It is indisputably summer. Yes, the sun is only managing to make it through the clouds intermittently but, in a country where the weather is always a little erratic, we must set our own rules. June = summer.
So while I’ve not yet had occasion to crack out a bikini, I have in the past week been looking towards summer with the help of these…
– Essie Bikini So Teeny Nail Polish, £8 here. Sold out pretty much everywhere online, I finally managed to hunt down this polish at Debenhams. I love it as much as I thought I would: it’s the perfect pale blue punctuated with tiny pieces of glitter that lend it a little shimmer. It makes me think of swimming pools. Swimming pools recall long summers spent splashing about. The memory of long summers spent splashing about makes me feel instantly happy. Quite a feat for an £8 polish.
– Realine Beauty Frown Patches, £28 here. Have you heard of frownies? Invented in 1889, the little patches you whack on overnight to help retrain overused facial muscles and encourage wrinkles to smooth, became ubiquitous among beauty queens and hollywood icons. Realine Beauty Frown Patches are the new generation of frownies – hypoallergenic, prettified and made exclusively for those who, like me, use our eyebrows a little excessively to emote, and find signs of stress make themselves known between the brow. I’ve been testing them nightly and am hooked, if only because I am suddenly more aware of how my face should feel when relaxed so am less likely to frown.
– Resultime by Collin Regenerating Collagen Gel, £47 here. There’s been a lot of talk about collagen of late, hasn’t there? Drinks and supplements and lotions and potions containing collagen abound. But here’s the rub: not all collagen is equal. Resultime are a pretty safe bet on most things, but this light and rapidly-absorbed collagen gel is especially special thanks to the micro-collagen that makes its way deeply into the skin to restore strength and elasticity. I’ve been using it overnight to help get my skin in tiptop shape for summer.
– Aromatherapy Associates Rose Hand Cream, £23 here. I know that I’ve pretty much raved about every Aromatherapy Associates rose product going, but this new hand cream of theirs is extremely rave-worthy: softening, deeply moisturising but somehow not greasy. Not a little bit greasy. And it smells of real rose – not the synthetic, granny variety. All-round scrumptious.
– Mark Hill MiracOILicious range, £6.49-£9.99 here. Favourites in part because I just had highlights so my hair is parched and also because the lighter days have drawn my attention to split ends. Mark Hill tends to the tresses of A-listers for events so knows the value of a quick smoothing and moisturising product. This range is rich with argan oil and therefore acts as an SOS moisture boost for hair that is in need of love.
– Salt of the Earth Deodorant, £4.96 here. I was shopping in Planet Organic yesterday with a friend and we started discussing the merits of organic deodorants. It seems both of us are suddenly a little wary of spraying chemicals onto our skin, particularly as the armpit is so very close to the lymphs. I’ve tried many varieties of organic deodorants with varying degrees of success. This one works. Not as much as the chemical white-patch imparting variety, granted, but it kept me whiff-free after a gym session followed by a day out, which is good enough for me.
– Josh Wood Blending Wands, £12.50 here. The very same light that made me realise my hair was dry also brought a few random grey hairs to my attention. The answer came in the form of Josh Wood’s Blending Wands. The wands, available in four colours, are filled with a temporary hair dye that you stroke onto grey hairs for coverage that lasts for around three washes. While useful for me in disguising random greys so that I don’t have to embark on the costly regular dying of roots, they’re also extremely helpful for heads of hair that are fully grey – my mum paints them onto her hairline between trips to the hairdresser.