Forever Kerry

Your fragrance doesn't have to start when you spray your perfume.

Sometimes it starts in the shower.

We have fragranced shower gels that match some of our perfumes, and I think they're one of those products that tend to get overlooked.

After all, shower gel isn't exactly as exciting as choosing a new bottle of perfume 😂

But if you already love a particular fragrance, having that scent in your shower is a lovely way to start.

Then you've got a choice.

You can follow it with the matching perfume and keep the same fragrance theme going.

Or do what I often do with fragrance and completely ignore the rules.

Use one scent in the shower and put something totally different on afterwards.

Because there really isn't a fragrance police coming to check. 😄

And actually, that's part of the fun.

A shower gel can be another way of enjoying a fragrance you love, even on the days when you're not necessarily reaching for the perfume bottle.

So which camp are you in?

🚿 MATCH IT – shower gel and perfume need to belong tYour fragrance doesn't have to start when you spray your perfume.

Sometimes it starts in the shower.

We have fragranced shower gels that match some of our perfumes, and I think they're one of those products that tend to get overlooked.

After all, shower gel isn't exactly as exciting as choosing a new bottle of perfume 😂

But if you already love a particular fragrance, having that scent in your shower is a lovely way to start.

Then you've got a choice...

You can follow it with the matching perfume and keep the same fragrance theme going.

Or do what I often do with fragrance and completely ignore the rules.

Use one scent in the shower and put something totally different on afterwards.

Because there really isn't a fragrance police coming to check. 😄

And actually, that's part of the fun.

A shower gel can be another way of enjoying a fragrance you love, even on the days when you're not necessarily reaching for the perfume bottle.

So which camp are you in?

🚿 MATCH IT - shower gel and perfume need to belong together.

or

🚿 MIX IT UP – whatever smells good at the time.

I suspect I'd be firmly in the mix it up camp. X

or

🚿 MIX IT UP - whatever smells good at the time.

I suspect I'd be firmly in the mix it up camp

Have you ever worked out what your perfume actually costs each time you wear it?

I've never really thought about perfume in terms of cost per wear before.

We do it with clothes. Something expensive that you wear once can feel like a waste, while something you use constantly can work out to be brilliant value.

So let's do some perfume maths.

Our 50ml Essens fragrances currently come at three main price points:

Standard – £26
Classic – £27.50
Luxury Niche – £44.50

A 50ml perfume will typically give you hundreds of sprays, depending on the atomiser and how enthusiastically you press it.

If we use a conservative estimate of 500 sprays per bottle and assume you're a 4-sprays-per-wear person, that's around 125 wears.

That works out at roughly:

£26 → 21p per wear
£27.50 → 22p per wear
£44.50 → 36p per wear

Even our Luxury Niche fragrances work out at well under 50p each time you wear them on those numbers.

But here's where my calculations could fall apart.

How many sprays are you actually using?

Are you a restrained 2–3 sprays person?

A respectable 4–5?

Or are you reading "500 sprays per bottle" and thinking, there's absolutely no way I'm getting 125 wears out of mine 😂

I wear perfume every day, even when I'm staying at home, so cost per wear is probably a much better way for me to look at perfume than simply looking at the price of the bottle. 💜

As I featured it in my earlier post I thought I'd highlight 3 things you probably didn’t know about bakuchiol.

I'd barely even heard of bakuchiol before I started using it, but it's become one of those skincare ingredients I really like.

So, what actually is it?

1️⃣ Bakuchiol comes from a plant.
It's derived from the Psoralea corylifolia plant and has become a popular skincare ingredient, particularly for people looking for an alternative to retinol.

2️⃣ It's not actually retinol.
You'll often hear bakuchiol described as a “natural retinol alternative”, but they're completely different ingredients. Bakuchiol is used in skincare to help support smoother, firmer-looking skin and improve the appearance of fine lines and uneven skin tone.

3️⃣ The rest of the formula matters too.
When you're looking at a bakuchiol product, don't just look for the word bakuchiol on the front. Look at what it's combined with as well. Oils such as argan, apricot kernel, grape seed and jojoba can all bring their own skin-conditioning benefits.

My experience?

I've been using bakuchiol oil serum as part of my evening skincare for quite a while now, and I've recently been trying out the limited edition, mildly fragranced one too.

I actually still prefer the feel of the original oil on my skin. Sometimes newer doesn't automatically mean you'll like it better!

Had you heard of bakuchiol before, or is it one of those skincare words you've seen but never really knew what it was? X

Colostrum in skincare? Isn't colostrum for babies? 🤔

That's probably a perfectly reasonable reaction if you've never come across it in cosmetics before.

So what exactly is it?

Colostrum is the first milk produced by mammals after giving birth. It's incredibly important for a newborn calf, which is why the calf's needs always come first.

A cow can produce several litres of colostrum after calving – often around 3-4 litres or more at the first milking. The calf is given the colostrum it needs, with the amount depending on things such as its size and the quality of the colostrum.

Where there is surplus colostrum beyond the calf's requirements, rather than that valuable excess simply going unused, it can be collected and used for other purposes.

And one of those is skincare.

The bovine colostrum used in cosmetics naturally contains proteins and other components that make it an interesting skin-conditioning ingredient.

