With the Autumn underway, and nature all  around us transforming into every shade of gold and brown, now’s the time to give a thought to changing our make up to shades to suit the season. Gone are the days of summer pastels and holiday brights; this time of year calls for golden brown and smooth chocolate shades to echo nature’s autumnal palette. Lilac and purple are popular autumn make up shades too.  

Without the summer sun to give us a glow, many of us find that blotches and uneven skin tone are more of a problem in colder weather.  To even things out and restore radiance a foundation is a better bet than a tinted moisturiser and mineral foundations allow you to build up coverage as much as you like without ever feeling heavy or caked.  Lily Lolo Mineral foundation is a real find. The finish is as good, if not better, and the application is as easy as any other mineral powder foundation we’ve tried (and we’ve tried a lot!) and the price is just a tiny £14.99 a pot.

You really need a kabuki brush to apply mineral foundation. The super kabuki from Lily Lolo is £15.99 and works really well, the silky bristles feel wonderful on the skin and are vegan friendly too.

Blend together eye shadow shades of gold, brown, bronze and taupe to set the autumnal tone for your look. Lavera eyeshadow quattro's in either Indian Dream or Cappuccino Cream are ideal and from only £12.50 for 4 beautiful shades are ultra affordable too.

Choose eyeliner to complement your eye shadow shades; Lavera for soft and smudgy, and Dr Hauschka for something slightly firmer (but certainly not hard) to enable you to draw a more precise line.  Finish off your masterpiece and frame your eyes with good mascara. Our top picks are Dr Hauschka Volume Mascara in black for maximum definition and build, and Lavera Volume mascara in black or brown to lengthen and separate lashes with silky sheen.

In colder weather, a good lipstick can help protect your lips from the elements whilst finishing off your look perfectly. Organic Lipsticks are a real treat to use; they glide on silkily to leave lips soft and smooth with colour that really stays. For a glossier finish the Lavera Brilliant Care lipsticks are heaven, they feel just like wearing lip balm and come in 4 gorgeous shades all of which complement the autumn colour palette beautifully.

Revive your make up bag for autumn and get a Free Make Up bag worth £14.99 when you spend over £30 on make up while stocks last.

Warmer weather and holiday sun can often make skin feel greasier that usual and your regular skin care routine might need a few tweaks to ensure clean and comfortable summer time skin. When the heat is on you need light as air formulations to instantly hydrate without a hint of greasiness and fresh cleansers and toners to leave skin feeling clean and clear.

Here’s our top picks for a summer routine to leave skin feeling fresh as a daisy.

If the warmer weather has you reaching for a face wash rather than your regular cleanser, Trilogy Balancing Gel Cleanser (£22.50) is a great choice. Although best for combination skin types its gentle formula won’t strip and can be a good summer choice for drier types too. 

Don’t rule out toners altogether though, as there’s nothing to beat the refreshing spritz of a gentle organic toner when summer weather’s left you hot and bothered. Barefoot Rosa Fina Facial Spritz (£17) is an exquisitely scented treat and as it’s a handy sized 30ml can even be taken as a carry on. Trilogy’s toner (£17.50) is beautiful too and comes in a bigger 100ml bottle to help your budget go further.

Much as we love the sun, it’s important not to forget to protect skin from its damaging rays and in summer a moisturiser with an SPF is a must. New for 2012 is Lovea’s SPF50 face cream (£15.99), which will give your skin ultimate protection in a certified organic formula. If SPF50 is a little too high for you, our perennial best seller is Green People Day Solution SPF15 (£14.95). A best seller for good reason, this is an organic beauty classic that suits all skin types and offers great value for money.  In the evening or when you want a break from your SPF cream, summer calls for ultra light moisturising lotion to hydrate your skin without overloading it with oil, as the warm weather causes us to perspire more and our skin can feel a little oilier in summer too. 

With the all important summer facial routine sorted you might want to consider summer options for body care too.

We love the new certified organic sunscreens from Lovea Bio with SPFs from 15 to 50, tanning sprays and after sun they have the complete package for the whole family at a great price. And for summer picnics, plane trips and other times when you might not have access to water to you’re your hand, Bentley Hand Sanitizer (£3.05) is a perfect handbag standby.

Lavera’s 2 in1 hair and body wash (£6.45) is a brilliant holiday buy to help downsize your bag but don’t forget that after the ravages of sun, sea and sand your hair might need a little extra TLC so why not treat it to a hair mask for either normal or dry hair?

