Just as we change our wardrobes for warmer weather, it’s helpful to swap a few seasonal beauty ingredients and routines around. At 62, I stick year-round to a rich balmy cleanser – UpCircle’s one is packed with fatty acids and vitamin E and is a reasonable £20.99.
I love how gentle and nourishing balms feel and the soothing process of massaging them in then wiping them off with a warm flannel. (Never very hot since a skin expert told me hot water is bad for the skin. The skin-obsessed South Koreans often use cold water to clean).
But once I’m using more SPF, I add a power cleanser to the mix two or three times a week, depending on how my skin feels. I don’t usually use designer skin care – it’s too fragranced and over packaged for my liking, but Chanel’s Powder-to-Foam Cleanser, £46, mixed with water, is brilliant (although talking of packaging, my dispenser broke, not an uncommon problem apparently. I had to decant it into a glass jar.) It really isn’t very foamy – a good thing – has no potentially harmful ingredients, and, thanks to the Camellia Japonica seed oil in it, is non-drying. It makes my pores feel as though they’ve been spring-cleaned and it lasts ages. Has to be the right water though. Princessy, moi? I live in London. The water’s hard and mean. Since I began using a KLEAN water filter attachment to eliminate the less desirable minerals, my hair and skin feel super soft.
I don’t really use Vitamin C – I think all acids should be treated with respect and not chucked on willy-nilly. I know people who swear by it but I couldn’t see any difference when I used it. Maybe it’s because my daily facial massage routine and face brushing with these special gentle brushes, £30 for two from Alexandra Soveral keeps my skin glowy. All her products are gorgeous.
Once I’ve cleansed, if my skin feels dry, I add hyaluronic acid which despite the name, isn’t acid. Face oil is a must, especially if I’m flying. My skin soaks it up – maybe I’ve created a dependency. I rotate – rosehip, rose…currently I love Prickly Pear. You can see a visible difference in your skin really quickly. Victoria Health’s version is a good price.
At night I use eye cream, currently Neal’s Yard’s Frankincense eye cream, £35, because I’m also using their lovely rejuvenating Frankincense Moisturiser. It’s rich but easily absorbed.
I add SPF separately. I don’t think moisturisers contain a high enough percentage of the stuff to be properly effective. I mostly hate the feel of liquid SPFs, but I can live with the sticks and they’re less messy. Heliocare’s Sport Transparent Stick SPF 50, £11.49, is excellent and scores highly on the Yuka app, which if you don’t know it, gives the low-down on the ingredients in hundreds of beauty and household products
Et voila. High, low, simple and effective.