The holidays are finally over, and despite my best efforts, my skin has somewhat suffered. This year I had to pass on guzzling down all those glasses of bubbles, wine and those lovely pousse-cafés, but still the combination of several decadent dinners, my usual over-indulgence in appetizers and desserts, late nights / early morning wake up calls and some sneaky snacking on those Christmas chocolates gave my skin a run for it’s money. It was a race my skin sadly lost, leaving me with a dry, dull, tired-looking skin that was flaring up as if I was a 5 year old who had just discovered her mom’s pot rouge.

Time to break out the big guns. Normally my first weapon of choice would be the Origins Drink Up Intensive Mask, my fail safe option for dry and dull skin (Avocado oil + apricot kernel oil make for 1 very hydrating and soothing mask!). However, last December I purchased the Pai Intensive Nourishing Facial Set, which includes one of my favourite oils, the Rosehip BioRegenerate Oil and the Limited Edition Rosehip BioRegenerate Face Mask, and even though I was already stark raving mad about the oil before, the mask turned out to be love at first sight/use as well, and to be fair, it saved my skin this holiday season.

The oil, wholly deservant of a blogpost on it’s own, is a daily staple of mine during my evening routine. This power player far exceeds the other rosehips oils I’ve tried as contains not only the seed oil, but the fruit oil as well, which delivers twice the regenerative sterols, and five times the caretonoids of seed oil. Rich in essential fatty acids (promotes skin’s elasticity & repairs skin from environmental free radical damage), Vitamin A (helps to heal skin), and antioxidants (protects & repairs skin from premature aging), this nourishes, firms and soothes my skin upon application, whereas after a while fine lines seem to soften and my skintone looks more even. It does have a soft scent when you apply it, which doesn’t bother me, and it does not sink in immediately if you use more than 2 drops. Again, this does not really put me off, as I love to use it at night, so I just let it sink in slowly while I watch some tv. Used alone or combined with a hydrating mask, this might be a love story for the records!

The mask is a limited edition, thicker, creamier version of the oil. With the added goodness of sunflower oil, shea butter and caster oil, this yellow mask is more focused on nourishing and hydrating skin than it is on making skin radiant, however it does give a very needed dose of oomph to stressed, withered or dehydrated skin, which will also bring back some of your skin’s natural glow. As it’s consistency is thicker than a normal gel mask, you either have to work it into your skin if you want to use it as a quick fix for 10 minutes. Afterwards just tissue off the excess, and continue with the rest of your routine. I however love using this as an overnight mask. First the oil, than this mask and then just leave it on all evening and night, which leaves me with fresh, plump and incredibly soft skin in the morning.

As the mask and the oil are so similar and complementary, they both seem to enhance the other one’s strengths, making for one excellent skin-saviour combination!

Last I checked there were still a few available on the Pai website, so hurry!
http://www.paiskincare.com – £30 / set