Yup! That time of year again! Got the heating on yet? Have you lit the log burner? Skin feeling a little tight, hands feeling dryish? (that’s the first sign for me that things are getting colder!) the tan has completely faded and you’re wearing autumn colours?
Everything has to change! But does it? Do you really have to change your skincare? No, you don’t if your happy, and your skin is happy and feels great! But if it doesn’t then it’s definitely time to ramp up the skincare and while you’re at it, you might as well move into autumn makeup colours, that always perks up a dull day!
But it’s a pretty time of year, with crunchy leaves under foot, all the smells are different too, all woody and earthy. Early morning seems dark and the nights are drawing in fast too. Is it my favourite time of year? no I’m a Summer girl, all sunshine and linens!
But still Autumn had its charms! I think! So what can I do to make this transition the most comfortable for my skin and the most pretty for my makeup?
First of all, my scalp always takes a battering! I don’t know why, and of course as it gets colder and windy my scalp just gets worse and worse! So I’m always looking at ways to soothe it and if at the same time I can make my hair healthier and shiny, so much the better.
I’ve been hearing a lot about Rosemary Oil. People swear by it for the scalp, circulation and hair conditioning. What’s all the hype & does it make a difference to your scalp and hair? YES! Definitely!
Rosemary oil as a hair and scalp treatment was having a moment so I thought I needed to investigate it! So I went into Superdrug and found quite a few different brands. Obviously it must be a popular product! Why? What does it do?
My fear was that a) it would be difficult to remove and b) my hair would feel and look greasy. I needn’t have worried at all! They all have droppers so that it makes it quite simple to apply small amounts to your scalp. I did this from the front through to the back of my scalp with just a few drops, then gave it a bit of a rough massage and after a few minutes when I stepped into the shower all I had to do was give my hair a good rinse and shampoo twice. I followed with a tiny amount of conditioner.
It does makes your hair wonderfully shiny, and somehow oddly feels light, my grey hair positively sparkled! It feel just lovely! To be honest, my scalp has never felt so calm.. I got this one from TKMaxx but there are loads in Superdrug and Boots.
If you are looking to ramp up your skin care routine and you want better skincare results, particularly going forward in Autumn and Winter really consider using a serum.
I love a serum and would never be without one, and it’s an integral part of my skincare regime morning and night. Serums generally contain the highest concentration of active ingredients in your skincare routine and are your opportunity to target and treat specific concerns like fine lines, hyperpigmentation breakouts.
Some serums can be focused on adding hydration and moisture to the skin, but not all will.
So it was with great pleasure that I tried this one, by Balance Gold+ Marine Collagen Rejuvenating Serum and have since continued using it! It’s a light liquid, rather watery, and is very easy to apply, a little goes a long way! It rejuvenates and repairs and gives the skin a plumper appearance.
I like it so much because it feels lovely, goes on easily, smells nice and makes my skin look great! It’s difficult to put a finger on it but somehow my skin just looks more radiant and somehow fuller, I know that sounds odd! But it makes the surface of the skin fabulous, and a great preparation for all that winteryness! I got my from Savers at only £3.99, but I’ve seen it on Amazon too.
Another favourite of mine is by Beauty Pie Japanfusion Genius Lift Elixir £14 members price, otherwise £30. This is fabulous, it’s a concentrated lifting elixir which is like an instant shot of skin magic! It makes your skin immediately more elastic, plump, dewy and hydrated.
Also don’t forget any serum with hyaluronic acid in like the Hyaluronic Acid Serum by Skin Treats from Savers, a brilliant anti wrinkle product at £2.99 - a long lasting moisture replenishment for plump and luminous skin! See no excuse!
Ooh where to start with this little miracle?
I saw on Instagram a gorgeous makeup artist using a sort of moisturising balm in a stick like this. It was mainly only available in the US, and originally for babies sore bits!
She was demonstrating when used under the eye before foundation or concealer the amazing difference of utter plumpness. Interesting I thought. So I had a good hunt and found something similar but it’s not a balm as such but a primer to plump and prime thirsty skin.
The Elf Hydrating Stick Crikey, what a difference it makes to how my skin looks a feels. I tried it first under my eyes, and was so impressed so the next day I tried it all over my face. First of all It feels so cool and nice on the skin, it must be wonderful in the summer. Then when I applied my foundation, my skin just looked moist and plump.
