skin

I know that spring doesn’t officially arrive in the UK until next month but there’s something about February that always has me desperate to shrug off my cosy knitwear and rich moisturisers and embrace a lighter approach to layering. When it comes to beauty in particular, that means a shift towards sheer, featherweight formulations that will deliver some much-needed luminosity to my tired, winter skin. So when I heard that Charlotte Tilbury, the queen of glow herself, was launching two new radiance-boosting products, I couldn’t wait to try them.  You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautif...

I have tried many a designer nail colours over the years but I have to be honest, I don’t think there is any point spending a lot of money on a nail polish. These gel-effect ones from Barry M are as good as they come and they’re so cheap. I love the colours and the finish and they last just as long—if not longer—than most of the nail polishes with bigger price tags. Plus, I love buying a couple of new shades each season to test out the trending colours without breaking the bank. Up next, these cheap moisturisers are just as good as their expensive counterparts. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the pro...

You don’t need us to tell you that beauty routines have changed as of late. In fact, virtually everyone we speak to has something to say about the ways in which they have tweaked their daily regimen to fit in with the new normal. Mostly, we have found ourselves waving goodbye to bold lipsticks, colourful eye shadows and full-coverage foundations in favour of low-key formulas suitable for home life. And for the most part, no one seems to be particularly mad about it. In fact, there is actually something quite wholesome about stripping things back to basics.  Except when it comes to perfume. When lockdown hit for the first time at the start of spring last year, many of us found ourselves reaching for perfume less and less. After all, if no one’s smelling it...

My grandma has taught me many things—how to master the art of tiddlywinks, that being bossy is a rite of passage if you’re the oldest child, how to spot a yellow sale sticker from a mile off and the importance of working hard, to name just a few. When it comes to skincare, however, she hasn’t taught me a thing. That’s because my grandma has what some might call a pared-back skincare routine. (I would call it a totally nonexistent one.) There are certainly some generational differences in our approaches to beauty—my grandma is 79, and I’m 31. Born in Zimbabwe, my grandma grew up using water, soap and a generous slathering of moisturiser—or Vaseline—to hydrate. And nothing much has changed since she moved to London in her 20s. During her working life as a teacher, her...

First and foremost, Clinisoothe Skin Purifier is a hypochlorous facial mist that offers antimicrobial protection (which essentially means it kills off all of the bad bacteria that breeds underneath our face masks). Unlike other mists, which offer little more than a hydrating refresh, this stuff is no-frills. Simply spritz onto the skin before and after you put your mask on (and also after cleansing morning and night to help tackle general breakouts), and go about your business without fear of breakout-inducing bacteria being trapped underneath. So what’s the catch? Usually, solutions that work to banish bacteria in this way are incredibly harsh on the skin, upsetting its natural pH balance and leading to dryness and irritation. However, Clinisoothe+ is specially formulated with a skin-neut...

And it’s funny really, because as the years have gone by, the tables have started to turn. Now, as I learn more and more about products, I’m the person teaching my mum new things. But while I’m preaching intricacies, such as how often to use retinol and whether hyaluronic acid is worth giving a go (it is), there’s no doubt that my mum has been my biggest skincare influence. If I hadn’t have spent my childhood watching my mum religiously cleanse and moisturise every evening, I probably wouldn’t care very much for skincare at all. From a young age, I assumed that if my mum did it, it must have been important. When the initial fascination developed, everything was rather cliché I’m afraid. I started snooping in her skincare stash and applied it all in one go in front of the mirror. ...

But you’ll want to be extra careful when using the device, as Rodney cautions that epilators can be very painful if misused. “Epilators also fail to address ingrown hairs and are not best for sensitive areas. You’ll need to find one that keeps your skin’s health and protection in mind,” she adds. When using the device, Rodney recommends pulling the skin taut before passing the machine over it and avoiding goose bumps. Make sure you’re moving the device in the direction of hair growth, and don’t press too firmly on the skin or pass through quickly, as those two things may cause irritation. As for who can use an epilator, it can work on all skin types, but if you have sensitive skin, you’ll want to be careful. If you have a severe skin conditio...

This is a bit more complex that others on the list, but it’s a very common theme amongst science-led skin experts that facial oils are best left untouched if you’re not totally clued up on them. A huge number of skincare products contains oils to help nourish our skin, or in the case of essential oils, give a product more of a luxurious user-experience. However, when oils are formulated within other products, dosage is significantly lower than they might be in say, a straight-up facial oil. The truth is, the most expensive face oils are those that contain essential oils (they are extremely expensive for brands to purchase, making the mark-up on the product even larger), and essential oils in high volumes are seriously bad news for skin. They can turn skin red, dry and angry. Other non-frag...

The cynic in me used to believe that asking a supermodel for their skincare tips was counter-intuitive because to be a model you must have amazing skin already, right? Well, in a word, no. The truth of it is that models at the top of their game are likely to have a whole team of people dedicated to helping them achieve that glowy complexion of dreams. Nutritionists, dermatologists, facialists, makeup artists… You name it, and they’ve got the best in the business on speed dial. Yes, with direct access to the very best skincare experts in the world, models are actually the perfect candidates for a chat about all things skin. After all, they’re armed with insider tips and tricks to keep their skin looking its absolute best at all times—their job depends on it. ...

When some new resurfacing pads from Indeed Labs landed on my desk a couple of years ago (remember desks?) my interest was immediately piqued. What the heck is bakuchiol when it’s at home, anyway? A quick google informed me that bakuchiol is a plant-derived, 100% natural alternative to vitamin A, aka retinol. Oh, and if you’re not sure how to say it, you pronounce it “buh-koo-chee-all” or “back-uh-heel”—whichever floats your boat. After experiencing a nasty reaction to a dermatologist-prescribed retinol late last year, I was somewhat sceptical. Retinol is a particularly tricky skincare ingredient to get right. Too much and your skin can become sore, flaky and irritable—as the red patches on my face once testified—but strike the right balance and fine lines will be diminished while your...

We’ve picked up many new habits these past few months, and running a bath at 6pm is probably one of our favourites. There’s just something about soaking at the time you’d ordinarily be fighting for a spot on the tube or making a dash for the last seat on the bus that makes it even more blissful. And while there are many things we can’t wait to bid adieu to once lockdown is lifted, our twilight baths aren’t going to be one of them. So, in an attempt to make the most of them, we’ve been looking for ways to help elevate our tub-time; which is when we stumbled across bathscaping. Chances are you’ve been bathscaping without even realising it. Following in the footsteps of tablescaping, the bathscaping trend is all about curating your bath and its s...

If, like me, you consider yourself to be a night owl, you’ll understand the perils of early mornings all too well. When you wake up in the morning and pick up your phone to scroll through Instagram only to see how all of the morning people out there have already done a full workout, made fancy porridge, curled their hair and applied their makeup, the pang of guilt can make for quite a negative start to the day. However, after years and years of pushing my snooze button to the limit and giving myself the 34 minutes of getting-ready time that I know I need, I’m frankly fed up of starting my day off in a flap. Consultant psychologist and co-founder of The Chelsea Psychology Clinic Elena Touroni explains, “If you have a rushed morning, your stress levels are likely to be heightened b...