Well, here we are and after the long Easter break and the last Weekend Read, I just want to say a few things about belonging, because belonging is a human emotional need which enables the feeling of security and support, and in and of itself, it allows a sense of acceptance and inclusion between us. Having written that Saturdays belong to me (hello Saturday) and Tuesdays belong to Shabir and What’s The Solution, it actually doesn’t really matter what day of the week, month or year it is, because belonging is a way of being, our way of being.

I absolutely acknowledge that I repeat message rather a lot, but across the years I haven’t changed my stance about the importance of belonging and I never will. I think it’s inherent in our being to nurture and comfort, and there is a tremendous sense of warmth, an energetic warmth, in that statement, which allows transparency and trust in our sharing. In all of this there is a responsibility to stand in our own truth, and I will not deviate or twist the truth to suit an agenda, because the only agenda is to take care of each to the very best of our ability, and it really is as simple as that.

It is more than obvious that each of the DoSe formulations carry an agenda and being specific, Collagen Tripeptide Complex aligns with our agenda of formulating cutting-edge and pioneering formulations which supersede all that has gone before. Last weekend I wrote that I could have dedicated the entire newsletter to Collagen Tripeptide Complex, but I held back because there were several other things I needed to write about, and I knew I could carry this forward to today, so I will do that now, specifically referencing the role collagen plays in helping to heal scars, particularly acne scars.

Acne scars occur because of the damage to the walls of the pores in skin due to inflammation of the acne blemishes, so although some blemishes may heal easily because they are small, there are larger blemishes which may be deeper, or spread, resulting in deep scarring. Whatever the size of the scar, the body uses collagen to repair the damage and a lack of collagen will mean that the indented scars may not improve in appearance, but supplementing with collagen will, over a period of time, help to support and improve the appearance of depressed scars.

I have to caveat this by saying that hypertrophic scars (raised scars) and keloid scars are characterised by excess deposition of collagen, so collagen supplementation will not be beneficial in these circumstances, but returning to other forms of scarring, various studies have shown that collagen peptides exert anti-inflammatory properties and it is theorised that they strengthen the extracellular matrix, which is the material surrounding the cells and tissues composed of proteins and other molecules.

These studies were carried out using collagen peptides, which have a far lower absorption rate than collagen tripeptides, the latter of which are far smaller units and are composed of various chains of amino acids, such as hydroxyproline and glycine. Collagen tripeptides are absorbed several times more efficiently than collagen peptides, so it follows that efficacy is far greater and on from that Collagen Tripeptide Complex is formulated with other nutrients, including vitamin C, Silica and Zinc, which all play a role in reducing inflammation and enhancing the repair process, making it beneficial not only for scarring, but in its support of optimal skin health.
VH Editorials: Collagen For Scars; How To Fade Acne Scars; DoSe Collagen Tripeptide Complex £45 for 90 Capsules

Before we move on, and I know I sound like a broken record at times, but Sheald Recovery Balm really does stand alone in its ability to accelerate wound healing in post-procedure skin, helping to reduce inflammation and limit scarring, as it works to prevent scabbing and itching. It is suitable for compromised skin conditions, including open cuts, scar tissue or post-ablative treatment skin and over time, it can also help to lessen the appearance of old scarring, and I really do mean over time, because with any given formulation, be that oral or topical, there are no overnight fixes and I say this because it is incredibly important to manage expectations.
Sheald Recovery Balm by iS Clinical £79 for 60 grams; Sheald Recovery Balm by iS Clinical £30 for 15 grams

Actually, I want to take that conversation about managing expectations one step further, because this reverts to the evolutionary advancement of the DoSe formulations, where the criteria has always been an absolute adherence to clinically evaluated compounds. If I am to manage expectations, I can only ever do so by writing about best-in-class formulations, and to put this into perspective, I cannot manage expectations on something like synthetic multivitamins, referencing last weekend’s conversation, because there is no expectation to manage when you absolutely know that they make little, if any, difference to our health and wellbeing.

