You've almost successfully completed Dry January (cheers!) and your diet is considerably better now than it was over the festive period, yet your skin is still dull, dehydrated and patchy. Surely sacrificing booze and pigs in blankets should have more satisfying rewards, like an instantly glowing complexion?
Unfortunately, buffeting winds, chapping cold and blasting central heating wreak havoc on skin. Spring couldn't come soon enough but until then here are some helpful tips, tools and products to revive your glow or at least fake it if all hope is truly lost...
Massage On A Mini Facial
Payday feels like a lifetime away and funds are too limited to treat yourself to a much-needed facial. REN have saved the day with their innovative one-minute facial which delivers a fresh-from-the-spa glow at home. The lightweight formula boasts a potent blend of water-activated Vitamin C to even skin tone and Boswellic Acid to smooth lines and reduce signs of fatigue. It's your new secret weapon to radiant, revived skin.
Treat Your Lips To This Light Oil
There's nothing more unsightly or more of an instant giveaway that winter has got the better of you than chapped, flaky lips. Make the most of your mouth with Clarins’ Instant Light Comfort Lip Oil which provides the ultimate lip care treatment. Containing three key plant extracts, this non-sticky saviour with a lip-plumping formula will leave lips feeling nourished and kissable. Wear alone or over lipstick for a subtly shiny lip.
Combat Breakouts
Dry, dehydrated skin is bad enough but add spots into the mix and where's the justice in the world?! This sponge is perfect for those tackling breakouts this winter. The Bamboo Charcoal contains activated carbon and various minerals that enhance absorptive ability, ideal for removing excess oil. Bamboo Charcoal is also a natural anti-oxidant so will help fight acne-causing bacteria while the sponge will gently exfoliate.
Konjac Sponge Puff with Added Bamboo Charcoal, £8.99, from Amazon
Don't Neglect Your Nighttime Routine
We’re a bit sceptical of any brand that refers to their product as miracle or magic. This is real life not Harry Potter and no potion can be that instantaneous and transformative in its results, right? Wrong.
Charlotte Tilbury’s Magic Cream took the beauty industry by storm when it first launched and last month she released the night version which feeds your skin as you sleep with a live stem cell elixir made up of a powerhouse of eight youth-boosting ingredients. Doesn’t everyone want to wake up with better skin? Yes please.
The powerful plasma, enriched with Winter Daphne stem cell extract and time-released retinol plumps, smoothes and tightens your skin and the flawless face behind the brand, said herself “my skin looks younger than it did five years ago."
Detox Detox Detox
It is January after all, so what better time to detox both your insides and your outsides. This lightweight foaming gel uses innovative ingredients to deep clean pores, even for the most sensitive skin. Its gentle but effective formula draws out dirt and impurities from the skin, while creating a physical protective barrier over the face to seal in hydration.
Maximise Moisture
If you ignore all other tips, please just promise us to moisturise this winter. But if you're feeling diligent, adding a serum will maximise those moisturising effects. hydraluron™ moisture boosting serum contains a pure form of hyaluronic acid, an incredibly hydrating ingredient that holds up to 1,000 times its weight in water. Red marine algae helps provide maximum delivery, resulting in better hydrated, nourished, plumped up looking skin. #skingoals
Additionally, this serum uses hyaluronic acid that is 100% free from animal-derived raw materials and organic solvent remnants, meaning your skin is being fed pure and kind ingredients for maximum benefit.
Indeed Labs hydraluron ™ moisture boosting facial serum, £24.99, at Boots
Top Up With A Tonic
This mineral-rich tonic contains gold, yes gold, for cellular regeneration and optimisation and silver for its natural anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial qualities. Energised with rose quartz to calm and soothe the skin, it includes a bio-adhesion moisture complex, to protect from moisture loss. It's also infused with rose water for rejuvenation and hydrates skin by 300% for up to 24 hours.
The hefty price tag is worth it for the Eastern medicine which meets Western technology in the little bottle from the Swedish skincare brand focused on nurturing spirit, mind, heart and soul with its products. Celebrity fans include Jessica Biel, Sophie Dahl, Angelina Jolie, Helena Christensen and Naomi Watts. Meet you at the checkout.
Exfoliate
New British beauty brand, Bean Burst was born from a mother's love and determination to find a natural remedy for her little boy's dry skin condition. The coffee scrubs are 100% natural, using only the finest ingredients to promote healthy, glowing skin.
Bean Burst Coffee Scrubs exfoliate, hydrate and moisturise your skin at the deepest levels. They contain powerful antioxidants, vitamins and minerals that help to repair, protect and rejuvenate your skin and the combination of the coffee, pink Himalayan salt and quality oils work together with your skins natural unique PH levels to help produce a more balanced, brighter and firmer skin tone. Happy scrubbing!
Supercharge Your Skin
With a highly concentrated blend of 16 essential oils including Rosehip Oil which help fade skin marks and Passion Flower Seed and Gold of Pleasure to improve skin tone and elasticity, this deeply nourishing, mega moisturiser offers long-lasting glowing skin. Don't just focus on your face this winter; makeover your body too with this reenergising products and wait for the compliments to come in.
If All Else Fails, Fake A J-Lo Glow
A glowing complexion starts with a simple, regular skincare routine but sometimes we let this slide, self-indulgence gets the better of us and we need to fake natural, healthy radiance. No matter how many YouTube tutorials we watch, no one really knows how/where to apply lilac or green corrective powder to their face in a hurry.
Though initially daunting, swirl a brush through this mosaic Guerlain compact and the vivid colours create a subtle and natural effect by giving every skin tone just the right amount of light and correction. The Météorites signature palette of matte shades - refreshing pink and light-catching mauve - gently balance the complexion, while the dazzling pearls temper the shades' intensity and blend harmoniously for perfectly tailored luminosity. Your skin will look soft, smooth, delicate and beautifully natural.
Guerlain Météorites Compact Light-Revealing Powder, £40, at House of Fraser
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