Summer Saviours – Save Our Skin!

Summer can be brutal to skin and hair.  Just one week swimming only three times in the sea left my hair a wavy mess (yes the kind of wavy mess girls pay £15 a a bottle to get the look of!)  My skin felt dry and flaky and I had a bit of a tan and wanted to preserve it.

My top picks for looking after your skin and hair once you return from holiday!

#1 Product is Secret de Nuit by Phyto.  It’s a leave in product that works over night to restore your hair’s glory.  It was the first thing I used when I got back and it managed to pull my hair back from the brink of being all chopped off!  It’s loaded with macadamia oil, black orchid extracts and milk thistle so it’s a real treat for your hair and it’s my number one post holiday beauty product.  You can buy it anywhere that sells Phyto

The rest

Chanel Hydramax.  A quite lightweight but extremely punchy face mask that leaves skin uber smooth as you would expect from world class skincare.  It’s ideal for putting life back into skin that has been exposed to the elements – whether than be sun/sea/sand or wind/rain/snow it’s a beautiful product for use all year round and will ensure hydrated, radiant skin.  It’s a firm favourite in my cabinet.  Available from Debenhams and other Chanel retailers.

OPI Nail Envy/Avoplex  This naircare duo takes cracked, split, dry nails and hardens them up, makes them tougher and gives you better growth.  Avoplex is a nail oil, designed to be well massaged into the nail and cuticle providing nourishment deep down and Nail Envy creates a barrier to the elements allowing the nail to grow healthily underneath.  Wouldn’t be without these two.

St Ives Apricot Body Scrub.  Did you know the best way of preserving a tan is to exfoliate?  Yeah backwards I know but it sloughs off the dead skin cells which leave the skin looking dull and lifeless and exposes the skin underneath which is still tanned but glowing and radiant.  This one isn’t too “spikey” I find some scrubs have a terrible scratchyness which I dislike – I prefer to be polished.  Only downside with this one is the tub – difficult to not get water in when you are in a small shower cubicle!  Available in Boots nationwide.

Elemis Pro-Collagen Marine cream.  After the Chanel mask once or twice during the week, I use this cream during the day on dry patches to nourish and hydrate and the marine cream at night to ensure plump, radiant skin.  There is an “Ultra Rich” version of this cream if you are really struggling with your skin.  Available at Time To Spa and other Elemis retailers.

Schwarzkopf Omega Repair Intensive Mask.  I picked this up from Boots knowing I would need a deep, intensive mask for the weeks when I returned from holiday.  This one is a 1 minute mask designed in association with Claudia Schiffer – apparently she’s some kind of trichologist 😉  Anyway I thought I would let you know about it – it’s ok hair does feel a little better afterwards but it’s not a patch on the Elasticiser or Aussie 3 minute miracle.  I won’t buy this one again as it didn’t have the big hair changing impact I was looking for.