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Friday 5 February 2016

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 wont 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 


This post: Ren Moroccan Rose Otto Ultra-Moisture Body Oil originated at: Get Lippie All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post at Get Lippie, then this content has been stolen by a scraper

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Sunday 13 September 2015

Skincare of the Week 13.09.15


Last Sunday was a very stressful day, so I ended up giving myself a mini-facial in the middle of the day.  Oskia Renaissance Cleansing Gel was soothing with its rosy softness, then I slathered myself in Aveda Intensive Hydrating Mask for the rest of the day.  I love this stuff, oil-free, it is instantly cooling and soothing (I keep mine in the fridge.  That reminds me, I need a bigger fridge), and leaves you plumped up and less red and angry-looking.  As I'm approximately 2/3rds sheer grumpiness, this is a minor miracle, I'm sure you'll agree.

After a stressful Sunday, I needed a treat come Monday morning, and when that happens, I reach for the Zelens:


I've been trialling the Intense Defence serum for a few weeks now, there's a full review of it upcoming, but I like this.  I like this a lot.  If you have tendencies towards sensitivity and redness (as I do), you'll probably like it too.  I paired it with the Z Recovery Intensive Repair Balm, as that is probably my second-favourite Zelens product of all time.  A non-greasy balm (actually more of a rich gel-texture) this nourishes and just makes skin look fab after using.  Any time my skin is a bit stressed, or dried out, or over-stimulated with active products, I reach for this, and my skin is usually much the better for it after one application.


A tiny catastrophe on Tuesday when I couldn't find either my Bioderma Crealine spray OR my beloved La Roche Posay Serozinc, so I had to dig out my Caudalie Grape Water.  I actually like the grape water, but the other two are much better for my rosy-redness, so it wasn't really the end of the world.  I added in the Ren Rosa Centifolia Cleansing Water, as, for some reason, I woke up with mascara smudges.  My waterproof eyemakeup remover has gone walkabout, and I paid the price on Tuesday.



More about this routine (and why it was so special) after the break ...

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Wednesday 15 February 2012

Ren Love Clean Skin (or, would you like a bit of porn with your cleanser?)

Now, I'm a fan of Ren, their Rose Otto Bath Oil is one of my desert island products.  Last week they released their "first short film" (it is not an advert, allegedly) and here's the edited version:


 
It's safe for work, don't worry.

But, this is the longer version (it's less than two minutes long, but - and it's a BIG but - do not watch this if you're at work, I mean it, you will regret it and you'll likely get fired to boot) Youtube will ask you if you're over 18, and with very good reason:



Now, what I want to know, is any of this necessary?  This is basically soft porn, and what on earth it has to do with the products, I have no idea.  Yes, yes, it's beautifully shot, and the leads aren't hollywood-gorgeous, which is refreshing to see, but ... I don't see why they bothered.

Except ...

I suppose, for a brand, any publicity is good publicity - and I'm aware this blog post is just adding to that - but, I'll be honest, this has made me rethink how I feel about the brand.  It's not that I'm offended by the film - I'm not - but any brand that stoops to showing porn to get publicity, well ... I'm not so sure that's a brand I want to spend my money on.

This post originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved.
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Saturday 5 September 2009

Bumper Beauty Week

It's been a great week for beauty here at Get Lippie, and I have some lovely things to talk about, but first of all I want to say a massive thanks to Jo Cruikshank who runs Puresha. On Twitter every day for a week, they ran a competion where just by adding #puresha to any of your tweets you could win a £100 eco-beauty voucher to spend on their simply gorgeous website, and I was one of their lucky winners!

After a wander through their site, I realised it was going to take me a while to decide what to buy, according to their website: "All of Puresha’s brands are handpicked for the way they look, smell, feel and perform on your skin and in the environment" and they stock products from suppliers as diverse as Jo Wood, REN and new celebrity fave rave Pure and True. In totally unlike me form, it took me two entire days, and many changes of basket, before I could make my mind up!

On Thursday evening, I finally got around to ordering Tsi - La natural perfume in Kesu, the Ren Rose Otto trio and the Pure and Simple trial set for normal to dry skin. This morning, Saturday, I was brought breakfast and a parcel in bed, and the goodies had already arrived! This is truly astonishing service! And look:



See that orange box on the top right? A completely unexpected bonus bottle (full size!) of rosewater by Duchesse Marden! I guess someone at Puresha had figured out I like roses, hmn? A lovely touch, none the less, and it's all the sweeter for me as I used to use REN's rose water spray that they had in their Rose Otto range and now seem to have discontinued. Inside that box, there was also a sample size of Duchesse Marden's Damascena Hydrating Masque, too!

So, thank you Puresha, I'll review the products individually shortly ... and I'll definitely be ordering more goodies from you too, I was so spoiled for choice!
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