It’s summer, and we’re having to show off bits of ourselves we normally keep covered, so we could all do with a helping hand to get them looking their best. After decades working in the beauty industry, reviewing everything from new beauty products to salon treatments, I’ve come to learn the tips and tricks that deliver results.
I really love the warmer weather but the days of stripping off to a string bikini with not a care in the world (no, not even sunburn, stretch marks or cellulite), are long gone.
And so, I want to share a few of these fail safe secrets with you. These truly are the tried, tested and trusted things that deliver visible results. I’m talking about the skin smoothing, imperfection blurring, tightening and toning secrets gleaned after a lifetime spent slathering on creams and potions.
To be honest most of the time beauty buys over promise and under deliver, but these really are to be relied upon for everything from stretchmarks and cellulite, cracked heels to shaving rash, pallid faces and ingrown hairs to the golden glow in a bottle. They might not necessarily be glamorous, but I promise they actually do work!
PS: Find me on Instagram where I'll be answering all of your beauty questions.
1. The super skin tint
If you want a skin tint that blurs stretchmarks, spider veins, old shaving nicks, insect bite marks and those annoying patches of missing pigment we all get as we age, then Vitaliberata Body Blur is that in a tube. Imagine applying an expensive pair of 10 denier tights all over – this creates that effect and it’s genius. It adds instant colour, comes in six shades and sinks in to give a soft-focus, velvety finish to skin, from legs to arms. There are even versions for the face. Try it, thank me later.
2. The cellulite buster
My everyday motto is that if I can find a solution, I’ll no longer have the problem. However, I still have cellulite, and have had since I hit puberty. So trust me when I tell you no so-called magic cream works (I’ve tried them all). But what does work is VelaShape, an in-clinic super-deep massage gadget that lifts and rolls your skin and delivers targeted energy waves (from around £200 for a 45-minute treatment, available at selected UK clinics). No, it doesn’t make you slimmer or melt fat, but it does loosen the tightened bands of collagen that tether your skin to your muscle, and that’s what causes the dimples. I had a course of six once that banished the deeper dimples on my thighs for around five years. And yes, if you see me in a bikini, I do need to book in for another course.
3. The cracked, dry foot saviour
Have you ever slipped on summer sandals and then looked down in shock horror at your heels? You’re not alone. There are lots of great urea based overnight feet softeners, but The Inkey List Glycolic Body Stick is that SOS slather it on and instantly look better, solution. It’s a push up stick balm that instantly adds a healthy sheen but also works to exfoliate in the longer term. Use anywhere you want with impunity including legs, elbows and knees. It also works wonders overnight on ingrown hairs.
4. The red bump eraser
If you suffer from strawberry skin on the backs of your arms and thighs, you’ll know how rough it feels and how annoying it is. Keratosis pilaris, to give it its medical name, is built-up dead skin cells in the tiny pores of vellus hairs (the super-fine light hairs all over your body). It requires an acid to clear it out, and lactic acid worn overnight every night really does work. Ameliorate Transforming Body Lotion is the best I’ve found by far.
5. The instant hit of happiness
No matter how grubby and unkempt I feel, a bright classic manicure and pedicure works wonders; it really is the beauty industry’s best quick fix. I tend to enlist the help of a professional, but in times of emergency I’ll rely on two shades from a brand I trust: Essie Gel Couture Nail Polish in Matter of Fiction and Sizzling Hot, a nude neutral for nails and a classic coral red for toenails. The former is just well-kept hands in a bottle; the latter hides a multitude of toenail imperfections in two coats.
6. The ultimate glowtion
Combine a bronzer with a quick fix one hour self-tan and you have the new St Tropez Sunlit Skin. It’s part makeup part fake tan, and adds instant colour when it is brushed on your face and neck and buffed in. Over the next hour it develops a subtle glowy tan and can be used every day until you’re happy with the colour. BTW, the brush really does make a difference, and there are cheaper options online and in stores like Primark.
7. The one and done shower gel
The secret to smoother summer skin all over is to first do no harm. No harsh soaps or highly scented dehydrating shower products. Instead, try Naturium The Glow Getter Multi-Oil Body Wash, a super-light oil that turns to a milky foam the minute it hits wet skin. It’s perfect for all skin types – use it when you shave and you’ll notice your skin is less dry and tight when you’re out of the shower – and has a sexy subtle sheen even after drying, reducing your need for body lotion on hot, sticky summer days. In fact, this brand, available at Boots and Space NK, is one of my all-time favourites.
8. The hairy fairy
Bikini-line fashions come and go, from full-on 1970s Playboy to all off, stripped bare or shaved. It’s hard to keep up, but I know that shaving or even waxing anything that pops out of your swimwear is fraught with the worry of ingrown hairs and a plucked chicken-skin appearance. Which is why I’m a fan of home IPL. Intense pulsed light works by targeting the melanin in hair and heating up the hair follicle to disrupt the growth cycle. Trust me, stick with it and it really does weaken and eventually erase hairs.Two caveats: the hair has to be darker than your skin (but not grey, which doesn’t work with IPL) and you have to shave between uses – no plucking or waxing. Philips Lumea 8000 is my favourite gadget, but buy it in the sale and remember, you can also use it on legs, errant chin hairs, moustaches or any other unwanted hair.
9. The no-sweat solution
I discovered this little secret when I took up Reformer Pilates and had to get back to my desk for deadline with no time to shower and without smelling or sweating like a pig. Secret 24hr Invisible Solid Antiperspirant Deodorant works every single time. You can shower and apply it at night or after bathing in the morning and it’s quite simply the most effective antiperspirant ever. In case you didn’t know the difference, antiperspirants stop you from sweating, deodorants mask the smell. You have to buy this US icon on Amazon, but it’s worth it hunting down.
10. The pleasant-to-use SPFs
Being from a generation that has often been less than vigilant about using sun protection, I’m a stickler for only using an SPF that’s super lightweight and doesn’t pill under makeup or feel sticky. These are my top three.
Avène Ultra Fluid Invisible SPF50. Use this in place of your summer moisturiser as it never stings eyes and works well under makeup.
Beauty Of Joseon Matte Sun Stick SPF50+. Use this as a top-up in emergencies, over makeup or just on exposed ears, noses, chest, etc.
Biore Aqua Riche Watery Essence SPF50. The perfect lightweight serum cream SPF in summer.
