DIY Beauty
As we all learn to adapt to a 3rd lockdown – and one that might exceed in time the first one – we’ve become pretty au fait with how to keep up our beauty routine without the regular visits to the hairdressers, your favourite facialist, manicures and pedis and waxing. And whilst we are on the subject of waxing, I had to take this into my own hands during the first lockdown and am now pretty nifty with the hot wax! So, after nearly a year of dealing with the pandemic I’ve tried and tested a few alternatives that fill the gap left by those regular beauty visits and here they are:
The at home facial:
A regular at The Debbie Thomas clinic I must admit this has been the hardest thing for me when it comes to my beauty routine. A sufferer of rosacea, usually whenever I had a flair up I’d pop straight in to see Debbie and she would calm things down. And when I had my first flair up during lockdown part 1 I spoke to Debbie and she gave me some great advice on the home devices worth trying. I went for the Current Body skin LED light therapy mask. Not as strong as a salon LED light but it did calm my skin after regular use. And what I particularly loved about this one is that its malleable so I could also use it on my neck, chest and stomach!
Another life saver has been the EXuviance Bionic Oxygen facial which is an incredible mask. Quick and easy, you apply it and it then foams up and after about 10 minutes you wash it off. Underneath is clean, hydrated skin that glows like you’ve just had a facial.
https://www.dermacaredirect.co.uk/brands/exuviance
The Home Gym:
Being a regular gym bunny, I found not having my routine of going to a class or gym really tough, so I decided to sign up to a six week online ‘course’ to give me the focus and motivation to keep up my fitness. There are a few out there and my favourites so far are Anita Herbert’s Fitqueen challenge. I would say that this has actually increased my fitness level and the great thing is that you don’t need lots of equipment and once you sign up for a programme, which is a one-off payment starting from $50, you then have access for life, so I’ve repeated this programme a couple of times now. She does tailor a diet programme for you too although I didn’t stick to this as I didn’t need to lose weight I just wanted to keep toned. And that I did! Now, if you want to really tone your butt then the guy that Is known for real results in this area is apply named, the Booty King! This is a 12-week programme that focuses on your whole body but with extra attention to getting that peachy behind. Hopefully one we’ll be able to show off in the summer! What I particularly loved about this is that its only about 20. Minutes a day for six days a week so no excuses with not having enough time!
The at home Mani and Pedi:
Now I’ve tried a few different creams to remove hard skin from my feet but with not much luck, so when I discovered Margaret Dabbs I was quite literally blown away! My hero products from there are the hand cream and hand serum – my hands have always been parched looking and this really helps smooth the skin making them look about ten years younger and the foot hygiene cream which you apply at hight and wake up with baby soft feet. Then there is the foot file and I don’t know why but this smooths your feet just as good as when you have a blade on them but without damaging your skin like a blade. And the product that surprised me the most is the hydrating foot soak this made my feet incredibly soft and younger looking! The product that I wasn’t that impressed by is their new cracked heel treatment balm. I really didn’t see any results with this and much preferred the hygiene cream for smoothing out my cracked heels.
Words by Kylie Olsson
