Jo's Winter Loves... (and yes, they include wild swimming)
Over the next few weeks, we will be sharing the team’s winter must-haves – because now the central heating has gone on, we’ve a whole different raft of beauty challenges to tackle. I’m delighted to share my must-haves, as the first in this Beauty Bible Winter Loves series…
Trinny Miracle Blur Lip and Line Filler
Bloody hell. No wonder this scooped a Beauty Bible Award. No wonder Trinny can barely keep it in stock, since it launched. This is a fantastic line-smoothing treatment that you pat into wrinkles – around the lines, eyes, the forehead – and they disappear. Just like that. (It is also good for concealing acne scarring.) I use it over make-up when I’ve got a Zoom call (because let’s face it, there are no important meetings) – I’m particularly bothered by a couple of lines on my nose which I just discovered are called ‘rabbit lines’ (and yes, I probably got them from making stupid, rabbit faces). But I couldn’t love this pot of skin-smoothing, blurring ingredients more and am hugely looking forward to using it In Real Life. Bloody hell. (And yes, I know I’m repeating myself.)
£26 – buy here
Wild swimming
Not suggesting that you start this now, if you haven’t already acclimatised to cold water, but I’ve been swimming in the sea since April and really don’t want to stop, now. I am fantastically lucky to have the sea at the end of my road, just a 10 minute walk from front door to edge of water. In summer, it was the greatest comfort, and a band of us began to meet regularly at high tide. What usually puts an end to a summer of swimming is a late September break somewhere warm, after which it feels too icy to get back in again. But I’ve never stopped, this year, so have become acclimatised to the gradually lowering temperatures (though I do now wear surfer gloves, socks and a wetsuit jacket – unlike some of my hardier fellow bathers, above).
There’s a good reason it makes me feel so good. According to experts, seawater can help overall wellbeing by improving immune function, boosting circulation (there’s nothing quite like the heart-accelerating rush from making a dash into the waves), and even hydrating skin. I know that sounds counterintuitive, since seawater contains salt – which we consider to be dehydrating – but whereas when I have a bath I often immediately feel I have to slather on moisturiser, or my skin feels like it’s too tight for my body, the same isn’t true of my daily sea-splash. I also know it’s brilliant for clarity of mind, as well as just making me feel incredibly alive. Need convincing? You might like to read the book below (used copies are available pretty expensively, or get your local bookshop to order a paperback).
Sea-bathing – FREE!
Blue Mind: How Water Makes You Happier, More Connected and Better at What You Do (Abacus) – buy here
This Works Morning Expert range
A couple of products from within this line-up have boomeranged back into my morning regime, as skin starts to look winter-dingy again. (I had a good run with the ‘glow’ from summer, but no more.) First up, the citrus-scented This Works Morning Expert Vitamin C Power Mask (a Beauty Bible Award-winner), which I use as a quick exfoliator if I’m in a hurry (it has teensy grains), or slather on more generously as a 10-minute brightening mask and then remove with a muslin cloth to reveal MUCH brighter skin underneath.
Every few days, I’ve also been using the This Works Morning Expert Multi-Acid Pads (which are biodegradeable, NB). Having in the past had problems with fruit acids, I can attest that these are gentle enough for use every few days to perk up skin – and are always quite astonishingly grubby after I swipe them over my face, even when I think I’ve done a good job cleansing. Again, very glow-restoring. The whole Morning Expert range is fab – but I can’t be faffed to do too much in the mornings and so these are occasional, but very effective, quick-fix go-tos.
Morning Expert Vitamin C Power Mask/£39 for 55ml – buy here
Morning Expert Multi-Acid Pads/£33 for 60 pads – buy here
L’Occitane Immortelle Precious Overnight Mask
It wasn’t till I looked this up to write this review that I saw this ‘sleeping mask’ is supposedly for ‘first signs of ageing’ (um, I’m slightly past those). But my skin is like a sponge at the moment and this has become a must-use overnight treatment, several nights a week. (It’s also said to help guard skin against external aggressors including blue light – patents are pending, for that – and I’ve spent rather too long at my computer screen, lately, so this is reassuring.)
I am a massive fan of all things L’Occitane Immortelle, going right back to the first Divine Cream; this particular element of the range doesn’t have the signature aromatic scent, but a wonderfully powdery, almost Shalimar-esque fragrance to it, and a luscious cream-gel texture powered by hyaluronic acid, therefore very plumping. It’s incredibly quenching and I am staring fearfully at the bottom of the jar – no greater compliment to a product, in Beauty Bible Land.
£52 for 50ml – buy here
Ruby Hammer Foot File
Anyone who knows me knows that I am OBSESSED with the hard skin on my feet, and work tirelessly to eliminate the painful pads that build up as a side-effect of my 11,000 or so steps a day. (About which I am also obsessed.) Therefore I have gone a little nuts over this, which is a crystal foot file. I’ve tried many a foot file in the past, from rasp-y, Parmesan grater-style files through to battery-powered versions, but nothing, NOTHING comes close to this. It’s the same idea as a crystal nail file – also my go-to for de-snagging nails – but on a grand scale (about the size of a child’s ruler). It’s a completely painless way to get your feet smooth as marble, and you just rinse it afterwards to remove the skin (sorreee) off the file. I use it every night now, before bedtime. It is sooooo satisfying to feel my smooth-as-silk feet afterwards – any hard skin is literally history.
£22 – buy here
