serving nothing but bowls of cereal. And Maze Inn used to have a concept. Sort of (about five years ago).  But sadly there is now no sign of the legendary Happy Hour machine where a press of a giant button on the bar brought the random chance of a buy one, get one free or some other money-saving deal on the price of drinks.  If the owners are reading this – we want it back and we want it back now.

Now for Bailey’s description of the interior (as there are photos I’m not sure why she insisted on this section). The décor won’t win any prizes for originality.  The throne style chairs that David and Victoria Beckham got married in seem to have been the inspiration, along with plenty of red pleather and chandeliers bought in bulk from Homebase.  But if you want a fashionable place then go hang out in Shoreditch or Deptford or wherever the cool kids go.                                
The cocktail menu isn’t massive but size isn’t everything and it does have some interesting options.  At £7.50 each they are pretty good value and would certainly be double that if served in central rather than on the edge of London.

I unimaginatively chose a Long Island Iced Tea (vodka, gin, rum, tequila, triple sec and coke).  I have these every time I go to Maze Inn as they are the best I have ever tasted. Not just the best in London, the best in the world - they even beat the ones from Las Vegas where a bartender tried to kill my liver with one drink.

Bailey always goes for a vodka martini because they use her favourite Grey Goose vodka and take the time to chill the glass first by filling it with ice.  Because there are no mixers in a vodka martini it has to be good vodka or you just don’t get a smooth enough drink.  Being pure spirits (just vodka and vermouth) it’s a drink for sipping slowly whilst enjoying pleasant surroundings and good conversation.  And at the Maze Inn at least you get the pleasant surroundings…..(that is Bailey’s attempt at humour).

On the advice of the friendly barman Darnell, Bailey chose a Hurricane (a blend of rums, orange, pineapple and over-proof rum) and it was strong.  Any drink made with Wray and Nephew Overproof rum (ABV 63%) is going to pack a punch; apparently it accounts for more than 90% of all  rum sold in Jamaica!  

Darnell mixing our drinks - he knows his stuff

The problem was that the fruity taste masked the potency and it wasn’t long before Bailey was grateful that the seats at the bar were the chair types with backs on them.

Our next drink was ordered ‘off-menu’ (if it’s good enough for celebrities it’s good enough for us). Darnell concocted something that he likes to drink himself – from memory (hazy memory) I think it was rum-based with blackberry juice, nutmeg and cane sugar.   I liked it a lot – I just wished that I was drinking it on a Caribbean beach rather than sub-zero Southgate in January.

Deciding that we weren’t sober enough to appreciate any more cocktails we called it a night until our next visit: maybe there won’t even be a Long Island Iced Tea ordered too. Now that really would be a Maze-inn (groan).

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The Maze Inn
7 Chase Side, Southgate N14 5BP
www.mazeinn.co.uk

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Burt’s Bees - Therapeutic Bath Crystals

When it comes to stress relief (no rude comments please) nothing can beat a long soak in the bath, and to say that my bathroom resembles an online boutique of lotions and potions is something of any understatement. Burt’s Bees Therapeutic Bath Crystals have been a welcome addition to my baths for well over three months, mainly because they contain Eucalyptus oil that helps open up my airways and helps me breath more easily.

Burt’s Bees Therapeutic Bath Crystals - filtered photograph

As a bit of background before I unleash my opinion of the product I should point out that I have serious sinus problems and a degenerative lung condition (not helped by my addiction to the demon weed - that’s cigarettes for the avoidance of doubt). Anything that helps me take in air by clearing my sinuses or chest is most welcome.

The salt crystals are infused with essentials oils and a little goes a long way - just two tablespoons of the crystals are needed, thrown in casually as the bath is filled with hot water. 

Burt’s Bees Therapeutic Bath Crystals - the crystals

Burt’s Bees Therapeutic Bath Crystals - the crystals remind me of rock salt

Eucalyptus is released as soon as the crystals come into contact with the warm water. What I found weird was that after around five minutes of the water running hints of lemon started to blend with the Eucalyptus - awesome, I love the smell of lemon! Oh my lord, the fragrance is so warming and the impact on my chest was almost immediate. When I first started using the crystals I freely admit I was struggling to breathe at all - inhalers, steroids and antibiotics were being popped at an alarming rate with no relief. While using the crystals didn’t and would never cure my problems they did provide relief and that was erm…….a relief. 

450g for £10.99 - unfiltered photograph of Burt’s Bees Therapeutic Bath Crystals

Now this is what Burt’s Bees say about the crystals:

‘Strenuous exercise can be great for the body, but hard on muscles. Indulge in a warm bath of salt crystals and essential oils after a workout to help release the lactic acid that builds up during physical activity causing muscle ache. The penetrating action of Burt's Bees' all natural Therapeutic Bath Crystals essential oils helps stimulate the elimination of waste products, helping muscles feel as good as new.’

