A NEW FAVOURITE: KORRES
I've been to Greece a couple of times these last 5 years. One thing I love about the Mediterranean countries are their pharmacies. They seem to be the hot-spot meeting place for women, and they carry a lot of yummy brands. In Greece there are two fantastic "pharmacy" brands: Korres and Apivita.
The latter have an amazing selection of small-package facial masks and scrubs, most can be seen here:
http://www.apivita.com/face/express-masks.html?limit=all
As a tourist that's so handy, as I can buy whatever I need for the stay, and carry the rest in my hand luggage when going back home (I bought 20 of the pomegranate mask, as it smells divine... I don't care if it works, as long as I can have that scent on my skin!). They also have super yummy creams and cleansings for the face, as well as stuff for the body. This was my favourite brand until I tried Korres.
Like the other brand, it's ecological, free of all kind of crappy ingredients and whatnot. I'm not sure exactly what is the case, but these products just immediately clicked with my skin. I've had all kinds of issues with my facial skin these last two years, and I've been using good products from Dior and Clinique and salons. But my skin got worse and worse. It was like the lower epidermis was all drained out, while the top area was greasy and got a rougher surface by the day. I did everything "right", which was even more frustrating.
Enter Korres. Having tried their lip butter and a body butter in the past, I picked up one of their facial creams (Pomegranate) and a facial wash (calendula milk, a soap bar of all things... Haven't used that since infancy). Three weeks later I have the skin of a newborn. I kid you not. My skin is so soft and radiant it's ridiculous. I think it's mostly the soap bar. It cleans my face in a whole new way, in turn allowing the cream to actually function as intended. I'm not really fond of soap bars, but I'll cling to this one like grim death. Having olive skin (which is perfect for warm climate) in a cold country, it's not easy to find products that copes with the mixture. But oh Korres, how I love Thee.
Why am I telling this? Well, God knows. I just wanna pass on the recommendation. Korres is available world-wide now, and Apivita isn't far behind. Both are fantastic brands. If you're heading for Greece or have a local retailer near you, try them. In Scandinavia, the stores Kicks carry at least Korres.
http://www.apivita.com/
http://www.korres.com/