Pre-Holiday Prep to getting Beach Body Ready - Body & Hair

Now everyone is bikini body ready, you have a body and stick a bikini on it, so don't worry, this post is not about fad diets, waist trainers or weeks of starvation, just a few things I will be doing to make myself feel a little more confident when I want to strip down (to my bikini) on the beach. Being 30+ post child there's no doubt that that I'm feeling a little hesitant about donning a bikini on my pending summer holiday, yes I know I should be brimming with confidence and have a 'no care' attitude, but here is what I'll be doing to help that attitude along a little bit. I'll have a series of posts on pre, during and post holiday preparation/reparation, for my face, body and hair as I will be going to Greece next month to be Matron of Honour at my best friends wedding, we (husband & son) decided to extend our stay a little and make it our family summer holiday. 

This post will focus on what I'm doing to prepare for the holiday, with regards to my Body and Hair;


So other than wishing I could have abs overnight, my main body prep is hair removal, when going away I opt for waxing all over. I normally wax my underarms anyway, but now we go into full leg and bikini territory (ouch). To get the best wax, especially if it's not something you do regularly, you need to schedule a wax approximately 6 weeks before the actual waxing session before you go away. This ensures you catch most of the hairs around the same length in their growth cycle for the smoothest results possible, also I would encourage some body exfoliation about 5 days prior to the waxing appointment and at least 3 days after to prevent ingrown hairs. In shower body scrubs are great for this, saves time, prevents too much mess and are effective. I've opted for my latest descovery DHC Olive Corn Body Scrub and Polish, which contains Olive Oil and Vitamin E, but in the past I've also used the one by Soap & Glory Pulp-Friction Foaming Fruity Body Scrub (here & here), which s a little less abrasive.

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Hair: So I have natural afro dyed hair, which is usually worn in a protective style, think wigs and weaves. I have done a Olaplex treatment on my hair (I bought a sample off ebay), this is a unique treatment in that it's the only one that can repair/build broken bonds, usually broken through chemical processes like relaxers, heat damage, permanent colour processes, bleaching the hair etc. This should help strengthen my hair and make more resistant to the damages that can occur from sun, sea, chlorine and sand.

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I'm also getting an Arosci Keratin Treatment done at my hairdresser salonABV, (check them out) this will hopefully allow for quick frizz free washing and drying of my hair, to ensure I can easily wash out the sea and chlorine water with ease, nobody wants to spend half their holiday doing wash day activities. The Olaplex treatment is also recommended to be done prior to keratin treatments, to protect hair from the amount of heat that is usually applied during these processes. I haven't decided how I am going to wear my hair on holiday, so this will impact what I get done before I go.

Let me know what your pre-holiday prep consists of? Do you have any tips for me?

Thanks for visiting the blog today.


Pre-holiday prep to get Bikini Body Ready - Face

Now everyone is bikini body ready, you have a body and stick a bikini on it, so don't worry, this post is not about fad diets, waist trainers or weeks of starvation, just a few things I will be doing to make myself feel a little more confident when I want to strip down (to my bikini) on the beach. Being 30+ post child there's no doubt that that I'm feeling a little hesitant about donning a bikini on my pending summer holiday, yes I know I should be brimming with confidence and have a 'no care' attitude, but here is what I'll be doing to help that attitude along a little bit. I'll have a series of posts on pre, during and post holiday preparation/reparation, for my face, body and hair as I will be going to Greece next month to be Matron of Honour at my best friends wedding, we (husband & son) decided to extend our stay a little and make it our family summer holiday. 










This post will focus on what I'm doing to prepare for the holiday, with regards to my Face;

TheFoundationDirectory; an example of a nights skincare routine

Since my summer holiday has a slight twist to it (#matronofhonourduties) I want to ensure my skin is in tip top condition, so I will ensure I stick to my skin care routine, my combination skin quickly lets me know when I've been slacking. To start with I need to ensure thorough cleansing every night, to remove makeup, spf etc, I love a balm or an oil for this and my current one is the Mahogany Naturals Soothing Cleansing Oil. This organic cleansing oil has a combination of natural oils that break down dirt, sebum and makeup, I apply it to my dry face and remove with a hot wet face cloth. It contains oils like Grape Seed, Olive, Tea Tree and Jasmine Flower to name a few. I also love using facial oils at night, even on my combination skin, it's important to ensure my skin is hydrated and nourished, as I spend the day trying to combat oil and focus on mattifying products. I love the Mahogany Naturals hydrating repair oil, packed full of antioxidants and rejuvenators like Evening Primrose, vitamin E, Rosehip and Tea Tree to name a few, these plump, repair hydrate and soften the skin.

