Peak condition

Wow, today my skin is looking in peak condition. Yesterday, one of our London team treated me to an hour-long pampering facial – it was amazing how much I learned about my skin’s condition – the consultation was very holistic and I was very impressed with how knowledgeable the team are. Though I knew them to be, when you actually experience it personally, it really brings the message home. I don’t want to divulge any secrets yet but, once our treatments are up and running, our customers are in for a wonderful surprise…. Three colleagues have already commented on how ‘well’ I look – it’s true that a great facial does do wonders. Long may it last!

Sunday Times – 10 of the Best in the Style

Wow, what a good start to the week! This weekend, in the Sunday Times – 10 of the Best in the Style section rated Cleanse & Polish as one of the top ten beauty products – ever! Can’t say I’m surprised as I’m a total addict myself and would never, never switch – I started as a customer and this was one of my first purchases nearly 10 years ago. Alongside other cult products, it is also good to see a hard-working, effective product like C&P (as we affectionately call it) that’s genuinely affordable. I hope that this introduces the multi-award winning cleanser to more people, who can share in the experience.

Part of my job is training and I love helping to introduce new colleagues to all that’s involved in our ‘Liz Earle world’. This week, I asked some of our newcomers what they found out about us – I was really thrilled to hear their positive comments: ‘such passion’, ‘fabulous customer service – I can’t believe the lengths that you go to!’ ‘had no idea how much time goes into making the right product’, ‘your customer genuinely does come first’. I have a little diagram of our company and at the centre, is our customer – I think that newcomers are surprised that – unlike many businesses – the £ pound sign isn’t at the centre of the business; for us, it’s all about the customer. Kim once told me that we live and die by our customers – that sounds quite strong, but it actually shows you – from the top – that we are only who we are today because of our loyal customers, oh and those great products! It’s a great thing to have genuine feedback from our customers – and to be able to share this online with other surfers, such as on our bulletin board and in our chat room.

Today is the last day of Skandia Cowes Week and we’ve really enjoyed our role here as the official Skincare Sponsor. Our little stand in the Parade has had literally thousands of visitors and it’s been great for the whole team to meet and speak to so many people, many of whom have never heard of Liz Earle Naturally Active Skincare. We’ve really enjoyed meeting so many of our regular customers too – so “thank you” from all of us if you stopped by to say “hello!” We really did enjoy our chance to chat to so many face-to-face. Tonight I’ll be staying for the fireworks finale, which is always a magical and memorable event. Thousands of fireworks are let off from a floating pontoon close to the Royal Yacht Squadron and the sight is magnificent, especially as the beautiful fireworks are reflected in the water below, so double the spectacle. Not only do we get to enjoy the amazing fireworks, but these are joined by hundreds of pretty twinkling lights from the many boats bobbing on the sea beneath.

Today is Ladies Day at Skandia Cowes Week and we’ve invited several London ladies from the beauty press to come and spend the day with us. We’ve chartered a fabulous boat to collect them from Southampton and bring them across to our Island headquarters on the beachfront in Ryde. We picked up fresh, locally caught lobsters for lunch and made huge bowls of couscous and salads (including my favourite Nigella Lawson recipe, made with chunks of watermelon, red onion, black olives and feta cheese – a delicious combination). After lunch, we headed off to Cowes to tour the competing boats as they battled for first place across the finishing line in front of the Royal Yacht Squadron. Then we all went ashore and went to visit our special Cowes Week stand on the Parade. Here the team from our Union store in Ryde and also our London team of beauty therapists were busy giving complimentary hand massages and skincare advice to celebrate Ladies Day. I finished the day by attending the Skandia Ladies Day reception at the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club, where I also managed to squeeze in one last interview with Radio Cowes – again highlighting the importance of protecting our skin in the sun whether on land or at sea.

Down to the Island for the start of Skandia Cowes week. Although we’ve supported this great sailing calendar-fixture for many years, this is the first year that we’ve been the official Skincare Sponsor for the event. This year, more than 1000 boats are taking part and we’ve supplied each competitor with a free full-size Sun Shade SPF25 Face Protector (to protect skin on the water) and also a full size Sun Shade Botanical Aftersun Gel (in case they overdo it in the sun!). The kits have gone down very well indeed and many of the sailors have been extremely grateful to have a high quality, non-chemical sunscreen to help protect their skin. I did several radio interviews today on the subject – and highlighted the fact that sailors need extra sun-protection as not only are they out in the full glare of the sun all day, but they also get the sun’s rays reflected off their white-hulled boats and also from the sea, so they actually receive two or even three times the amount of UV-rays that we land-lubbers do. Our Sun Shade range is especially good as we only use broad-spectrum mineral sunfilters (never the chemical kind that can cause skin sensitivity), so you get a very effective reflectant filter that stops the sun’s rays from being absorbed into the skin. This is going to be an even more important skincare story in the future, as it’s just been announced that skin cancer rates have soared this year by a staggering 43%.

Attended the Ellen McArthur Trust charity ball this evening, held at the Cowes Yacht Haven. The last time I was here was the night of our team Christmas party, when our Managing Director John Buckland had the whole place transformed into the winter wonderland of Narnia. That was a magical night, and this evening was a fun event too, even if the scenery wasn’t quite as dramatic. One of the reasons we were there was to support Ellen’s charity, which sponsors children with cancer to go sailing. We’ve donated thousands of mini-sized tubes of our Sun Shade SPF25 Facial Protector, clipped to the end of a sailing lanyard that you wear around your neck. The perfect Cowes week accessory and one which is practical too as it means your Sun Shade is always within easy reach.

Our flagship store in the Kings Road, London is currently temporarily closed for a total refurbishment – can’t wait to see what our customers think of our new look. The London team are now on the island for 6 weeks for more time with the island team – as well as helping run our special stand during Cowes Week, the team have been spending more time with our key customer-facing teams here on the island. The bond across the company has always been strong – whether working with our US team across a different time zone, or with the teams in London. But the whole team have valued their time on the island, getting to know the whole company better. We are also working on treatments – behind the scenes – and this is a great chance for more of us to get the ‘hands on’ experience in their expert hands. All are trained beauty therapists and their skills, in combination with our hard-working products, have meant we’re able to deliver some great results for all different skin types.  Can’t wait to try my facial in a few weeks!

Today, we launched our US virtual chat room – at 10pm UK time. My Customer Care colleague Andrea and I went online to chat to a variety of new friends in the US, from right across the States. The chat room sessions in the UK are weekly, lasting an hour, and it’s a great chance to chat to customers, help answer their queries and for them to talk to one another in a safe, virtual environment – a bit like one of our talks, but online! Customers in the US chat room were still talking about the article in US Vogue that appeared earlier this year and were commenting on what they valued – that the products worked, the botanicals were premium and effective, and the philosophy was just the ticket apparently. Great to hear their stories – our next chat room is due in September, so more then!