Going on holidays? Let Mary prepare you for looking heavenly on the beach
BEFORE you start packing I suggest some personal preparation!
First make an appointment for waxing approximately 10 days before your departure date. This way you won’t have to worry about it while you are away.
Be brave and go for a more adventurous bikini wax. Having under arms waxed is “the business” for when you are on hols as it’s the one place that’s exposed so much, with sleeveless dresses, tops and swimwear.
Coming up to holidays I highly recommend using a glycolic body lotion, such as those from Neostrata or Image Skincare as this is one of the best ways to get rid of dead skin.
Apply morning and evening and after a few days you will find your skin frictioning off leaving behind baby soft skin. However do NOT bring this lotion on holiday as it can make the skin too sensitive in the sun.
Don’t forget that when you are travelling abroad you can only bring liquids under 100ml on board in hand luggage.
My advice is to get travel sizes of your favourite products or alternatively head off to your nearest Penneys and get the travel packs that you can decant your favourite products into.
Alternatively if you are booking a bag into the hold go for the products you already have at home but make sure they all contain a decent SPF.
My advice in terms of sun protection is to take SPF 50 for face and body – the tan is not worth the potential damage to your skin ladies (and gents).
What a lot of people may not know is that your after-sun is equally as important. Even if you do not burn your skin is still heating up inside once you return from being outdoors.
So shower off your suntan lotion/chlorine/salt and apply a very good aftersun – I recommend Clarins after-sun – great for repairing the skin. It’s very important to use aftersun on kids as well. (read about some new Sun Protection products for 2014 from established cosmetic brands here
Next up – what to pack in your beauty bag for hols. Heat and make up are not firm friends ie it is difficult to get longevity out of make up when you are in the sun. Go for the more natural look. Here’s what I’ll be packing for my holidays:
• Shiseido Ireland Sheer Eyezone corrector (start you holiday make up with this)
• Mix (my new fav) CC Cream (03 Sand) from GOSH Cosmetics with Seventeen Cosmetics WOW tan liquid glow for a very subtle sunkissed look
• Bronzer on the cheekbones
• The New Maybelline New York Matte Maker on the T-Zone
• No7 High Shine Lip Crayon
Now you’re good to go for hours.
One thing I highly recommend it to invest in a good pair of sunglasses, ideally the lenses should be big enough to cover right out to the outer corner of your eyes so to avoid squinting which leads to the fine lines around the eyes.
Make sure to try on several pairs to find the shape that suits your face (prescription if required also).
