This post is flying to you from sunny, snowy Switzerland*. The view from my laptop is a peach: ski lifts are steadily pulling people up the mountain, snow is blanketing everything as far as my eye can see, and the sun is streaming through the window to provide me with that unique mountain thing of breathing in fresh, cool air while also being toasty.
The other thing about this delightful climate? It’s pretty tough on skin. Good for it, absolutely – alpine air is undeniably a tonic for the body and has a positive effect on skin – but drying, taxing and barrier-damaging. Which brings me to the meat of this post: my big hitters out here, the things that I have been doling out to fellow skiers without the foresight to pack their own…
First, Sisley All Day All Year. I started using this in London, but it’s only out here in the Alps that I’ve realised how glorious this buttery beauty is. Essentially a really good barrier-enforcing cream that keeps all the goodness of serums in and adds a little planty calming action along with antioxidants and filters to reduce environmental damage, I use this before sunscreen every day. For those who are addicted to primers prior to applying foundation, try giving this a whirl instead – it’s left my skin so plump and juicy looking that making it look good is far less work.
Sunscreen = Piz Buin Glacier Cream SPF 30. Can’t go wrong with this one; it’s a nice, creamy sunscreen that slips into salopettes with ease and – thanks to the tin – won’t cut or injure you if you fall on it. I’m applying this factor 30 all over my face and then using their little Mountain SPF 50 stick on the slopes on the tops of my cheekbones and on lips.
After a particularly long day out in the snow, I’m whacking one of Estee Lauder’s Advanced Night Repair Recovery Eye Masks on, which is similar to others I love like Institut Esthederm’s/111 Skin in that they’re fluid-drenched eye patches that just flood this delicate bit of skin with moisture. After that, I’ll apply serum and a generous layer of This Works Stress Check Face Mask in lieu of night cream or oil as I find it to be nice and soothing and therefore precisely what my skin needs out here.
My final hero is more of an SOS product: Homeoplasmine. This has come on all my travels since I got my hands on a few tubes over the summer, but it has really come into its own out here, where I’ve slathered it on the red faces of those who didn’t diligently apply suncream, and on cracked lips, dry cuticles and sore noses.
* Click here to watch the video I made while out here last year.