Willow organic skin care

Who and What are Willow?

The Willow range of organic products was developed by interior designer Sue Stowell. When she was designing SenSpa at Careys Manor, she was unable to source suitable organic beauty products for the spa. Sue created Willow after realising that there was a gap in the market for a top-end organic skin care range.

Willow also sell scented candles, and a small range of silk lingerie.

They Say:

"Willow's new Wild Blossom organic face and hair care range, enriched with sensuous and purifying lemon, cedarwood and orange blossom, has been carefully formulated without harmful toxins and is sure to bring a healthy glow of youth and vitality suitable for all skin and hair types.

Packed with the highest grade ingredients, the Soil Association approved Wild Blossom organic hydrating face care range is a complete skin regime that hydrates and nourishes, leaving your skin fresh and rejuvenated.

Ethically sourced and environmentally friendly, all Willow products are exquisitely presented without the use of excess packaging or outer cartons."

We Say:

"Delicately scented, organic and luxurious -- this very feminine range will appeal to anyone looking for a gentle, natural skincare products without a strong scent.

There's something sweetly old fashioned about Willow's Wild Blossom products. The gentle scent of orange blossom, lemon oil and cedarwood oil is a million miles away from the modern trend of strongly scented products that can fill a room. We loved Willow's soft pink and grey packaging. It would look perfect on a delicate girly dressing table. Perfect for Laura Ashley fans!"

Willow products - What have we tried?

Willow Wild Blossom Cleanser 175ml, RRP £18.00

Sweet Spy:

Willow Wild Blossom Cleanser Since becoming pregnant, I have been paying more attention to what goes into the products I use on my skin. With an ingredients list packed with "certified organic" stuff, I was very happy to try the Wild Blossom Cleanser from Willow.

Willow's Wild Blossom Cleanser is packaged with a pump dispenser. This is great when there's a lot of the product left because you never use any more than you absolutely need. That's important when you've spent £18 on 175mls of cleanser! But the pump gets rather annoying once you get down to the end of the bottle and you have to resort to removing the pump and vigorously shaking to get any product out.

The cleanser has a light floral scent, but this is so delicate that it isn't overpowering. I have noticed that my skin is a lot more prone to dryness and general sensitivity since becoming pregnant. But the Wild Blossom Cleanser certainly proved gentle enough to use on more sensitive skin, and didn't dry my skin out at all. I liked it so much I used the whole bottle -- apart from the remnants of cleanser left on the sides and bottom which refused to give in to my vigorous shaking!

Willow Wild Blossom Moisturising Face Balm 45ml, RRP £28.00

Swedish Spy:

The Willow Face Balm is a product for those who like their aromatherapy products nice and straight. It has a classic floral fragrance with a little bit of Ylang-Ylang lurking in the background.

It's a refreshing and quite light day cream that adds moisture rather than richness. I can't say that this cream rocked my world; I needed to be quite generous to get the moisture punch that I seek (being a thirsty sort).

Luckily, the jar is a nice and generous size, so it invites you to scoop up a good dollop! The balm has a slightly astringent feel, which adds to the refreshing effect on the skin. It was a pleasant wake-up-call in the morning.

Willow Wild Blossom Face Exfoliator 45ml, RRP £24.00

Sensitive Spy:

There seems to be a trend for facial exfoliators to include lots of big bits in among the grittier, more usual texture that one associates with an exfoliator. This Willow exfoliator is from the Big Bits school of exfoliation. Personally, I'd like to see exfoliators clearly labelled with "No Bits" like children's yogurts, or fruit juice.

Apart from the large, black argan seeds there is no other exfoliation agent. Willow Wild Blossom Face Exfoliator is a smooth, silky cream, studded with argan seeds. These were hard, and pointy, and they weren't very good at exfoliating. If I scrubbed too hard I could feel the pointy pits irritating my sensitive skin. If I scrubbed too gently, nothing happened.

So I ended up using the Willow Wild Blossom exfoliator as a face mask. And very good it was too. Soothing and softly scented, it left my skin feeling soft and moisturised.

Willow Wild Blossom Toner175ml, RRP £18.00

Salubrious Spy:

The Willow Wild Blossom toner arrived with a note advising that the toner had to be stored in an upright position. The fact that the bottle was also covered by a small piece of cling film suggested that there may have been leakage problems in the past. Happily my bottle remained intact. The top end appearance of the general packaging was undermined somewhat by the toner bottle being made of plastic. It had a lightweight, more downmarket feel.

The toner itself was fresh and light with a pleasant, subtle rose scent. It also did what it said on the bottle and removed the last traces of my make up. And with 99.4% organic ingredients it felt healthy too. A really nice product, shame about the lightweight plastic bottle.