So lovely, so natural, it all just melted together to give this seamless, hydrated look. So if you want it or need this effect, this look, or your skin feels hot and tight (mine in the menopause!) it would be ideal. But I’m way over the menopause now, still having the occasional hot burst (yes, I’m afraid it never truly goes away 🤨)
But I think any age would really benefit from it! It was a game changer for me, no more tired, dry looking skin.
My favourite has always been the L’Oréal Telescopic Mascara, because it has a narrow, round brush and can get right to the base of your lashes. Help for my eyelashes! I normally shy away from mascara with big brushes, I get mascara all over the place and it ends up on my lid and not my lashes! But this Big Lash by Revolution is great! Makes so much more of a small lash!🤣
Now I’ve finally learnt to not be in a rush, when I’m applying my mascara, I tend to shy away from curlers, I must have dry eyelashes because with a curler they tend to break. Is it a mature thing, when everything gets dryer? I don’t know, but I’ve got a feeling it is!
Any way, I lift my lid, and gently roll the whole mascara brush from the base to the tip. I do this about three times to get them well coated. Then at the side I go back and forth a few time with the tip of the mascara wand to get more mascara thicker there, it looks clumpy at first but then brush it up and out and you’ll end up with lifted lashes, no clumps and perfect separation!
You want to look healthy? You want the best, most natural ‘blush’ of colour? Well, the owner of RMS, Rose-Marie Swift, says the best blusher is a red one! Yes you heard correctly, red! She has been a famous makeup artist for 30 years and used to make up all the Victoria Secret models for the runway and this is what she always used for the most natural pop of colour.
Her blusher of choice was the Dior one in bright red, £30, use that if you want too, but I found this one by Essence Pure Nude for about £5. It’s a baked blush so a fabulous texture to apply to the face. Get a fluffy blusher brush and pat it on the top outer corners of the cheekbones and pop a bit on you nose too! She’s right, it gives you the most natural pop of colour! Fabulous advice from a fabulous lady!
My new obsession! My new toy! Oh this is lovely! Anything that can improve my scalp I’m all for giving it a try! I got this great Scalp Massager from Primark for £3.
I’ve seen one on Beauty Pie for £7.50 members price. It does look exactly the same. The prongs are a good length and pliable and soft so it’s very gentle in the scalp. So what do you do with it? Exactly how do you use it? Well I’ve found there are various ways. You can use it to gently massage your scalp when you hair is dry, to stimulate the blood circulation and to make your scalp tingle all over.
As you get older, blood circulation reduces which makes for an itchy, poor scalp, dry, unhealthy hair with no shine. Crikey! I don’t want any of that thank you! So it’s essential to give your hair and scalp as long, good brush every day and a good scalp massage!
The other way to use it is to apply a little shampoo to the scalp massager, wet your hair and start to massage. Soon the shampoo starts to foam with the movements of the massager, then gently move it all over the scalp in circular movements. I do this for both washes and again with a little conditioner, obviously rinse your massager in between the two products. My scalp feels wonderful, really as if I have had a proper head massage!
There is the one and only Miracle Cream from Charlotte Tilbury, I think it’s meant to be the best selling cream of all time. Then there is the Miracle Cream from Revolution (in fact a whole skincare range) which is very good and I love and use it.
Now Primark have bought out their own dupe or take on them, the Hydration Cream, It’s feels a really upmarket step for Primark too, a heavy glass jar at £6, with an upmarket feeling cream.
I first tried it the other day, it has no discernible fragrance (a pity, because I like a little fragrance!), and it is much thicker than the Revolution one, actually very soft and luscious. Absorbs well and fairly quickly into the skin. It felt really nice on my skin, leaving my skin plum, hydrated and fed. It’s got an SPF15, and lots of proof of testing to back up its nourishing claims.
so if you need to ramp up your morning skincare as the weather gets colder, do give this one a try, it’s really worth it!
When you need a little help to look, brighter in these dull, dull days, when all it seems to do is drizzle and the clouds a low in the sky making you feel totally fed up🥺give your self a perky pick me up! No, not a glass of wine! Some self tanning drops!
Every few days, after I’ve done all my face stuff at night, I add a couple of drops of St Moritz self tan drops into my night cream and blend it in. With, I should say not too much care, I obviously avoid my eyes and eyebrows, but apart from that just plonk it on!
Their Radiant Glow tan boosting face drops will give you a made-to-measure fabulous glow with salon active ingredients designed to be mixed with your existing skincare, as I said, just a few drops of this tanning serum will provide a radiantly glowing tan without losing the benefits of your skincare.
