We are big fans of face oils but there’s always room for more really good ones on our bathroom shelf. Votary was launched in September by Myla founder, Charlotte Semler and the make-up artist Arabella Preston, who has used face oils on her clients for years and noticed that massaging the skin with a custom-blended oil would relax her clients as well as leaving them with a radiant complexion.
All the products are beautifully packaged in green glass apothecary-style bottles with art-deco style patterned boxes. We’ve been using the rose geranium and apricot cleansing oil which is fine enough to be dispensed through the pump spray provided. If you wear a lot of eye make up, you might want to use a micellar water first but the oil is undoubtedly robust enough to wipe way any trace of the tinted moisturiser we wear most days. You use the hot cloth method with these oils – a flannel is helpfully provided for buffing away the product. Our favourite oil from the range, however, is the Neroli and Myrrh. This can be used post-cleansing, to even out patches of dryness or oiliness. It is brilliant for this time of year when skin typically goes haywire from being buffeted alternately by the wind and central heating.
We love the suggestion that you hold your palms up to your face once you’ve dispensed the oils on them, to inhale the scent, before you even use it on the face. The calming effect of this unisex scent is almost as gratifying as the effect the oil has had on our skin. We’re also grateful that using the oils has reminded us to give ourselves a proper facial massage even post-pub, when we’re knackered.
The oils are available via the website below or from Liberty if you’re in London.