Following through, it is more than obvious that our curation of products is extraordinarily tight, primarily because in each and every genre, there really are those select few products which align with our dedication to the pioneering formulations which really do make a difference to so many of us. One such product is Turmeric Curcumin C3 Complex, a patented Turmeric and Black Pepper supplement formulated with one of the most impressive curcumin extracts, Curcumin C3 Complex.

Curcumin, a polyphenol present in the spice Turmeric, has been used for centuries in Ayurvedic medicine and modern science has found curcumin to have remarkable antioxidative, immunomodulatory, proapoptotic, hepatoprotective and antiangiogenic properties, but Curcumin is also known to help increase the detoxification of enzymes, promoting healthy DNA function.

Turmeric Curcumin C3 Complex contains an extract from the roots of the plant Curcuma longa (Turmeric) and they contain three curcumin compounds obtained from the dried roots of Curcuma longa and standardised to provide a minimum of 95% Curcuminoids. Curcumin C3, which has been clinically evaluated, references its three main chemical compounds, Curcumin, Demethoxycurcumin (DMC) and Bisdemethoxycurcumin (BDMC), collectively known as Curcuminoids.

As with all forms of supplementation, the key factor is bioavailability, and bioavailability is, in turn, key to efficacy, and clinical studies have shown that Curcumin C3 Complex has the highest bioavailability (absorption) of any Curcumin currently available. And that really does mean something, and it means something because it is the only supplement in its genre that we recommend and it also means something because the absorption levels are further increased by the presence of BioPerine® in the formulation, a patented form of Piperine, which can increase bioavailability by up to 2000%. So, let’s drop the price of Turmeric Curcumin C3 Complex from £27 to £24, because that means something too.
VH Editorial: Turmeric: The Spice With Health Benefits; DoSe Turmeric Curcumin C3 Complex £24 for 60 Capsules (offer ends at midnight BST, Sunday 27 April)

I can’t write about the attributes of BioPerine® without mentioning Hyaluronic Acid Capsules, because of course BioPerine® supercharges this formulation, once again increasing the bioavailability of Hyaluronic Acid (HA), which is so incredibly important. I’m smiling because having written about repeat messaging in my opening paragraphs, I have been repeat messaging about HA for over twenty-five years, albeit that the formulation has been tweaked several times. The smile will stay on my face, because I know I did an offer on HA last weekend, but today I am dropping the price from £35 to £30, in line with its pricing from twenty-five years ago.
VH Editorial: Benefits Of Hyaluronic Acid Supplements; DoSe Hyaluronic Capsules High Strength £30 for 30 Capsules (offer ends at midnight BST, Sunday 27 April)

And just perhaps this is what happiness is all about, because having just written about three outstanding formulations, well four including Sheald Recovery Balm, I absolutely stand by the efficacy of each formulation, and although I must always caveat any statement by saying that not every product will work for everybody, we really do come pretty close, and that makes me happy, but my happiness increases exponentially by my stance of standing outside of the health and beauty industry, because I don’t belong, and I don’t want to belong. And actually, in full transparency, nobody has ever invited me to belong. I’ll take the win.

Let’s move on because outside of our own products, we have always supported and endorsed the brands and products which really do stand out in the crowd, another discussion from last weekend, so this weekend I just want to acknowledge Nicola and Natasha, the co-founders of Peep Club, after we launched the Heated Eye Wand LED+ together. We were so very excited to share the evolution of a product we first launched five years ago, so all I want to do here is thank you for your outstanding support for an outstanding brand, and if you missed what I wrote two weeks ago, you can read all about it here.
Heated Eye Wand LED+ by Peep Club £85

Moving on further, I want to do some feedback about some of the products I have written about over the past few weeks and I’m going to begin with Mrs White’s Unstung Hero, because having specifically written that I was trying to avert an aluminium bottle famine after selling out before peak season last year, we very nearly sold out of the aluminium bottle, so I ordered more. I nearly had a series of heart palpitations when I was told that there was no more stock available, but as it transpires it was a temporary situation, and we are now back in stock.

