Having officially reached my mid-30s, I was quite excited to receive this product to trial, with claims of plumping and lifting, evening tone, and reducing fine lines. The packaging is nice, coming in a textured glass bottle with a pipette, and is reminiscent of the Estee Lauder serum. The serum itself is really nice and lightweight, without being so lightweight that it absorbs so quickly it disappears, leaving skin feeling hydrated and smooth. I have blemish-prone combination skin with an oily t zone, with some hyperpigmentation. I have been impressed with how the serum hydrates where needed without creating congestion or breaking me out, and my skin feels plumper and smoother after having used this nightly. My only wrinkles are the fine lines around my eyes, and these are beginning to soften which is encouraging. Having reached the end of the trial period, I will definitely continue to use this, and look forward to alternating with a gentle encapsulated retinol to further improve tone and texture, and to ensure any reduction in fine lines is real progress and not just superficial plumping from the hyaluronic acid within the serum. My only concerns with the product is the inclusion of denatured alcohol, which can be quite drying for some, and fragrance, however my 65 year old mother who has dry, sensitive skin has also tried this a few times and has had no problems, so these may only be noteworthy for those with very reactive skin.

I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to trial this product. I have dark brown hair naturally which I dye a few shades darker, and to hide an increasing number of random greys (by which I mean pure white hairs). This trial was actually perfectly timed as I do need to dye my roots but haven't had the time or money lately. For the most part others don't seem to notice my greys (even my best friend, bless her) but I've a few on my temples and along my part near my forehead which I notice every time I look in a mirror. I did like this product as it's quick and easy, although the brown shade is a bit lighter and warmer than my hair colour, and in addition to the fact my greys are pure snow white, I could still see where they were, but I doubt anyone else would be able to spot them even close-up. It does take a few minutes to dry before you're able to brush it through, but it lasts until you next shampoo your hair, so I'll definitely keep using this in between root touch-ups.

I was lucky enough to have the chance to try this mask. As much as I love masks, generally I prefer mud/clay/rubber masks, however I have used quite a few Korean sheet masks in the past. This black, charcoal mask is really quite good. I cleansed and toned before applying the mask, and as always I did squeeze some of the excess essence from the mask before applying it. The mask covered my face nicely (although I would have ideally liked the mask to cover my nose, given it's the oiliest part of my face, but otherwise it was easy to apply, and remained in place, whereas some masks seem to spend the 15 minutes trying to slide down your face. The main reason I don't prefer sheet masks is that a lot of the essences leave my skin feeling clogged and sticky, but the essence in this mask absorbed quite quickly, and didn't feel like it was clogging my pores. My skin also looked brighter and tone more even.

Face masks are my skincare vice, I love them and have spent more on a single mask than on dresses to wear as guests to weddings. Having tried so many masks, it does mean I have quite a good idea of what products/ingredients will or will not work for my skin type. White clay (usually kaolin) is one which can be a bit hit-and-miss with my skin, as most traditional type masks with white clay can noticeably dry even my very oily skin, so whilst I had been looking forward to trying this product, I was quite prepared for it not to be right for my skin. Luckily, the beauty of this mask requiring only a minute on the face means that even though I can feel a pleasant 'the product is working' tingle within 20 seconds or so, when the mask is removed with warm water after a minute, my skin feels deeply cleansed without feeling dry (or exacerbating my winter dehydration), leaving it soft and smooth. The packaging says it can be used daily, however for my skin I wouldn't; I've instead been trying to use it twice a week.

I love the ease of micellar waters/makeup removers, however most I've tried have left an oily/greasy residue on my face after use, which doesn't do my oily, blemish-prone skin any favours. This product, however, seemed like it may be different as it has an oil within it (which means you just need to give the bottle a vigorous shake before use, to mix the products). I was very impressed with how well this product removed a full face of makeup, including lashings of mascara and liquid eye liner, all without having to repeatedly rub my eyes to remove remaining eye makeup. And best of all, there really isn't any oily/greasy residue left on your skin after use, so it hasn't left my skin feeling any oilier than usual, hasn't broken me out, and is the perfect product to use when I finish work at 10pm and want to get to bed without having to spend the time doing a full double cleanse.

Whilst I do suffer from a dry, flaky and itchy scalp, I don't think I've ever actually tried Head and Shoulders before, or even really thought of trying their conditioners as I'd (incorrectly) assumed that it wouldn't work for my actual hair, which is very thick, dry, frizzy and damaged from years of colouring and heat styling. This conditioner is just fantastic and has totally proved me wrong. One I've applied it, within a few minutes, my hair already feels relaxed, smoothed, and so silky. The argan creme in the conditioner is just enough to hydrate my hair without weighing it down, leaving residue on my hair, or making my roots oily. Given how much effort it takes to wash, dry and straighten my thick hair, I generally wash it every 3-4 days, by which time my scalp is dry, flaky and itchy, my roots very oily, and my mid-lengths and ends very dry. My roots are much less oily than they usually would be by now, my scalp still feels great, and most amazingly, my hair still feels hydrated. As an added bonus, the packaging looks nicer than the standard Head and Shoulders offerings, and the bottle is huge, so even with my liberal use of conditioner, is bottle will last me months.

