Take B complex vitamins (which are great for energy) in the morning with food when the body is at its peak levels of absorption. According to Paul Chamberlain, Nutrition Director at Solgar, ‘vitamin B can keep you awake so you don't need these energy boosters when you go to sleep.’
Do you pass ‘The Blusher Test’? If you notice it when you’re five paces away from a mirror, you need to blend it more or switch to a more natural shade. It’s meant to enhance your natural colouring, not to announce ‘I’m wearing make-up’.
Suffering from split ends? Switch to a silk pillowcase. According to LA superstylist Jon Atkin, ‘On a physical level, cotton tends to scratch and tug one’s hair and face, whereas silk creates a smooth surface, reducing friction. Your hair slips around as you toss and turn, minimizing split end breakage.’
The skin on hands and feet is similarly dry and with a tendency to roughness – so products could be thought to be interchangeable. However, while it’s OK to use hand creams on feet, we advise against using foot creams on hands – they often have a minty scent, may deliver a tingly feeling, and can hurt your eyes if you rub them. Meanwhile, if you do use hand cream on your feet, you won’t get any deodorising effect the foot cream may offer.
Did you know that drinking just two to three more glasses of water a day can help curb food cravings? Some experts believe you can help cut down on as many as 200 calories a day this way.
Savvy women get their clothes ready the night before, to save stressing over what to wear in the morning. Savvy gym bunnies pack their bag the night before, too – having your gym bag to hand means you’re more likely to work out next day.
According to hairdresser Adam Reed of Percy & Reed, we should all turn down the temperature dial when washing hair. Hot water serves to exacerbate dryness, dandruff and shedding, he says.
Loos have lids for a reason. Close before flushing to prevent contaminated droplets landing on taps, cosmetics or even your toothbrush – they can travel for almost two metres.
Love this quote from our make-up artist friend Laura Mercier. (And couldn’t agree more.) ‘I loathe rules. When a magazine says, “This season X is dead and it’s all about Y” it’s against my nature to comply, as I have a far too bohemian spirit. I tend to be inspired by what is happening in the world around me.’
The days are getting longer, the sun is getting stronger and we’ve reached the point where we believe it’s wise to apply a daily SPF. Many make-up products now claim an SPF on the packaging, but don’t rely on this – you’d have to apply so thickly that make-up would be mask-like to take advantage of the full SPF rating. Think of it as a useful little extra bonus, nothing more.
Aim to shape your eyebrows every four weeks. ‘Don’t pluck in-between – you won’t achieve that clean, sharp finish,’ advises Vaishaly Patel.
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A study from the Stanford Medical Centre found that a six-week course in mindfulness and CBT (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy) helped insomniacs to get to sleep twice as quickly as before.
Did you know that wolfing down your food can lead to weight gain? According to new research, slower eaters have lower BMIs and smaller waists – so the motto is: chew, chew, chew…
Feeling stressed? Our go-to is the Calm app’s Breathe Bubble. The bubble expands and contracts and the idea is that you follow the rhythm to slow your breathing. Works wonderfully.
A simple way to up your intake of selenium and vitamin E: so long as you’re not sensitive to wheat, sprinkle a couple of tablespoons of wheatgerm over your breakfast cereal, yoghurt, or whizz it into a fruit smoothie.
A staggering 78% of us look at our phones in the final hour before bed. That blue light is bad for sleep patterns. (Even the presence of a phone in a bedroom can apparently upset sleep.) Our new tip is to put the phone to bed in a nice box, at around 9 p.m. It’s not guaranteed to stop you looking at it – but the effort required gives pause for thought and is often enough.
If you have sensitive eyes and are still using cotton wool balls, switch to cotton pads. They shed less fibre. (We like the organic cotton pads from Simply Gentle, which you'll find in good natural food stores.)
Good natural food stores will stock most essential oils – but you always need to proceed with caution, when it comes to using them. More isn't necessarily better; some oils are more aggressive than others. For sound advice, we really like the Neal's Yard Remedies Little Book of Essential Oils (£3.50 – buy here).
To avoid ingrown hairs after waxing, avoid the use of lotion, oil or soap for 24 hours. These substances can clog pores and trap hair beneath skin's surface.
Colouring hair successfully can be fiendish. The golden rule (even for non-blondes!) is never to go more than one level darker than your natural hair colour, or two levels lighter. And if you're colouring hair at home, don't choose the colour based on the model pictured on the box – go by the photos of hair swatches on the back.