John Frieda Colour Renew Tone-Refreshing Shampoo and Conditioner, approximately £5.49 each for 250 ml. (at Superdrug, Sainsbury’s, Boots etc.), or on-line at www.superdrug.com if you click here.  Fact:  if it wasn’t for a weekly blow-dry at John Frieda I would look like Worzel Gummidge.  My hair’s thick, wayward, waves in about 17 directions – but once in place, it always reminds me of one of those Barbara-Woodhouse-trained dogs that ‘stay’ once they’ve been instructed.  I have been known to lug my own shampoo to the hairdresser, but no more:  this new Colour Renew range is a real breakthrough.  It really, really delivers high-gloss shine to my ultra-highlighted hair, and it smells prettily (but not overpoweringly) of lavender, making five minutes at the backwash even more stress-reducing than usual.  After a few weeks, my highlights look brighter, and I’m convinced this new shampoo-and-conditioner combo is the reason I could go for longer than usual without a colour touch-up from the wonderful Susan Baldwin. 

Aromatherapy Associates Enrich.  Sarah and I are addicted to Aromatherapy Associates’ bath oils, but it’s truly exciting to have new products from this supremo of an aromatherapy brand to play with.  Enrich has been created to deliver ‘irresistible to the touch silky skin’, banishing any hint of dryness and dullness;  my dry skin certainly appreciates it.  There’s no one ‘signature’ scent:  they’re all different (and exotic and delish);  of the four products, I’m really enjoying Enrich Body Butter (packed with cocoa, murumuru and shea butter with scents of jasmine, patchouli and tonka bean that satisfy my inner hippy);  Enrich Body Serum - fantastic for silkifying dry shins (and with another great fragrance, from tuberose and ylang-ylang), and Enrich Body Scrub:  the pulverised coffee beans (in a base of sweet almond oil and salt, among other ingredients) are great for skin-smoothing, and again, just LOVE the scent:  frankincense and pink grapefruit. The products are priced from £20-26 for hefty sizes, but the good news is that they’re available on www.victoriahealth.com, so you can take advantage of your usual 5% discount (and enjoy free postage, too).  PS  The last product in the range is Enrich Massage and Body Oil:  lovely, but I’m a body butter slave.

Palmer Cutler Self Tanning Mousse, £32 for a hefty 200 ml.  Do you have naturally pastry-esque limbs, like me?  Then you’ll want to know about this new self-tanner from Palmer Cutler.  Their previous fake tan was brilliant, but this is in a self-tan league of its own, delivering the most natural pale sun-kissed shade of gold I’ve ever seen my legs become:  smooth, seamless (no ‘toasted’ knuckles) and barely a whisper of biscuit-tin about the fragrance.  It’s moussey so pleasant to apply, but as ever for truly can’t-tell-it-from-real results I would advise slathering on a rich body moisturiser 20 minutes beforehand and allowing to sink in deeply, before massaging in this mousse. 

Perfume – The Guide, by Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez (various copies on Amazon in their ‘used and new’ section, if you click here;  this book will be published in the UK in the autumn but we couldn’t resist previewing the US version).  An essential addition to any perfumeaholic’s bookshelf:  Luca is a biophysicist and a scholar in the field of olfactory science, which makes him sound incredibly dry – when in fact, he’s unbelievably passionate about perfume.  After giving up his blog (which I read avidly), he’s now collated all his perfume reviews in this hardback book, in which he ‘ranks’ them with a star rating.  A great starting point if you’re looking for something new, and the reviews are hugely entertaining in themselves.  (I keep it in the loo!)  This, for instance, is what Luca has to say about my own beloved Mitsouko:  ‘On every occasion when I am asked to name my favourite fragrance, or the best fragrance ever, or the fragrance I would take with me if I had to move to Mars for tax reasons, I always answer Mitsouko…’ starts his one-page rave, while he’s less flattering about Narciso Rodriguez for Him (yes, there are reviews of men’s fragrances, too):  ‘A dry, screechy metallic top note seems carefully crafted to discourage approach, after which a small, cautious floral sweetness sneaks in.  It’s a well-made fragrance for mean, forgettable people.’  And Lulu Guinness Cast a Spell is dismissed with just three words:  ‘Dreadful little thing!’  We both love Luca for telling it like it is;  it’s what we’re about, too, and there’s too little of it in the beauty industry… 

Elemental Herbology.  As you’ll probably know, when it comes to skincare I veer towards the natural, so am thrilled to discover this range.  Its ‘USP’ is that it’s divided into summer and winter skincare essentials, but to be honest, I haven’t really paid a blind bit of notice to that;  I’ve just identified the products which I (and my skin, which tends to have a mind of its own) love best.  First up:  a couple of masks.  Unusually for me, Facial Glow, £36.50, doesn’t irritate my skin (despite having apple AHAs in the formulation), instead leaving it radiantly smooth - though it’s a once-a-fortnight choice, for me, unlike Biodynamic Facial Soufflé, £39, which is an incredibly skin-quenching and plumping that my skin’s been slurping up every few days.  I’m also enjoying using intensively nourishing Body Soufflé Winter Body Hydrator, £22 (I recommend you ignore the fact it’s summer!), which is packed with argan oil.  But my No. 1 product in this range – which is created by a very clever complementary therapist, acupuncturist and massage therapist Kirsty Goodger – is Cell Food Protection and Repair Facial Serum, £38.50, jam-packed with antioxidants, which really does seem to make my skin more glow-y.  (NB  I’m still slathering on my Liz Earle Naturally Active Superskin Moisturiser over the top – honestly can’t imagine finding anything I love more than that…!)  Click on any of the products to find them, or visit www.spacenk.com.  (NB  FYI Kirsty also used to be Spa Development Manager for Space NK…)