Diptyque Philosykos Eau de Parfum

When I lived within walking distance of Space NK I used to pop in all the time and have a little spray of Philosykos and sniff all the candles. The staff probably thought I was a shoplifter with excellent taste.

This heady fig scent grew on me gradually until I fell completely in love with it. I conducted a little test to see how the eau de toilette compared to the eau de parfum and there was no contest in terms of longevity. I baulked at the price of the parfum though, only available in the hefty 100 ml bottle. Luckily after my mother point-blank refused to spend that much on perfume, my lovely boyfriend bought it for me for Christmas instead.

I'm a real sucker for beautiful packaging but I don't usually allow myself to hang on to empty cardboard and suchlike; that's how one ends up on Channel 4 programmes about hoarders. However, when it comes to Diptyque I cannot help but squirrel away the pretty boxes. If you buy one of their eye-wateringly expensive scented candles, the packaging retains the smell and does a pretty good job of adding perfume to a room by itself.

My perfume came with a lovely cotton pouch and gift box – both of which I will find a use for. If you love fig scents you have to try Philosykos. It's deep, fruity and addictive. I can't wait for summer when it will really sing.

This post is not sponsored. 

Cretan Holiday Highlights

I'm having one of those days that gets off to a bad start and never quite recovers itself (although the sun did just come out!). As a diversionary tactic I thought I'd post some pictures from our trip to Crete last October. We traveled all over the island and stayed in lots of different accommodation. These were some of the highlights:

The ramshackle bars and restaurants that wind around the cliffs to the edge of the bay at Matala.

Rethymno old town. Particularly the restaurant Castelvecchio. Charming waiters and delicious food.

Chania's Venetian harbour. Beautiful architecture and perfect people-watching bars.

Casa Delfino in Chania. We spent one night in this chic hotel on a lucky last-minute room rate. Kirsten Dunst and Vigo Mortensen shot a scene for a movie in the alleyway beneath our balcony!

The pool at the Rimondi Grand. Total peace, lovely views and cocktails delivered to our sun beds.

The incredible drive through the mountainous interior of the island to Paleohora.

This year we have two weddings to attend in Ibiza and Barcelona so we're making it into a holiday and flying from one to the other. Please tell me I'm not the only one already dreaming of summer! Where do you hope to go this year?

Pool at the Rimondi Grand, Rethymnon

Monastery in the hills behind the hotel 

The famous cliffs at Matala

Hippies including Bob Dylan are said to have lived in the caves during the 1960's

The Venetian harbour at Chania

The Turkish Mosque Yiali Tzami in Chania

Chania at dawn from our balcony at Casa Delfino

Voulisma Beach, Istron, Crete

Enormous Chania cat with a regal face and excellent ears

View of the harbour from the balcony at Casa Leone

Trying for chic the night we stayed at the best hotel in town

J made a friend who wanted a drink  at AnnaView Apartments, Mirthios

Pink sandy beach at Elafonisi

Feeling brave wearing MAC Lady Danger on our last night

Review: Pai Chamomile & Rosehip Sensitive Skin Cream

It's the same old story every winter – I'm always looking for a simple, soothing moisturiser to stop my skin from dehydrating. This year I've been using Pai Chamomile & Rosehip Sensitive Skin Cream to see if it's up to the job. 

Pai is a UK company with an ethos of transparency. They use only 'clean' ingredients and list every component in their formulas in plain English rather than chemical formulas designed to baffle us. All products are certified organic by the Soil Association. 

This moisturiser has a very mild, fresh scent that I'm struggling to describe – a bit like a refined Twinings herbal tea. Lovely, elegant and relaxing. 

The texture is that of a water-based cream. It's not oily but spreads easily across skin and sinks in beautifully. I'm prone to spots and dehydration and my skin can easily feel parched. This moisturiser packs a double punch with chamomile providing matricine and azulene; and rosehip – full of omegas and antioxidants. On days where my skin is doubly dry I layer over a facial oil or mix some with it. It leaves my skin ready for makeup and hasn't made me break out. 