And at the end of the day in the sun, it always feels so good to smooth on some body lotion and treat skin to much need moisture boost. If your budget can stretch the Dr Hauschka Body Moisturisers (from £22.95) are a real delight. Light fluid formulas that absorb instantly but leave skin as deeply hydrated as much heavier creams. 

Don’t forget if you need any advice on choosing the perfect products for you just contact us or call on 020 8465 5600, our skin care experts are always happy to help.

Happy Summer!

So it's time we must accept summer is truly over and the frosty morns of Autumn are within weary sight, but that's no excuse to jump into hibernation just yet.

In fact, now's the best time to give your skin a quick lift, to shed the dry cells of those fading summer tans and re-boost and re-energise with some much needed beauty treatments and tender care.

Here are a few quick tips to do just that:

 • Mist It: Toner sprays are terrific to revive the face with a spray of fresh nutrients. Toners, such as Dr Hauschka and Madara are particularly nourishing as they offer the added boost of antioxidants and moisturising properties. Leaving your face damp with toner and applying your moisturiser straight on top aids absorption too, you'll find heaver winter creams sink in much faser with this simple tip. 

• Scrub It: Exfoliate, exfoliate, exfoliate! Using body scrubs helps the body to shed dry and dead skin cells - which after a summer of intense UV rays (well for those who holidayed in the Mediterranean at least) and drying out will be just what the skin doctor ordered. Using broad strokes towards the heart will help boost circulation, pumping blood faster around your body to keep you a little warmer as those chilly days start to creep in. Lovea and Laidbare both offer really affordable yet effective options, the Laidbare one is gente enough for your face too! 

 • Hydrate: Central heating can really sap skin's moisture levels levels it feeling dehydrated. Use an extra hydrating moisturiser susch as SOS by Madara, or add a serum to your routine, we love Green People's Hydrating Firming Serum.

• Eat more berries: Increase your intake of foods that are loaded with antioxidants like raspberries and blueberries. Mexican and red kidney beans are also very high sources of antioxidants, as is green tea. These will not only strengthen your immune system they help to brighten and lift even the dullest of skin. 

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When the petals of the wild roses fall in the lush mountain valleys of South America the berry-like hips of the flowers seedpods are collected.

The rose hips of the Rosa Affinis Rubiginosa are used to make a myriad of healing and beauty products such as oil, tea, moisturiser, face masks, toners and spot treatment creams.

The finely ground powder of rosehip seeds can be also used as a natural exfoliator to remove dead skin cells. Rosehip oil has a list of healing benefits as long as a thorny stem. It's packed with essential fatty acids (linoleic, linolenic and oleic), anti-oxidants (tocopherols or Vitamin E is a naturally occurring preservative), retinoic acid (a derivative of Retinol or Vitamin A), Omegas 3 and 6 and Vitamin C.

The therapeutic rosehip oil aids the regeneration process of our skin's cellular membranes and the repair of damaged tissues. Some studies have found that when applied twice daily to scars (recent or not) they have become less visible and the skin more elastic. It has also been reported to return burn tissue to its natural colour.

Rosehip can be used to reduce the appearance of stretch marks and acne scars by massaging into the skin. It can help the skin heal sunburn, inflammation, dermatitis and eczema by restoring the skin's moisture balance. When applied to coloured, permed and sun damaged hair it has been noted to have similar effects.

This skin healing gem can also lend a hand to those of us trying to slow the aging process by aiding the repair of tissue to reduce fine lines and pigmentation. Rosehip oil makes for an excellent ingredient in moisturizers as it is ultra-fine, enabling the skin to absorb it very quickly. It also loosens the tension in the skin leaving it softer, smoother and more vibrant looking.

Complete ranges of pure skincare based on Rosehip Seed Oil are made by Trilogy and Barefoot SOS. If you need any advice choosing what's right for your skin don't hesitate to get in touch.

Knowing whether organic and eco friendly products really deserve their label can be a minefield. And even when you are clued up enough to look for products with an organic certification symbol, the vast array of symbols and icons now in use can be really confusing.

To help make things a little clearer we've just created a whole new infomation section where you can learn all about the various certified organic icons and other eco labels that are widely used and feature on the products that we recommend. Come and take a look...