Want the best cut for 'you'? This is not the moment to dress up or dress down; stick to your style, for best results.
Look for alcohol-free self-tanning products, if you’re heading pool-wards. They can ‘lift off’ in the pool quite swiftly, especially when SPF is layered on top.
Poet Amanda Gorman – who you may remember from her moving reading at Joe Biden’s inauguration – believes in having ‘beauty playlists.’ ‘When I’m doing my make-up I have a playlist called “Shampoo” that I put on. I have no idea why it’s called that, because weirdly I don’t listen to it when I shampoo my hair. But when I play it, it does feel like a metaphorical spiritual shampoo. It has Beyoncé, Dua Lipa, Ariana Grande on it and it makes me feel sexy, confident and hyped-up when I;m trying on an exciting make-up look.’
Need to fix a fading tan? Jules Von Hep recommends hitting the pool. ‘The chlorine will soften the tan, then take some exfoliating gloves and scrub off your tan in the shower.’ (Best for bodies, not faces, though.)
Do saunas just feel good – or do they offer actual beauty benefits? Well, a short stay in a sauna can naturally deep cleanse skin, as the dry heat stimulates sweat glands and can help flush out pores, giving that great-looking glow. But if you have a chronic skin problem – rosacea, broken capillaries, inflammatory acne, eczema or severe dryness – that can make matters worse. Even if skin is healthy, it can become dehydrated in an enclosed, heated setting; minimise the impact by limiting your stay to 20 minutes, and drink at least one large glass of water for every 10 minutes of sauna time.
Don’t have a dedicated nail oil or cuticle cream? Honestly, anything will do – a touch of olive oil, an eye cream (we’ve even been known to use a dot of butter, at a pinch!)
If you’re having a facial in a salon, never feel shy about telling the facialist that you feel intense burning or tingling after a cream or mask is applied. That’s your skin being irritated, not a sign that the product is ‘working’. (A tiny tingle or warmth? OK. But more than that? NOT OK.) The facialist should then remove the product, and if says she’d rather not (it’s happened to us), press the point home.
When giving yourself a manicure at home, add in the step of exfoliating with a facial scrub. It’s amazing how bright hands look, afterwards.
Love lipstick, hate the way it leaves a kiss-print on cups and glasses? One very smart woman we know has a sleek silver straw that she whips out, when drinking in public.
Don't apply hair masks to soaking wet hair. Too much water will dilute the mask's powers, so squeeze out as much excess water as possible before working the mask through your hair.
Because it's so hard to reach, the back is one of the most common areas for melanoma to develop (especially in men). If you don't have a willing partner to apply your SPF, it pays to invest in a back applicator. Apply a liberal amount of sunscreen to the centre of the applicator and then, holding the handles, glide over the areas you find tricky to reach.
Bamboo is an ingredient that's turning up in quite a few cosmetic formulations. Why is it interesting? As well as the sap being a rich emollient, it has properties that cool and calm the skin; in Chinese medicine, bamboo is used to treat eczema, atopic dermatitis and other inflammatory skin diseases. Ground up, the tiny particles make a gentle exfoliant.
As well as spritzing pulse-points on neck and wrists, we like to spray a little fragrance onto the palms of hands, and gently rub them together, to get little wafts as our hands move. (Works – albeit pricily – as a sanitiser, too!)
Ankles don't have to become creakier, as we age. Try this exercise to improve walking and stability, and improve circulation by working the ankle pump to get fluid moving around the lower leg, reducing puffiness. Sit in a chair with your leg straight out in front of you. Imagine you are using your big toe to draw a circle, with the majority of the movement coming from the ankle joint. Do 10 with each foot two or three times a day. For a challenge, instead of drawing circles with the toe, draw each letter of the alphabet, making each circle as large as possible.
A reminder of how to use retinoid products, if you want to introduce them into your routine. Allow your skin to become accustomed to them, as they can in some cases cause redness and flaking. Start by applying every third night. If you’re not dry or flaky after another two weeks, use it every night. And wait 15 minutes after washing your face before applying; if skin is damp, there’s the possibility it might be absorbed too quickly and cause irritation. Never use more than a pea-sized dab for your whole face, and if skin is dry, wait till it’s sunk in and apply a moisturiser on top. In addition, don’t use it with AHAs.
At this time of year, skin naturally tends to look more even and radiant. We switch to a tinted moisturiser, then use concealer for small blemishes and patches of redness, rather than applying foundation which – with summer’s light levels – can look like a mask.
Travelling with make-up brushes and you don’t have a brush roll? Travel with brushes inside a rolled-up hand towel, to protect the bristles.
Holidaying in a humid location can be challenging for anyone prone to frizz. When you wash your hair, use a leave-in conditioner, which lightly coats the hair shaft. And then, if you use a hairdryer rather than leave hair to dry naturally, use only low heat. A serum, smoothed through hair before drying, will also help to coat the hair shaft and shield against moisture.
Did you know that you can keep lipsticks, balms, blushes, shadows and pencils until you tire of the colours? They are safe from contamination because they don’t contain water.
Getting married this summer? (It feels like everyone is.) Lisa Eldridge counsels that you shouldn’t have a long hot bath on the day, as ‘the redness will show up on your skin for hours after.’ Instead, have a bath the night before. ‘Pour an entire bag of magnesium flakes under running water. They’re detoxifying, good for relaxing muscles and will help you sleep.