Essens actually has a whole Colostrum+ range, including:

🤍 Eye Gel
🤍 Mild Face Soap
🤍 Face & Body Cream
🤍 Cellulite Cream

Different products for different areas, but with colostrum linking the range together.

I think knowing where an unusual ingredient comes from makes it much less strange when you see COLOSTRUM+ written across a pot of skincare.

Did you know surplus bovine colostrum could be used like this, rather than simply going to waste? X

Two weeks ago today I got a new knee, and today we're getting rid of the clips!

But first, something much more exciting - I'm getting my hair done this morning 😂

It's funny the things you look forward to when you've spent the last couple of weeks mainly concentrating on medication timings, exercises, ice packs, getting comfortable and working out how to do everyday things slightly differently.

So a trip to get my hair done feels like a proper outing at the moment.

Then this afternoon it's back to the serious stuff and I'm off to get the clips removed from my knee.

Two weeks post surgery already.

I'm definitely not going to pretend it's all been plain sailing. Recovery is hard work and there have been good days, not-so-good days and plenty of moments where I've wondered what day it actually is.

But there has been progress too, and that's what I'm trying to concentrate on.

Meanwhile my wee business has quite happily carried on around me. A few orders packed when I've felt up to it, messages answered from the sofa and social media when I remember what day it is. 😄

Today though, I'm looking forward to feeling a little more human with freshly done hair and hopefully leaving a few bits of metal behind this afternoon.

It's the little milestones at the moment.

And getting my hair done definitely counts as one of them. 💜

Vanilla keeps following me around, and I don't even deliberately look for it. 😂

If you'd asked me years ago what a vanilla perfume smelled like, I'd probably have said sweet.

Simple as that.

But since I've started trying far more fragrances, I've realised just how wrong that is.

Vanilla can be creamy and comforting.
It can be warm and spicy.
It can sit underneath florals and soften them.
Pair it with woods and it can become deeper and more sophisticated.

When you hear "vanilla perfume", do you automatically imagine something really sweet?

Because look at three very different fragrances from our current Essens range:

🍋 W199
Vanilla sits alongside candied citrus, orange blossom and rum. It's sweet and gourmand, but with that lovely citrus running through it.

☕ W142
One of my all-time favourites. Here you've got vanilla alongside coffee, white flowers and warmer notes. It's richer, darker and definitely doesn't smell like W199.

🌿 Nocturne Reserve
Vanilla goes in another direction again, alongside cognac, cinnamon, tonka bean and oak. Warm, boozy, spicy and woody.

Three fragrances.

All contain vanilla.

Yet I wouldn't put them in the same box at all.

That's why I always say don't dismiss a perfume because you spot one note you think you don't like. It's what that note is sitting beside that can completely change it.

And apparently I like vanilla in far more forms than I realised. 😄

Which version sounds more like you – citrus & gourmand, coffee & warm, or boozy & spicy? X

When did washing our faces become so complicated? 😂

Cleanser. Toner. Essence. Serum. Eye cream. Oil. Moisturiser. Mask.

I love my skincare, so I'm definitely not against having a few different products on the bathroom shelf, but sometimes you just want something simple.

The Essens Colostrum+ Mild Face Soap is one of those products.

It's a gentle cleansing soap designed for the face, with colostrum and glycerine, and is made to cleanse without unnecessarily drying the skin.

No 12-step routine required.

Just lather it between wet hands, gently massage onto the face and rinse away.

And actually, I'd love to know this before I tell you anything else about it:

How many different products did you use on your face this morning?

One or two?
Three or four?
Five plus?

Or are you currently thinking, "Does water count?" 😂

There's definitely room for all sorts of skincare routines, but I think we sometimes get so caught up in what's new and what's trending that we forget simple can be perfectly good too.

And this bottle is about as uncomplicated as skincare gets. X

Why do kids always seem to collect little scrapes, bumps and grazes like they're souvenirs? 😂

One minute they're absolutely fine. The next they've somehow acquired another mark and nobody quite knows where it came from.

That's where products like our Aloe Vera Soft Spray for Kids are handy to have around.

It's a gentle spray designed for children's delicate skin, containing Aloe Vera, and it's an easy option when you want to care for and soothe their skin without lots of rubbing.

And I think the spray part is particularly clever.

Because I'm fairly sure every parent has experienced the child with the tiniest little scrape who suddenly behaves as though approaching it with anything remotely resembling a cream is a major medical procedure. 😄

Quick spritz. No unnecessary fuss.

Although I'm curious.

What sort of child did you have – or were you?

The one who wanted a plaster for absolutely everything?

Or the one who'd come home filthy, knees covered in scrapes and have absolutely no idea how any of them happened? (This version was me!).😂

I wonder how many of you could actually describe your favourite smell?

Not your favourite perfume. Your favourite smell.

Maybe it's freshly cut grass.

Clean washing.

The sea.

Freshly baked bread.

Vanilla.

That smell outside just after it's rained.

A certain flower.

Or something really random that instantly takes you back to a particular person, place or memory.

Scent is such a huge part of what I do with Essens, but I think we sometimes forget just how connected our sense of smell is to everyday life.

Mine? I'm going to have to have a think about this one too. 😄

So I'm putting you on the spot - what smell could you happily bottle?

And who knows, I might even be able to find you a fragrance with a little bit of it inside. 💜