Obviously I was assiduous with the body scrubs, diligently liberal with the SPFs and more than generous with the moisturisers, but despite all that, my skin now seems to have lost that smooth and happy summer glow. Oh dear.
If like me your skin seems to have taken on a rather murky pallor and feels papery or flakey, you need to administer some rapid TLC in order to restore its condition. It needs nourishment from your head down. Personally I'm thinking less about the high spec, targetted products for anti-ageing issues and more about helpful, straightforward, reassuring, do-what-they-say-on-the-tin rescuers.
Like Clinique's new Deep Comfort Body Wash (£12.50 - 200ml) which feels luxuriantly creamy the moment it goes onto your skin and because there's no scent to speak of and only mild cleansers, it's non-irritating as well as moisturising. Follow it up with Deep Comfort Body Lotion (£25-400ml) with caffeine, vitamins C and E and the soothing, protecting, nourishing job is doubled. It's not as thick as the butter, but the effect is long lasting — and there's the advantage of a nifty pump-dispenser.
As I'm foolishly neglectful when it comes to wearing sunglasses. my eyes spent the best part of summer screwed up against the glare. Big mistake wrinkle-wise, so I'm doing something to repair the damage with GoodSkin Labs' Eyliplex-2 (£27.99, from Boots). It's a clever little two-pot eyecare set, with a gel for day and a balm for night. There are in all 124 ingredients that work together to help reduce pufflness, soften lines, tighten the delicate tissue and minimise dark circles. Using the gel in the morning has an instant soothing and smoothing sensation. I'm also a little careless with my lips (I'm not someone who carries around a tube of balm, although I should be) so I'm now treating them to Rose Petal Lip Balm by Berkeley Square Cosmetics (£3.95 - www.bsquare.co.uk). The delicate fragrance is pretty and the beeswax and sweet almond oil do their job well, but I'm also seduced by the gorgeous tin with its 1920s illustration — a key feature of this collection.
The extra help that my complexion needs after its summer battering comes from GoodSkin Labs' Smooth-365 (£28.37), a serum cocktail of yeast, mulberry and grape extracts plus power peptides, all of which work to even out skin tone, firm and smooth away creases. Major results will obviously take time, but even after a first silky smooth application my skin feels great. Suitably primed my face is now ready for the no-nonsense Intensive Moisturiser by Elizabeth's Daughter (£26 - 100ml). Strictly speaking this is a range for much younger skin than mine, but this cream, being packed with soothing and nourishing ingredients is also great for dehydrated and sensitive adult skin too. It contains an omega-rich oil from a Peruvian fruit — sacha inchi — as well as soothing and anti-inflammatory things like vitamin c, apricot kernel oil, mango butter and argan oil. Added to which there are no parabans, sulphates or petrochemicals (www.elizabethsdaughter.co.uk)
Also for younger skins (but if you don't tell, I wont) is Neal's Yard Remedies' new Power Berry Facial Mask (£22 - 50ml) which is a lovely fruity smelling gel mask which works to repair and de-stress skin that's been bombarded by environmental damage. Ingredients high in anti-oxidant properties include acai, grape, bilberry and cranberry seed powder, and after 20 minutes leaves your skin feeling soft and polished — ready for that serum and moisturiser.
While Clinique's moisturiser is doing its best to correct the condition of my skin in general, I feel I ought to pay particular attention to certain details. My elbows are rough at the best of times, but feel in dire need now so I'm treating them to the new Deep Moisture Comfort Balm by Neutrogena Norwegian Formula (£4.99 - 200ml from Boots and major chemists). With glycerin and shea butter, it's been created to penetrate deep into the skin's layers, which keeps the moisturisation going for 24 hours. It also smells great thanks to a scent of melon, kiwi, jasmine, orange flower, vanilla and sandalwood.
The other area of sad neglect over summer is my feet — my heels in particular. If I want them to be ready for potential party exposure by December they're going to need plenty of Intensive Hydrating Foot Lotion (£25 - 200ml) by Margaret Dabbs — a renowned chiropodist who has based her line of foot treatment products on the healing and emollient properties of organic Australian emu oil, which can penetrate deeply. It smells beautifully tangy and leaves your feet feeling refreshed as well as nourished. |
