Hello, it’s November, it’s Saturday morning and I am going to begin this Weekend Read by announcing that after extensive research, development and testing, we are launching a new product in the DoSe skincare range today. That product is Vitamin C Eye Cream which is powered by seven advanced active ingredients, including Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate, a stable, oil soluble vitamin C ester which forms the foundation of this formulation, a formulation created by Shabir which embraces and delivers a series of cutting-edge and pioneering ingredients dedicated to, and aligning with, our solution-based skin health protocol.

Many of you are familiar with Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate (THD), I have written many words about this form of vitamin C, Shabir has written an entire article about it and C-Deep Vitamin C Serum was formulated using THD, balanced with Squalane to help prevent transepidermal water loss. There are many different forms of vitamin C, but THD is used here because studies have indicated that it penetrates the skin faster and deeper than any other form of vitamin C. As such it not only penetrates the epidermis, the uppermost layer of skin, but also the dermis, which is the deepest layer of skin, demonstrating the crucial criteria of efficacy.

The other thing to say about THD is that unlike most other forms of vitamin C, it is well tolerated by those of us with sensitive skin, which is also a consideration, most especially if your skin reacts to other forms of vitamin C, which mine most definitely does. So, with THD explained let’s look at the six other key actives in this formulation, the first of which is Ergothioneine, a powerful antioxidant which is used here to protect against oxidative stress and pollution, but more than that, numerous studies have indicated that Ergothioneine currently has one of the widest range of benefits of any single skincare ingredient or technology which, in and of itself, is quite remarkable.

The remaining key actives in this formulation are Caffeine, which helps improve circulation by refreshing and de-puffing the delicate skin around our eye area, Matrixyl 3000, Hyaluronic Acid, Purified Peptides and Palmitoyl Tripeptide-5, used here to improve skin firmness, texture and elasticity. Palmitoyl Tripeptide-5 is also known for its ability to help boost collagen production, helping to improve the texture of our skin, but of course each of these key ingredients play their own role in tackling intrinsic and extrinsic ageing by helping to brighten the undereye area and visibly reducing fine lines in age-prone areas.

We’ve done the actives, now let’s talk about the delivery system, a precise cooling tip, which we are all rather besotted with, most especially Lara who has probably been talking about it in her sleep. She has a sign on her desk which reads ‘I’ll Get Over It, I Just Need To Be Dramatic First’, but she isn’t over it and surprisingly neither am I bearing in mind I am on record as saying that I don’t really like eye creams. Interestingly, and perhaps intuitively, I tested it on the back of my hand first and as it glided over an age spot, I had a moment, a moment of realisation that this was far more than an eye cream.

But primarily Vitamin C Eye Cream is of course an eye cream and using a pea-sized amount of product in testing, I gently massaged it under my eyes onto the orbital bone, which is where eye creams should be applied for optimal efficacy. In many respects its efficacy is immediate, in that it helps to soothe and calm tired eyes, which is of course attributable to the formulation, but it is also attributable to the precise cooling tip which, in effect, is a rather wonderful massage tool, so once you have the slip with the product, you can glide it across the undereye area for several minutes, or longer, cooling and targeting inflammatory puffiness.

So, let’s bring this all together. There is magic in alchemy and when two heroic ingredients meet, aka THD and Ergothioneine, that magic dances on a platform of concept, thought and efficacy. Concept because you can glide this product across other age-prone areas, such as our hands and vertical lip lines, thought because it reflects our committed approach to skin health, and efficacy because with the adoption of clinical evaluation an ethical balance is created, enabling and allowing the creation of best-in-class formulations. In honouring that ethical balance, Vitamin C Eye Cream launches at £29.
VH Editorial: Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate; DoSe Vitamin C Eye Cream £29 for 15 ml; DoSe C-Deep Vitamin C Serum £22 for 30 ml

A few more words here because I think it is interesting, and somewhat inequitable, how products are so often judged and revered dependent upon price point and brand name, most specifically ‘designer’ brands. This reverence is often based upon perception, a false perception perhaps, where products and brands use clever marketing in order to achieve an elevated and elite status. There is absolutely nothing wrong with high-end skincare, but there is something very wrong when brands trade on their ‘reputation’ in order to achieve a pricing structure which is totally disproportionate to the cost of ingredients chosen and used in their formulations. And that is that.

Staying with vitamin C, Albert Szent-Gyorgi won the Nobel Prize in 1937 for his discovery of vitamin C and across the years it has been well established that vitamin C plays a critical role in immune function by enhancing various immune cells, such as neutrophils, which are responsible for the prevention of infection. Vitamin C supplementation is important because vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, cannot be manufactured by the body and being acidic in nature, it needs to be absorbed efficiently for optimal efficacy, so with that said, let’s take a closer look at DoSe Liposomal Vitamin C.

