I’m always on the lookout for good cruelty-free skincare products so when my son’s girlfriend Hayley invited me to a Tropic Skincare evening I jumped at the chance. I haven’t been to a product ‘party’ type of event for a long time (they seemed to be very popular in the 80s with Tupperware, basket parties, children’s book parties and of course Ann Summers parties) and it’s always nice to have a girly get-together.
I arrived at 6pm and was greeted with a cup of coffee and a lovely selection of vegan cakes (which were very yummy thank you). Sally, the Tropic Ambassador, arrived just behind me, and she came bearing vegan doughnuts! (Sally is a friend of Hayley’s so I’m not sure if she does this for everyone). I think I had one too many sweet things but they were very delicious.
The pamper evening started with us all getting a dish of water and a bamboo face cloth. Sally then invited us to try the Tropic Skincare Daily ABC Essentials starting with the Tropic Smoothing Cleanser, a complexion purifier. This luxurious cream is massaged into dry skin to take away any makeup and impurities. The cream is blended with eucalyptus and rosemary essential oils and a green tea extract. It smells just like being in a real spa. The cream is then wiped away with the damp bamboo cloth leaving your skin feeling soft and clean. A spray of the Vitamin Toner pore refining mist followed. The toner is infused with rose water, aloe vera and cucumber juices, plus vitamin C and amino acids which help to balance skin pH and refine pores. And of course step 3 in everyone’s skin care routine is moisturiser. The Skin Revive nourishing cream concentrate is packed with 20 skin-loving fruit and flower extracts and contains Australian kakadu plum to brighten skin and hyaluronic acid and raspberry seed oil to provide skin nourishment.
These Tropic Skincare Daily ABC Essentials smell great and feel good on your skin. I did find the moisturiser a little thicker than the one I normally use so you would probably use only a thin layer under your makeup.
We got to sample most of the Tropic Skincare products and Sally was very knowledgeable and very passionate about the company and the products. Susie Ma, who founded the company, had been inspired by her grandma who taught her that skin needs feeding with healthy, nourishing, natural ingredients (grandma’s are always inspiring aren’t they), and also by the abundance of natural ingredients available in her home town of Cairns in Tropical North Queensland. After moving to London, Susie started a little business making and selling a body scrub which is a blend of jojoba and macadamia oils, exfoliating sea salts and essential oils of lemon myrtle, bergamot and eucalyptus. This was the start of the Tropic range.
I got to sample this body scrub and have to say the smell is fantastic and it leaves your skin feeling very smooth. I only tried it on the back of my hand but was so impressed I ordered a jar of it. The Body Smooth refreshing polish is £24 for a 200ml jar.
I won’t go through every single product Sally shared with us (you’d be reading for about an hour!). Tropic Skincare has a whole range of products including, skincare, body care, sun care, hair care, makeup and products for men. Here are a couple of things I really liked.
The Face Lift Brightening Tightening Mask: An age-defying mask to firm and brighten your skin, this includes agave nectar and sea buckthorn extract to hydrate and nourish, turmeric and clay to promote a brighter, lighter complexion and electric daisy extract that works to tighten fine lines. This is £16 for a 50ml tub. I ordered one of these and can’t wait to try it out.
The Wild Mint, Lime and Pineapple Body Wash: This smells absolutely gorgeous. It’s a creamy body wash with a rich, luscious lather that leaves skin clean and refreshed. It’s formulated with gentle, natural cleansers from soapberries and coconuts and contains guava and bamboo water to refresh and hydrated. It costs £10 for a 250ml tube.
Like most product ‘party’ evenings Sally had a game for us (I won’t give any details as it will spoil the fun if you book her for a party), and I won a tube of this body wash and also a Lip Love Balm. As my pregnant daughter Nicola was also there I decided to be a good mam and gave her the body wash. But I’ll definitely be buying some in the future.
Sally also let me take home the Sun Drench Overnight Tanning Mousse to try. The bottle says it’s a fast-acting tanning mousse with a handy pump to give you an effortless sun-kissed glow by morning. It contains plant allo-melanin which mimics the colour of your own skin and provides a tailored tan for a healthy glow; coconut water to hydrate your skin while tanning and Kiwi fruit water which is rich in essential fatty acids and antioxidants to give you healthy looking, glowing, radiant skin.
I applied the Sun Drench Mousse all over my body at about 5pm and washed it off the next day. My arms and decolletage definitely have a sun-kissed glow about them and while my legs still look a little pale they do have the start of a glow. (My legs are milk bottle white so would probably take a few attempts before they looked really sun-kissed). I applied the mousse with a tanning mitt and it went on really well, there were no streaks. It leaves your skin feeling really soft – I usually moisturise all over but didn’t feel I needed to after applying the mousse. It has a very faint biscuity smell which is quite pleasant and it didn’t come off on my bed sheets. I’d definitely recommend it if you’re looking for a subtle fake tan effect.
The Tropic Skincare Pamper evening lasted about two and a half hours, was a very enjoyable experience and Sally Keys is an excellent Tropic ambassador. There are lots of really good products to try and if you want to buy a few of them it would be worth holding your own pamper evening as the hostess receives 15% of the total sales to spend on anything from the catalogue.
If you’d like to find out more about Tropic click here to check out Sally’s Tropic Facebook Page