Caudalie Overnight Detox Oil

I am holding fast to my new year skincare resolution. That is, I am not buying any until I've finished two products. Last night I finished my Sarah Chapman Overnight Facial oil which is the elixir of youth.  It was with sadness I put the empty in the bin. I have two other face oils in my arsenal and so we move on to this Caudalie one.

I bought it a while ago and didn't reach for it much because the smell is an acquired taste. Normally I am a big fan of all Caudalie products and the scent but this is not a smell I can get on board with and when it's all over your face, you become very aware of it. No matter. This is why I made this resolution, to plough through the backlog.

I just had a long bath and have put this on. It has the same texture of my beloved Clarins oil and I am determined to use it. It works and it cost me £29. It must be used! I will use this up and then I have half a bottle of the Clarins oil and then I can buy a new oil. And I will buy Clarins which is my desert island night oil. OK, now I sound like a nutter. Who has a desert island night oil?! I do!

I love the Sarah Chapman one but it's much more expensive. Clarins is 30ml for £33 and Sarah Chapman is 15ml for £46! I have had two bottles of the Sarah Chapman and both were presents. I can't justify that cost.

I am also near the end of my L'Oreal Extraordinary Oil Cream and that means two empties! Hooray. I will buy more of this and the good news is it costs £9.99. I absolutely love it and have raced through my jar so I have no guilt about buying more of it. It's rare to find a face cream I like so much for under a tenner. I am over the moon.

Christmas skincare

Heating, cold air, too much sugar, too much everything, not enough sleep. It can all send your skin haywire and we don't want that do we? This year I have discovered proper hot cloth cleansing and it's a game changer. I also stopped washing my face with foaming face washes and that's made a difference too.

The fact is, look after your skin properly and everything else is easier. And life being easier is enough of a motivator for me.

Let's start with the cleanser. I love Skyn Iceland Pure Cloud Cleanser. It's gentle and not overpowering and it is so soothing. I find many cream cleansers try too hard with a ton of active ingredients that irritate my (usually very well behaved) skin. This is the one I keep returning to. You can use it on your eyes too.

I understand that the idea of hot cloth cleansing in the morning may be a bit of an effort. I concur and that's when I use an oil cleanser. I am currently using the Parsley Seed Facial Oil by Aesop which is very nice but the packaging is annoying.

I have Clinique Take The Day Off Oil waiting in the wings. It's half the price and does just as good a job.

That's your clean skin. Now the fun bit. My biggest discovery this year has been exfoliating toners and why did I not know about these before? They slough off dead cells and make your skin ready for the moisture. I adore Zelens face pads and have stockpiled many in various 30% offers. They are expensive, I can't pretend they are not but my skin tone has massively improved since using them. I also like that they come ready to use without having to soak a cotton wool pad. Umm, yes I am really lazy.

If this is too rich for your blood, then the Alpha H Liquid Gold is also good.

Then you need a serum. My endless quest for the perfect and affordable serum continues. I adore Chanel but cannot justify it on a regular basis. I am currently using the Avene serum from Boots. I like this, it has the right texture. I cannot stand those serums that feel like plastic. This seems to be doing me good. I've tried countless others from French brands and Oil of Olay. All are ok but don't knock my socks off.

Now you can moisturise. I have to tell you that having spent a fortune on creams over the years, my current favourite by a country mile is L'Oreal Extraordinary Oil Cream. It's utterly divine, it applies like a dream, soaks in instantly and actually leaves me glowing. Nothing else comes close. And it's £10! I spent a fortune on mine as I reported before but it was worth it. Yes, I am worth it!

Oh, you should add a SPF as well. I don't tend to in darkest winter when I literally seem to be outside for 10 minutes max but I feel duty bound to point it out.

On other moisture fronts, I like an oil for the evening. Clarins Blue Orchid Oil is still a firm favourite and smells heavenly.

My favourite is Sarah Chapman Overnight Facial. This is what you put on when you need heavy duty maintenance. Rolling into bed at 2am? You bring out this baby. I promise you, it turns back time. OK, no it doesn't but it's damn good.

I also throw in facials, face masks and my super duper favourite: sheet masks! More on all of those tomorrow because I have to go and get changed for a trip to Kings Rd and Peter Jones beauty hall followed by champagne with friends. Ciao beauties!

Sarah Chapman facial

I am very grateful that I work with some beauty obsessives. One of them is getting married next year and decided she needed to splash out on some serious facials. Research was undertaken and Sarah Chapman was chosen. She came back from her first visit glowing. Her skin looked amazing. Smooth and gently pink.

At the same time, my boss, decided to gift me a Sarah Chapman facial. I decided not to dig too deeply into her reasoning (did my skin look bad? was I that tired looking?) and accepted the gift with much thanks.

Then I went to Chicago for work and had to fly home a day early. We won't linger too long on the details (a poorly husband, premium economy instead of business, snowstorms, delays, security from hell, no sleep). My facial was booked in for a day after this trauma and I felt every second of my age as I trudged off to Sloane Square, where the salon is.

The moment I walked in, life got better. This is a seriously swish salon. The therapist tucked me into a heated bed and got to work. There was no annoying chat. She just started applying who knows what to my face. Everything smelt divine. She extracted with ruthless efficiency. There was lots of pummelling and massage. Then there was an LED light for ten minutes. The 90 minutes flew by and I honestly could have just stayed the night there in a blissed out sleep. Alas, I had to get up and sit on the district line.

This is a facial for people who are very serious about their facials. It's very expensive (£170) and it feels vaguely medicinal. My skin has never looked better. I spent the next day just looking at myself in the mirror and stroking my smooth skin. I dream about a life where this facial happens for me once a month. But at £170 I couldn't possibly justify it!

If you're looking for a treat, if you know someone generous enough to gift you this for Christmas, if you are getting married or if you're just jet-lagged, exhausted, stressed and currently without a kitchen (all true for me) then I highly recommend this.

In the meantime, there is an overnight facial that Sarah makes that is raved about.

It's £46 but there is 15% off here today. I am seriously tempted.