1. Intense Overnight Mask – Rosehip and Hyaluronic, £85, Votary; 2. Angel Balm, £55, Alexandra Soveral; 3. Rosa Centifolia Cleansing Gel, £22, Ren; 4. Water Meadow 3-in-1 Shampoo Bar, £10.50, Bertioli Beauty
She doesn’t exclusively use oils. Serums are better conductors of vitamin C, for instance, which she recommends using no more than twice a week, and butters contain more fats than oils – good for dry, mature skin.
Her five pillars, morning and night, are: 1. Cleansing. 2. Gentle exfoliation (her whipped exfoliating butter, containing cucumber-seed oil and jojoba butter, is rich in phytosterols, so it’s nourishing as well as a speedy remover of dead, flaky cells). 3. Hyaluronic acid. 4. An oil. 5. A moisturiser to seal everything in. That’s it.
She likes massaging with a gua sha jade or carnelian stone. ‘It doesn’t have to be rigorous. Keep the blade at 45 degrees to the skin and don’t overdo the oil. You want enough so the tool doesn’t drag the skin. The sessions don’t have to be long – any pinkness means the lymph is moving.’
We’re blessed with some efficacious plant-based skincare lines in this country. Bertioli, for example, has just launched a wonderful conditioning hair and body bar that leaves hair soft and bouncy.
Of course we should avail ourselves of verified hi-tech beauty if we fancy it. Just don’t forget that when it comes to beautiful skin quality, ‘lo-tech’ can be just as effective, perhaps more so in the long run.