I was lucky enough to be selected to test this shampoo for the BH Trial Team. Whilst I do suffer from a dry, flaky and itchy scalp, I don't think I've ever actually tried Head and Shoulders before, as I'd (incorrectly) assumed that it would only tackle dandruff and wouldn't be beneficial for my hair itself, which is thick, dry, damaged and frizzy (and despite having a dry scalp, my roots get super oily). I'm so glad I was proven wrong. This shampoo works wonders, both on my scalp and my hair. It regulates my scalp, and really cleans my scalp and hair, without leaving either dry. This is no small feat given a lot of shampoos - even those targeted to people with dry/damaged/frizzy hair - can leave my hair feeling overly dry, like it has been stripped of any natural oils, drying it out even further, and causing it to tangle whilst I'm washing it. The argan in the shampoo is just enough to hydrate my hair without weighing it down or making my roots oily. Given how much effort it takes to wash, dry and straighten my thick hair, I generally wash it every 3-4 days, and I've now gone 4 days without washing it and there's no dryness, flakiness, or itchiness, and my roots are much less oily than they usually would be by now. My colour also still looks great, when it would have most certainly have faded by now were I still using the shampoo and conditioner I had been using previously. As an added bonus, the packaging looks nicer than the standard Head and Shoulders offerings, the bottle is huge, and the product has a nice, fresh scent without being overly fragranced.

As I've never liked the smell, feel or consistency of traditional sunscreens, and they wreak havoc on my already oily, blemish-prone skin, I'm very late to get into the habit of applying sunscreen every day even despite my fair skin and propensity to burn after any time in the summer sun. I had high hopes for this sunscreen, being a fan of the La Roche-Posay Effaclar range, but it's just not the right sunscreen for my face.
You shake the bottle to activate the product, and the first thing I found with this was that as soon as I unscrewed the lid, it leaked everywhere on account of the shaking, so that's not great. The product itself is a light consistency, which is quickly absorbed into the skin, and isn't greasy, so that's a plus, and it's perfect for your arms, chest, etc.
Unfortunately I've not had any luck with this on my face when I apply after my moisturiser and before makeup. My skin is actually really good lately (thanks The Ordinary) but despite my skin feeling amazingly soft and smooth, this sunscreen makes my makeup look cakey, dry, and patchy. This has been the case despite trying several different combinations of moisturiser and base/foundation, so that was a disappointment.
It's a fine sunscreen that is broad spectrum and has a high SPF, that doesn't have the traditional feel or smell of sunscreen, but it's just best away from my face.

As someone with hair that has ALWAYS been frizzy and I fear always will be frizzy, I was really looking forward to testing this conditioner. I do have a strained relationship with Pantene though, with the vast majority of their products I've tried just not really working for my hair (thick, frizzy, and coloured).
I like that the conditioner comes in a generously sized squeeze bottle, as it can be a real pain to get the last use out of moulded bottles, so little things like that are a good touch. The gold design of the packaging is quite nice too.
As to be expected from the name, the conditioner is to be applied and left on for 3 minutes. When rinsing out after 3 minutes, my hair definitely felt softened, and it's always a good sign when you can feel a product working like that. After blow drying, my coloured ends didn't feel very hydrated, however after straightening, this wasn't really noticeable, and I did notice a bit less frizz than with some other products I've used, but not as much of a difference in visible frizz and noticeable hydration as some of the conditioners for damaged hair I've used, so it's not amazing for my hair, but it's still quite good.

I was lucky enough to receive both the Schwarzkopf Extra Care Hair Repair Bond Restore shampoo and conditioner to trial (thanks BeautyHeaven!).
Like the shampoo, the conditioner has a faint sweet scent, which I can't identify, but it's quite nice.
The consistency could be a little thicker, however that's just my personal preference, and it's not difficult to get the conditioner massaged into your mid-lengths and ends. After leaving the conditioner for a few minutes, my hair definitely feels softer and smoother whilst rinsing the product from my hair.
Following drying and straightening, hair is soft, smooth (even my beyond damaged ends are noticeably smoother), and shiny (and hasn't caused any more colour fade than my usual products), and I've noticed slightly less frizz now that I've used this a few times.
Used with the shampoo from the range, it's definitely comparable to more expensive products, like Goldwell Kerasilk Reconstruct which I had been using before, at a fraction of the cost.