As with all nutrients, vitamin C has to pass through the harsh environment of the stomach, an environment which deactivates large amounts of nutrients and medications, so bioavailability is a fundamental consideration here. Extensive scientific research has shown that liposomal encapsulation technology ensures a far greater absorption into the bloodstream, such technology demonstrating that when a nutrient is wrapped with phospholipid molecules it is protected against our stomach acids. These phospholipids are chemically similar to the structure of cell membranes, ensuring direct delivery into the cells of our body.

With the delivery system determined, it is essential that the correct form of vitamin C is delivered to those cells, so here we have used Quali-C™. Quali-C™ is the world’s first branded vitamin C and it is a high-quality, pharmaceutical grade vitamin C combining sodium ascorbate and ascorbic acid for immediate and long-term benefits, which are numerous, including helping to prevent gum disease, the protection of oxidative stress and of course the significant role vitamin C plays in skin health.

Liposomal Vitamin C delivers 1000 mg per 5 ml teaspoon and with a few articles linked below to support my words, I want to extend that support for several reasons, but mostly because I am so vocal about pioneering formulations and the very real difference they make to our health and wellbeing. I am passionate about standing in our own truth, I always have been, and because I am in a celebratory mode today, let’s celebrate Liposomal Vitamin C and in so doing we have created the Liposomal Vitamin C Duo, the price of which is £49, which means that you save £21, or put a different way, this is worth £70. No limitations here, and that’s the wrap. A cutting-edge wrap.
VH Editorials: Vitamin C For Gum Disease; What Are Liposomal Vitamins; The Benefits Of Vitamin C For Skin; DoSe Liposomal Vitamin C Duo £49 for 2 x 240 ml (96 days’ supply); DoSe Liposomal Vitamin C £35 for 240 ml (48 days’ supply)

Moving on, it is often said that we each have fifteen minutes of fame in our lives and I had my fifteen minutes in the middle of Vision Express. My eyes needed testing, and I knew I would need a new prescription for reading, mostly because I sit in front of my computer screen for hours on end, so, with due process, my eyes were scanned and tested to the nth degree, and the conclusion was that I needed a new prescription, I expected that, but I was also told that the back of my eyes were extraordinarily healthy, and I knew why, so I smiled. And the reason I smiled is because I have taken Hyaluronic Acid (HA) religiously for more than twenty years, so I punched the air.

HA is found in the vitreous fluid in our eyes, our levels of HA decline with age and given that HA lubricates the eye tissues, I believe it is an essential nutrient for that reason alone. Of course there are several other reasons why I take HA, but for the purposes of this story, I made my HA declaration in the middle of a rather busy Vision Express and fame descended when my email address was recognised, followed by a ‘wow, we read your newsletters’, so with another smile on my face, my fifteen minutes of Brent Cross fame lapsed, and with my sunglasses on, I drove home.

I do quite a lot of thinking when I’m driving, I think most of us do, and driving home my thoughts extended to the pioneering research that allows us to share the extensive benefits of natural medicine, because we have so much to be grateful for. Interestingly, the first medical product utilising HA was formulated for use in eye surgery, specifically to hasten the healing process following cataract and glaucoma surgery. The other far-reaching benefits of HA were to follow, and it has often been dubbed as ‘the fountain of youth’, but for now, and in this moment, let’s share some HA gratitude and love.

Just before we do that, a few more words because I have written above about the importance of bioavailability and of course that goes across all nutrients. In this instance, DoSe Hyaluronic Acid Capsules High Strength offers 300 mg of sodium hyaluronate, which is the bioavailable form of HA, and that bioavailability is enhanced by up to 2000% with the inclusion of the clinically evaluated patented extract, BioPerine®, in the formulation. And the sharing looks like this, if you buy HA Capsules we will automatically include the Travel Size HA (15 Capsules), which is worth £17.50.
VH Editorial: Benefits Of Hyaluronic Acid; DoSe Hyaluronic Acid Capsules High Strength £35 for 30 Capsules + Hyaluronic Acid Capsules High Strength (15 Capsules, worth £17.50) Free (offer ends at midnight GMT, Sunday 3 November)

It would seem that I am making several announcements today, so here is another announcement and I feel like banging my head against a brick wall, actually any wall will do, because at this time of the year we normally release Triple Flu Defense+, except we can’t release it because there are manufacturing issues. Although we knew Triple Flu would be delayed, that delay looks like it will extend until late December, or early January. I know how many of you rely on Triple Flu, it is one of our bestselling seasonal products, so for the second week running, I am bringing What’s The Solution onto the Weekend Read, and thankfully we do have a solution.

