Rediscovering The Body Shop

When I was younger a trip to my local Body Shop was one of the most grown up things I could do. I still remember the first time I received one of their little round lip balm pots ( hello shea butter!) and thinking I was a super model.That little beauty was the start of an elaborate love affair with the brand among me and my pals and it really took me through my teenage years. As I moved off to Uni and discovered a world of brands, I am sad to say aside from the odd staple purchase The Body Shop faded into the background. I stopped paying attention and turns out I missed a whole heap of amazing product releases!

In the past couple of years I had been in probably a handful of times thanks to blogging helping guide me back there to check out a few things, but I hadn't taken the time to actually take in some of the amazing products they had been creating. I was invited along to a couple of VIP parties in the Sauchiehall street branch recently and I have to say, I have not stopped raving about it since!!

There are some absolutely fantastic lines right now in store that are so worth checking out. I am officially in love with the Oils of Life collection ( the facial massager is incredible value) and the new Vitamin E range has a beautiful SPF 30 that has come along at the ideal time for me. It was also heartening to see some of the products I remember the most are still going strong, providing amazing value for money mixed with The Body Shops strong ethics that always set it apart. What I was super delighted with is the amazing re-branding that is currently going on. What is still a fantastic cleanser for £5.50 suddenly looks like it cost 4 times the price and really competes with some of the high end brands I am now used to shelling out for.

The staff in the Sauchiehall Street branch were such a delight to chat to,they are so loyal to the brand and what it stands for, it was amazing to hear their detailed knowledge on the products and what is best for your needs. Suddenly my Body Shop must try list is insanely long, I know the new Drops of Light collection designed for targeting pigmentation is something I have to get, and the smell of the recently launched Pinita Colada collection is to die for!

I have been so impressed by what I have seen so far, I am delighted it is firmly back on my radar. I signed up to their website and the offers they have on their are just amazing, the size of the discounts they regularly offer puts other brands to shame! If it has been a while since you stopped by The Body Shop I highly recommend popping in and taking a good look, you won't be disappointed!

Glasgow Reviewed; Fixing pigmentation with La Belle Forme

Around 18 months ago I posted about my amazing experience at La Belle Forme in Glasgow. A couple of sessions with these guys and the hyper pigmentation and melasma that I had long suffered with was lasered away and the results have continued to blow my mind. My results post also happens to be my most popular of all time and the one I get emails and questions about regularly and with so many people wanting to know how it was I thought I would link back to how laser treatments were my saviour.  I had tried numerous creams and treatments before finding La Belle Forme and it would have saved me a fortune if I had known the kind of treatment that might actually work, so I wanted to highlight for readers who might not have seen it before, might be in the same position and are not sure where to even start trying to clear something like this.

my skin before any lasers and a snap taken a couple of months ago ( pre infection scars currently)

I had suffered for a few years of darkening spots on my  skin ( due mainly to the contraceptive pill) and they had slowly but surely really affected my confidence as the darker patches took over the majority of my face and were harder and harder to cover. I had no idea just how much it was bothering me really until after my laser treatments- my skin was so much clearer and my confidence took a massive spike that I hadn’t really been expecting.  The whole process although slightly painful ( but over quickly and completely manageable), only requires a very small amount of down time and really provides lasting results that I am still so thankful for now.

my skin before any lasers and a snap taken a couple of months ago ( pre infection scars currently)

The kind of results these guys can help achieve has been on my mind a lot recently since my confidence has once again taken a tumble, still skin related but this time the result of some returning adult acne and an unfortunate couple of infections on my skin that has left me with a large number of pink fresh scars. I am now looking at options to try and correct these and will definitely be heading in to hear their professional opinions of the smartest way to tackle these new frustrating problems. I know I am not alone in suffering from these problems given the amount of tweets and emails I have had when discussing spots on social media! The attitude and approach of the team at La Belle Forme has had such a lasting effect on me that when looking to find someone I trust to point me in the right direction, I haven't had to think twice. The atmosphere they have created in  their Merchant City clinic is a credit to the health and beauty scene in Scotland and I can’t wait to head in and catch up with the lovely team.

Glasgow Reviewed: Laser Therapy at La Belle Forme

I have been SO excited to share this post with you but I wanted to wait until my treatment was completely finished before showing off the amazing results. I have suffered in the past three years with really bad melasma on my face, melasma is a dark discolouration of the skin through over stimulated melanin that is in my case is caused by the hormones from taking contraception. Over time my dark colouring has spread and become much more noticeable and although in the privacy of my home and around friends it does not bother me- it does mean I always wear some kind of base even if just a good BB cream when going outside as it is really noticeable! I am always so envious of people with beautiful even toned skin as mine had become so patch worked that even with a good coverage foundation my dark parts were visible, and most of the time applying certain make up products just resulted in my face looking dirty when it was just in fact my darkening colour!

I have tried a variety of creams to try and lessen the pigment over time but had no major success with any, so I was over the moon when the opportunity to try laser therapy at La Belle Forme in Glasgow arose. Based in the merchant city this cosmetic surgery clinic offer a huge array of services, from breast implants to bikini waxing and everything in between. When arranging my appointments I found the staff were incredibly helpful and approachable and made the process so easy, and on arrival at the clinic I was super impressed with how welcoming it was and with a waiting area jam packed with fascinating reading of the treatments on offer, I really felt at ease.