TheFoundationDirectory; DHC Superhero Eye Rescue

Exfoliation is also a big part of my skincare routine, I prefer to acid exfoliate in the evenings, my new current love is the soon to be replaced Clinique clarifying lotion in Mild. It will now be replaced with Clarifying lotion 1.0, which will still be alcohol free, so that's good to know. I enjoy using face masks, and try to do them weekly, my all time favourites are the Avene Cleanance Mask and the Omorovicza Deep Cleansing Mask, but most face masks cannot be used around the eye area so I will be incorporating the new DHC Superhero Eye Rescue Masks, which encircles the entire eye area so work above and below the eye area. This is great news for me as my eyelid area is actually more of a problem for me than my under eye area, which is where most eye products usually just focus on.

At home face masks are all well and good, but cannot compare to getting a professional facial, I will endeavour to get one prior to going away, my favourite is the Environ Facial, which I reviewed here last year, done at the excellent Beauty and Melody Salon. I really did notice a huge improvement in my skin following this, and my skincare just performed so much more effectively. Or my more recent experience of the heaven skincare facial, I had done by the fabulous founder Deborah Mitchell, read all about it here.


I also have an appointment to get the Heaven skincare London Lash and Brow Treatment done tomorrow, (I will link back to the post once it's up) so there'll be no need for me to worry about filling in brows or wearing mascara, which will be great when I go for a dip in the pool or sea.




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I won't be waiting until I get to Greece to slap on that SPF either, pigmentation is one of my biggest skin care woes, there's no point doing all of the above if I am not protecting my face from the sun's harmful UV rays. My old time favourite is here, but a new found love is the Dermalogica Solar Defence Booster SPF50, which can be used alone for the full SPF50 or added to your moisturiser or foundation for an added touch of SPF. How genius is that!!!
 



Let me know what your pre-holiday prep consists of? Do you have any tips for me?








Thanks for visiting the blog today.

Superdrug's #ShadesOfBeauty Campaign

So Superdrug have stepped forward and acknowledged the lack of products on their shelves for women of colour, they are not the only ones of course, but they are the first to make an official pledge to address the lack of diversity on the highstreet. They've made a commitment to address this with the #ShadesOfBeauty campaign, they've signed TV presenter June Sarpong as the official ambassador, to help raise awareness of the issue and drive change.

TheFoundationDirectory; Superdrug #ShadesOfBeauty Campaign

Superdrug commissioned independent research, almost 600 Black and Asian women were questioned, and the outcome is probably no surprise to you and I. 70% felt the high street doesn't cater to their beauty needs, 55% want more affordable makeup available for their skin tones and 75% think there isn't enough advice and guidance on the high street for their beauty needs, to name a few outcomes.

TheFoundationDirectory; Superdrug #ShadesOfBeauty Campaign

As a start Superdrug have over 100 products available in 140 stores that cater to Asian and Afro hair, these include brand like Shea Moisture, Dark and Lovely, Vatika, ORS & Palmers to name a few. They have redesigned the website to create an area specifically for Black and Asian products, met with all their makeup suppliers and challenged them to expand the shade range of their foundations, Maybelline have confirmed new darker shades by the end of the year. They've also added new brands that cater to brownbeauties like Cakecosmetics, which will also be available online from August. If your local store doesn't carry the full range you can order online and get free instore delivery, or home delivery if you are a beauty clubcard member. I do hope however that things actually end up on the shelves and not just online, so we can swatch and pick appropriate shades.

Aallexxy with June Sarpong Ambassador for Superdrug #ShadesOfBeauty Campaign

I'm so happy Superdrug is doing this campaign, I mean it's only 2016, hopefully other drugstores will take note. I know Boots have already expanded and include more haircare brands for women of colour, so hopefully it can only get better from here.

Do you feel enough is being done? Have you noticed a difference in your local Superdrug?