How to look after your skin and hair this festive season

24 December 2019, 14:10

By Alice Dear

@According2Al

Make sure you’re looking after yourself during the busy – and often boozy – festive season.

Christmas and New Years is a busy time for most people, as you attempt to fit in family visits, Christmas parties and shopping into a small space of time.

With late nights and often boozy nights out, it’s important you still look after your skin and hair to keep your look fresh and revitalised for the big days and even bigger nights.

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We spoke to beauty therapist and director of SKIN Lounge, Rachel Huskinson as well as Joey Storey, Senior Colourist at SALON64, for some much-needed advice for the festive period.

For Rachel Huskinson, it’s clear why our skin gets worse around this time of the year.

“Whilst the festive season is full of fun and excitement, it can also be incredibly stressful and exhausting, which is exactly how our skin feels”, she explains.

“We tend to burn the candle at both ends, trying to wrap work up for the year whilst looking our best for ALL of the events as well as trying to get all of the shopping done - it’s exhausting just thinking about it!”

The beauty expert also sites people drinking less water and more alcohol as an issue for the skin over Christmas and the New Year, which can result in appearance of fine lines, dullness and uneven complexion.

“We also tend to sleep less and eat more unhealthily which can cause breakouts on the skin and on a more long term level destroy our healthy skin cells”, she says.

So what are we to do?

Thankfully, Rachel has disclosed her top tips, and they’re all so simple to execute.

Firstly, she suggests treating yourself to facial as “facial massage is particularly good for stimulating the blood flow to the skin cells which will internally nourish the skin whilst also relaxing you and giving you some essential me time”.

Rachel also suggests turning to cucumber to combat tired-looking eyes.

She explains: “Cold cucumber straight from the fridge, sliced and laid over the eyes for a few minutes is amazingly refreshing and great for de-puffing! Do this a couple of hours before your next event and you’ll look fresh as a daisy!”

As well as ensuring you’re drinking plenty of water, Rachel says it’s also worth turning to a sodium hyaluronate product for help.

“This really boosts hydration in the deeper layers of the skin”, she says: “This, teamed with a rich moisturiser is the perfect combination to keeping your skin hydrated, plump and ready for stunning party makeup.”

And the final tip – never sleep with your makeup on, no matter how tired you are.

“Sleeping in make up can result in premature ageing and breakouts - so investing those precious minutes will be 100% worth it in the long run.”

So, what about hair, how are we going to be looking after our locks this season?

Well, according to Joey, it’s all about looking after your locks from the inside out.

He suggests topping up on minerals and vitamins in order to keep your hair strong and glossy.

If you’re looking for products to help you keep your hair in good condition, Joey recommends Viviscal products as well as an Olaplex treatment to stay in “tip top shape”.

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