1. Exfoliate, exfoliate, exfoliate. Dry body brushing, and using a scrub in the bath or shower, will help brighten your skin, and prepare it for sunbathing or fake tan.
2. Pamper yourself with an at home thalasso-style treatment. Light a candle, then luxuriate in a warm salt bath (try Dead Sea Spa Magic Bath Salts, £4.95, from Holland & Barrett).
3. Make sure you moisturise – we love Spa Paradisa’s skin-illuminating Passionfruit body balm (£10, available from Debenhams and Superdrug).
4. Stop fussing about your hair – summer is the time to wash and go. If you’re worried about frizz, simply spritz on TIGI Bed Head Spoil Me (£12.50, available from www.salonskincare.co.uk). Then, when you’re on the beach, top hair stylist Daniel Galvin Junior www.danielgalvinjnr.com recommends simply spraying on some conditioning spray and then forgetting about it. ‘That way you’ll get really natural looking highlights,’ he says.
5. Optimise your tan. A glowing tanning oil - try Guinot’s Diam’Sun (£28.70, www.beautyworks.net,) or instant bronzer (try Mailbu’s Moonlight Shimmer £3.99, www.malibusun.com) - will give your skin a lovely golden sheen.
6. A couple of drops of Optrex’s Eye Brightening Drops (www.optrex.co.uk) will help banish any signs of tiredness or redness.
7. Keep your make-up as natural as possible and avoid using too many products on your skin – they’ll just melt in the heat. Instead, use a bronzer to intensify the colour on your cheekbones and pick up the light on your face, and a shimmery golden tone on your eyelids – Benefit’s Velvet Eyeshadow in Fawn Over Me (£12.50, www.benefitcosmetics.co.uk) is ideal. Brush on some waterproof black mascara, then for lips, a little gloss is all you need – try Barry M’s fabulous new Lip Gloss Wands (£4.25, www.barrym.com).
8. Treat yourself to a manicure and pedicure – if you want to DIY, make sure you use a cuticle removing cream for a more professional look. Shape your nails, then soak off the cream. Pat dry and if you’re not using a polish, simply buff until mirror-shiny.
9. Cool it. A quick blast of a cooling mist will make you feel refreshed and give your skin a sexy, dewy look – try Avene’s Thermal Water (£6.80, www.amazon.co.uk).
10. Spritz on a floral scent – we love Burberry Summer (£29, available from Debenhams), which has notes of fresh citrus mandarin, freesia, water jasmine, rose and cyclamen, and a sensual musky base wrapped with white cedarwood and sandalwood. You’re good to glow! |
