Unique cleanser for sensitive skin is “a delight”

We have had such a lovely letter from a customer this morning. She says:

“I enclose another order for some of your products. It is really helpful to be able to purchase trial sizes: you will see that my order is mainly for these trial sizes, but next time I will be ordering the standard size products.

“I just wanted to express my appreciation of your products and excellent service; I have never had any skin problems but a few months ago developed red patches and tiny blister-like spots on my face. I stopped using make-up and night creams which frankly I need to use. I searched the internet and came across your website and am so glad I did because since receiving my first order and starting to use your products my skin has returned to normal. So many thanks. I shall start building up my collection of Queen products and give all the other much-publicised products a miss!”

We also received two orders this morning which were from friends of existing customers – customer referrals, I guess they are technically known as! Certainly, word of mouth is currently our major source of new customers and it remains the most powferful with most referrals becoming regular customers. It is not really surprising – if you have sensitive skin, it can take some persuading to be convinced to try a new product and to see a friend - who you know has sensitive skin too – with great-looking skin is a powerful endorsement.

More good news came in the form of some great coverage for our Theatrical Cleansing Cream, a longstanding Queen favourite and ideal cleanser for super-sensitive skins and for anyone who needs to remove heavy make-up or stage make-up on a regular basis (as it won’t dry skin out or cause irritation).

Read it here at great beauty blog Confessions of a Beautyholic.

http://www.confessionsofabeautyholic.com/2011/03/queen-cosmetics-theatrical-cleansing.html

Let’s hope the good feedback continues to flow!

Find a skincare regime and stick to it!

This was the advice of one Queen customer yesterday when talking about how she manages her rosacea.

“In the morning, I wash my face with Cetaphil face wash as I like to use a wash-off cleanser. Next, I wet my face again (I know it sounds odd but it works for me!) and my hands then I put one drop of jojoba oil on my hands, rub them together then smooth the oil all over my face.”

She continues: “In the evening, I use your Sensiderma Cold Cream to take my make-up off (I don’t wear much) then I use your Skin Cream as a night cream. I have been doing this for years and it keeps my rosacea under control.”

This regime may not work for everyone but it does show that there are routines that can be found and followed with success. As this particular customer said, it can be a process of trial and error and that what she found so helpful about Queen when she was looking for products was our trial sizes.

“What is so good about your company is the fact that you can try things and that there is a decent amount in the skincare trial sizes – not just a sachet full which you would get from a beauty counter. This is essential for sensitive skin.”

We are always pleased to send one or two free samples to people who are genuinely looking for products for their rosacea or other sensitive skin condition. In addition, we do offer  a ‘FREE sample of the month’. Please visit our homepage www.queen-cosmetics.com or email us at info@queen-cosmetics.com to find out more.

Today, we had a returning customer. This is always a happy occasion! If customers have not bought products for some time, we assume they no longer wish to be on our mailing list and remove them. This lady, Mrs H, said she had tried other products but that “nothing had come close to Queen Enriched Moisturising Lotion” so she was returning to the fold. It is human nature to want to try other things, especially in today’s beauty marketplace where launches for new creams and lotions are a daily occurence and each product sounds more appealing, amazing (and perhaps too good to be true!) than the last. Mrs H is firmly back on our mailing list!

With the Royal Wedding just over a month away, we are busy putting together our Royal Skin Care Packs – well, with a name like Queen, what do you expect?!

The Queen Team

Reviews for Queen Sensiderma Rich Hand Cream for sensitive, dry, eczema-prone hands

The fame of Queen Sensiderma Rich Hand Cream is spreading with some lovely reviews on some beauty sites over the last few weeks.

With the continued cold weather and central heating still on full (well it is where I am!), hands have really been suffering and I for one have been slathering on our own handcream in a bid to keep them looking smooth and young (well smooth anyway). Well, it seems that we are not alone in our quest for a hardworking hand cream.

