I am really excited to talk about beauty and interior design today. I adore interior design and so happy that I finally get to share my bathroom with you. Many of you have seen my entire house via my snapchat (Iam CHOUQUETTE) but here is a close up look and links to shop my favourite pieces. For those of you that haven’t seen my bathroom, I hope you like it.
I am going to be sharing with you my morning and evening beauty routine for my face products (not talking about hair today) and tell you all about my skin journey that has become a real problem for me lately.
This is the main bathroom of my house, I call it the white bathroom for obvious reasons and because the other one is similar but dark grey wall panels and a double sink, would you like to see the other bathrooms? Seeing as this is my main bathroom and the one where I keep my beauty products I wanted to share this room first. If you scroll down to the bottom of the article you will find links to shop everything, from roll top bath tubs to the exact same venetian mirror; I can’t believe I found the exact mirror. I bought mine two years ago and this was actually my wedding seating plan mirror. Now it lives in our bathroom. I am totally obsessed with venetian mirrors I have quite a few of them in my house, I think I counted six! I have a huge one in my walk in wardrobe, one in the entrance, two in my bedroom and two in the bathrooms. I have linked a list of all of them below.
Our bathroom carries on the theme of our house which is “country French chic” I totally just made that up, I didn’t plan it that way that is just how it ended up. I like all kind of designs when it comes to homes; modern, country, French Shabby chic, industrial, I love it all. I usually design my house to fit the surroundings. My Chelsea flat is quite minimal and this house is in the country side so I wanted to keep it as a country house. When we moved in, all the yellow gold bathroom fittings were already here to I kept them. This bath was actually burgundy and I changed it to white and the entire room was red with drapes and burgundy curtains. Scroll to the bottom of this article and you can see a before photo. Now it is fresh and clean, country with a modern touch and of course the bathroom fittings all add that French antique element. All that is missing here is some marble panels and then it will be the dream bathroom. For now the marble toilet lid will have to do. Have you ever seen a marble affect toilet lid before?
Now lets talk beauty.
Again if you follow my Snapchat you will know that I am suffering with my skin, experiencing the worst break outs in my entire life. I usually get hormonal break outs on my chin once a month. I have one spot, it’s red for a few days then I am clear for the rest of the month. Lately I have been under a lot of stress and I know my skin has been affected. I have seen so many skin specialist and they all tell me the same thing “my skin is pretty good, you can not prevent hormonal break outs with products but I can use products to help heal and sooth.” I have made it my mission to find products that help me with my hormonal problem. Step one is of course try and live a stress free lifestyle (not happening) drink lots of water ( I usually fail because I HATE using public toilets) and eat a healthy (ish) diet. The next focus is to find the best products for me.
Over the last 4-6 months I have tried everything. My skin is very sensitive, I am prone to redness and I have eczema on my face which is easily irritated. All the products I tried either irritated me, didn’t feel nice or literally had zero effect.
My sister recommend PIXIE to me. I really hate the packaging of this product, the first thing I thought when buying it was “ew this defiantly won’t be displayed in my bathroom” it has the branding for teenagers but the price tag is not cheap. If it worked I really wouldn’t care about the packaging. I used this for two weeks. The moisturiser gave a nice glow but I could tell it wasn’t giving me the nourishment I needed. My skin went into a huge break out and it got worse.
It was then I just knew I had to up my game. I went on line and ordered the CREME DE LA MER SOFT CREAM. I much prefer buying beauty products on line because I know what I want so it’s much easier. Buying on line also means you buy all the other brands you need and it’s all in one place. I hate shopping for beauty products in stores going from counter to counter.