It really provides a safe and simple solution for radiant, natural looking skin with all the benefits of your usual day or night creams, simple! Another indispensable product for me, it gives a great fell-good factor!
As Autumn hits, and the Summer colour completely goes out of your skin (which somehow hides a multitude of sins, well does on my face!) I have to up my game on the foundation front! I simply can’t get away with a tinted moisturiser or BB cream, so it’s back to using a foundation.
But I get so used to using something nice a light in the warmer months, I so loath to use a heavier foundation, and a matte one two. I feel my skin looks young with a slightly more glowy one.
I found this foundation by complete accident, Got You Covered Foundation in Almond from Poundland! I had to completely guess at the colour as there were no testers, but there was a pretty good selection. I chose Almond, which was pretty spot one. It’s another really decent foundation out there, with a great satin finish, good coverage and a fabulous colour! I apply it with my new favourite foundation and concealer brush from Primark and together they give a great result! Who knew?
This really looks great and a match for any other drugstore foundation. Give it a try! The keep On Glowing Illumination Foundation from Poundland is another great one from them Quite a bit light in coverage and texture and so easy to use when I want to be very quick but with a glow. You don’t feel shimmery but just super healthy, which is always a good look! Poundland is a complete surprise with their foundations, the colours and the textures, equal to any other drug store!
What about my hands! Yes, wear gloves, yes, wear rubber gloves, (I’m not very good at that!) But I always use a good hand cream too! and try to use it several times a day. So it’s quite difficult to get rid of the winter tightness that you get when it gets cold, and then of course it goes down to your nails (that’s another story!)
The very best hand cream that I’ve ever come across is the Beauty Pie Super Retinol Anti-aging Hand Cream (1% Retinol Complex) £12.50 (members price )
This is an overnight, sensational, all-in-one anti-aging and moisturising hand cream. It’s like dipping your hands in the Fountain of Youth, this is an anti-aging hand cream ‘par excellence’. Formulated in Switzerland with the most effective, targeted and encapsulated Retinol, biotech Pseudo-Collagen and Shea Butter, it helps brighten sun-spots, re-elasticise skin and deeply moisturise. When I have it I apply it every evening, and watch my hands totally renew!
When I need a more everyday, really good moisturising hand cream I tend to go for the Aldi Lacura Moisturising Hand Cream With Oatmeal & Glycerin 75ml, because it’s very rich and creamy, not sticky and sinks in beautifully and is often about 85p, so at that price you can be very generous with it! Also the Nivea 3 in 1 Anti Age Q10 is another great one with a lovely smell and an SPF and if you’re really going to go for it use the Sally Hansen Cuticle Massage Cream especially if you want better nails! Or have terrible nails like me! but this is really helping. After too many years I care to count of having my hands in creams, lotion and potions as a Face Treatment Specialist for Elizabeth Arden, Director of Training and then my own salon for 25 years, my nails are completely done in! It’s so easy to give up, and I’m embarrassed to say that’s what I did! It was only when they were getting even worse, so great if you have mature hands! that I gave myself a good talking too! Consistency is always the key and a good product! So I started in earnest several months ago, day and night with this lovely smelling, easy, quick (essential for me!) product. I really like it. I could only find it from Amazon at £7.95. You only need a tiny amount! My nails are are looking better so much better now.
The other place that always needs extra attention when the weather gets colder is your body! The most underrated thing you can do, and the most overlooked is to use a dry body brush daily.A body brush can make such a difference and only takes a minute or two before your bath or shower.
You can get them everywhere now at all the shops. You don’t need to spend Lot of money on them, but daily is the key. I start from my feet going upwards to the heart, brushing up my legs, front and back, up the front of my body and up the back, over my shoulders and my arms. Not only does it remove all the dead cells and make your skin very soft, but it’s fabulous for your circulation which is so important as we get older. That the bit that really helps keep you healthy inside and out.
Use the nicest shower gel, bath wash that you can afford so that it’s kind to the skin, then always use a body cream all over your body, everyday, all year! Not just your arms or your legs, but from the tips of your toes to the bottom of your neck! Your skin will love it, you’ll be smooth and moisturised, your skin will look even toned and you’ll tan better. A no brainer!
So what body cream/moisturiser to use? My very favourite is the Beauty Pie Super Healthy Deluxe Body Cream. It’s simply luscious, it’s the only word I can use to describe it!
But of course, there are many others too, like Garnier Vitamin C Body Superfood in mango at £4.99 which I adore, and the Nivea Rich Body Lotion Firming Q10 is totally brilliant and a lovely smell at £9.99
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