Dermalogica recently added two newbies to their Ultra Calming collection – Calm Water Gel (R890) and Barrier Defense Booster (R1 220). I’ll chat about the latter in another post but wanted to let you know how much I’m enjoying the Calm Water Gel.

An ultra lightweight moisturiser full of super soothers like aloe vera leaf juice and cactus pear extract, its ideal for sensitive skin and can be used to help calm a flare up or regularly to keep them in check. Where it really shines, however, is in the hydrating department. Thanks to glycerin, hyaluronic acid and apple extract, its able to give your skin a nice dose of moisture without feeling heavy or occlusive.

If you’ve got dry skin you could totally use Calm Water Gel as a hydrating serum, wearing it under your moisturiser and sunscreen. However, if you’re oily-combo like me, you’ll find it’s just as good on its own. I’ve been wearing it in place of my daily moisture under sunscreen and find it works a treat.

I’ll be working remotely from Thailand soon and this guy’s totally coming with me. It’s crazy hot and humid there and if I wear a regular moisturiser it tends to slide right off my face. Calm Water Gel, however, has this divine water-gel texture that sinks into my skin in a flash and leaves it feeling hydrated and ‘fresh’. I also really like its delicate lavender scent. In short, this product is a sensory delight!

More beauty newness? Johnson’s has added three new body creams to their Vita-Rich collection. If you’re a fan of the line you’ll know it includes body lotions and (my personal favourite) two body oils. The creams, however, are great for anyone with a drier skin type who doesn’t like the texture of an oil.

Available in three variants, Grapeseed Oil, Rose Water and Papaya (R39,95 each), each non-greasy feeling cream is mineral oil and glycerin based and promises 24 hours of hydration. I’ve given them all a sniff and most like fruity Papaya which smells tropical going on, but once it absorbs (which is fast) it’s barely noticeable so it’s not going to compete with your perfume. I really liked that it feels ‘richer’ than the body lotion but is still nice and light. You’re not going to confuse it with a body butter. It’s biggest plus point, however, is the price. At less than forty bucks a tub it’s a wallet-friendly winner.

Lastly, HASK sent me a few items from their super cute new Unwined Collection. Inspired by vino, the collection is a tiny one – essentially a leave-in spray conditioner and two ‘matching’ hair masks (R69,95,, Clicks) available in three pillars – white for shine, red for frizz-fighting and rose for colour protection. Grapes, particularly red ones, are a good source of resveratrol, a powerful antioxidant, that you’ll find in Unwined, along with hydrating grape seed oil.

I tried the White Wine shine enhancing 10-in-1 leave-in spray (R169,95, Clicks) and liked it well enough. It’s got a soft, floral scent and doesn’t come out as fine a mist as I’d like (I have baby fine hair that gets knotty around the crown area so I need feather light hydration and ‘slip’ for detangling) but if you’ve got a thicker hair type and are more after leave-in moisture than detangling (although it does a great job of the latter) then this’ll float your boat.

For me, the super star, is the actual conditioner. Each of the sulphate, paraben and phthalate-free variant is quite similar in terms of its formulation but has different natural extracts relating to the ‘notes’ you’ll find in the wine its inspired by. For example, the Cabernet Sauvignon Repair & Strengthen Deep Conditioner is infused with wine, cherry and black currant extracts.

The Cab Sav conditioner was my absolute favourite of the bunch as it did a great job of turning my colour-treated hair into silk without weighing it down. And then there’s the heavenly scent! Despite its notes, I pick up heavily on patchouli and it smells almost exactly like Issey Miyake Pleats Please, a fragrance I used to wear back in the day. The fragrance is quite strong, but won’t overpower your perfume. (I did find myself sniffing my ponytail throughout the day though and later stuck it in a cute boy’s face at a party. ‘Smell my hair! Isn’t it fabulous?!’, I trilled. ‘You reek of braai smoke. Is that salmon done yet?’, he said. Meh.)

Anyway, at just under R70 a pop, they’re not the best value on the block (HASK’s other sachets are R50) but for me, a little goes a long way so I got four to five uses out of it and, because I’m a slet for scents, I might pop one in my basket next time I spot them at Clicks on a day that I’m feeling flush.

Love, love

Leigh