On my first visit I met with my consultant Norma who is an absolute joy to work with. I went with my make up off ( such a weird feeling!) and she agreed with me on how bad my pigmentation was and took me through why light therapy was the best way forward in reducing it. She was incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about the treatments they offer but at no point tried to over sell or promote multiple procedures to me which I think is important when establishing a relationship of trust between you and a practitioner who is going to perform any kind of treatment on you. Norma took some photos using the amazing Visia Facial scanning machine, which analyses your bare face and  breaks down your skin- able to pinpoint how many wrinkles, spots or in my case brown spots you have! I then got settled on the bed, applied a cooling gel and then did a patch test using two different kinds of lasers ( yellow and green), she was then able to tell if how my skin would react and allowed me to see if there were any adverse effects over the next couple of days. What I loved about this was it gave me an idea of how the upcoming procedure was going to feel which was good being my whole face was being dealt with on my next visit! And how does it feel? I wouldn't sugar coat it, it stings. There is a bright flash and very quick 'snap' on the skin but it is nothing that can't be handled and is over very quickly. I was a little apprehensive of how it might feel when my whole face was being subject to these snaps but actually it was no where near as bad as I though.After the first couple you are used to it, you might jump and flinch at the more sensitive areas such as under the nose but the therapist moves so quickly you get used to it and then before you know it is over.

Norma was amazing,she knows when to stop if its hurting, keeps an excellent pace so the procedure is quick, was very reassuring and chatted away during to put me at ease. Afterwards as I lay on the bed and Norma applied a heavenly soothing balm to my face, it did feel hot and tight, not massively but I was aware my face was going to look a little.... treated. It was not as bad as I thought it might be however, my worse pigmented areas were very red but nothing too horrific, no one screamed at the sight of me in the street on the way home anyway. In the hour that followed my face was definitely very stingy but it quickly went down and off I went to bed.

In the days that followed all my dark parts went even darker as I had been told they would so it was no major surprise. It might be a little alarming to some, but I was actually fine with it, when I covered it with make up yes it was still obvious but with wearing my fringe down and keeping my glasses on it was covered mostly and with each day it went down. ( Apologies for the lack of snaps of my skin after treatment, I lost them all in a disastrous laptop failure-so frustrating!!) By 4 days later it was mostly gone and anything remaining were perfectly covered by make up which was quicker healing than I had anticipated, between day 3 and 4 it went from really dark to mostly disappearing and that is when I noticed it.... IT HAD WORKED. 

Looking at myself in the bathroom mirror I noticed just how much less the dark was, when I put on foundation and popped cream blush on top as normal my cheeks didn't look dirty- HURRAH! I was so intrigued by how much it changed I quickly stitched together a couple of before and after shots on my phone and then I was shocked, it hadn't just worked a bit- it was a massive difference. My boyfriend almost fell of his chair when I  ran over to show him my comparison snaps, he could not believe how much had changed in only 4 days and couldn't get over how bright my skin looks. I was so completely over the moon, I had such a confidence boost going out that day- i just wanted to show everyone those snaps- I had to stop myself popping them straight up on here!

In order to keep up my excellent results I need to make sure I am meticulous in using sun screen all year round, I usually always do but now I am sure to never go without. When I look back at the before pictures I realise just how bad it was and i really want don't it to go as dark again, I much prefer my clearer looking skin! On my return visit to see Norma at the clinic so she could take a look at the results and she too was so impressed with how well my skin had come up. A comparison photo been taken on the Visia machine showed that on top of the obvious colour change my skin texture had improved by a massive 42% and I was bowled over that my wrinkle percentage had halved, my spots have improved by 23% and my pores reduced by a futher 20! To be able to see such incredible changes was just an amazing feeling and it really has changed how I feel about my skin.

I could never have anticipated how much one session of light laser therapy could do for my skin and how much I would be screaming it from the rooftops at pretty much ANYONE who will listen. yes £150 is a lot, but considering how much I am willing to save and spend on skincare products that more often than not yield no results, I am more than happy to pay that price for skin as good as mine is right now- and the confidence boost it has brought. I cannot recommend enough getting along to La Belle Forme if you have any skin problems at all you are looking to change. The Staff there are all truly lovely, offering a superb thorough and welcoming service that has been a joy to experience. I really felt anyone I spoke to there wanted the best for me and my final results and that was so encouraging.

Huge thanks to all involved for turning my skin around- can't thank you enough. I have already taken advantage of a fantastic 1/3 off non-surgical treatments they were running to book in for another session of laser therapy to get rid of the remaining pigment this weekend, which I think is the biggest thumbs up I could ever give!

You can contact the lovely team at the clinic by ringing 0141 552 0828. They also have clinics in Edinburgh and London which you can read more about here. My skin adventures with La Belle form don't end with this first laser treatment so keep your eyes peeled for my next post for a review on my first ever derma roller experience!