Well, well, well, I have some news, which some of you may have seen, and that news is that DoSe Daily Cleanser won an award last weekend in the inaugural Telegraph Beauty Awards, so roll on the accolades because DoSe Azelaic Acid 10% also received recognition last weekend in The Times where it was featured as one of the ten best face savers to winter-proof your skin, so a wave and a thank you to Nadine Baggott here. But back to the award, and Daily Cleanser came first in the Best Skincare Innovation: Cleansers, where it was described as a clever formulation that won’t leave your skin feeling stripped or tight.

I have written many words about awards throughout the years primarily because I refuse to participate, or acknowledge, the ‘business’ of awards, and it is a business. I am very vocal on this subject, mostly because the ‘winners’, as it were, are the brands who can afford to ‘buy’ awards and they are bought because in rather a lot of instances there is an entrance fee and a mandatory obligation to support that fee with several other financial ‘initiatives’, and where that is not the case, the results are mostly skewed by sponsorship deals.

The point that really bothers me in all of this is that we, as consumers, are duped into believing that the ‘winners’ really are ‘winners’, but I know how the game is played, and it isn’t a game, it’s a manipulation of the truth in my opinion, so here is my truth. We didn’t pay to enter The Telegraph awards, we submitted products for testing purposes only and we paid a nominal fee to use the logo, but actually the award is far more than being a best-in-class product award, it is a symbolic award in recognition of small brands and businesses, and because that really matters to me, I want to thank The Telegraph for that recognition, we are so incredibly grateful.
DoSe Daily Cleanser

Anyway, with all of that written, it was a happy coincidence, or otherwise, that our award was announced last Saturday, happy because that morning we released several of our Black Friday offers on the Weekend Read. In writing about the concept and story of DoSe skincare, we celebrated with a 15% discount across DoSe skincare and DoSe supplementation, offers which still stand, with the exception of Ergothioneine Serum which is a stand-alone offer, as are the Liposomal Vitamin C Duo, HA and NAD+ Generator offers, which are also stand-alone offers, all of which are linked below for ease.
DoSe Skincare; DoSe Supplementation; DoSe Ergothioneine Serum £26 for 30 ml + Dose Ergothioneine Serum 30 ml Free; DoSe Hyaluronic Acid Capsules High Strength £35 for 30 Capsules + DoSe Hyaluronic Acid Capsules High Strength Capsules 15 Capsules Free; DoSe NAD+ Generator £32 for 30 Capsules + DoSe NAD+ Generator 15 Capsules Free; DoSe Liposomal Vitamin C Duo £49 for 2 x 240 ml (96 days’ supply)

As we continue our Black Friday celebrations, this is just to say that I am running through some of the new Black Friday offers we released yesterday, and in line with previous comments about Black Friday offers, each of these offers are only available whilst stocks last, but notwithstanding that comment, most of our Black Friday offers will end at midnight GMT, Monday 2 December. The other thing to say is that where there are gifts attached to specific offers, these gifts are also only available whilst stock lasts, and if a specific gift fails to go into your basket, that will mean that the offer is over. Let’s do it.

I am going to begin with iS Clinical and I think most of you know that I love and adore iS Clinical, I love their products and I love Bryan Johns and Alec Call, the co-founders even more, if that’s possible. As a custodian of the brand, bequeathed upon me by the boys rather a long time ago, I have upheld that honour and responsibility for more than twenty years, and as I uphold a trust shared, we are offering a 20% discount across all of the iS Clinical products and with every order placed, we will also include their Cleansing Complex (60 ml), which is their bestselling product and has a value of £25. Only one gift per customer.
iS Clinical Products

Staying with the brands we have launched, Peep Club is a truly amazing brand and their products have helped and supported so many of you, not least the remarkable Heated Eye Wand. I often write about the importance of relationships, and that includes the relationships we have with the brands we launch, support and endorse because they play an integral role in our community. In recognition of that sharing role, we will automatically send you Peep Club’s Instant Relief Eye Spray (17 ml), which is worth £15, when you spend £20 across the brand, and you may want to check out their two festive gifts which are fabulous. Only one gift per customer.
Peep Club Products

On a roll, because launching Lanolips in the UK was a moment of joy and happiness, joy and happiness shared because Kirsten and I had such fun, Kirsten being Kirsten Carriol, the founder of Lanolips. A few weeks ago we were reminiscing about those early days, not least the time we had lunch together in Paris. Well, if you are going to do it, do it in style and we absolutely did. So, let’s do this in style because we are offering a 20% discount across the brand, but that’s not all, when you buy any two products, we will automatically drop a gift into your order, that gift being Lemonaid Lip Treatment which is worth £8.99. Once again, only one gift per customer.
Lanolips Products

Another one on the list, and since the day we launched Ilapothecary, the bestselling product has always been Beat The Blues Room Spray, and of course it still is. I think I have written several thousand words about this product across the years, but I made it the hero product for launch, and it retains that status to this day. But of course there are many wonderful products to choose from and with an invitation to explore the range, we are offering a 25% discount across the Ilapothecary products.
Ilapothecary Products

