If you find plain water ‘boring’, try flavouring your own. (Most commercial flavoured waters have sweeteners and artificial ingredients.) Try adding lemon, lime, cucumber, mint, ginger, apple or pineapple to your water bottle. Shake regularly (and be sure to clean in a dishwasher or with a bottle brush each night).
From Sharon McGlinchey, founder of MV Organic Skincare, some sage advice on skincare. ‘Most women think skincare is just about what you see, but for me it’s about two more important things: what goes into your body and what you’ve been putting on your skin for many years Both of these factors determine your skin’s health. It’s very hard to wean yourself off using lots of skincare products, but they can leave you with congested skin. If your skin looks dull and lifeless, it can be because you’re putting too much on it.’
Be aware that whitening toothpastes can sometimes trigger dermatitis, so best to stop using it if small red spots appear around your mouth.
Many of us carry tension in our hands. If you constantly use yours typing, writing or sewing, for example, you’ll benefit from a regular hand massage. It’s most rewarding if someone else massages your hands; most ‘luxury’ manicures involve a massage which can help banish tension. At the very least, smooth in a rich cream, stroke from wrist to fingertip and then pull on the fingers to relax them.
If you’re trying to tackle sleep problems, aim to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, no matter what. It’s very difficult for the body to adjust to irregular sleep patterns, often caused by sleeping late at weekends. It’s better to ‘pay off your sleep debts’ with a nap on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon than to sleep late.
From Mary Greenwell: ‘I much prefer using fingers for make-up generally. I find foundation sponges and brushes dirty and wasteful.. The heat of your fingers helps smooth on the product with speed and little effort.’
Bobbi Brown is so right with this advice she once gave about lips. ‘Thin lips can’t look thick. Never line outside the natural lip line or on the corners of lips – you’ll look like The Joker, not Julia Roberts. Instead, chose light- or medium-toned colours (darker shades only minimise lip size) and apply a touch of gloss in the middle of your lower lip.’
When having a manicure, it’s best to have your nails filed rather than clipped, which can separate the layers and lead to flaking later. (And be specific about the length you want. No manicurist is psychic. Or no manicurist we’ve met, anyway.)
Be aware that hair removal creams can sometimes cause a reaction – a slight burning, possibly followed by a rash. If you ever feel uncomfortable, don’t tough it out: rinse the cream off immediately. (And when skin has calmed down, use a ‘lady’s’ razor instead.)
You can create your own leave-in conditioner by taking a regular conditioner and putting it into a spray bottle, one part conditioner to three parts water. It’s great for getting rid of tangles without weighing down hair.
Want to eat more healthily? Only shop at the edges of the supermarket; that’s where the unprocessed, natural foods are. The food that is going to optimise health is fresh, real and sold without a label. Once you head for the middle aisles, the products are more likely to be packaged and to be high in sugar and excessive salt.
The eternally radiant Cate Blanchett puts that down to being a sleeping beauty. ‘I love products I can apply at night; any process that can happen while I’m sleeping saves time. If I have to read something in bed, I’ll put a face mask on and put almond oil in my hair and wash it out in the morning.’
This might seem like a weird beauty tip, but if you want to feel good about how you look, book at table at Skye Gyngell’s Spring restaurant, in Somerset House. It has quite the prettiest lighting and paint on the walls – a beautiful sort of ballerina pink – and makes anyone look 10 years younger and about 10 times more radiant. How we feel about ourselves is still inextricably linked with what we see in the mirror, for many of us – so we believe in habitually looking at ourselves in flattering light. (You don’t have to spend a fortune to eat there; there’s a brilliant daily ‘Scratch Menu’ which also avoids food waste by using the parts of veg etc. that would normally be discarded. Creative – and utterly delicious. (But do make sure you visit the loo!)
Brushes or fingers? Make-up artist Sharon Dowsett is in the brush camp. ‘Unlike fingers, brushes will place and distribute cream-based products evenly, so that they don’t sit in any pores. There is a saying that fingers were invented before knives and forks, but mine weren’t – there are so many amazing brushes out there, why would you not use them? One rule of the trade where brushes are concerned is to use synthetic brushes for liquid and cream bases (the fibres are designed to not absorb product) and natural hair brushes for powder.’
Naturopath Elizabeth Peyton-Jones believes there’s a strong connection between what we eat and how we look. (And oh, how we agree with that.) And here’s a good place to start. ‘In winter,’ she suggests, ‘it’s nice to have something warming for breakfast. I make oatcakes, which I put in the toaster like bread. Top them with avocado, tomato and an egg and that’s a really delicious, full breakfast.’ And so darned good for your skin…
Feeling stuck in a make-up rut? Love this tip from India Knight. ‘Buy a load of cheap make-up for teenagers and scribble on your face until you find a new look you like. (YouTube videos are your friends here.) There’s no point buying a £30 emerald eye pencil if you decide it doesn’t look quite right; practise with a £3 one first.’
Don't ever compare yourself to women you see in magazines or movies. If you had 15 handlers making sure your hair and make-up were perfect, you’d look pretty glamorous, too.
Don’t start an anti-ageing regime too early. (Except sunscreen. It’s never too early for sunscreen.) Using heavy-duty products on young skin can do more harm than good, some experts believe – like ESPA founder Susan Harmsworth, who comments: ‘By using anti-ageing serums too young, twentysomethings are creating needy skin and even speeding up the ageing process.’
If your eyes are tired and puffy, try a cold milk compress. Temperature is key: soak two cotton pads in very cold milk, speeze out excess and apply to the eye zone. The cool constricts blood vessels, which helps decrease redness and reduces swelling, while the fat in the milk also soothes dry, irritated skin.
If you’ve ever had a masseur knead shoulders that have spent too long hunched over a computer – well, it’s agony, isn’t it? Practice shoulder rolls at your desk to help guard against kinked muscles. This particular movement helps relieve tension in the upper back and shoulders where the trapezius muscle is located. Sit upright, inhale as you lift your right shoulder to your ear. Exhale as you slowly roll your shoulder round and back, dropping it away from your ear. Continue these shoulder rolls three more times, alternating right and left. Now inhale as you lift both shoulders up to the ears. Exhale as you release them. Repeat five times and then relax your shoulders.