I have a story with Creme De La Mer. Years ago when I was working in Harrods I was really exhausted and my skin went all red and sore. My eczema is the first sign of me being really over tired. I felt so pressured because at Harrods you have to be very well presented and wear make up. I decided to go to the beauty department and try some of the really expensive products whilst no one was around (the store wasn’t open yet.) I used the testers so I wasn’t doing anything wrong although I did feel a bit sneaky. I was drawn to La Mer because I had heard how expensive it was. At the time I was in my early twenties aka I had no money. By the end of the day I realised that the redness had gone and my face was no longer throbbing. I was totally amazed that I finally found a beauty product that soothed and healed my sore eczema. I then researched the brand briefly and found out that the founder was a burns victim and the formula was to help heel his skin. I saved up and bought the cream. I prefer the original all soft texture that you have to pat on your skin after warming up the cream in your hands. I really love this whole process. Paris now uses this cream and he prefers the GEL CREAM because it is less hassle and quicker. He also uses the Oil absorbing lotion because he has oily skin, he said it is the best product for preventing oily skin. I sometimes use this on my chin to to prevent the oily breakouts. Since that day I always used this cream. I would get one every Christmas.
Two years ago I stopped using it, I am not sure why, I think I thought it was so expensive and maybe it didn’t make a huge difference. I also really wanted the whole product range and if I couldn’t afford it then I didn’t want one product; I am stubborn like that.
I regret every walking away from this product because clearly it did make a huge difference. After buying the cream I was contacted by La Mer, the timing was priceless and wow it was such a dream come true. I have loved this brand for years and for me it is the Chanel of beauty. For all of my Irish readers; if you read Xposé Magazine you will see an interview, in there I mentioned how much I have always wanted to worked with La Mer. It was so strange that it happened the same time I decided to buy into the brand again. I did not advertise I had bought the cream either.
At my first meeting with the lovely Kate I was dying because here I was sitting with someone from La Mer and I had bad skin. That day I went home with a bag full of La Mer, it honestly felt like Christmas. Thank you so much Kate for bringing me into the La Mer family.
I swore to my self I would be 100% honest reviewing these products. I realise how expensive they are so they need to be mind blowing if I recommend any of the products.
After two days of using the products I couldn’t believe the difference in my skin. You only need to be following my Snapchat to see I am telling the truth. I never wear make up at home and I snapchat showing my bad skin everyday because I am not ashamed, it’s happened and we all get bad skin. The products feel beautiful on my skin, I really enjoy the ten minutes every morning and night that I spend dedicated to giving myself a mini facial. My skin feels a looks radiant. I feel a huge relief that I have realised how important it is to invest into your skin. Yes I was lucky enough to have these gifted to me but I am certain I will have to buy them when they run out and there is absolutely no doubt that I will replace every single product. I will have to buy them in stages and ask Paris to buy me some for birthday’s etc but they will now be my priority. You can not put a price on helping your skin, it is so vital and having good skin is a massive confidence booster.
I noticed something on the third day. I woke up with lots of bumps on my chin. I looked in the mirror and I had so many white heads, never have I had this before. Around the white heads my skin looked flawless, radiant and felt so smooth. Usually my chin is always bumpy, the next breakout is dying to burst all over my chin. I could see that the products had lifted out all the spots but left the skin smooth. I was amazed. I did pop a few in the evening, I know so naughty. By the next day the white heads had gone. The following day the redness had decreased by more than 50% and now a month on my redness has pretty much disappeared. I still feel like my skin is in the process of healing it’s self but each day I can see improvements. Today my skin has been the best it’s been in six months.
I was so amazed by the results I looked into the brand more.
Crème De La Mer is “cream of the sea” the ingredients and “miracle broth” are all natural ingredients taken from the sea; biofermented sea kelp. This explains the heavy price tag. The formula takes months (three – four) to create. This is also why La Mer as a brand prides it’s self on protecting the sea. The founder Max Huber (ex scientist) discovered this ingredient by watching fisherman at work. He noticed that their faces were all weathered but their hands were completely smooth. He realised is must be something within the sea that achieved this smooth skin on the fisherman’s hands. He named this the “miracle broth” which is used in every product. After finding out this information and seeing the results for myself I felt comfortable that the price was totally worth it. The packagerging sits will with the price tag, it feels luxury and looks luxury. The casing us super heavy. The All Soft cream pots are too good too throw away and the silver lid’s are really heavy. The colours are all beautiful…… Basically an added bonus is it all looks fabulous displayed in your bathroom.