Says Confessions of a Beautyholic (www.confessionsofabeautyholic.com): ‘Queen Cosmetics have a variety of products from skincare, bath & body to make up. They keep the look and feel of uncomplicated beauty products that were prepared by a pharmacist, which is brilliant! They all look very interesting and the fact none of their products contain unnecessary ingredients, win big points with me. Sensiderma Rich Hand Cream is an unique hand cream that has one of the most nourishing formulation that I have ever tried……design to gently care for dry, irritated, inflamed and chapped hands, including those suffering eczema and dermatitis. Although my hands are not in such bad state, they were quite dry and instantly after using Sensiderma, I could see the difference……. I started to use this product and I must say it delivered incredible results!’ 

Another beauty site, Beauty Truths Not Ugly Lies (beautytruthsnotuglylies.blogspot.com), also likes this product. It says: ‘I know I posted a list of my favourite hand creams up a few weeks ago but my attention has been brought to a new one out and well it was so good I needed to include it. Queens Cosmetics are experts in sensitive skin but even if your skin isn't that sensitive you will love their products.’

She continues: ‘It’s a really rich formula without being greasy and melted into my skin quickly. Very useful for me as I am always putting on hand cream and having to waiting till it absorbs. Try picking up a pen and trying to write something after you have smothered your hands in something greasy!’

This is a really good point because, as well as being really effective at moisturising and soothing dry hands, Queen Sensiderma Rich Hand Cream’s other USP (unique selling point to those of you not familiar with marketing jargon!) is that it is really easily and quickly absorbs which, of course, is why it is so good at moisturising and soothing! With many handcreams, you can spend 10 minutes massaging the product in and yet still have to wipe away excess before you can actually resume whatever it was you were doing previously.

So, there is our trumpet blowing for the week. Queen Sensiderma Rich Hand Cream is just £9.35 for 50g (remember, a little goes a long way) and is excellent for all skin types but particularly hands which are very dry or scaly or suffer from eczema as it won’t further exacerbate these conditions. It is available from our website, www.queen-cosmetics.com or from Amazon or call John Bell & Croyden, London’s landmark pharmacy, on +44 (0)207 535 5620.

Moisture Soothe – great for rosacea, red sore skin and very dry skin

Our lovely moisturiser cream which has been called KT Cream for the last five years (KT are the initials of the customer we developed it for) is now on general ‘release’ and has its very own name and proper label (oh, the heady heights!):  Sensiderma Moisture Soothe.

KT has very dry, super-sensitive skin and came to us some years ago as she was at the end of her tether. The cream she had been able to use had been discontinued (a familiar tale) and she was desperate. After lengthy trials, we finally found a formulation to work for her and she has been using it ever since with great success. About 18 months ago, we started trialling the product among our other customers as we realised its soothing and cooling properties made it idea for rosacea prone skin or skin prone to redness or flushing. It is also ideal for those skins which do not respond well to very creamy moisturisers or lotions. It has an almost gel-like look and feel, meaning it is very easily absorbed and does not just sit on the surface of the skin.

Queen Sensiderma Moisture Soothe, 50g £14.95

We are also in the process of trying out a new mascara formulation as, while our Queen Mascara proves successful for many customers, there are some who still find they react to it. As we know how heartbreaking it can be to not be able to wear any make-up at all, we are always really keen to help try and find a solution. So, watch this space….

We have just had some lovely feedback about our Sensiderma Rich Hand Cream. A customer bought some for the first time last week and writes via email:

“…the rich hand cream has already proven to be a top product. Usually even sensitive hand creams make my skin red and sore and with patches where the skin splits and bleeds it stings and itches (attractive right!) but on my first few trials of the Sensiderma Rich Hand Cream I feel nothing but moisturised skin which is fantastic. It was also a pleasure to open the little tub and have no instant perfumed pong attack my nostrils – it smells of nothing, which I think is great. I am looking forward to rescuing my hands this winter!”

