Pamper

 

Summer is finally here and with it a veritable plethora of extraordinary, innovative new products to help us look our best throughout, from hot days in the office to holidays.

We’ve selected the best new ways to stay beautiful as the weather hots up.

1. Tinted Moisturisers.
Tinted moisturisers are a wonderful, lighter alternative to full-on foundation during the summer months, while still offering a level of coverage. Nowadays, the best also come with a built-in sunscreen to help protect you from those nasty ageing rays.
For younger skins, we’re loving the new You Rebel lite by Benefit Cosmetics (www.benefitcosmetics.co.uk or stores with a Benefit Cosmetics counter). Designed for fairer skins, with just a hint of a tint and SPF15 plus Vitamins A and E and soothing aloe, it’s the perfect summer solution. RRP £19.50.

The inventive folk at Clarins have come up with a great product for mature skins: Super Restorative Tinted Cream. A deeply replenishing SPF20 fluid tinted day cream that contains clever pigments to add a subtle glow, this marvellous red tube lifts, brightens and smoothes the complexion while helping to undo ageing-caused skin damage. RRP £38. Available from John Lewis, Boots and other stores with a Clarins counter.

 

 

Oct 07 Feature

2. Age Defiers.
We all know that while the sun makes us feel fabulous, it does nothing for our poor skin, causing age-spots, pigmentation and turning it to leather faster than you can say ‘raw hide’. There are tons of great new products to assist in the battle against such evils, but one we have to mention this summer is ‘The Youth As We Know It’ range from Bliss. Following on from the bestselling ‘The Youth As We Know It’ moisturiser (featuring the 10 most effective anti-ageing ingredients for ultimate hydration, renovation and regeneration), the collection now includes a cleanser, toner, eye cream and concentrate (this latter serum being ideal on its own as a lighter-weight summer moisturiser). RRP between £20 and £55. www.blisslondon.co.uk.

 

 

3. Figure Fixers.
Each year, the preparation to achieve a beach-worthy body sees us desperately de-fuzzing, scrubbing and buffing. While there is no substitute for a healthy diet and physical activity to hone and tone those wobbly bits, there are some pretty darn fabulous products to compliment what you’re doing in the pool or the gym. Nothing short of miraculous, they also make you feel lovely on the inside too.

Bliss have always been at the forefront of fabulousness when it comes to skin and body solutions and this year, if you aren’t lucky enough to enjoy the actual spa treatment at one of their chic spas, a must-have is their Carrot & Sesame Body Buff system (RRP £32. www.blisslondon.co.uk) that allows you to recreate the process at home. Featuring the gorgeous smelling, healthy-sounding Carrot & Sesame Spa Scrub and Finishing Foam, the pair of products enables you to smooth your skin and then hydrate it until you’re practically glowing. Perfect pre-bikini prep.

 

 

An alternative to the above, also by Bliss, but under their budget-friendly ‘Soap & Glory’ brand (available from Boots Stores among other places) is the Feel The Knead anti-cellulite soap. A knobbly dark-brown bar crammed with exfoliating bamboo beads, seaweed and essential oils of Cacao and Carouba (presumably it is these that give the bar its strangely appealing scent) use this soap in the shower to massage away undesirable bumpy bits (RRP £4.99). It’s compact size and inability to burst or leak in your wash bag means it is also convenient to take on holiday or to summer festivals. The Soap & Glory range also features The Firminator body contouring gel (RRP £10) for intensive all-over tightening - a great follow up to your Feel The Knead activities.

 

 

Clarins too have a new product for helping in the battle of the bulgy bits. Add a few drops of their rather fantastic Body Shaping supplement to your usual body lotion, cream or oil to give it fat- and cellulite-busting properties - couldn’t be simpler! RRP £34. Available from Jarrold, Boots and other stores with a Clarins counter.

Finally, a personal favourite here at EnjoyNorthNorfolk.com that exploded onto the beauty scene last summer, but shows no sign of abating - the Fit Flop. Now available from Norwich stores such as Jarrold and John Lewis, these £36 marvels tone while you walk. We’ll be wearing ours all summer. www.thefitflop.com.

 

 

4. Tan-tastic.
If you’re worried about dazzling other beach-goers with the sheer blue-white aura from your hitherto covered-up bod, fake tan is the easiest way to take the edge off the luminescence that screams “I work inside in an office with no windows” and instead purrs “yes, I’m actually a professional holiday-er, don’t you know”.

The beauty boffins at Clarins have again come up trumps with their fabulous new Delicious Self Tanning Cream (is there anything they can’t do?). A bronze pot of delight that contains a lightly whipped caramel tinted mousse with a dash of iridescence is easy to apply, quick absorbing and gives skin an instant golden glow as the foolproof self-tan deepens to a longer-lasting colour. RRP £19.50 from the same stockists as before.

 

 

5. Summer Hair.
Obviously, a top-to-toe summer look requires that you pay at least a little attention to your tresses - not always easy when air-conditioning, humidity, sea salt and sun can leave you looking like a reject from the Hair Bear Bunch.
Goody (who have been making hair accessories for over 100 years) have come up with some rather clever solutions to keep summertime hair neat, tidy, tame and gorgeous.
Their revolutionary ColourCollection includes elastics, headbands, clips and slides in shades designed specifically to work with your hair colour. Whether you’re blonde, brunette or redhead, these hair accessories in natural tones and high- and low-light shades will enable you to keep your hair looking perfect without the emphasis being on obvious, distracting trimmings - very summer-smart.
Goody’s StayPut Collection is another innovation that is ideal for summer. With headbands, clips and elastics that feature patented technology to ensure they stay in place (unlike some traditional accessories that can roll, slide or fall out of the hair before you’d like them to), you can be confident that your ‘do’ will stay put from morning until bedtime (they’re equally useful to keep your hair secure when doing sport).

Goody products are available at Boots and start at £3.49. www.goody.com.