As a beauty addict, I love products that pamper and treat my body, but I admit, that one of those areas that is often neglected is my hands. I don't really know why, as it is not like they are hidden from sight (like your feet often are), but rather they are often out in plain sight, which calls for even more reason for looking after them. And if you like me, are also frequently treating your nails to a manicure, what's the point if your hands are not looked after. But that's where APSU comes in.
Australian-owned luxury bath and body brand APSU is known for offering the ultimate bathing experiences inspired by traditions and experiences from around the world. One of the range is the Japanese inspired Funaya range.
The APSU Funaya Hand Ritual contains a selection of luxurious spa products designed to relax and rejuvenate your hard-working hands, to make them look and feel gorgeous. The range contains among others; Yuzu, Green Tea, and Hinoki Oil.
The APSU Green Tea and Avocado Exfoliating Mask for Hands is a revitalising mask for the hands. It contains among others rice exfoliators to gently buff and polish, as well as green tea, which antioxidant properties help protect the hands against ageing, stress and sun damage, while the avocado butter, shea butter, jojoba and sesame seed oils rich in vitamins and moisturising qualities help deeply nourish the hands and leave them soft, smooth and looking younger and feeling refreshed. It also contains oils from lemongrass and lime, which helps give it such as fresh and uplifting citrus scent that I never can resist.
The mask is to be used by applying a thin layer onto clean, dry hands and then leave it on the skin for 3-15 minutes, and then massage into the skin for a few minutes to gently release and buff away dead skin cells, before rinsing the mask off.
I admit that wearing it for 15 minutes is a little tricky, as you do kind of feel you cannot do anything meanwhile, so I've only been using it for the 3-5 minutes - but even so, the results are incredible. In spite of the rice exfoliators in the mask, it is super gentle, and after each use, my hands are simply left so incredibly soft and smooth, and so worth it, so I am trying hard to keep this treatment up at least on a weekly basis.
Then there's the APSU Funaya Green Tea Massage Candle! Yep, you read that one correctly! It is a hot oil treatment containing among others soy bean oil, shea butter, rice bran oil, olive fruit oil, bees wax, green tea oil, lavender oil, and lemongrass and lime oils. To use it, you burn the candle for approx 5 minutes until a pool of oil forms. You then blow out the candle, test the temperature of the oil to make sure it is not burning, and the pour it over the back of your hands and massage it into the hands, wrists and cuticles, before rinsing it off.
Because this oil is hot, it helps the ingredients absorb into the nails, cuticles and skin, and it is hence the perfect treatment for those with dry skin and brittle nails - and this treatment is not only unlike anything I've ever tried before, an while I do not have brittle nails, I can confirm that from the very first treatment, this leaves the skin on your hands so soft and smoother than I ever remember them being before.
Massage candle comes in a cutest little ceramic jug that you can use when its empty for anything from a decorative item, to a little vase or a creamer - and the actual candle smells so fresh and beautiful no doubt to the added lemongrass and lime oils.
So overall these products from APSU truly are beautiful - they are so very different from anything I've ever tried before, and I cannot believe I'd never heard of the brand before, but after trying these goodies, I am definitely keen on exploring more products from their huge range.
APSU Funaya Green Tea and Avocado Exfoliating Mask - RRP: $29 / 100ml
APSU Funaya Green Tea Massage Candle - RRP: $39 / 50ml
Available from APSU and selected spas around the world
* Products have been kindly provided for consideration, and have reviewed in accordance with my Disclosure Policy.
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I don't know about you, but I never fail to look after my face, but often neglect the rest of the body - so when these Hand and Foot treatment products from Skin Republic landed on my desk, I couldn't wait to try them..
The Skin Republic Foot Peel is a pack with a pair of treatment booties made to remove dead skin cells and calluses in a week. It contains 15 plant extracts, including ginko biloba, green tea and lavender extract, plus vitamin E to soothe and maintain healthy feet, as well as AHAs, which work to remove and peel dead skin cells to reveal soft, crack-free skin.
It is recommended to wear the fabric booties for 90-120 minutes, although 120 minutes is suggested for best results. After a little while, I did start to feel a little tingling, no doubt from the AHAs sloughing away the dead skin cells, but nothing I couldn’t tolerate. A week or so later, my skin slowly started to feel off, revealing softer and smoother and softer skin. The actual peeling process did take a few days, and I can't deny that my feet didn't look very nice during this period, and I felt that they were looking and feeling very dry too so I did continuously moisturise them to make them feel better, But this also consequently you'd definitely want to hold off with this if you have any planned outings in strappy sandals!
I did really like the result of these, and while it is recommended to use a treatment every 6 weeks, I am not sure that I would do that, at least not during the summer period where I tend to live in sandals. But during winter, when you can 'hide' your feet in socks and shoes, it certainly would be a great time to get your feet back to a healthy state.
Then there's the Skin Republic Foot Repair Treatment, which is also comes with a pair of booties enough for one application. They are to be worn for 20 minutes, and contain among others moisturising ingredients including gingko Biloba, Green Tea, Peppermint, Seaweed and Shea Butter, to penetrate deep into the skin, to help rejuvenate and appearance of the feel and help soothe rough, dry feet and cracked heels, but they also contain some salicylic acid to help shed some of the dead skin cells.
This treatment is naturally not as intense as the peel above, but that said, I do actually prefer it, as there is no down-time as such - and the 20 minutes are easy, as you can do it at night when you sit on the couch anyway. And after use, the skin on my feet is clearly softer and smoother - so in the warmer moths when my feet are also at their driest, and at the same time I want them to look their best in sandals, I can clearly see the benefit of using these regularly. It is recommended to use them twice a week for the first month, and here after as required for optimum results.
Finally, the Skin Republic Hand Repair, which is a pair of anti-ageing treatment gloves for one treatment. The gloves are designed to help soothe, soften and rejuvenate dry, rough hands, and contain ingredients including marine collagen to maintain skin elasticity, rich shea butter to hydrate and heal dry skin, vitamin E to minimise the effects of sun damage, and seven plant extracts to reduce pigmentation and the visible signs of ageing, and some fruit extracts to gently exfoliate the skin at the same time too.
The gloves are to be worn for 20 minutes, which again is certainly doable while you sit on the couch watching telly at night, but naturally come with a few restrictions.
But once removed, the effort is completely worth it, as your hands are left so incredibly soft and smooth. I didn't really notice any major improvement in pigmentation, and signs of ageing, but I also didn't expect to after just one treatment. But that said even my dried out cuticles benefitted from the treatment, so I am sure that regular use would have your hands looking younger and healthier in no time.
Skin Republic Foot Peel - RRP: $15.99
Skin Republic Foot Repair Treatment - RRP: $7.99
Skin Republic Hand Repair - RRP: $7.99
Available from Chemist Warehouse and My Chemist nationally and Skin Republic Online
* Products have been kindly provided for consideration, and have reviewed in accordance with my Disclosure Policy.
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