To explain, if you missed it, I keep the larger glass bottle at home, but when I travel, I always take the aluminium bottle away with me, because it’s easier and because I use it as a fragrance when travelling. I went on to say that my advice is, and always has been, to leave your regular fragrance at home given that mosquitoes are attracted to most normal fragrances, and that includes scented lotions. All I really want to say here is that I sincerely hope that the temporary situation doesn’t become a permanent situation any time soon, because we haven’t even reached May yet. And this is all dependent upon logistics, which are out of my control.
Mrs White’s Unstung Hero Insect Repellent £20 for 250 ml; Mrs White’s Untung Hero Insect Repellent £15 for 100 ml (aluminium bottle)

Right, let’s talk about Coola’s Liplux Lip Balms, and I want to talk about them for a few reasons, the first reason being that they more or less sold out the weekend I wrote about them, the second is that they are now back in stock and third is that I dropped the price from £19 to £17, and that price drop is maintained. They are quite fabulous and after writing that Skinny Dip was my favourite shade, I also wrote that Lara preferred Summer Crush and Firecracker. Summer Crush was the most wanted, followed by Skinny Dip and then Firecracker, but the order doesn’t matter, unless your name is Lara, what matters is that they protect our lips with a sheer hint of a tint.
Liplux Lip Balm Sunscreen SPF 30 Skinny Dip £17; Liplux Lip Balm Suncreen SPF 30 Summer Crush £17; Liplux Lip Balm Sunscreen SPF 30 Firecracker £17: All By Coola

I just want to come in here to say that if you want to see the colour swatches of the Liplux Lip Balms next to each other, I used them on the banner of the Weekend Read dated 5 April, and you can access all of the Weekend Reads from the link below. That’s all, I shall now continue.
The Weekend Read Archive

And I will continue by saying that we are nearly at the end of April, and the two month-long offers I wrote about at the beginning of the month will end at midnight BST, next Wednesday 30 April. The first offer is a 40% discount across all of the Ameliorate products and the second offer is from Temple Spa, where three of Temple Spa’s moisturisers, namely Skin Truffle, Truffle Noir and Truffle De-Light, drop in price from £100 to £60 respectively, which is a saving on each of the products. And next weekend we will be in the month of May, and it’s another long weekend.
Ameliorate Products; Skin Truffle by Temple Spa £60 for 50 ml; Truffle Noir by Temple Spa £60 for 50 ml; Truffle De-Light by Temple Spa £60 for 50 ml

We are nearly at the end of another Weekend Read, but before we finish a few words about This Works, which is a brand we have supported from the beginning of time, so it has become part of the family as it were, and over the years we have launched many of their iconic products, which include Deep Sleep Pillow Spray, Skin Deep Dry Leg Oil and Perfect Legs Skin Miracle. So, the story here is that when you spend £30 or more on any This Works products on one order, we will automatically send you their Perfect Body Smoothing Wash (200 ml), a resurfacing cleanser loaded with exfoliating Fruit Acids which is worth £20.
This Works Products (only one gift per customer, whilst stock lasts)

Into the Saturday only treat, and with every order placed for £35 or above, excluding p&p, we will automatically include the travel size Fulvic Shampoo (60 ml)*, mostly because we gifted the award-winning Fulvic Conditioner (60 ml) last weekend, so being neat I thought it would be useful to have both, because they are so useful to take away with you, and if you are not going anywhere, it doesn’t really matter because your hair doesn’t really know where it is, other than on our heads. Product details linked below.
Fulvic Shampoo

Finally, with May around the corner, the summer months are nearly upon us, so we might as well get in mode with this summer classic.
Summer In The City by The Lovin’ Spoonful; The VH Playlist

Wishing you a restful weekend.

Warmest

Gill x