Celebrating our Sloane in Bloom award

We did it! Our beautiful woodland display for Sloane in Bloom scooped first prize, and we couldn’t be more thrilled or proud of our team. It has been an absolute pleasure to share our little corner of botanical Britain with you and I have been delighted by the events and conversations that it has inspired. Thank you so much to everyone who supported us during the week by coming to see us.

I am now about to embark on the task of dismantling our display. As sustainability is so important to me, I am pleased that the 14 trees we have used will be going on to a happy life with Trees for Cities, a wonderful independent charity working with local communities on tree-planting and landscaping projects. Their aim is to tackle global warming, create social cohesion and beautify cities through tree planting, community education and training initiatives in urban areas of greatest need. Throughout their work they place special emphasis on the involvement of local people, especially the younger generations and those from ethnic minority backgrounds. Trees for Cities are going to use our hazel coppices for planting in a fruit and nut planting scheme in London where the local community will be encouraged to harvest and eat the nuts. The rest of the plants are making the journey back to our home on the Isle of Wight where they will be the foundation planting of a botanical ingredient scheme… I’ll keep you posted on the development of this.

In the meantime, as I slather Foot Repair Moisturiser on my feet and put them up for a well-deserved rest, I’m already thinking about what we could do next year…

Sloane in Bloom

Hello! I’m Jennifer, the Botanical Research Manager here at Liz Earle Naturally Active Skincare. For those of you for whom Anna Macleod is a familiar face, I am picking up the reins from Anna who is spending some time growing children and not plants. My first blog comes to you as we are preparing for this week’s Sloane in Bloom and I am thrilled to be able to share our inspiration and preparation for the big event.

Blogs don’t give away accents, so you can’t tell that I don’t come from these islands, but from the southeast of the US, South Carolina, where I worked with a noted American plantswoman before packing my life into a few bags to pursue my passion for plants. I was offered the chance to study and work at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew – THE centre of the botanical plant world - and spent four years immersed in plants and all things botanical before striking out on my own as a horticultural and environmental consultant…the job that brought me to Liz Earle.

I have also been lucky enough to work behind the scenes at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Flower Show, including designing and building two courtyard gardens for which I won silver medals. Sloane in Bloom is a large-scale floral fashion show, in support of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, which takes place in the Sloane shopping area and last year, Liz Earle’s display took second place - a big achievement for our first entry. So with my experience, it was only natural that I would get involved with this year’s entry from the start.

One of the things that thrills me about being part of the Liz Earle Naturally Active Skincare team is the passion everyone has for botanical ingredients. Sloane in Bloom gives us the chance to share with you our appreciation in another context – the garden. The fantastic thing about our display is that it is born totally out of our passion for the botanical ingredients we use in our skincare. From its inception to planting, the garden has been a collaborative and passionate effort, and has given me the opportunity to work with our talented creative team.

For those of you who haven’t had a chance to visit us at Duke of York Square, our store has huge windows that flood the shop with light. We knew from the start that whatever we did, we wanted to bring it into the shop and incorporate some of the fantastic botanical ingredients that we use in our range. Michael, our Head of Creative, was inspired by a display that he’d seen on a recent trip to America whilst I was inspired by the bluebells and wood anemones that grow in the New Forest, near my house. So, between these two pieces of inspiration, we came up with our beautiful British woodland.

This year we are using wonderful mature hazel coppices, grown by one of my favourite suppliers from my days as a horticultural consultant, Barcham Trees. These trees were grown from seed at their site in Ely, Cambridgeshire, and as young saplings cut down to encourage them to send up lots of stems. Corylus avellana, the hazel, is a British native and we use the oil from its nuts in two of my favourite products, Superskin Concentrate and the gardener’s saviour, Superbalm. Even my product-phobic husband is addicted to Superbalm, using it to help mend cracked fingers and dry lips!

To weave a little woodland magic, we are spreading an undulating carpet of botanicals from the pavement up beneath the trees and right through our windows into the store. I spent a happy afternoon last week choosing the lavender, rosemary, chamomile and peppermint plants that will form the fragrant woodland floor beneath the hazels’ canopy. These treasured botanical ingredients sit at the core of our range: rosemary and chamomile extracts in our Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser; peppermint and rosemary are part of a blend of essential oils that make our new Foot Repair Moisturiser and Foot Scrub so special.

After weeks of anticipation and painstaking planning, we start building the garden today. I’ve packed my bag, and next to Cleanse & Polish, Sunshade SPF25 (I’m a redhead, so I can’t be too careful), my gardener’s hat, favourite pair of gloves and trusty secateurs, I’ve added our latest additions, Foot Scrub and Foot Repair Moisturiser, just in case I can convince someone to reward my hard working feet!