That solution is called 10 Day Get Well, Stay Well and it pretty much does the same as Triple Flu in that it helps to combat infective viruses by boosting the immune system, helping to shorten the duration of both bacterial and viral attacks. It has the ability to relieve the symptoms of flu and colds with a dosage of two capsules, three times a day for the first ten days to get well, followed by a maintenance dose of two capsules a day to stay well. If that sounds like a high dosage, it is, but I would far rather swallow six capsules a day for the duration, than allow a viral infection to linger ad infinitum, and viral infections have a habit of doing just that.

At this point, I will refer you to Sarah’s article, linked below, where she talks about 10 Day Get Well, Stay Well, written from her own experiences. Actually, it’s a very short article, it will only take two or three minutes to read, and she leads with Daily Immunity, which is of course our bestselling supplement to prime the immune system in order to protect our bodies from seasonal infections. In full transparency, I am not sure how long our stock levels of 10 Day will last, and although we have quite high stock levels at this moment, it is currently out of stock with the manufacturer and I honestly don’t know what that means going forward. A crystal ball might be useful.
How To Help Your Immune System by Sarah Stacey; DoSe Daily Immunity £29 for 60 Capsules; 10 Day Get Well, Stay Well £27 for 60 Capsules

My words have run away with me today, and with the realisation that I haven’t written one word about seasonal gifts, just a few here. Now that the evenings are drawing in and it starts getting dark at about 4 pm, a sense of calm prevails as we light our candles and fragrance our homes, so a specific mention for Ila Spa’s Incense, it’s actually called Incense For An Aroma Of Purity & Peace, it is completely joyful, as is therapeutic bathing, and here I recommend Restitude, Sea-Scape Revitalising Salts and the Rebalancing Heroes Collection from Aromatherapy Associates.
Incense For An Aroma Of Purity & Peace by Ila Spa £12 for 50 grams; Restitude by TEMPLESPA £25 for 300 ml; Sea-Scape Revitalising Salts by TEMPLESPA £25 for 500 grams; Rebalancing Heroes Collection by Aromatherapy Associates £100 (with a value of £168)

But back to candles, and Neom’s Winter Wellbeing Trio contains three beautiful fragrances, Christmas Wish, Perfect Peace and Cosy Nights, each having a burn time of approximately 20 hours, this set is £48, but it has a value of £60. Each of these candles can be bought individually, and they are listed in the stocking filler category, which I will link below. In that category you will also find Spacemasks and following on from last weekend, I am continuing the offer of gifting one original Spacemask with every box of Spacemasks ordered, with limited availability on the Chamomile Scented Spacemasks, which won’t return until next year.
Winter Wellbeing Trio by Neom Wellbeing £48; Spacemasks £18.50 For Five Masks; Spacemasks: Chamomile Scented £18.50 for Five Masks; Spacemasks: Orange & Grapefruit Scented £18.50 For Five Masks; Stocking Fillers

All that is left is for me to give you some feedback before we head into the Saturday only treat, and the first thing to say is that I have kept the price of Ross J. Barr’s wonderful Breathe patches at £12, dropping from £15, basically because with so many infections floating around, these patches really help to ease respiratory and breathing difficulties. And a big bravo for Terra Wash+Mg, the Japanese Laundry Revolution, which is now back in stock after it flipped onto a wait list last weekend. Revolutionary products are just that, revolutionary, and together we seem to be upholding that magnificent revolution, disrupting the status quo in our wake.
Breathe Patches by Ross J. Barr £12 for Five Patches; Terra Wash+Mg £35 for One Pack

And into the Saturday only treat we go, and with every order placed for £35 and above, excluding p&p, we will automatically include Fulvic Conditioner (60 ml)*, the partner to Fulvic Shampoo which we gifted last weekend. I have put the product details below, but you may want to have a moment and use this as a hair mask because it really does make a difference to the health of your hair if you do this regularly, once a week is good and leave it on for about an hour, if you have time, but ten to fifteen minutes is good too.
Fulvic Conditioner (offer ends at midnight GMT, Saturday 2 November)

Finally, a song to sing, a song dedicated to evolutionary and revolutionary solutions. It fits.
Revolution by The Beatles; VH Playlist

Wishing each of you a restful weekend, with love and gratitude for your ongoing loyalty and support.

Gill x