Liz Earle Naturally Active Skincare blog

I've had an interesting month working as guest editor of Top Santé magazine. I was invited by editor Sharon Parsons to work with her on editing the November issue, which will be hitting the shelves any time now. Editing a magazine took me right back to my early career days, when I worked as a freelance health and beauty editor for several of the 'glossies' before moving into television broadcasting and book writing. It's been a long time since I scrutinised a magazine line by line and I have been really impressed by both the quality of writing by the journalists at Top Santé and their depth of research (something you know I’m quite keen on!). I also found the magazine's focus on proper health, beauty and overall wellness positively refreshing. Every page contains real nuggets of wellbeing wisdom and I really enjoyed the chance to put a personal stamp on such a well-regarded and authoritative publication.

Not surprisingly 'my' issue of Top Santé is a real Skin Special, with a huge central feature all about ways to encourage a radiant complexion and solutions for many common skin issues. Those who have read my Skin Secrets book will recognise some familiar themes here… There's also a separate feature on eczema, with valuable in-put from one of the UK's leading dermatologists, Professor Michael Cork, and a story all about the remarkable power of plant oils. Ever-topical, one of my favourite features is the myth-busting 'What's in your products?' consumer beauty guide, packed with all the information you need to know to make informed decisions about some of the beauty-biggies, such as the use of preservatives and organic ingredients. But there's lots more besides: Don't miss the inspiring real-life feature on how womanly wisdom is passed down (and sometimes up) the generations. 'What I didn’t expect from the menopause' is also a fascinating read, as six women share their own – very different – personal experiences. And I found the article on how to get a better night's sleep an interesting as well as helpful read. Food is also a large part of the regular magazine, so I felt it only right and proper to test out many of the mouth-watering recipes (top chef Mark Hix is one of Top Santé's regular contributors) and gleaned several good-to-know diet tips, from 5 of the best edible skin savers to warming soup recipes that fill you up while slimming you down.

As a Liz Earle one-off special, our team here has worked hard on a number of exclusive offers to celebrate the issue, including a really good subscription offer (which any Naturally Active Skincare fan should be sure to snap up early) and tickets to an exclusive pre-Christmas reader event being held at our flagship London store at the beginning of December. Altogether, I've found Top Santé to be a thoroughly good read from cover to cover. Having experienced first-hand the depth of knowledge and the broad range of issues tackled each month, I'm now a regular reader… and I do hope you especially enjoy the November issue!