If we have learned anything as mid-lifers, it’s not to give a monkey’s about the so-called ‘summer reveal’. Be resplendent in whatever you feel comfortable in and never mind your unshaved legs or mottled upper arms. Who cares what others think?
Having said that, while, post-50, I no longer care what others think of me, I do care what I think of me. And I only feel comfortable in a state of semi-undress having first gone in for a little grooming. This has to take minimal time and effort — I’m busy — and I don’t want it to cost a ton.
After 25 years as a beauty editor, I’ve sussed out clever ways to cover the can’t-be-bothered-basics, so let me share my shortcuts…
First, hair removal. Each to their own, obviously, but I don’t want to be fuzzy. I also don’t want hairs to reappear after a few days, and there’s no way I’m going to trek to a salon for a painful procedure I can easily perform myself.
Inge Van Lotringen explains the best products to use for summer for skincare. UK-based beauty expert says skin should be exfoliated and moisturised
I’ve been committed to my epilator since the 1980s. Back then, the Epilady was a cruel coil of torture that you could get your bits caught in; today, Braun’s Silk-Epils range doesn’t pose that risk and comes with a raft of whizzy technology to make the experience less ouch-y.
Buy the most basic one (Silk-Epil 3, now £27.49 at Boots) because ripping hair out can’t ever be totally painless, so there’s no need to feel the financial pinch, too.
It gets better with each use, though, and a hot bath beforehand always helps. Any hairs (including my bikini line — I’m tough!) will be gone for weeks; longer the more you use it.
Next, skin quality. For skin to look healthy in colour and texture, it needs to be exfoliated and moisturised. You can spend what you like on lovely body scrubs, but daily body-brushing with a firm brush (Elemis Body Detox Skin Brush, £25, elemis. com, is the best) leaves limbs flake-free and tones them over time by getting lymph and circulation flowing.
I do it before I get in the shower, then wash with a sulphate-free body cleansing oil so as not to dehydrate my skin. Avene Xera Calm A.D. Lipid-Replenishing Cleansing Oil, (£16.50, boots.com) is great, and if you buy the 400ml size it’s pretty good value, too.
The current buzzphrase is ‘moisture sandwiching’, but smart women have been doing this for years. It simply means applying moisturiser on damp skin to seal in the water.
Inge Van Lontringen (pictured) says gradual-tan moisturisers are kinder, but best are tan drops, which you can add to body lotion and often come with skin-boosting ingredients
Super-charge this step by layering a nourishing body oil over damp skin and under a basic cream: Vaseline Expert Care Instant Dry Skin Rescue (£5, boots.com) will take your body from parched and dull to plump and glowing in two weeks.
Want to take it further? You could buy into the new vogue for ‘anti-ageing’ body products packed with all the stuff you find in your fancy facial care such as vitamin C, acids, retinol and peptides.
They do improve skin quality quite fast, but they’ll also cost you. The best ones I’ve tried are Revision Skincare BodiFirm, (£108, revisionskincare.co.uk) with high levels of vitamin C and peptides, and U Beauty Super Body Hydrator with niacinamide and antioxidants (£65 for 15ml, cultbeauty.com).
Or you could follow a tip supermodel Yasmin Le Bon issued decades ago: upgrade your body moisturiser by mixing in any face creams and serums you’ve stopped using. I have more facial skincare than I can get through, so I even use face products neat on my ‘problem areas’, by which I mean my thighs. The Ordinary Lactic Acid 5% + HA (£6, boots. com) smooths bumps so much faster than basic body creams — this stuff sorts out the knobbliest chicken skin in just two days.
Fake tan is still the fastest way to magic away mottling, veins and blotches, but I’m not a fan of intense formulas. Tanning ingredient DHA is drying and I can’t stand the faff of trying (or failing) to avoid orange tide marks.
Gradual-tan moisturisers are kinder, but best are tan drops, which you can add to body lotion and often come with skin-boosting ingredients. James Read Click & Glow Body Tan Drops (£40, jamesreadtan.com) are the best.
Finally, the non-negotionable: get your feet sandal-ready. I massage them weekly with an oil-based body scrub (Lucy Bee Invigorating Body Scrub, £25, lucybee.com), then push my cuticles back with a cuticle stick.
I apply jojoba or squalane oil daily: there is no better way to strengthen nails than with light oils and, hey presto!, glossy healthy nails, velvety heels and rosy toes. Varnish? Can’t be bothered.
RACE YOU TO IT
Trinny Woodall has been quietly (well, in as far as Trinny can be quiet) building a range of really effective skincare. Trinny London Energise Me Niacinamide Moisturiser (£44, trinnylondon. com) is a find for menopausal skin: it hydrates while balancing oil production, and effectively tackles pigment spots and lines without irritation.
trinnylondon.com
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MY ICON OF THE WEEK
EVA LONGORIA
Eva Longoria (pictured) used Shiseido Synchro Radiant Lifting SPF 30 Foundation to create her Cannes look
The actress’s Cannes look was created using Shiseido Synchro Skin Radiant Lifting SPF 30 Foundation (£41, cultbeauty.co.uk), Hourglass Ambient Lighting Bronzer (£50, spacenk.com), L’Oréal Paris Infallible 24HR Lipstick in Born To Blush (£11, sainsburys.co. uk) and smudgy eyes using Mykitco My Soft Blender Brush (£11.60, lookfantastic.com).
FIVE TINTED LIP BALMS
Nourishing and with a satin finish, these come in nine perky, saturated shades.
jonesroadbeauty.com
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Like a balmier Lancome Juicy Tube, but with natural fruit flavours: cherry, strawberry and watermelon.
lanolips.co.uk
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A glossy, bubblegum-pink balm to protect your lips from sun damage.
ultraviolette.co.uk
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Sheer, chic and in six shades, these are honey-infused and delightful.
guerlain.com
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Glossy, sheer and cosseting, this comes in three colours and has plenty of lip-plumping actives.
lookfantastic.com
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COSMETIC CRAVING
Cream blusher is essential for bringing life to a washed-out face without giving an air of overly made-up desperation. But getting the texture right is tough. Gen Z favourite Florence By Mills Cheek Me Later Cream Blush (£9.80, beautybay.com) is just right: a velvet cream with punchy pigments that saves me from zombie-dom with a few dabs. It has a good selection of undertones too, to brighten any complexion.
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