Our little corner of British woodland will be in Duke of York Square from Tuesday 19th May through to Monday 25th May. Come on down for a cup of peppermint or chamomile tea and a browse in our botanical garden of delights!

Welcome to Liz Earle Treatments

Let me introduce myself - my name is Jo, and I am the Treatments Manager at our London flagship store. I am excited to write my first blog for you, as I have so much to tell you about our blissful treatments…

I have worked around the world as a professional therapist for over 16 years. I started as a make-up artist, however I quickly got interested in skincare and how amazing products, combined with the power of touch, can really give you a feeling of wellbeing. Having studied nationally and internationally, my passion is now to share my knowledge with everyone, including our therapists. I feel that you can never stop learning and my thirst for knowledge has increased over the years, especially since I joined Liz Earle!

My job is wonderful... I have worked with many ranges over the years, and as a professional therapist, I believe that Liz Earle is the ‘Holy Grail’ of skincare and delivers outstanding results. The therapist team and I get to ‘play’ with the Liz Earle Naturally Active Skincare range on a daily basis, so that we can impart our in-depth knowledge to you during treatments to bring out the best in your skin whatever your age, skin type or skin concern.

One of my favourite treatments is the Liz Earle Signature Facial. Lasting a luxurious hour and a half and totally bespoke to your skincare needs, it incorporates a full consultation, cleansing and exfoliation, optional ozone steaming to soften pores, and optional extraction (removal of blackheads), followed by high-frequency to calm any redness. Vacuum suction follows - soothing glass cups almost dance over your skin, to reveal a deeply cleansed, calmer and more plumped complexion.  The facial then proceeds with the real ‘hands-on’ magic - a personalised face, neck and shoulder massage to de-stress, followed by a mask and homecare advice. I would highly recommend it for healthier looking, glowing skin - I am having it monthly in the lead-up to my wedding.

However, if you can’t spare any time for a treatment, don’t worry, there are things that you can do at home – exfoliation, for example, is a quick and simple home treatment and ideal for preparing your skin for summer. Your skin renews itself every 28-45 days, so removing those dead cells will encourage brighter skin and boost cell renewal. Exfoliating 2-3 times a week with our Gentle Face Exfoliator will really help to brighten the skin, with those delicate jojoba beads sloughing away those pesky dead cells. If your skin is sensitive like mine, try mixing 1 pump of your Cleanse & Polish with your exfoliator for a gentler treatment. And remember for ‘post-facial’ looking skin always exfoliate before you apply a face mask.

I hope to meet you in our Treatment Rooms soon…

The Secret of The Best Facial

Wow, what a day of bliss! This week, after the hectic rush and prep for the fun QVC show last Sunday (hope everyone managed to get their hands on the new hand wash kit?!), I booked myself in for an hour and a half of pampering in our Duke of York’s Square treatment rooms. Heavenly! My first beauty treatment since Baby Isabel made her entry into the world and, as expected, I found the ‘me’ time the best that I’ve experienced in months! The calmness of the beautiful rooms immediately hits you as you meander downstairs, away from the hustle and bustle of the Kings Road. The beautiful Isle of Wight imagery made me feel right at home and I almost fell onto the inviting couch, I was so full of anticipation! And I wasn’t disappointed, let me tell you……

Time literally seemed to stand still for the whole treatment. One of my big bugbears with treatments (and I have had many facials and treatments, all over the world, on my travels), is that they can seem sadly all too short. I find that one always starts to feel that you are almost anticipating the end, all too quickly! Not so with our wonderful signature facial – Emma’s calm hands worked their wonders for what felt like an eternity. (She even had to tell me to stop asking if it was nearly over, as I was so surprised each time she said, ‘Oh no, not for a long while yet!’). I found the whole experience from the thorough consultation beforehand (including the key question that one is so rarely asked – ‘what do you want to gain from your treatment today?’) to the actual facial and results, to be just what I had expected and hoped for during our long preparation period as we developed the treatments. Just like our product development, the end result has to be perfect before we can share it! There are so many personal touches too, to make it precisely what you want and not just a standard treatment adapted to you. It’s totally bespoke, such is the skill of our team.

I also love the way that our team of expert therapists use the products in new ways – for instance, Emma used Deep Cleansing Mask (UK, US, Ireland) on the tricky t-zone areas and Intensive Nourishing Treatment on my dry cheeks. Sounds logical but something that I rarely remember to do. It’s an incredibly holistic way that our special team work with your skin too – looking at the whole picture. I don’t want to give away too much, as I really invite you to try this wonderful escapism for yourselves, but we also use some clever little gadgets that work naturally alongside facial massage to help really tackle all sorts of skin issues. I found it a perfect balance between actual facial massage, treatment with our hard-working products (our Special Treatments range is perfect for zoning in on specific areas of need) and the little help from the magic gadgets.