One more to go in this section, and it’s Ameliorate, and as with so many of the brands we launch, it’s not only about the products, it’s about the importance of understanding the health concern attributable to specific products. We launched Ameliorate on a health platform, a skin health platform, because Keratosis Pilaris needed to be put on the map, and so we did just that, and as I link the launch article explaining this skin concern below, we are offering a 40% discount across the brand, which we released earlier this week. Some of the products are now on a pre-order status and we will honour all orders placed this weekend and dispatched once the stock arrives with us.
VH Editorial: Treatment Of Keratosis Pilaris (Chicken Skin); Ameliorate Products

Onwards, and although we didn’t launch any of the following brands, that doesn’t lessen their importance and many of these brands are much-loved, and I will begin by saying that we are offering a 20% discount across Margaret Dabbs London, which is of course much-loved. Many of you may have noticed that some of these offers have been available since we launched our Black Friday offers, but I am spacing them out because I can’t write about all of our offers on one email, so here let me just say that her Crystal Nail Files really are best-in-class and the Pure Nail Strengthening Treatment Christmas Tree Bauble drops from £16 to £12.80.
Margaret Dabbs London Products

Let’s talk about Aromatherapy Associates and the offer here is quite fabulous, but it is a very limited offer and once they have gone, they really have gone. So, when you spend £50 across the brand, you will receive a Muscle Ease Self Care Gift free, which is worth £42. This set includes De-Stress Muscle Bath & Shower Oil (9 ml) and De-Stress Muscle Gel (40 ml). There is only one gift per customer and the other news here is that Morning Ritual is now back in stock, but it won’t be here for long because it is a seasonal gift, and I promised a couple of weeks ago that I would check if this offer will continue, and unfortunately it won’t. Shame, it’s a fabulous offer.
Aromatherapy Associates Products; Morning Ritual by Aromatherapy Associates £30 (whilst stock lasts)

Moving on, but staying with bathing experiences, Olverum Bath Oil has been renowned for its therapeutic qualities and exotic fragrance for more than nine decades. Each of Olverum’s products are formulated with natural plant extracts, but the hero product is of course the Bath Oil with its extracts of soothing Siberian Fir Needle and calming May Chang. So here, if you buy any Olverum product, you will receive the Olverum Body Polish (50 ml), which is worth £18. Only one gift per customer.
Olverum Products

Curly Ellie is a haircare brand dedicated to formulating products for curly, kinky, frizzy hair, as well as addressing sensitive scalp issues, all of which they do exceptionally well. The curation is tight, there are just eight products in the range and you may wish to explore this brand if you have curly hair, and it is worth exploring because we are offering a 25% discount across the brand and if you buy any two products, we will send you the travel size Intensive Treatment Mask which is worth £6.
Curly Ellie Products

PerfectTed, and I think most of you know the story here, but for those who don’t, I was watching Dragons’ Den and the founders of this brand received an offer from each of the Dragons and I wanted to join in because I knew Matcha Tea was a fast-growing health category. Obviously, I couldn’t invest, but what I could do was to list it on our site and write about the products, the rest is history. It is another one of our much-loved brands and here we are offering a 20% brand discount, with a special mention for the Perfect Whisk, because it makes me smile.
PerfectTed Products

Jerms Daily Gut, a 4-in1 gut health powder delivering probiotics, prebiotics, digestive enzymes, organic superfoods and vitamins, which can be sprinkled over cold food or mixed into cold drinks. This one is easy, it is just one product and here we are offering a 20% discount, and as I tell you that this shouldn’t be added to hot drinks or food because high temperatures can damage live bacteria, that is the end of that.
Jerms Daily Gut

And one more thing, last weekend I wrote about the Drowsy Silk Sleep Masks stating that they were one of the most talked about sleep products by UK beauty editors. I continued by saying that we were offering up to 30% discount across all the Drowsy masks and 25% off the Silk Pillowcase, and then I woke up on Sunday morning and saw that the Sleep Mask had an entire page dedicated to it in YOU magazine. I nearly choked on my coffee because I honestly didn’t know it was going to be featured and the inevitable waitlist arrived, but we are now back in stock. Love and thanks to Jackie Annesley, Editor of YOU mag, for upholding my words. Psychic sisters perhaps.
Drowsy Products

So, with a reminder that all Black Friday offers end at midnight GMT, Monday 2 December, I am linking the rest of our Black Friday offers below, for information and ease.
Black Friday

As we come to the end of our Black Friday offers, life returns to normal on Tuesday when we will release What’s The Solution, and of course I’ll be doing a full debrief of recent events on the next Weekend Read. But there is one more thing I want to say, and that is that Black Friday is so incredibly difficult for small brands and there are many brands who just cannot afford to participate, so can we not forget those brands and please can we not be judgemental if some of the offers aren’t as attractive as others, we are all doing the very best we can to support and help each other, and that is all that really matters.

And with your hand in mine, we walk the miles. Thank you.
Thank You by Led Zeppelin; The VH Playlist

With love

Gill x