Stepping into Kiehl’s on Stonegate is like entering an explosive fusion of Pop Art luxury. This is a contrast to their humble beginnings in New York’s East Village. They are raising money for charities like Great Ormond Street as well as collaborating with local industries like York’s own Filmore and Union. Despite a slight fear of judgement at the state of my skin which displayed shaving hives and essay induced eye bags that Taylor Momsen would be proud of, I placed myself in the hands of the experts with the fear of a post-parade Katniss Everdeen, albeit with a glass of champagne. My reservations were gladly squashed by the assertion that Kiehl’s natural products and clearly labelled bottles would provide my skin the tender loving care that it so sorely deserved. Well aware of my shortcomings in the personal grooming department I expected a barrage of products to be pushed my way, but was pleasantly surprised by the resulting skin test and consultation, which suggested only a few welcome additions to my sadly lacking morning ablutions. Even better, these products neither damaged my air of machismo or my Barclays balance. Over two weeks I took up the mantle of product testing in the hope that a few applications of lotions and potions would leave me with the dewy, sun kissed glow of one Lauren Conrad, who counts the brand as a personal favourite. At the very least I hoped they would remove the oily post sheen of last night’s Subway from my visage. On being informed their Crème de Corps moisturizer (£16) was being utilized by explorers in the Arctic my macho reservations calmed; as did my dark circles after regular applications of Midnight Recovery Concentrate £36, working in combination with the blessed holiday lie in and the scent of lavender aiding my sorely damaged sleep pattern.
That being said application and use have been slotted into the demands of term time with a quick slap of Ultra Facial Cleanser (£15) 10 minutes before the seminar. It is the suitability of Kiehls to withstand the demands of my, never mind other York students’, lifestyle that have made their products a daily element of my quest to tone and beautify myself before the upcoming Summer Ball and beyond. Lauren Conrad better watch out. I may not have had my own reality series, critically acclaimed book series or clothing line, but Kiehl’s has given me a cleaner, shinier brow to furrow whilst staring at the computer in endless anguish. It is this that makes me reach for the them daily, whilst wondering whether the foaming wash would work to remove the Willow stamp that currently adorns my head with an almost comforting regularity.