Apivita Anti Wrinkle Grape Face Mask

Apivita is a Marks & Spencer exclusive beauty brand, and what brilliant brand for them to have. Apivita started as a pharmacy in Athens in 1979 by husband and wife, Nikos and Niki Koutsianas, following the philosophy of of Hippocrates (a Greek who started the modern medicine movement and believed in treating the body and the mind).

For me the representive that I met at London Meet Up sold the brand for me, sun drenched fields and vineyards, I was already mentally booking my tickets there. However, I will have to settle with my grape in the face mask for now.

The mask has grape and the combination of A and E vitamins which is reported to help reduce the appearance of wrinkles and expression lines while offering skin unique softness and revitalisation. Olive and sunflower natural plant oils have moisturising properties and enhance skin's elasticity and firmness.
You apply to clean skin for 10 minutes and rinse off (as I do with my a majority of my face masks I use a face cloth to wash off).

 

I will warn you know, it is a fluid mask so it can come out quicker than expected. It also has little particles of red in them so I would assume this is parts of the grape as I cannot find any information anywhere on what they are. I did like the softer touch to my skin afterwards, it felt much plumper and look liked I have had a night's rest.

 

Doing my research on the Marks & Spencer's website, they also have 20% off Beauty and Fragrance until 26th August (That's Bank Holiday Monday). The set of two sachets of masks would cost £2.40 instead of £3.00, not the biggest reduction, however if this is a sample of the rest of the range it's well worth a treat (or two).

Antipodes Organic Avocado Oil & Rosehip

After trying the Trilogy Rosehip Oil Antioxidant+ and falling in love with it, I was determined to try and investigate facial oils more. I had always dismissed them as I think, like others, that if you add oil to oily skin it would make it oiler. I was very wrong, after trying Trilogy out for a week it improved my skin without adding any other oil to it.

How did I come to Antipodes? That would be the influence of other beauty bloggers, there are bevy of them who adore good skin care and this product came up time and time again.

I took to Google and searched out the product online, the first thing I was impressed with was the price £19 compared to Triogy's £29 for the same amount, and second was the ingredients list that got my aromatherapy side twitching. Base oils of Avocado, Macadamia Nut, Jojoba and Rosehip oil - all filled with fatty acids (great for scar healing), vitamin A, B1, B2, C and D as well as Omegas 3 and 9. These will help skin healing, neutralize free radicals that lead to aging, and helps skin look less stressed. Essentials oils of Ylang-Ylang, Sandalwood and Jasmine give a delicate fragrance but contribute to the psychological effect of feeling less stressed and soothes rattled nerves.

I got my bottle when I went to the London Bloggers Meet Up in April from Selfridges, and every blogger that saw in my bag said it was the best purchase I could of made that day. I got this just as the right time because my normal moisturiser has just ran out, I patted 3 drops over my face with the option of putting a cream over the top if you feel you need a bit more moisture to the skin. After a week the redness I have on my sensitive cheeks has reduced, my skin did look a lot smoother and more refreshed. When my skin started to get more blemishes (which I didn't realise at the time where the result of my pregnancy), it even helped with the healing of these.

Do I love this? A whole hearted yes, and I recommend it to everyone who wants a good value facial oil that still delivers the results of the higher value. I am already eyeing the skin masks in the range, which is great timing as one of my favourite natural websites Nature's Healthbox have announced they are stocking it so I do not have to wait for my next Selfridges trip.