Hot or Not Beauty

Are you ready for summer? Well if you’re anything like me, you’re well and truly ready to hit the beach after the long winter months, so you probably uttered a resounding yes! If you’re dying to get some sun and surf, then here are a few hint on thing you can do to be beautified and ready to make your own waves at the beach.

Have you had a pedicure? Starting from the feet up, this is one of the first things you should be considering. Getting your feet in tip-top shape is most important in summer, and best of all the natural exfoliating properties of the sand will help keep them looking great! Getting a pedicure is not only a fantastic idea if you’re off to the beach. It’s also worthwhile over the summer period when you are most likely to be wearing strappy shoes and sandals; nobody wants to look at someone’s icky uncared for feet. Hot? I think not! It’s relatively inexpensive, and in my opinion money well spent, to get a beautician to do the pedicure for you. If you are keen to try out a pedicure at home, or if you’re looking for a great set of products as a stop-gap between visits, then the products that I’ve been using for over 15 years now are the Body Shop’s Peppermint Foot Care products, (I think the newer Lemongrass ones are pretty cool too).

Fake it! By that I mean your tan. If you haven’t yet learnt of the dangers of the sun then I don’t know what rock you’ve been living under – but too much sun gives you cancer people! If that’s not enough it also causes freckling, blotchiness, sun spots and wrinkles! There are loads of great products out there to help you achieve a golden glow without basting yourself and roasting like a turkey. My favorites include the Nivea Summer Beauty Body Lotion, the Lancome Soleil Flash Bronzer range, and the Loreal Sublime Bronze Self Tanning range.
Tips: There are options for different natural skin tones, so be sure to pick up the right one for your skin.
Also, before you go anywhere near the fake tan or tanning moisturizer – exfoliate! One of my favorite options for this is the Garnier Body Tonic Sugar Scrub.

Hair – not the hair on your head, but I’ll get to that in a minute. I’m talking about the hair you want to get rid of, in particular from your legs, bikini line and underarms. There are many options for getting rid of hair, the most popular being waxing, shaving and depilatory formulations. Personally I’ve come to believe that waxing is something best left to the professionals, but being a beauty junkie that hasn’t stopped me from trying out a number of different new formulations promising beautician quality results at home; lurking in the back of my bathroom cupboard are several such waxing products that are unlikely to see the light of day again! Shaving is another option, but the results are fairly impermanent, and if you are heading off for a week or more at the beach, then you may find that you have to address regrowth while you’re away. The pro’s of shaving are that you can do it yourself in next to no time and it really as cheap as buying a good shaver – if you are going to try this option then get a women’s shaver – it really is worthwhile.
Other at home depilatory formulations – well the all natural NADS is my personal fave. I like that it is made from natural ingredients, and a big thumbs up for the enterprising founder of this company who developed this product in her own kitchen! The NADS Essentials Kit is a good option of you are looking for an all in one hair removal, moisturizing and post-hair removal pack. The Essentials Kit contains 5 products and is a good value for money starter kit. Following the natural theme, a good summer moisturizer that is perfect for counteracting the drying effects of the sun is the Quench West African Shea Body Whip; a natural product that will really restore the skins softness.

Looking after your locks! We all hear time and again how summer stresses such as the sun, swimming and so on are really damaging for our hair. You will need a little extra TLC to keep your hair shining and prevent drying over the summer, but there are some good products again that can help with this. A good leave in conditioner and regular deep conditioning is a must to help prevent to much drying of your hair. Other good options are to use a hair sunscreen, that will help further protect your locks from the damaging effects of the sun during the summer months. Charles Worthington has a UV protection shampoo, and Elseve has a range of products to care for your hair across summer as well.

So there you have it – a short guide to help you get ready to hit the beach looking and feeling fabulous. Enjoy!