Potions

My favourite potions of the moment are:

Naturelle d'Argan face cream - it is organic, and it feels lovely on the skin - it goes in very quickly. Argan oil is supposed to be very good. for the skin. If you don't believe me, believe this: "Exceptionnellement riche en Acides Gras insaturés, Oméga 6 (acide linoléique 30-35%) et Oméga 9 (acide oléique 45-50%), en Vitamine E ( 2 fois plus concentrée que dans l’huile d’Olive) et Polyphénol, l’huile d’Argan permet d'apporter des nutriments à la peau et joue un rôle majeur dans la fonction barrière de l’épiderme, qu’elle nourrit, protège et hydrate". Now, that has to be good for you! According to the website, the Naturelle d'Argan range uses Argan oil that has been treated to remove its strong smell - apparently it smells of cold tobacco! Another interesting fact: the Argan tree only grows in the Atlas region of Morrocco - its growth there has a number of benefits: not only do the trees help against the advance of the Sahara desert, but the sale of the Argan nuts is an important source of revenue for this poor region. (More on Wikipedia). The only problem? I'm not sure it's available in Ireland. I bought it in a pharmacy in Saint André de Roquelongue, the village next to Montséret in the Corbières.

Yves Rocher Culture Bio Awakening cream: its texture and smell is not that different from the Naturelle d'Argan. It feels really natural, although it has a lot more ingredients, 99.6% of which are of natural origin, whatever that means. I bought it in Namur, but they have a UK website. Actually, I got it as part of a  "discovery kit" with a day cream and a night cream for €5. I got a few other bits and pieces in the Yves Rocher shop in Namur last time I was over - they had special offers on a number of products, and I felt like a kid in a sweet shop!

Le Petit Marseillais shampoos, soaps and shower gels - these we discovered when we were on holidays in France. I don't think you can get them here. In France and Belgium, Le Petit Marseillais is standard super-market fare. I recommend the lavender soap, lavender liquid soap, lemon-verbena shower gel and nettle-lemon shampoo.

And in a different category, Method cleaning products - I love their granite cleaner, and most of all, their all purpose lavender-scented cleaner (which works wonderfully on granite too). I've just bought a mint bath cleaner and a glass cleaner, which I haven't tried yet. And I found them really helpful too. When I couldn't find their products in Tesco any more, Brendan emailed them for me, and they replied back very quickly, telling me that I could buy them in Homebase. I quick trip to Homebase Nugrove, and my stocks are replenished! Products are biodegradable and bottles recyclable (except the nozzles, but they tell us they're working on it!)

And oops, I watched a Grey's Anatomy this evening. Couldn't resist. Now I'll have to skip Thursday and wait for the weekend!