It is a great product and non-greasy which is essential. There is nothing worse than slathering on hand cream only to find you can’t do anything without casting oily fingerprints everywhere!

Well, that’s enough trumpet-blowing for one day. Today’s product of choice seems to be Sensiderma Rich Cleanser with one customer remarking while placing her order: “I do try other things from time to time (you know what we women are like) but I always come back to Queen.”

The Queen Team

Queen cream voted ‘Best for Sensitive Skin’

It has been far too long since we last posted but, with our move out of the way and everything working smoothly (famous last words!) at our new factory and office, it is high time we got back on the blogging bandwagon.

We moved back in the summer to our new premises in Uckfield in East Sussex where we have a little bit more room to manufacture our products and some road frontage. While our previous location on a rural industrial estate was divine from an aesthetic point of view, it was a nightmare to get to last winter with the heavy snow which really did hamper operations. Also, it wasn’t great for local customers wishing to drop in and buy or try our range of skincare and make-up products for sensitive skin. Now, we are in much more accessible location with good customer parking and a communal foyer/reception area where we can display and sell the products.

Our new telephone number is 01825 768 845 and our address is: 60-64 Framfield Road, Uckfield, TN22 5AR. We share the building with a fabulous campervan rental company called CJs Campers (www.cjscampers.com). They not only rent out VW campervans for holidays and weekends but also make bespoke fittings for them and offer servicing too. Our favourite camper is currently Gilbert although Kevin is running a close second. If you are interested in renting a campervan and live in Sussex the south east or even London (they will pick you up from the station!), get in touch with clare@cjscampers.com.

Aside from the move, the big excitement has been our appearance in Good Housekeeping Magazine’s November issue (out now!) in which they did a review of 100 moisturisers. Their panel of testers voted Queen Sensiderma Renew & Refine cream best for sensitive skin with tester Karen saying: “Usually I have red patches around my nose and on my cheeks that I have to cover with foundation but since using this product I’ve been leaving home without foundation for the first time in years.”

Sensiderma Renew & Refine is our anti-wrinkle cream for sensitive skin and has become a real favourite among Queen customers since its launch 18 months ago. Read the review for yourself – the article has recommendations for all skin sorts and conditions so it is worth getting a copy of the issue. The Queen review is page 146!

 

    

With Theatrical Cleansing Cream and our Moisturiser proving to be flavour of the day today, it’s time for us to get the orders packed up and shipped out.

Oh, one more thing..Queen products are now available to buy via Amazon. All of our skincare features and our trial sizes too so it’s a great opportunity to stock up on sensitive skin creams and lotions while doing your other shopping too! Visit Amazon.co.uk.

Have a great weekend!

Spring care for sensitive skin

With the harsh winter weather (hopefully) now a distant memory, it's very definitely time to turn our attention towards preparing sensitive skin for summer, helping it to fully recover from the onslaught it has suffered from wind and cold, central heating and heavy, rough winter clothes and shoes.

We have just launched our Spring offers with Queen Seaside Cream taking pride of place. If ever there was a product which everyone should own a jar of, it's Seaside Cream. Its thick, emollient formulation is deeply moisturising but also soothes and protects.

Catherine, one of our lovely customers said last week: "I just keep finding uses for it. Whenever I think I need something for a particular skin problem or issue, I try Seaside Cream and it does the job. It really is marvellous."

As the name would suggest, Seaside Cream was developed for use on skin which had been exposed to sun and wind, soothing that horrid dry, tight feeling and any sunburn and enabling skin to repair. Use before exposure to the sun, underneath sun protection, and it prevents skin ever feeling tight and dry. But there are many more uses: it serves as an intensive hand or foot cream, an intensive moisturiser, an eye cream, a lip balm, it stops itching caused by bites, can prevent chafing and blisters if you are a runner or sportsperson and can even be mixed with your make-up to provide a lipgloss or gentle sheen to cheeks. At just £10 for 50ml or £15.40 for 100g, it is great value and a little goes a very long way.