The only thing I've not liked about it is the bottle. It's glass with a pump dispenser and I found it stopped working when the bottle was still half full. I've had to take the lid off and wiggle the tube around inside every time I use it. The bottle opening is too small for my finger so I'm left pining for the last few applications of product. I'd like a tube that's double the size. 

Pai Chamomile & Rosehip Sensitive Skin Cream is available at paiskincare.com. They often have good offers and it's free postage! Have you tried any Pai products yet? 

SFSC Shops: Sale Buys

I was determined to be a smart sale shopper this year; buying only items I had eyed at full price and not being led astray by random bits and bobs I didn't need. I also signed up to a million e-newsletters to ensure I knew when all the sales were starting. Fail to prepare? Prepare to fail! 

For some reason my bath phobia has lifted (maybe because my new house has a big bathroom with a window and doesn't feel claustrophobic) and I really wanted some relaxing aromatherapy bath oils. 

This gorgeous set of minis by Aromatherapy Associates had eluded me for too long! I finally found it for half price on the Aromatherapy Associates website when they went into a rather late and unpromoted sale. So far I've only tried the 'Relax Deep' oil but I figure this set should last me until next Christmas. It's also the perfect way to test all of the different scents in the range. 

While shopping their sale I also bought a 'Relax' candle which has a low-key, sophisticated spicy smell.  The key oils used are West Indian bay, Geranium and Myrrh. It uses natural wax and produces no soot.

I'd wanted this Reiss 'Cate' top for months but didn't want to pay £80+ for it. The shape and style are similar to a sweatshirt but the material is a woven knit. It's already proving to be a *Trinny Woodall voice* key piece. 

The necklace was for sale at 75 per cent off in Accessorize. It's tiptoeing into the tacky bracket but I like to wear it over plain crew neck jumpers and t-shirts to add a bit of colour and sparkle. 

What bargains did you snag in the sales? 

New House, New Linen, New Candles

First off a little thanks to the three readers I probably have left. High five! Let's go bowling some time. Hopefully all three of you will forgive the lack of posts since *whisper it* July. You may also have noticed that we've changed; we've widened. Not only me but the blog too. I managed to alter the column widths all by myself, which is something I'd wanted to do for a long time so that I could ditch the crappy Blogger template and have bigger photos. Cue a warm glow of achievement that lasted three to five days and I'm not even joking. 

More new stuff: I've moved house. After a tense couple of months waiting to see if the sale would come off, we moved J out of his old (sold) house and the both of us into our new place at the end of September. And promptly went on holiday for a fortnight. The house is a little red brick Victorian semi built in 1890. It has huge, single glazed windows, three fireplaces and is freezing when the heating's off but we love it and couldn't be happier. 

I can't wait to shape our new home. At the moment we have no furniture at all in the living room save for two beanbags. The dining room has a table and two non-matching chairs that I don't even like. This is where I ask if you're interested in interior decor and house-related posts... Please report in below. Chances are you're going to get them whatever you say but, hey, it's nice to be heard (and ignored), right?

I'm going to come right out and tell you that I set this picture up like a little prop stylist to showcase my new John Lewis 'Logan' sheets and pillows in blue. The blanket is an eBay buy that required months of searching (and no-one understands my obsession with it). I had to find one after seeing this post on The Marion House Book. 

I'm in love with this fireplace in our master bedroom. We have these cherry red tiles in the dining room in front of the main fireplace too. It makes a nice little spot to burn some scented candles...

I treated myself to this Jo Malone Wild Fig & Cassis candle at the airport when we were flying to Crete. I've never had an expensive scented candle before and it's delicious. The scent is a unique take on fig but having smelt similar (but not as rich) scents in cheaper candles I wish I'd gone for a more unusual fragrance. If they'd had the gorgeous new Blackberry & Bay candle I probably would've got that, but it had sold out. You can appreciate the quality of this candle even when it's not lit as the smell carries. It's also made of soy wax, which unlike paraffin, does not release cancer-causing carcinogenic chemicals when burned.