I honestly feel that each product I am using is contributing to my healing. The cleansing gel is perfect for the shower, I use this to clean my skin after a day in London or to remove make up. The tonic water is what I use after the shower every morning and every night, I recommend buying the Radiant Kit because this has a small bottle of each. The large bottles are £65, this whole set is £250 but has over £600 worth of product. Of course they are the smaller sizes but a great way to test if the products work for you. Also ideal for holidays.
After the Tonic water I use the TREATMENT LOTION I apply this just before the Soft cream. This products penetrates the skin with rich moisture and hydration. Something my skin really needs. If you struggle to stay hydrated like me then I recommend this product.
The next product I use and for me it has been the heart of the transformation is THE CONCENTRATE oil. This products has been created to heal, even skin tone and sooth. Exactly what I needed. This product is literally mind blowing MIND BLOWING, sorry I needed to say it again. I can not put into words how much this products has transformed my skin. If I had to take away one product from this it would have to be this product. I now only use it at night now because during the night is when your skin heals the most and I am so worried I will run out of it. If you suffer from dis colouration, redness, scarring or you have had microdermabrasion this is a must. If you have acne or bad skin (like me) this is super for the healing. If you have scars from spots, you need this. It’s the most expensive product I am using but it’s pricey for a reason and it really works.
My next two favourites are the RENEWAL OIL and the EYE CONCENTRATE CREAM. Serums and oils are essential to any routine. My friend Jessica Diner ex beauty editor of British Vogue told me three years ago that I needed to introduce a serum to my daily routine. From that day I didn’t forget that, thanks Jess. The Renewal Oil feels devine, use this once and you will understand instantly that it is a must. I can feel over night the repair and I wake up looking radiant. Follow my snapchat (no filters) and you can see the results. The eye cream is the only eye cream I have used that I think works. My friend told me last year that it was “life changing” I thought to myself “yeah yeah” and didn’t go buy it. Well sorry Rachel you were so right. This eye cream is a game changer. Even if you are young I still recommend you start introducing an eye cream around the age of twenty five. Anyone over 29 you need it, end of story.
I finish of my routine with the SOFT CREAM. Rub a small amount in your hands and then pat gently on your face. This is the first product I recommend trying as it is the original La Mer product.
Another must is the PERFECTING TREATMENT. This is a product that I apply after the soft cream. I only use it if I am heading out and I do not wish to wear foundation because it evens outs my skin tone. It is also great as a primer. I am not sure what they have put inside this product but it leaves me skin so flawless and silky. It is known as the “silky phenomenon.”
The final three products left are the face masks, the REVITALISING MASK the HYDRATING MASKS and the fake tan. I have the Revitalising mask as a travel size which I will use on the plane to NYC next month. I have a pack of the Hydrating masks which I have only tried once, I am saving the others for fashion month. These are great for a skin boost once a month after after a long flight or when your skin needs an extra kick. The other product is the Fake Tan. This colour is so natural and it smells lovely. It was easy to apply and looked so natural on. The most impressive factor about this tan was that it didn’t irritate my eczema. I have eczema all over my body and fake tan is one of the worst things to irritate it. Highly recommend this to people with sensitive skin.
I apologise for such a heavily text post but I wanted to share as much as possible with you. For those of you that want to be sure spending this amount of money was the right choice I wanted to explain everything. For those of you that just want to see the products I use you can scroll above the product list. Below I have listed in order of preference which products I would priorities.
THE PERFECTING TREATMENT
Radiant Kit – Great started kit
OIL ABSORBING LOTION
FAKE TAN
Feel free to leave a comment in the box below if you need to ask me anything I have missed out.
LA MER GIFT SET – THE RADIANT COLLECTION
CC xx
