There’s a rethink on salt and health going on. And Dr. Joseph Mercola, author of Effortless Healing, believes it’s good for gut health. ‘High-quality unprocessed sea salt will not only provide you with the chloride your body needs to make hydrochloric acid; it also contains more than 80 trace minerals necessary for optimum biochemical performance.’

If you live in a polluted area, consider putting some houseplants in your bedroom. According to NASA, English ivy is great for anyone with allergies, asthma or anyone looking for a better night’s sleep. (It is also known to reduce airborne mould particles.) Or go for mother-in-law’s tongue (a.k.a. ‘snake plant’), also one of the top 10 air-purifying plants.

If you use an oil-based cleanser or a balm cleanser, you’re the best candidate for double-cleansing. Oil can leave a film on the skin if not perfectly removed; a light, gentle foaming cleanser does that efficiently. Or use rosewater or an alcohol-free toner.

Lessen lipstick clutter: slice the tops off your favourite lipsticks and smooth them into the slots of a one-week pillbox.  

Colour always follows cut, when it comes to a new hair look. If you're planning to change both, sort out your hairstyle first.  

We’re all spending SO much time at our keyboards, nowadays – and there’s a risk of RSI or carpal tunnel syndrome. Several times a day, do a series of hand-stretching exercises to keep pain and stiffness at bay. Anything that extends the range of motion in your fingers and wrists will help. Open and close your fingers, bend your wrists in both directions – do various things to exercise your hands for a few minutes, several times a day (and set the alarm on your phone if you tend to get stuck in the zone and forget to break off…)

Look up! Gosh, we spend so much of our life looking down nowadays – at screens, in particular. Research indicates that we have more intense feelings, positive and negative, when we look down. Looking up can be a powerful interruptor of anxiety.

If you find that hair masks weigh down your fine hair, simply use them as pre-shampoo treatments, rather than post-shampoo treatments. They’ll still do hair LOTS of good, but the heaviness will be shampooed out. Finish with a spritz of leave-in conditioner on the ends.

A little highlighter, judiciously used, can really light up a dull-looking face. But here’s the trick: avoid powder highlighters with shimmering bits – they can get lodged in skin and make it look drier, ironically. Use a liquid version and apply sparingly on the high points of brow-bone, cheeks and (if you choose) cupid’s bow.

Concealer that’s too pale can turn pigment under the eyes a corpse-like shade of grey, making eyes look older than they are. Another concealer no-no: applying concealer too close to the lash-line; stay ¾ of an inch away from lashes to avoid making eyes look smaller.

Forget that myth about keeping nail polish in the fridge to ensure it stays fresh. The texture can change if it’s cooled too much – and it’s harder to apply if it’s chilled.

Feeling stressed? Strange-but-true: a track or two of Bob Marley could calm you right down. Frank Lipman, author of Total Renewal and Revive! End Exhaustion and Feel Great Again, often prescribes music by the Jamaican singer as it has 60 beats a minute, which is optimum for calming. ‘Close your eyes, stay very conscious of your listening, and the music will begin to affect the rhythms of your bodily processes.’ Your breathing should slow and your heart rate come down.

Nail files should literally feel like the finest sand. Glass files have the right finish for nails, or use an emery board with the word ‘superfine’ in the name. Sandpapery files can tear and flake nails.

Herbalist Brigitte Mars, author of Beauty By Nature (which has long had a place on our natural beauty bookshelf) believes that a bath is one of the most relaxing things we can do for ourselves. 'When you shower, you have to stand up – and that's not relaxing,' she observes. Fill the tub with water, allowing the steam to fill the room, and add a few drops of your favourite essential oils. Or create a bath tea by filling a cotton sock with a mixture of dried herbs, tying it at the top and letting it soak in the water while you wait for the water to cool a bit.

Stress can have a huge impact on skin ageing by causing a free radiacal-inducing inflammatory response in the body that can add years to your skin, over time. The easiest counter-attack is yoga: even a few inverted postures a day – forward bends or legs-up-the-wall – stimulate circulation and oxygenation and reduce stress.

Oh, how thrilled we are to be back at the hairdressers. Obviously, normal rules don’t always apply right now and we’re just glad to get whatever appointments we can - but in general, colour always follows cut, when it comes to a new hair look. If you're planning to change both, try to get an appointment to sort out your hairstyle first.  

Discoloured or yellow-tinted nails? Switch to a sheer white base coat instead of a clear one, to counterbalance the discolouration.

When applying eyeliner, make-up pro Trish McEvoy suggests looking into a mirror above your head, to ensure you're getting as close to the base of the lashes as possible. 'If you're shaky, you can rest your elbow on a countertop,' she advises. 

Got facial beauty products that didn't work out? Scrubs, masks, serums, creams? Just relegate to your body, and give it some well-deserved extra TLC. You can afford to be super-generous since otherwise these products would be headed for the bin...

From Laura Mercier: 'Apply as little foundation as possible, and don't be afraid to massage it in with your fingers. Many women make the mistake of painting on top of the skin, rather than blending it properly. Don't feel you need to cover your whole face, either – just focus on the areas where the skin has more redness than you would like. Foundation is designed to even out skintone, rather than cover blemishes.'