In terms of soothing aching muscles I have to say that I do come out of the bath feeling more relaxed and less tense, but this could be down to the long soak in the warm bath. 

450g tube of the bath crystals will set you back £10.99 from here. Now considering that I have been showering in the morning and bathing every night for months these still haven’t run out. These crystals represent excellent value for money.

*Digression warning* I am a big fan of Calvin Klein Eternity Bath Salts - not only do they turn the water a stunning deep blue they leave my skin looking hydrated, feeling soft and smooth and smelling beautifully of Eternity. While Burt’s Bees crystals don’t leave the skin smelling as great, the results are equally as appealing. Skin is left feeling soft and smooth, the essential oils are absorbed really quickly and even when dried off completely I find that my skin has a wonderful glow. 

Add in the fact that the steam, infused with Eucalyptus and hints of lemon clears my sinuses and helps loosen any build up in my lungs and I’m a very happy camper.

If I had to choose between my favourite CK bath salts/crystals and Burt’s Bees I’d struggle pick. If bathing before a night out I would go with CK, but for more regular use it has to be Burt’s Bees Therapeutic Bath Crystals. 

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Man EDT by Hugo Boss

I have a kind of mixed bag history with Hugo Boss aftershaves. I love Just Different but simply could not stand Dark Blue. Thankfully, today I get the chance to write about Hugo Boss Man, an aftershave that has been in my collection for just over two years (it entered the collection as a Christmas gift in 2013).

In the interests of openness and transparency I will at this stage point out that my bottle (pictured below) was getting a bit low and had sat in my wardrobe for some time. Fragrance Direct offered me a sample and I jumped at the chance, receiving a 40ml bottle. Not only could I get my nose around something a bit fresher than my own, it also allowed me the opportunity to test the longevity when stored away for months on end. 

You can buy a 125ml bottle (I have a 100ml bottle) with a gift (it’s a Hugo Boss branded portable speaker) from Fragrance Direct for just £32 here. Until 5 February 2015 you can also get an extra 10% all Hugo Boss products at Fragrance Direct by entering the promotion code BOSS10. 

£32 however puts this squarely in the budget category as far as my aftershave collection is concerned and to be honest, considering how good the fragrance is you can’t ask for better value for money. 

Personally I alternate my aftershaves, I find it a bit dull to wear the same fragrance day in and day out but my bottle took a pounding for a good year and there is still about a fifth of the bottle left - a little goes a long way.

The notes to Man read like a fruit salad, with apple and grapefruit sitting at the top - my initial expectations were of a fresh and light fragrance that warmed on dry down. The full notes are:

• Head: Green apple, Grapefruit and Bergamot
• Heart: Jasmine, Geranium, Lavender and Patchouli 
• Dry Down: Musk, Fir Balsam and sandal

Man dries down quickly so trying to pick out notes and how they blend is quite tricky, you can’t instantly pull out either the apple of grapefruit when it is first applied. Yes, it’s refreshing and the absence of burn when spraying it on is always welcomed, but the fragrance had me puzzled - don’t get me wrong I like it, but if I had to liken it to anything it’s like burying your head into a fruit bowl and taking a long deep smell. If anything, the bergamot provides the over-arching blast of sweetness to counter the citrus.

The balance of the top notes was welcome, but as I said, it dries down almost immediately - after that initial blast you only just get hints of the lavender, making it smell and feel slightly warmer. As it warms you get a very earthy floral aroma for just minutes until it settles down to the lovely fragrance that will last hour after hour. The musk really kicks this into masculine territory and the woody base notes in my opinion could only be improved slightly with a touch of amber.

An utterly unique fragrance, I can’t liken it to any others (which is rare) - it is warm, earthy with hints of a floral fragrance. Nice!

Unlike some of the more potent aftershaves Man will not leave a massive scent trail behind you - yes people close to you will be able to smell it, and from experience 99% of people like it.

So how did my new sample differ from the bottle that has sadly been neglected? They are exactly the same, my 100ml bottle hasn't deteriorated in the slightest, which means that you can have this in a collection for years without the fear that the day you come to use it the smell will leave you gagging. 

Hugo Boss Man is a lovely fragrance that dries down to be uber-subtle making this perfect for daywear, nights out and romantic occasions. It would make a great gift and I am yet to find someone who doesn’t like the fragrance when I wear it. 

The sample was gratefully received, it reminded me of everything that I used to like about Hugo Boss Man. I have a number of favourite aftershaves that I have to decide to chose from each morning - Man has just made my decision making even harder. 

