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If you’re spending more time than ever in your bathroom and looking to streamline your beauty regime to make it work harder than ever during isolation, GLAMOUR columnist, Bambi Does Beauty, has shared a step-by-step guide to how she’s curating hers, plus her top tips on the products worth investing in.
Add a Steamer To Your Skincare
After a few years of deliberation I impulse bought a facial steamer the other week. I will save you the time I lost and tell you it was one of the best beauty products I’ve ever bought! I use it probably once a week (you can have too much of a good thing it seems – over steaming can cause inflammation, particularly if your skin is sensitive). But honestly once a week, after cleansing and right before a clay mask – this is such a treat. Steaming softens the skin to make the debris and congestion much easier to remove via either extractions of deep detox masks. I chose mine (the Kinga Nano Ionic Facial Steamer) from Amazon as the reviews are incredible and the price was around £40.
Decongest With A Detox Mask
The type of beauty ritual I would put off when I had less time on my hands – now is the time to indulge in a bit of decongesting detox for those pesky blackheads. My top picks include the Sand and Sky Pore Refining Mask, The Body Shop Himalayan Charcoal Mask and for a more affordable option, The Ordinary Salicylic Acid 2% Masque.
Take Your Bath Game From Basic To Bouji
It goes without saying that a bath is nothing short of a miracle worker for the body AND the mind. I am really making an effort to use up all my ‘too luxe for everyday use’ products because in times like these I’ll take all the mood boosters I can get. I’ve elevated my wash routine from my usual £1 per bottle shower cream to the Aveda Stress Cleansing Oil, a sprinkling of the Oskia Vitamin E Bath Oil (one of the best ever) with a hefty dose of scrub on the side to even out any dodgy patches of tan. Being a prolific fake tanner, I’m a self-proclaimed connoisseur when it comes to body scrubs and I will not settle for mediocre. My top picks at the moment are the Beauty Pie Body Polish which has a perfect ratio of of grit to oil. Sanctuary Spa Hot Sugar Scrub which is not as gritty but the warming effect really makes up for that! Finally, Fresh Sugar Body Polish – there’s no messing around with this scrub. I use this when I want to get rid of every remnant of tan and start a fresh.
Start Trialling A Retinol
You know those wonder skincare ingredients that are headlining every magazine right now, well often they come with side effects as your skin starts to tolerate them. And what goes hand-in-hand with skin side effects? Self isolation, of course! Retinol is the one ingredient I’m being dedicated with during this downtime. I did initially experience very minor peeling (I must also mention not to bother with face tan when starting a retinol – as your skin will be at its most flakey and sensitive, best to leave it for a while and opt for an instant!) but if you only use once a week to start and in small doses avoiding the eye area – you should be in good stead for brighter younger looking skin.
That being said, you could play by all the retinol rules and still not tolerate it too well – so if you have skin on the sensitive side I’d opt for the latest retinol launch from La Roche Posay Retinol 0.3% + Vitamin B3 Serum or a retinol alternative such as BYBI’s Backuchiol Booster. The retinol I’m trialling right now is the Skinceuticals 0.3 Corrective Treatment, as my skin tolerates this over the next few months they also have a 0.5 and 1.0 that I will bump up to. Here’s to baby soft skin!
Prioritise Bodycare
Usually the window between hopping out the shower and getting dressed might be rushed into a matter of moments, but with most of us WFH, we have a little extra time in the morning to dedicate to the beauty ritual of body care which can often be overlooked. I’m making much more of an effort to chemically exfoliate my body (particularly legs!) one of the best products for that is the REN AHA Body Serum, just apply as you usually would your body lotion and by the next morning your skin will feel so much softer and smoother with no effort required!
A few others of this ilk are the Ameliorate Transforming Body Lotion and CeraVe’s SA Smoothing Cream. Oh and once you’re finished slathering in dew and wrapped up in your towel robe – don’t forget to spritz your favourite perfume. It really helps me feel ‘ready’ for my day even when I’m working from home. I even do it right before filming for Instagram – it’s triggers the thought of “Let’s do this!”. I’m loving the Laboratory Perfumes, particularly in Gorse, a zesty fresh pick me up that has a slight woodiness to it that takes me back to fond childhood memories spent in woodlands at Centre Parcs (probably not the vision they had for it but that my personal take on it!).
Dedicate Your Routine To A Kit
As a beauty blogger I must admit I suffer a huge first world problem of not being able to dedicate weeks and weeks to one brand or one product regime. Now is my (and your) opportunity to commit to a skincare course or specific regime, the sort that you’ll want to take before and after shots for. One in particular springs to mind for me, the Elizabeth Arden Prevage Peeling Treatment. I remember my first meet up with the PR team at Elizabeth Arden, she showed me close up skin shots on her phone of her colleague who had undergone the truly miraculous peeling treatment at home for 4 weeks. There are so many beauty launches and hyped ingredients that PR’s push that I must admit, to see a true unfiltered snap on a phone of candid before and after results – it got me listening. If you’re looking for a more radiant, even toned complexion with results that are worthy of whatsapping to your mates or even making it to the Instagram feed, this one gets my vote.
Practise Yoga From Your Living Room
“Yogi’s choice” says Adrienne, founder or colossally cult Youtube channel Yoga with Adrienne. It’s true, her channel is a plethora of choice when it comes to yoga routines – from beginners to veterans (I practice Yoga for Seniors with my OAP Dad!) Her yoga practices help ease any tension you may have developed after your step count halves right now. I highly recommend her Wind Down practise, you end on your back and I can tell you first hand that if you’re having trouble sleeping right now, this will make your body heavy and your mind at ease.
Make Your Bedroom A Sanctuary
If you’re self-isolating with family members – you’ll need all the rest bite you can get. When you close the door you’ll want to feel like you’re somewhere else. One thing you can control though is the way the room makes you feel. I keep mine light, airy and minimal in clutter, there’s also a few products that make it smell as close to Soho House as I can muster! First off, pillow mist. Now this doesn’t actually have to be a pillow mist itself (I spritz my Jo Malone Wisteria & Lavender Cologne onto my pillows in fact) but Neom do have THE most divinely soft and calming pillow mist which somehow mysteriously makes its way onto my mum’s bedside table.
Then there’s your bedding, I’m a John Lewis Egyptian cotton devotee but I know how popular silk pillow cases are – and they are also beneficial for your hair and skin! So if you do fancy trying one, I’d recommend Slip who also do the most gorgeous silk eye masks that make great flying companions. Now most of us won’t be commuting into offices, why not bypass the iPhone alarm and opt for a gentler wake up call, I’m absolutely in love with my Lumie Light. A warm pinky peach light rises in the morning and sets at slumber, and if you opt for BodyClock Glow 150 it comes with tropical bird sounds to either soothe you to sleep and/or wake you. The best way I could describe it is it’s one of those products you don’t know you need until you have, then you can’t be without!