All about Yves

It's funny how some things come full circle. I remember one particular evening sitting in my gran's kitchen with my family, I must have been about 9 or 10,  and whilst they were all talking and passing food across the table I had immersed myself in yet another catalogue which I had found lying around. This one belonged to one of my aunts, and I remember this particular evening because it was the first time I had ever seen anyone else take even vague interest in a catalogue. As I mulled over the pages of perfumes and bath pearls, my aunt was there with me, also showing an interest and flicking through the pages herself. I was so excited at the idea that she might buy something and that I might get to try it too. This was one of the first cosmetics catalogues I'd seen and what I remember was the sheer variety of products on offer with extremely exotic sounding names and all the special offers that they advertised in order to lure you to buy.

The company was called Yves Rocher and was not available in shops, only via mail order. I therefore had resigned myself to the fact that I would never get my mitts on anything from this company until I received my first cheque book. And by the time I did, I'd totally forgotten about them. Roll forward 15 years and I'm living in a country where there is an Yves Rocher store on every corner! I guess it's kind of like The Body Shop of the continent with it's 'natural' & cruelty-free ethos, although like The Body Shop it's products aren't exactly 100% natural. Of course The Body Shop is here too, but Yves Rocher is a bit different. It's more like a club. Of course anyone can walk in and buy the products and their special offers are open to everyone. But if you have a club card (it's free), you get even more offers and free gifts. So, being me, what was one of the first things I did on arrival in Belgium? You guessed it.
I have to say that I up until recently I didn't go there that often. I was lured by the club card, but after that I never really bought a lot of things. That was until I received a 'birthday card' from them a few months ago with various offers on it. I thought I'd pick up a few bits on my way back from French. So impressed was I by the hair-reducing body lotion that I re-purchased. I NEVER repurchase unless I really feel it's a fantastic product, I'm too much of a fickle product junkie to want to buy the same product twice. Hence all my re-purchased stuff is pretty much HG (Holy Grail) territory. This gave me more confidence to go ahead and make more experimental purchases. So today, armed with yet another bonus offer card, I bought a coral plumping lipgloss and a little pot of sparkling gold pigment powder which is supposed to be 100% natural. Everything in store was 50% off, so it was a good time to be experimental. And my bonuses? A bauble ring, a matching stretchy bracelet and a watch (I paid an extra 2 euros for the watch, but it was worth it). It was like Christmas! I unwrapped the watch on the tram on my way home like an impatient child, but it gave me so much pleasure.... and just 2 euros! Believe me when I say that it does not look like a 2 euro watch, I'm not sure the photo does it justice.

Shiny, pretty things...

I like that you can see exactly what time I took this picture....

As for the products I bought? Well, they are just lovely. Seriously, I'm impressed. The plumping lipgloss strangely feels cooling rather than hot and prickly like most other lip plumping products, and the colour is really fresh  and pretty. It's a bit sticky but so far it's adhered to my lips for the last 3 hours with no sign of budging. Not sure my lips look plumped, but hey, I bought it for the colour not because I want a trout pout. The pigment powder  (confusingly called Pigment Pearls) can easily rival the famous MAC pigments and looks absolutely stunning. The colour range is a bit limited but for metallic shades I don't think you can do better. For cruelty-free, bargain beauty it's probably worth checking out. Happily there is also a UK site http://www.yves-rocher.co.uk/

In my excitement I've put everything on at once, gold pigment sparkles from my eyes as I gaze down upon my new baubles, bangles and beads.... Mr Pandora is going to think that I've had a fight with a Christmas tree and lost.