Sunday 10 August 2014

LuxStyle Blackhead Killer - A Review.

A few months ago there were quite a few reviews of this product, the PR machine had obviously been in overdrive sending out samples.  I decided to treat myself to try and repair my skin after the disastrous skin peel I had several weeks back.

Was the Blackhead Killer up to the challenge?

As well as the clogged pores and blackheads I already suffered on my nose and chin, I now seem to have a permanent crop of whiteheads on my chin and forehead.  The now permanently raised and clogged pores on my cheeks feel like sandpaper.

At £14.95 for 5 sachets, the stuff is not cheap, but if it works then it is worth it.



The mask itself is thick and black and gloopy (if you have been watching Helix, that is quite a similar look), but has quite a pleasant smell.


You spread it all over the areas that you want to cover, I would avoid any sensitive areas and you look like this.


It says on the packet to leave it for 10 minutes, but it still felt a bit damp so in the end I left it for 15 minutes.

Then you peel it off.

It does stick to your face very well and therefore takes a bit of peeling, it feels like your face is stretching for miles.  If you peel carefully enough and your skin is as congested as mine is, you can actually see little plugs of gunk adhering to the inner side of the peel, with the peel being black they show up particularly well.  You can also see the little bits of gunk if you turn the peel you have removed over, as you can on a pore strip.

It is impossible to peel off hair, but a quick wipe with a warm flannel soon takes care of any remaining peel.

My skin does feel better, it looks brighter too, I am disappointed that the whiteheads do not appear to have been removed although a lot of the blackheads have.  My sandpaper cheeks, whilst certainly not yet smooth, feel much better but how temporary this improvement is remains to be seen.


Saturday 2 August 2014

My holiday complaint.

You may have read previously on my blog about the holiday where I was downgraded to a cheaper hotel.

I put a complaint into Alpharooms, primarily to get the difference in price back, after all, I could have chosen to book the Santa Monica and saved nearly £200 on the price I paid for the Maritim, but as I was complaining about the overpayment I thought I might as well add in everything else that I found lacking.



According to ABTA rules, the company needs to acknowledge my complaint within 14 days and respond within 28.  A day or so after posting my letter, I received an email asking for more information to back up my complaint. Errr, excuse me, you can see from your own website that there is a HUGE difference in price. Common sense would tell anyone that the difference should be refunded.

I did not receive a response within the 28 days so sent a follow up email.

A week later still no response, so I registered my complaint with ABTA and forwarded all the requested documentation and correspondence.

A couple of days after registering with ABTA I received an email from Alpharooms, their agents had responded to my complaint saying that although it was not their fault that I was moved, they were willing to offer me £50 as a goodwill gesture.



Now, hold on a minute.

  • It wasn't my fault either so why should I take the loss?
  • I am pretty sure that the travel company - Alpharooms, Somewhere2Stay, Cosmos, whichever - were not charged the same for the Santa Monica (MedPlaya) as they would have been for the Maritim (GHT Hotels).  So why should I be charged the same?  As I have said above, I could have booked the Santa Monica myself and saved a fortune.
  • If the travel agents ARE charged the same for all the hotels, why is there such a difference in price to the customer?
It would be interesting to find out when the booking was made with the hotel.  When I booked back in April?  When I paid the balance in May?  The day before travel?  

The hotel was fully booked at least 4 weeks before my travel date.  I know this as a friend who actually lives in Calella always books the Maritim for her Mum when she visits but couldn't get her in, she knew I was travelling over the same week as her Mum and so contacted me to ask where I was staying, I told her the Maritim as at this time I still was under the assumption that I was in the Maritim.  

So why would the hotel wait until the day before to reject my booking? And surely it should have been bookings made AFTER mine that were cancelled?  Unless, of course, it was the day before travel that my booking was sent to the Maritim.

It would also be interesting to find out when the travel agents pay for the accommodation too, is it before or after travel.  I am guessing that it is after if you think back to when all the travel companies were going bust and people were having to pay the hotel bills themselves despite already paying the agents.  

Had the £50 been an goodwill gesture ON TOP of the refund I would have been more than happy to accept, but this was INSTEAD of a refund.

The offer has been forwarded onto ABTA to be added to my file.

They are due to respond to me within the next 2 weeks.