Luckily I wasn't going into this blind. As an aromatherapy-based brand, Darphin believe in touching, feeling and (of course) smelling the ingredients before buying. My skincare regime was custom-fit after a long consultation, and I was surprised at what I ended up taking home with me...

The Darphin skincare system is based around three products, a Serum, an Aromatic Care and a Cream that treat the specific problems or concerns you have. You then add cleansers, special treatment products, oils and toners where necessary.

The consultation revealed what I already knew. My skin is oily and spot-prone, red but not particularly sensitive. I needed a gentle cleanser, a light moisturiser and products that would treat the two issues - spots and redness - without being too harsh.

To cleanse, I was given the Purifying Foam Gel (£18). I like a wash-off cleanser, and this one is made for combination to oily skin like mine. This was a bit of a no-brainer.

Skipping toner (with a wash-off cleanser, it's not so vital) we moved straight to the Serum. As I'm pale and prone to redness, I was given the Redness Relief Serum (£45), which soothes and helps to reduce redness. This is used in the morning, before moisturising.

In the evening, in place of the Serum comes the Aromatic Care, a skin oil packed with a specific essential oil. This was where things got interesting. As Darphin believe in the benefits of aromatherapy, I was asked to smell all the oils without knowing what they were, the idea being that my body would pick the one it liked (and thus needed) the most. How much of that theory I believe I'm not sure, but I do believe aromatherapy is supposed to be enjoyable, and if you're going to be massaging an oil into your face every night, you should definitely pick the one you like the smell of!

So, it came as no surprise to me that the oil I picked was Jasmine (£60) (one of my favourite scents). It came as more of a surprise to my therapist, since the Darphin Jasmine oil is for lines and wrinkles, and I'm 25 and fairly unwrinkled. But apparently my nose doesn't lie, so that's the oil I took home, and it's the one I've enjoyed smelling on my skin each night as I drift off to sleep!

To moisturise I was given the Hydraskin Light (£37), a lightweight moisturiser that's suitable for oilier skins, and Arovita eye and lip contour gel (£35) for the more fragile areas of skin.

And finally, my treatment product was the Aromatic Purifying Balm (£38), a really concentrated waxy product packed with tea tree and lavender oils. To use it, you warm a tiny bit up in your hands, massage it over the face concentrating on the T-zone, and leave to work overnight as a treatment for spots or imperfections.