I have been known to cut off the ends of tubes to get all the rest of a product out, and of course: any excuse to show the evidence of my disbelief that there was nothing left in that Stila compact.

I stopped myself short of smashing this bottle of Neal’s Yard Remedies Beauty Sleep Concentrate, but only just.

I have adored this from the first: it plumped up my complexion while I sleep, and its gorgeous smell also helped me drift off gently into the dreamtime. My head is rather bizzy, and it can take me ages to fall asleep sometimes — most times, to be honest. This helped loads with winding down my mind, and I’m guessing it’s down to the patchouli that’s in the mix, as one of the essential oil’s qualities is that of a sedative. {There’s clary sage and ylang ylang in there, too, also longtime faves of mine.}

One or two pumps routinely did the job, and in that phase of the night when the skin is most receptive, this got to work moisturising, and encouraging collagen production via the peptides that are part of its composition. In between all the other night treatments I’ve tested over the last six months — and many of them were very, very good — I always returned to this one. When I recently went to pump up some of its rejuvenating goodness, I just about had a heart attack when it failed to dispense.

I tried turning it upside down, which didn’t help so much, and found that laying it on its side worked better, for some reason. And then I just had to declare defeat, and resign myself to writing about it under the IUIAU umbrella.

So there it was, sitting on my desk, when I noticed —

HANG ON. Okay, still not smashing it, but one or two good thumps may yield a few more beauty sleeps…

***

€36.69/£37/$64.90 < ouch, soz, America!

***