Leighton Denny Summer Hand & Foot Solutions.

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Summer time means that legs and feet that have been swaddled in various layers must see the light. I’m scared but hopeful, since nail guru Leighton Denny has some new products set to help us in our hour of need!

Manicure & Pedicure Oil (both RRP £22) both perform well. Both of these oils are in sleek glass bottles with a pump spray to dispense. Neither are messy to use due to how fast the oil soaks into the skin.

The manicure oil purports to have geranium, camomile, lavender and cedarwood, which makes the mild smell slightly disappointing. However I love the smell of the pedicure oil so much that it’s actually beaten the manicure oil to my bedside table. Like the manicure version, it soaks in really fast and feels nourishing on the skin. I thought this might be oilier in order to pop on your feet followed by socks for an overnight foot mask, however the lemongrass scented oil soaks straight in and doesn’t cause me to slip over on my polished wooden floor.

While they’re both luxurious, great products, I’m not sure why you’d buy both of them. I like putting one of them on before bed as an overnight moisturiser, but there’s such a marginal difference between them you could just get one- and the pedicure oil is the winner due to that zingy smell. You can use it at your desk too since they soak in fast – a winner in my book.

On the whole Diamond Skin like Silk (RRP £11) hand scrub does a great job. You coat your hands with the pleasantly jelly like substance, filled with exfoliating particles and enough purple glitter to make me feel like I’m in Girl’s World, and then exfoliate madly. This proves deeply satisfying – I usually keep a hand scrub handy (ha) for post fake tanning to make sure I escape orange tinged cuticles. Then you’re meant to quickly dip your hands in water and massage further so the scrub turns into a moisturising gel. It took me a couple of tries to get the hang of this and get the right amount of water, but sure enough it does excitingly change texture into jelly. So far, so exciting (I even go to the living room to show my partner this exciting development – he’s not so fussed).

Then you rinse off. And that’s where the problem for me lies, because rinsing off doesn’t entirely go to plan. It leaves an oily sheen to your hands that’s slippery so I end up washing with hand wash to remove it. Some people will love that lasting moisturisation, and if you like your hands really well nourished you may love this, but it’s not for me despite the rave reviews on every website where it’s sold.  It is however well priced, and does the job to make sure your hands are silky soft.

I love a multipurpose balm as much as the next blogger, but I can’t help but think the packaging for Floral Marvel balm (RRP £10) could do with a revamp. The tube is fairly substantial – great value, but not exactly handbag friendly (I shouldn’t be negative about good value). A bonus is the narrow dispensing opening so you can use such a concentrated product in small amounts. It’s much more watery than most of these types of balms and a bit messier to use as a result. I’m not sure I’d feel happy taking it on a plane for example since it’s a little trickier to control.

I think this has stepped in to replace Cuti-lips and the tube packaging is a big improvement from the jar format of that. The floral fragrance isn’t strong enough to make a limited edition song and dance about, but on the plus side it means it’s not interfering with your perfume or creating a strong reaction. It’s fairly comfortable on the lips although the thinner texture means it slips around to an extent. I’ve tried it on a little eczema around my eyes and it hasn’t made it worse, so it’s not a bad place to start for dry bits. The main issue is how fluid this is so you need to use it carefully – a drop on the cuticles quickly moves around, and it would benefit from the brush dispenser often paired with cuticle oil.

You can find the full range of Leighton Denny products here