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Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream Gift Set

When I spotted this gift set in the Duty Free shop of the ferry to Cherbourg I immediately snapped it up, I just couldn't believe the price tag was only £27.20! An absolute bargain when you think that the iconic Eight Hour Cream Skin Protectant (50ml) is £25 in Boots, and that the classic is and the Lip Protectant Stick is usually £19 in Boots. Again, bargain!

The set, which is packed in a very handy and spacious make-up bag in the signature Elizabeth Arden Red, contains the Eight Hour Cream Skin Protect 50ml, Eight Hour Cream Intensive Daily Moisturiser for Face SPF15 15ml, Eight Hour Cream Intensive Moisturising Body Treatment 30ml, Eight Hour Cream Intensive Moisturising Hand Treatment 30ml, Eight Hour Cream Lip Protectant Stick SPF 15.

I've been through a fair few tubes of the classic Skin Protectant, though never had a 50ml tube for so cheap! Tried and tested since the 1930's as effective at soothing, calming, restoring and relieving chapped, dry, cracked and irritated skin. I use this on any dry skin, chapped skin round my nose when I have a cold, sunburn and even as a lip balm! There's something about this balm that makes me feel like I'm really doing my skin some good! The same goes for the Lip Protectant Skin with SPF 15. Despite the distinctive Eight Hour Cream smell taking a bit of getting used to at first, this lip balm leaves my lips softer than anything else I've tried! I can't ever leave it very long before having to repurchase!

All the other products in the set were actually new to me. All white creams, instead of the classic apricot of the balm and Lip Protectant, they also all have a much more subtle scent. A plus in my opinion, although I associate the herbal/ medical aroma with nourishing goodness, it can sometimes be a bit overpowering. Not something you necessarily want ALL over your face or body. Both the Intensive Moisturising Body Treatment and Intensive Daily Moisturiser for Face are fabulously moisturising and great for dehydrated skin, I particularly like the fact the face moisturiser contains an SPF15! The one disappointment was the hand cream, and this isn't because it's bad, I just didn't find it lived up to my expectations. I don't particularly have dry skin on my hands but I still appreciate the feeling of a rich hand moisturiser, and the Intensive Moisturising Hand Treatment just didn't have that 'rich' feel. Not that this upsets me too much, I just have to remember that the whole set only cost £27.20!

Let me know if you've tried anything from the Eight Hour Cream range, I'd love to know your thoughts!

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One of the top products on my 'to purchase' list during my recent trip to France was the Avène Skin Recovery Cream. I first picked this up in Boots, about a year ago, when my skin became quite sensitive from over cleansing and toning - I now make sure to stay away from any nasty toners containing alcohol! Usually my skin is quite oily, so at first it felt a little strange to be using such a thick rich moisturiser, and I was concerned that it could cause some me to break out. However I had only being using this about two days before it had calmed my irritated skin right down and fully rehydrated it.

The product worked so amazingly well in such a short space of time, but other than to use it on the odd occasion as an all over moisturiser to rehydrate my skin, I'd pretty much forgotten about the product. That was until round about last November when I started to suffer with really dry, sensitive skin around my eyes. Everything I tried to soothe it was just excruciatingly painful on application and seemed way too harsh to use around that area. It was really starting to get me down. It just wasn't worth using any kind of cosmetics or eye cream on the area, as for a start I wasn't sure what was causing the irritation but I also didn't want to have to use any more products than necessary due to the pain!

It took me a while to think about trying the Avène Skin Recovery Cream, but yet again it delivered. I persevered at first mainly because it was the only product that didn't sting on application, however in just over a week the dry skin had drastically reduced, and it wasn't long after that that the area was totally back to normal!

I still get the dry skin from time to time, but if I'm quick Avène literally clears it up straight away! I don't ever want to be without a tube of the Recovery Cream now, so I'm going to be sure to stock up whenever I visit France, ya know, to save the pennies! This tube, that I picked up in a pharmacy in Normandy, uses the Avène's D.E.F.I system. A really great cap system that, once the product has been squeezed out, prevents any bacteria getting inside the packaging and contaminating the formula. This really appeals to me, as I do get concerned about my skincare staying sterile, so there's one less worry there!

Let me know if you've tried any thing from the Avène range, I'm looking for ideas of other products to stock up on when I got back to France in July, so all suggestions are welcome!