Today, two days later, my skin is crystal clear and so matt, ‘plump’ and soft, that a stranger even commented on it today. This morning my husband also complimented me: ‘You must be sleeping deeply as you look great’ (music to my ears!) I think the girls will be seeing a lot more of me in the coming months! Do book up, as word is spreading and that waiting list is starting to grow. And then do come back and let us know what you think here, by posting your thoughts. We’d love to hear your experiences.

Well, now that my skin has had the best workout it has had in months, it’s time to work on the other bits of me that need trimming up! Running shoes, here I come!

“Are you that ‘polish’ woman?”

One of the most rewarding things about creating the range with Kim all those years ago is hearing what a difference it makes to others as well as ourselves – sometimes when you least expect it. I was in Starbucks the other day, just around the corner from our King’s Road store, ordering my current favourite soya chai latte, when I spied a group of teenage lads huddled in the corner pointing at me. One of the boys finally plucked up the courage and wandered over asking “so, are you that ‘polish’ woman?” He then went on to tell me how he enjoys using our “stuff” – as do his friends. Curious to find out how he first discovered the range he admitted that his mum bought him his first Cleanse & Polish  (UK, US)  and the rest, as they say, is history. From the calls and letters we receive every day, we know that this is how so many of our male customers find out about us. Many mums have bought Cleanse & Polish for their sons as a ‘last resort’ for skin that is spotty and have been simply amazed at the smooth transformation. It’s really quite incredible that one simple product can consistently give such great results – whatever your age and stage in life. One day I’d love to do a clinical trial for acne-prone skins as I’m just so convinced the results would be outstanding. I’d also say to any mother concerned about her teenage son’s (or daughter’s) skin to definitely give it a go. It really can pave the way to smoother, clearer skin in a matter of days.

Over the years, a surprising number of guys have been using our original Cleanse & Polish (even in its first pale pink packaging!) and when we looked into the figures we discovered that in fact 15% of our male customers are already buying Cleanse & Polish.  My husband has long been a Cleanse & Polish devotee. Before we brought out the Sensitive Shave Cream he used it for his daily shave; now he uses it simply as it’s intended: to get his skin really, really clean. My teenage son has more recently become a fan and, so he says, are his friends. So, it’s really exciting to finally be able to give the guys a Cleanse & Polish of their very own… with the debut of Cleanse & Polish For Men (UK, Coming soon in the US) , complete with it’s unique colour-edged cloth and storage bag.

Why make it for men? Well, we know they will benefit from using it. We all want clean, fresh, healthy skin and guy’s faces in particular can get grimy due to their more masculine habits of DIY, car mechanics, playing rugby or football in the mud, or simply trudging home through the urban grime. Our super-rich cream is simply the best way to clean even very dirty facial skin. The beauty therapists I’ve been working with recently (yes, we will have some more exciting news to share with you here soon), recommend that if skin is especially grimy then give it a second application for a really ‘deep cleanse’. A great clean-skin tip. Also, as male skin tends to be both thicker and oilier than ours (great for avoiding early wrinkles but perhaps a little more resistant to cleansing), rinsing the muslin cloth in very hot water before removing the cream can make it extra hard-working as it helps soften pores, drawing out even more grime. Finishing off with a final rinse of bracingly cold water can then help tighten up the feel of the skin again. As men’s skin tends to be more resilient, this slightly ‘rugged’ way of using Cleanse & Polish is probably just one for the boys though. 

The many men I know who have already tested Cleanse & Polish For Men have all commented on its bracing aroma - that potent hit of eucalyptus that whooshes up the nostrils as soon as you squirt some into your hand. The favourite snack-food of the koala, eucalyptus is native to Australia and steam distillation is used to extract the unmistakably aromatic and potent essential oil from the plant’s leaves and twigs. Renowned for its antiseptic and purifying properties, we use Eucalyptus globulus (or blue gum eucalyptus). Cleanse & Polish’s ability to deeply cleanse the skin makes it particularly ideal for guys to use before shaving and it’s brilliant for spot-prone skin as it can help treat breakouts. I’ve always been a great believer in the saying that if something’s good, don’t change it. That’s why even though we considered adapting the original multi-award-winning formula specifically for the men’s market, we couldn’t quite work out how to improve something that’s already considered by so many to be the best. So it’s stayed reassuringly true to the original skincare classic and the only change is its more ‘manly’ identity, teaming well with the rest of the men’s range. If you’re interested, there’s lots more info in our summer newsletter and special men’s brochure, just out now.