Annabel is a beauty buff and skin fanatic with over 25 years in the industry – specialising in skincare, skin concerns and cosmetics. She is a brand consultant, qualified trainer and lecturer for the next generation of make-up artists.
As we enter the first of the winter months, consumed by busy diaries and a rush of festivities, a few late nights can soon take its toll on our skin. A lack of sleep can leave our bodies tired, our skin dehydrated and in need of a helping hand! So how do we quickly boost our skin during the winter season? How can we create radiance when we are tired? It’s all about getting the skincare right with lots of hydration into and onto our bodies, as well as booster oils and serums to our faces. Below I highlight some of the problems you may encounter this winter and offer some tips and ideas on how to achieve a great base and keep skin glowing and radiant throughout the festive season.
Use a 360 Skincare approach
Using a 360-degree approach to our skincare helps us to realise the importance of this balancing act between stress, diet, sleep, hydration and feeding the skin with the elements it vitally needs. Skin can vary from day to day depending on our lifestyle and our hormones, so treating it on a daily basis can have huge benefits. If you are tired, your face and under eyes area will no doubt be dehydrated. Hydration is one of the key elements needed in achieving a great base. Boosting our skin during the winter months with high performance nourishing products is, therefore, one of the easiest ways to help us retain our glow.
Choose the right skincare for you
One of the first steps is to ensure that your current skincare regime is working. If it is, then skin will be balanced, hydrated but not oily and it will not cause you break outs. It will be smooth and supple, with an even tone. If it is not working you may find that your skin opposite to the above, breaking out, itchy, flaky and dehydrated. If skin is not balanced, whatever cosmetics you put on top will not be able work at their best.
Understanding why you are using a product and what the benefit will be to your particular skin type can be a great learning curve and will also ensure that you can get optimum results.
Often, we are drawn to a brand by packaging or a trend, but ultimately the most important thing is to understand your individual skincare concerns and to choose a brand that fits with those. What your skin needs can also depend on age, lifestyle, climate and hydration levels in the skin.
A teenager’s skincare regime will not typically need a moisturiser; just a simple cleansing routine will do. Perimenopausal skin, however, may become drier and in need of much more hydration than usual. It may even become acne prone. The change in hormone levels the perimenopause brings can play havoc with skin so adjusting and re-evaluating your skincare regime, while adding in other elements to help combat these changes can be of huge benefit.
It’s not only hormones that play their part in destabilising skin; the winter months can too. Harsh weather and central heating can deplete and unbalance skin. If you are happy with your regime but notice this happening during this season, then it’s a great idea to incorporate an oil - it will a give a huge boost to your complexion and will help lock in moisture.
Late nights and your complexion
During the festive season, even if you normally sleep well, the disruption of a few late nights or the pressure of entertaining can make it hard to get good quality sleep. One of the first things that can be noticed with the late nights and lack of sleep is tired skin; it may lack vitality and radiance and may seem quite a bit more dehydrated than usual. There is a no better way to bring back some radiance than by massaging your face and neck with a premium facial oil. Giving some indulgence to your face (that works so hard for you every day) can only be of benefit; letting the product penetrate into the skin, using the power of touch and the sensory experience of a fragrance will help on multiple levels. Olverum Pure Radiance Facial Oil contains a combination of rice lipids, Meadowfoam oil and Crambe Abyssinica oil which together will deeply moisturise skin and, critically, will lock in moisture and so prevent dehydration. Meanwhile, retinol or natural retinol alternatives such as Rosehip Oil, Cacay oil and Bakuchiol, aided by Vitamin C, will help to brighten dull skin and ensure you restore your outer glow.
Foundation, the intersection where skincare meets make up
Complexion and the base area of our make-up can be one of the most challenging parts to get right. Foundation, colour correctors and concealers really are the intersection where skincare meets make-up and one of the most technical parts of colour application. Having the correct textures working together between the skincare and the cosmetics being applied onto it are critical to getting a great looking base. If you apply your usual foundation and wonder why it’s not looking as good as it usually does, it may well be that your skin is not sufficiently prepped and hydrated. In this case, your base/foundation will not be able to do its job, and may no longer sit correctly on the skin having been drawn into the dehydrated skin below, resulting in a dull looking greyish base. It is at this stage you know that your skin needs a boost. Olverum Pure Radiance Oil can slot into your current skincare regime, working its magic where needed, helping to give you that extra boost by locking in the moisture, regaining your glow, and ensuring a strong skincare recovery that lasts for your festive make-up application.
©AnnabelJardella