Ren Moroccan Rose Otto Ultra-Moisture Body Oil

Now, having said in a previous review about my liking but not loving Ren, there are some Ren products that I do, actually adore, and the Rose Otto range in fact, encompasses all of them. 

In fact, I like the Rose Otto range so much that I actually asked for the bath oil for Christmas, and, husbands being husbands (or more specifically, my husband being  …  my husband) I actually ended up with a bottle of this instead.  And now I have two.  Not bad for someone who never uses body products!  However, taking this into account, these two bottles are probably a life-time supply.

The “Ultra Moisture” body oil (actually, does one have “moisture” in an oil product?  Surely, as they say, moisture is the essence of wetness, and oil is greasy rather than damp, isn’t it?) is a really genuinely lovely product .It doesn’t enhance my bathtime in the same way the, you know, bath oil would had I gotten a bottle. Oh well. Ren Rose Otto Ultra Moisture Body Oil smells delicious. It smells divine. It smells of both the idea of rich red rose petals and a hint of the woody stems beneath.  It smells rich, and it smells expensive.

Now look, the Morrocan Otto scent is a signature of the Ren line, and I beg you, Unilever (who recently bought Ren), to no matter how much you are tempted, not to screw with the formulas of the Rose Otto line at all – I know several hundred people who will stop buying Ren altogether if you do, and they’re already hacked off at you for buying the brand in the first place.  Anyway, I’m digressing, but I need to tell you that the Rose Otto Line contains products that people care about, and if go on to pump them full of mineral oil to save themselves a couple of pence a bottle they will notice, and they won‘t forgive.  Just so they know.  Oh, and I’ll be one of them. I may even egg them on.

Anyway, back to the review.  I was delighted on trying the oil again recently to discover that roses had “come back” to my nose, as they’ve smelled like burned paper for the last year and a half. Discovering they smell almost normal (in spite of my parosmia) has been great.  The Ultra Moisture Oil is a thick, unctuous oil, that nonetheless seems to sink in quite easily, and it definitely does seem to do good things for drier skins.  My hands are, I’ve noticed, becoming slightly crepey and my forearms have definitely been drier recently, but this oil definitely feels more nourishing than the spray moisturisers I’d been using recently to combat those conditions. Sprays only seem to moisturise the very top layers of the skin, I've found.  A little of this, however, goes a long way, too.

I do also like the redesigned labels for the Rose Otto line, I always think Ren packaging doesn’t quite go far enough in underscoring the price tags of the products – the designs usually just look cheap, or too simplistic compared to what’s inside the packaging, but the design on the Rose Otto line show that you don’t actually need to change much to make something look more expensive, or more thought out, or simply just to draw the eyes in to something.  They’re still “clean”, but look infinity more luxe than the other products Ren puts out.  Ren straddles a line, and it’s a difficult line, being cheaper than its prestige  cousins on the shelf (which is a good thing, good skincare should be available at all price points), but also by looking cheaper than the other lines, even the ones at a similar price point (which I think it does), it won’t appeal to those who like prestige and also like a bargain (like moi).  Something is only a bargain if you feel like it’s worth more than you paid for it, cheap-looking packaging just looks cheap.

So yeah, body oil.  Two bottles and I'm set for life.  How about you?


The Fine Print: PR samples and purchases 


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Clinique Deep Comfort Body Oil

 

First things first; I don't have dry skin. Secondly, I don't use body lotion, as a rule.  These two facts may be related.  I do, however, occasionally get dry shins in winter.  I wear trousers a lot, don't wear a full-length coat for fear of looking like a hobbit, and so my shins, protected only by my trousers and the tights I usually wear beneath are the bits of my body most exposed to the weather, really.  There's always a week, every winter where my shins get so dry and flaky that they ITCH like nothing on earth and it drives me bananas.

And still body lotion seems like too much of a faff, frankly.  They're always too scented, or too thick, or just take too damn long to rub in, and I just can't be bothered.  Enter Clinique Deep Comfort Body Oil, a light spray that has just enough heft to be able to hydrate even the most crocodilesque of shins, yet is light enough to barely need any rubbing in whasoever.  It literally sinks into skin almost as soon as it is sprayed on, and soothes the itchiest of limbs.  I love it.

At £21 or so for quite a small 125ml bottle, however, I suspect my drier-skinned friends (of whom I have many) will be cursing at the price.  Admittedly you don't need very much at all, I found one spray per shin plenty to go around. For me, based on two weeks a year usage, and two sprays per shin per day, whilst I doubt I'll ever finish the bottle in this lifetime, as an emergency itch-relief product, it can't be beaten.

The Fine Print: PR Sample


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Prismologie at SpaceNK

Intrigued by the invitiation which promised a global launch of a "beauty first", I trekked along to the Knightsbridge branch of SpaceNK recently (it's a hard life), and discovered Prismologie, A colourful and luxurious body care range. Prismologie promises to help lift your mood as well as care for your skin.

Taking the basics of colour-therapy as its starting point, Prismologie has 12 products divided into six colour ways each with a specific mood as its inspiration, and each has a corresponding scent and gem combination in the ingredients. There are signs that Prismologie is also incorporating some aromatherapy, and a little healing crystal therapy into the range, too:

White Beginning - consisting of a body wash and a rich body cream, for contemplation and relaxation.  This range is scented with neroli. and contains micro diamonds.
Yellow Day - a body lotion and a shower gel, to bring radiance and confidence.  This range is scented with bergamot and contains citrine.
The Red Hour - A foaming scrub and a dry oil, for stimulation and passion. This is scented with cedarwood, and contains ruby.
Green Epoch - a hand polish and bath oil, for serenity. With vetiver, and jade.
Pink O'Clock - hand cream and a cream-to-powder body balm for compassion and tenderness, scented with rose, and containing rose quartz.
and finally Indigo Interlude - a foot cream and a massage candle, for stillness and to help relax.  The indigo range smells of oud, and contains sapphire.

The scents for the range have been created sympathetically by Ruth Mastenbroek, and the products, from whichever colourway you pick, smell divine.  The neroli-scented body-cream in particular is absolutely gorgeous, and personally, I'd have adored it if the entire range smelt of it, personally, but all the scents are very good indeed.  I thought the oud in the footcream was an unusual - and brave - choice, but it smells woodsy and clean in this formulation. I think it's a sign that oud really has gone mainstream now though.  I mean, it's a footcream, not exactly the most glamorous of products, lets face it ...

The products themselves aren't coloured to match the (beautiful) packaging  - the range contains no parabens, SLS, mineral oil and are not tested on animals - but they are nice to use, and do what they're said to do on the label.  The White Beginning body cream is my particular favourite, it is rich and thick, and takes time to sink in, but the beyond gorgeous scent makes up for it.  I'm normally a body cream avoider (life's too short, and I don't have dry skin), but I've made a space for this one every day since I picked it up.

I remain sceptical - well I would - on the therapeutic benefits of the range, much as I would with any range that maintains to alter wellbeing through colour, or scent, but it is clear that the founders, mother and daughter team Intisar and Fatima Al-Sabah have produced a well thought through, and very high-quality range of products (every part of the body, right down to the cuticles, is catered for), which is delivered in beautiful, extremely eyecatching packaging.

Prismologie lands in SpaceNK on 12th May, and prices will start at £30.

The Fine Print: PR Sample

The Even Finer Print: We're not featuring full fragrance reviews on Get Lippie at the moment owing to illness - please see The Parosmia Diaries for more.


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