Why not take a look at it by clicking Seaside Cream - fabulous sensitive skin cream with a multitude of uses.

We are pleased to report that we have had a really positive response to our 'new' moisturiser. We day 'new' because it has actually been in production for four years but has been made for an individual client and has, to date, only been sold to her. Having had customers say they have very dry sensitive skin but that rich creams just don't sink in, we started to think about trialling this new cream more widely. It is very silky, has a very light almost gel-like look and feel but is deeply moisturising. We started sending out trial sizes in February and the cream is now in general production with many customers adopting it as their main moisturiser. "I love the fact it goes in really easily and feels very soothing," says one customer.

One small problem is it hasn't yet got a name so is going by the sobriquet 'Special Formulation Moisturiser' which doesn't do it justice at all. We are on the case brainstorming possibilities and hope to give it something fitting very soon. If you would like a sample or fancy suggesting a name, do let us know at info@queen-cosmetics.com.

With our recent little bits of press coverage and the fact we do seem to be moving up the rankings in terms of search engines, our fame is spreading slowly.

One new customer called to order this morning, having tried some samples last week: "I am so impressed with the range. The redness I have been suffering seems to be much better and my skin is just so much more comfortable. Thank you!".

Another longstanding customer who has recently returned from overseas has stated she is going to write to all the beauty press to tell them about Queen and that she is going to convert all her friends here in the UK. Her favourite story is one about a visit to a La Prairie consultant in Copenhagen. "They were offering free skin analysis and I had some time to kill so thought, why not?!," she says. "The consultant said my skin was excellent and that it was obvious I used La Prairie products. I was aghast and told her that no, I certainly did not and that I used a range which was made in the UK called Queen Cosmetics. She looked very shocked."

Time to get the orders out.

The Queen Team

France taking the lead in making sense of cosmetics claims

It's been a busy and hectic start to the year at Queen Cosmetics especially given the snow which made actually getting to our rural HQ nearly impossible (thanks must go out to friends of Queen for the loan of a Jeep which saved the day and meant at least two of us could keep things moving!). The combination of more online orders because people were holed up at home and had time to surf and shop and the fact that the postal service was seriously disrupted meant some anxious days wondering if anything was getting through to our customers. Like the rest of the nation, we've seriously had enough of extreme winter weather!

The beginning of the year coincided with a nice write-up in Good Housekeeping Magazine's Beauty News pages where our Medicated Cleansing Lotion was tipped. "Gentle cleansers are best and one I always recommend to sensitive-skinned friends is Queen Medicated Cleansing Lotion from little-known brand Queen Cosmetics". See below for the full spiel.

Here at HQ, we are working on developing a number of new products, including a night cream for dry sensitive skin, and on a general launch of a cream which  we make for an individual client who has been using it for three years. We have trialled it over the last six months with other customers and it is proving excellent for those with very dry sensitive skin which doesn't respond well to rich, heavy creams. It's very light and easily absorbed but provides excellent moisturisation and protection. Do call us and ask about our Special Formulation Moisturiser on 01342 312 739 if you want to sample the cream.

Elsewhere in the cosmetics world, we were really interested to read in SPC Magazine (see it online at www.cosmeticsbusiness.com) about some new rules being brought in in France regarding the claims that cosmetics' manufacturers make for their products. The ARPP, a non-governmental body that enacts and enforces rule governing advertising professionals in France, has validated a set of rules which means that a product claiming to be natural will have to have no less than 95% natural or naturally derived ingredients and can only be called organic if 100% of ingredients are from organic farming.

Says SPC: "What's more it's going to put a stop to the infuriating free-from culture that has stigmatised so many cosmetic materials. Phrases like 'paraben-free' or 'without silicones' will be out and perhaps such ingredients may even be able to hold their heads up high again."

Whether or not other countries will follow suit is not yet known but let's hope so.

Late Winter offers will be launched soon so visit www.queen-cosmetics.com to keep up to date!

The Queen Team