Another cheaper alternative for fig lovers is this Geodesis Fig Tree candle, available at John Lewis. More of a straight-forward fig scent this still has masses of 'throw' and scents the room beautifully. It is, however, made of a mineral/vegetable 'blend' which I didn't realise until after I'd bought it.

I'm on the look out for some wooden bedside tables: if anyone has any recommendations I'd love to read them.

Whole Foods Market, Cheltenham

Last Sunday I was lucky enough to pop to Cheltenham to preview the new Whole Foods Market before its opening. Along with H&M (opening 2013), this ranks as a significant event in the Gloucestershire social calendar.

A group of us were given a tour around the new shop and invited to sample lots of delicious food and drink. The Whole Foods ethos is to offer high-quality, natural food, beauty and health products. More than 330 of the products available are locally sourced from within the county as well. 

The staff working on the different counters are all experts in their fields and able to offer advice on cuts of meat, recipe ideas, types of spices etc. It's far removed from a standard supermarket experience – you're expected to try before you buy and the selection is huge. It's a bit like having an old fashioned butcher, baker, fishmonger etc all under one roof, except there's also a pick of gourmet treats from abroad as well so you get the best of both worlds. 

If cooking's not your thing, they have stalls offering freshly made meals of all different types (and what I sampled was very tasty). They can even cater for dinner parties given the appropriate notice period. (You could totally order everything from Whole Foods and then pretend you slaved for hours in the kitchen... But that would be wrong.)

There's also a huge selection of natural and organic makeup, beauty and health products which I cannot wait to have a proper look through. If you're feeling brave you can have your face scanned by a machine that evaluates the condition of your skin, sun damage levels etc. The beauty staff are then able to provide product suggestions to counter any negative findings. You can even go back for a rescan to see how the products are performing. 

I'm really pleased this Austin-born brand has opened shop in Cheltenham and support their mission and values (more info here). I'm almost sorry I live half an hour away or I would be there several times per week. At least I won't go broke grinding my own pecan butter, buying fresh coffee and eating pots of olives and wheels of cheese.

The Cheltenham Whole Foods Market is situated at Gallagher Retail Park. 

I like... chocolate 

I like... olives

I like... beauty products

I like... coffee

I like... cheese

I like... fresh bread

I like... beans, pulses and nuts (?)

I like... fresh sushi man

I like... sweets! 

My Clear Skin Routine

sofarsochic
I don't think I've done one of these posts before, probably because my skin is pretty variable and I wouldn't want to claim any 'expert' knowledge. However, my current routine has been in place for a few months now and is really working for me, so I thought I would share... *

Morning Routine
I wash my face with Perricone MD Nutritive Cleanser. I generally avoid foaming cleansers (and it does contain sodium laureth sulfate) but this one has enough clever and benefitial ingredients to tempt me and I don't find it drying. It's very gentle and has a soft baby powder smell. The key goodies are alpha lipoic acid – an antioxidant said to protect skin cells and refine skin texture – and DMAE – said to diminish the appearance of fine lines. It's also quick to use.

A few mornings a week I use Alpha-H Micro Cleanse. Totally addicted to this stuff. You may remember the Alpha-H facial I had last summer. Well, the therapist, Jodie, used this on me and it was incred(ible). I'm not usually a fan of physical exfoliators but the micro-beads in this allow you to manipulate the product while the 12 per cent glycolic acid does its stuff! Probably not one for sensitive skin, however.

I then apply Perricone MD Advanced Face Firming Activator. This features the same two key ingredients as the Cleanser and also sodium hyaluronate to help skin retain water. I have really noticed the difference since I started using this product. I have had far fewer spots and my skin has looked more radiant. Slightly odd fishy smell but hey, I can live with that. The smell fades immediately upon application.

As it's so warm at the moment I'm finding my skin doesn't need as much moisturising. I have a sample of REN Hydra-Calm Global Protection Day Cream from Red Magazine and have been so impressed with it that I've ordered the full size. So I might use a little of this or go straight onto SPF...

