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14<br />
Bespoke<br />
Beauty<br />
Seven ways to tailor your beauty products so they work for you<br />
1. Get your glow back. Missing<br />
your summer tan? Add a few selftanning<br />
drops to your favourite<br />
body lotion and face moisturiser to<br />
build up a natural-looking tan over<br />
a few days. The more drops you add,<br />
the deeper the tan.<br />
2. Become your own mixologist.<br />
Brands like The Inkey List and The<br />
Ordinary have made it easier to<br />
buy skincare ingredients without<br />
breaking the bank. You can buy<br />
everything from retinol to collagen<br />
and Q10. Do be careful what you<br />
add together though. Retinol should<br />
never be mixed with vitamin C, for<br />
example, as the<br />
pairing is likely<br />
to<br />
cause<br />
irritation.<br />
So, do your<br />
homework<br />
and<br />
then<br />
have fun!<br />
3. Create your own tinted<br />
moisturiser. During the summer,<br />
I couldn’t find a decent tinted<br />
moisturiser with SPF, so I made my<br />
own. Even now it’s autumn, it’s still<br />
my daily face cream. Squeeze a little<br />
moisturiser into the palm of your<br />
hand. Add a dash of foundation<br />
and mix it together. I also add a few<br />
drops of hyaluronic acid to boost<br />
moisture. Play around with what<br />
works for you.<br />
4. Boost your face mask. I’m a big<br />
fan of Perl Cosmetics’ British Pink<br />
Clay Mask & Illuminating Oil (£29.50<br />
from perlcosmetics.com). Make a<br />
paste with the powdered clay and<br />
water, and then add a few drops of<br />
the oil to suit your skin type (up to<br />
ten drops for oily skin or twenty for<br />
dry skin). Unlike some clay masks I’ve<br />
tried, this one won’t dry your skin.<br />
Instead, it leaves it soft, glowing and<br />
healthy-looking.<br />
5. Mix up your skincare routine.<br />
While brands design their products<br />
to work in harmony, that doesn’t<br />
mean you can’t pick and choose<br />
or mix things up depending on<br />
the season. For example, if your<br />
skin is dry, you might want to go<br />
for a cleaning balm, followed by<br />
a gentle toner and moisturiser –<br />
all from different brands. At the<br />
moment, I’m loving the Caring Face<br />
Toner by Studio Botanic (£35, www.<br />
level7beautyhall.com). It’s rich in<br />
plant extracts and hyaluronic acid,<br />
very refreshing and really boosts<br />
hydration. When it’s time to put the<br />
central heating on, I’ll likely use it<br />
twice a day, rather than once, and<br />
follow with a serum.<br />
6. Try DIY. It’s pretty easy to make<br />
your own body oil, bath salts, body<br />
scrub and other goodies. For a bath<br />
and body oil, you just need a carrier<br />
oil (like sweet almond, grapeseed or<br />
even just sunflower), along with a<br />
few drops of aromatherapy essential<br />
oil. Want to make things even easier?<br />
Check out Neal’s Yard Remedies’<br />
Create Your Own range.<br />
7. Or leave it to the professionals.<br />
More brands are realising that their<br />
customers want bespoke beauty<br />
products. For one, SkinCeuticals<br />
has launched Custom D.O.S.E – an<br />
in-store service where an expert<br />
blends a serum to address your own<br />
individual skin concerns. Visit www.<br />
skinceuticals.co.uk to find out more.
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