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.




TheFoundationDirectory.blogspot.co.uk

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.

Beauty and Melody Salon; Environ Facial

If you follow me on Instagram you will know that in February I attended a Keziah Connections event at the stunning Beauty and Melody Salon, so when I was invited back by Matthew (Manager) to experience an Environ facial I obviously jumped at the chance.

Beauty and Melody Salon

I actually didn't fully understand what an Environ facial was, it was developed by a doctor in South Africa and uses soundwaves and small electric pulses to drive the treatment down into the dermal layers of your skin that it wouldn't be able to reach with just manual application. This Environ facial is effective at treating sun-damage, pigmentation, premature ageing, dryness and scarring to name a few. The process starts with the usual cleansing of the skin, steaming to allow easier access to pores for extraction and then your treatment is applied. You can have either a vitamin treatment (vitamins A, C and antioxidants) or hydration, I choose vitamins. The electric pulses didn't hurt at all, and you quickly get use to the sensation, below you can see the little electrodes attached to the top of the algae mask, that was applied after the vitamin treatment had been done.

Beauty and Melody Environ Facial

I have really be loving my skin at the moment, and I believe it's down to the skincare I'm currently testing (review soon), being properly absorbed into my skin as a result of the facial. There's no point buying expensive skincare products, that will just sit on the surface of the skin, I now see the importance of facials in my skincare routine. There are also Environ skincare products available to purchase, to continue at home what the facial starts in the salon.

Sylvia was welcoming and knowledgable about skincare, even for women of colour and the usual concerns of pigmentation, I felt comfortable and confident in what she was doing. The facial can be done monthly, but for those with particularly problematic skin it can be done weekly or it can be done just before a special ocassion. So it can be adapted to your budget, but at £90 (1hr) - £110 (1hr 30mins), most people like myself will be saving this for a treat or special occassion. There are alternative treatments available at more purse friendly prices, so do have a look at their website beautyandmelody.co.uk.

Beauty and Melody Salon

Located a short walk away from Marble Arch tube station, they don't only do facials, but everything from weaves, wigs, makeup to laser hair removal, and yes the machine they use is suitable for darker skin tones.

Do you regularly get facial treatments done? Have you had an environ facial before?

Thank you for visiting the blog today

Alex