Still on the search for the holy grail 'wear it everyday and it's almost a pleasure' sunscreen I bought Shiseido Urban Environment UV Protection Cream Plus SPF 50. It's not broken me out and my face hasn't burned but it has coloured and gone freckly. I prefer to try to keep my face as pale as possible while being totally slack on the rest of my sun protection. Okay I don't actually 'prefer' to be slack on the rest but let's just say the face is the priority, okay? I'm also not keen on the suncreeny smell and it makes me mega shiny when I don't have remotely greasy skin. Would not repurchase (but it's not, not working, so it's in the regime still, plus it was expensive so I'm not getting rid).

Evening Routine
First up is Suti Cleanse Organic Balm Facial Cleanser (which I reviewed here). Still loving this as much as ever and have just ordered a new pot. I massage this in without wetting my face and then remove with a muslin cloth. I feel confident that this takes off all of my makeup but if I've been wearing sunscreen or am feeling particularly goodie goodie I will either double cleanse with this or do a second cleanse with the Nutritive Cleanser mentioned earlier.

I remove my eye makeup with Bioderma Crealine H2O, which is gentle and no-fuss. I got mine in Paris but think you can now buy in the UK.

The Suti Cleanser leaves my skin feeling nourished enough to forgo moisturiser most nights but hey, I'm a beauty addict and can't resist adding in a little facial oil for night time treatment benefits. I am currently using Suti Rejuvenate Face Oil, which is delicious. It smells amazing and contains a host of skin-saving ingredients such as evening primrose oil, frankincense, rosehip seed oil and argan oil. This has helped to accelerate the healing of spots and fade old scars. I like using an oil in the evening as it feels pampering and luxurious as well.

Added Extras
To tackle individual spots (not that I have many using this routine) I use (MALIN+GOETZ) Acne Treatment. This stuff contains sulfur, salicylic acid, camphor and zinc to calm spots and send them packing. You apply with a cotton bud and it leaves white splodges all over your face. My boyfriend loves me in this! Ha. I am shameless.

I'm also taking two of the Well, Well, Well Krill Oil Supplements daily. As I take a lot of harsh medication for my RA, plus I'm vegetarian (although I eat fish) I think these are probably a very positive addition for me. It's only been a couple of weeks so far but my skin is clear and I feel like these will help me to keep it that way. They smell fishy but you can't taste anything. Avoid if you have an allergy to shellfish.

The Price of Beauty
Jeez that seems like a lot of writing about what I use on my face. I've ordered some Alpha-H Liquid Gold to add into my night time routine a few nights a week in place of the Micro Cleanse in the morning (it has run out). I'm also thinking I should probably use a toner after cleansing and actually apply one of the five eye creams I have kicking about. I'm not getting any younger!

I've come to realise that where my skin is concerned, I am willing to pay for products that work. I'm not blessed with perfect skin so what's the point in throwing cash at nice clothes and meals out but skimping on my face when that's the one thing that gives me the confidence to face the day? I hope this was vaguely interesting/helpful. Leave me a comment if you have any product raves or questions!

*My skin is normal/dehydrated and prone to congestion of all wonderful varieties!

Tech Woes

sofarsochic

I approach So Far So Chic with a 'Kate Moss' mentality, 'never complain. Never explain. However, I feel like doing both today so we'll call this an exception...

Over the past month I have suffered a series of tech woes. First my iPhone broke, meaning (amongst other things, such as 'do my job') I could take no photos. Then, the day before I got my phone replacement, my MacBook broke. Apple took over a week to fix it, messed me around endlessly, charged me £200 for the privilege and then tried to give me the computer back with a brand new HOLE they'd created during the repair. *calm thoughts, happy thoughts* Once happily reunited with my precious laptop, my charger broke, meaning I couldn't charge the thing. Hence the lack of blogging. But I'm back now and shall continue undeterred. Despite my Apple anger I'm considering the hugely expensive and beautiful MacBook Pro Retina Display – I cannot afford it but I wants it. Anyone got one? In breaking, my mac has shown its first sign of weakness and I'm not sure I can trust it anymore. Should I give the relationship another go or will it never be the same?