Sarah Loves... Summer 2024
Sarah’s new faves include a treatment hair mask to transform her crowning haystack, a perfect brow definer, an unscented natural deo that really works, a brilliant lash serum with no synthetic hormone mimics, and a purse friendly aromatherapy soak for the end of the day…
Innersense Hydrating Hair Mask
This is one of those heaven-sent products that you will thank your stars you found. This rich mask suits all hair types, promising to revitalise dry, coarse and damaged hair. My thick, long, coloured, dry-tending-to-haystack (particularly in the summer, even this one) mop was not a pretty sight. Then, foraging in my box of hair products, I found this treatment product from an organic brand I love. Apply mid-length to ends it suggests – I put it all over and massaged in – then leave for ten minutes or longer. After drying and styling, it was a case of ‘Hair-llejuh!’ as I swooshed and flaunted a shiny, well-behaved mane, with bright colour. I use it once a week now, with a hydrating conditioner in between. Simply the best.
£28 for 177ml - buy here
Chantecaille Waterproof Brow Definer
Waxing lyrical about a brow pencil may seem OTT but my sparse pale brows look so much better if they’re defined – even if I pass on the mascara (more on that below). Brows have been called the architecture of the face and if you get the right colour, they can – a bit like a pop of blush – really ‘lift’ the contours. Trick is getting the right colour and I’d kissed a lot of frogs and wasted a lot of my own money on the brow product front. Too dark, too orange, too hard, too soft – just not right. Chantecaille sent this Light Taupe version to me because it was the one their lovely MUA Eliza Walsh used for my makeover at the launch of the new Chantecaille counter at John Bell & Croyden in London. (More on that here. Do visit if you can.) And it’s perfect: the colour is a true soft taupe without a hint of dreaded orange/red, the slanted nib delivers narrow or wide strokes impeccably and the spoolie brush pulls it all together. Thank you Chantecaille (again).
£37 - buy here
Odylique Prebiotic Unscented Natural Deodorant
My mother’s mantra about deos when I was growing up still rings in my mind: ‘it may be winter outside, darling, but it’s always summer under your arms…’. Probably a bit tongue in cheek but the message stands (even in this endless rain). Like many of us I prefer natural ones and the ingredients in this great value roll on are 100% natural origin, 52% of them certified organic, in a 100% recycled bottle. It’s not tested on animals and Leaping Bunny-certified cruelty free. The big question of course is… does it work? And I can promise it really, truly does. It’s a deo not an antiperspirant, so I guess there is the odd bit of light tackiness if I wear a woolly jersey on a warm day and get overheated. But absolutely no pong and nothing to fret about; it seems to diffuse on its own very quickly. (Just remember to shake the bottle before rolling…)
£11 - buy here
Once upon a time I had Jersey cow eyelashes. Then the decades passed and they got thinner … and thinner. I piled on the mascara but never regained those lush lashes. Then I discovered this 100% natural serum, created by biochemist Dr. Stephanie Seyda, who I interviewed. You can read the Editorial I wrote for Victoria Health here – but the headline is that I found out a long time back that the bestselling lash serum at the time was based on a synthetic compound (a prostaglandin hormone mimic), which could among other side effects cause soreness, redness and puffiness – we tested it on a panel of Beauty Bible readers and five out of ten had those kind of problems. One of the other possible, more serious side effects was changing the colour of your eyes. So, no thank you – whatever the possible benefits I wasn’t going to take those risks. (A friend who’s the medical director of a leading global skincare company told me she was offered the brand to buy – but refused for those concerns.) When I trialled Natucain Lash Serum, I followed the directions to apply twice a day meticulously; a bit tedious but after seven weeks I started to notice the change and now, all these years on, my lashes are – if not Jersey cow – thick and reasonably long so I happily go without mascara most days now, saving it for evenings and outings.
£34.95 - buy here
Tisserand Rose & Ylang Ylang Indulgent Bath Soak
A dear friend confessed today that she didn’t have a bath. (Shock, horror! One of Jo’s and my favourite things always and forever is lying in a scented bath.) So that friend’s not getting this aromatherapy deliciousness – with 100% natural oils of Rose and Ylang Ylang – in her Christmas stocking… It’s bliss at the end of the day to relax in this fragrant, lightly foaming (no SLS/SLeS obvs, it’s non-irritating sodium coco-sulphate), skin-nourishing formula (that’s the aloe vera and chamomile). Like bathing in my rose garden with a nod to more exotic places for the ylang ylang, laced with lemon and palmarosa. And it won’t bust the bank! PS There’s matching soap, body wash and hand cream, should you love the fragrance as much as I do. Just saying.
£9.29 for 200ml – buy here