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Luna Rossa EDT by Prada

Launched in 2012, Prada Luna Rossa was an aftershave that passed me by for a good eighteen months until a sample arrived for me to try. 

Let’s just say it didn’t take long for me to moan and groan, huff and puff until a 50ml bottle appeared as a gift to cheer me up - it was a record time actually after extending my bottom lip out and mumbling something along the lines of “but I never buy any new aftershaves any more“.

The first blast of Luna Rossa had me hooked. 

This is what the marketing blurb says about Luna Rossa:

‘Prada introduces a new masculine fragrance in Sept 2012, named after the sailboat and the sailing team "Red Moon" or Luna Rossa, which participates in the American Cup competitions. The new fragrance, considering its name, draws its inspiration from the world of extreme sailing, prestige, marine nature and passion for innovation and victory.

The composition is developed around the main note of lavender by perfumer Daniela Andrier of Givaudan. Intensity and freshness of accords are emphasized by the use of classical notes in new, innovative ways. Those notes include lavender absolute and bitter orange in the top, clary sage and spearmint in the heart, and ambrette absolute and ambroxan molecule in the base.

Bottle design is inspired by modern sailboats, signed by Yves Behar. The fragrance is available as 50, 100 and 150 ml Eau de Toilette. The nose behind this fragrance is Daniela (Roche) Andrier.’

So you have the basic notes in the blurb but here they are at a glance:

• Head: Bitter oranges, Lavender
• Heart: Clary Sage, Spearmint,
• Dry-down: Ambrette, Ambroxan

When I first smelt Luna Rossa I have to admit that an in depth analysis was not undertaken, I was simply blown away by the fact that I loved the overall first impression and how it evolved on my skin over time to the dry down. It was immense, and considering I expected something cheap and nasty (on a par with Gucci Rush which regular readers will know I use as a benchmark for filth) to say I was smiling was an understatement. 

I have seen some describe this as having almost herbal top notes - personally I’m not sure what they are sniffing (aftershave or stronger) but it didn’t and has never been my experience. 

The oranges provide a fresh blast of citrus, its very sharp initially and is by far the most over-riding note, and remains so for a good five minutes. It is fresh and screams young and vibrant. Within the first five minutes of putting this through a full analysis (i.e giving it a long hard whiff every five minutes before getting people to smell me) I thought to myself that this would make a great summer fragrance - this thought process didn’t change, even though as it blended and dried down it did.

Personally I didn’t detect even the remotest hint of lavender until after around fifteen minutes, it is there but so subtle and soft you really struggle to pick it out. It provides a good counter balance to the sharpness of the orange making it much warmer. Still no hints of herbal though. 

After around twenty minutes you start to notice that the sharpness of the orange top note has completely gone, leaving a warm citrus - lovely. However, at this point the whole fragrance has altered to become slightly heavier on the nose, the sage is evident but again, the warm citrus is the dominating fragrance. 

After an hour to me this became more of an earthy, masculine fragrance. The oranges started to fade and the dry down notes became evident. I would have put this down to either cedar wood or sandalwood but no, it is all down to the Ambroxan.

Now, I don’t claim to be an expert on this kind of thing, I just say what I smell, but I was intrigued and played around on Google to find out what this mystery note is. I was quite surprised that the response I received from Google wasn’t that technical. Ambroxan is a key element responsible for the odour produced by ambergris. Ambergris is well sought after and is produced by the digestive systems of whales - it sounds vile but the waxy substance is used in a lot of high end perfume and aftershave as it provides a long, hardwearing and almost sweet fragrance (it also means they don‘t have to add alcohol to the fragrance that dries out your skin - there, you learn something new every day). 

These dry down notes provide an excellent base - it turns this once fresh and citrus fragrance into one that is quite sweet, even after five-six hours. That sweetness that you would associate with Joop, Uomo by Valentino or Eros is balanced by the light musk of the Ambrette.

Only a few sprays - three at most are needed to make sure you stay smelling from dusk until dawn, and I say this as Luna Rossa is perfect for nights out as it is so hardwearing, leaves a slight trail which means others will be able to smell it and it will give you the self confidence that you smell amazing.

50ml of this baby will set you back around £35 so it isn’t going to break the bank and when you consider the fragrance, how long it lasts and the compliments that you’ll receive you can’t ask for more. 

Taking the price, the lovely fragrance and the fact that it passed the sniff test with friends and family then I have to say you shouldn’t look any further. It would make the perfect gift for Christmas, Valentine’s Day or birthdays. 

It’s true what they say, the Devil really does wear Prada (and he wears it regularly)!

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