Georgia Day’s Essential Summer Beauty Buys
Banish Bugs
I still don’t understand why mosquitoes seem to treat me like an all-you-can-eat buffet, but I am determined to find a solution to one of summer’s most annoying issues. Last year I read that coconut is a good deterrent to bug bites, so I dutifully slathered my post-shower skin in coconut oil every evening. While I undoubtedly had the softest skin of my life and noticeably fewer bites, I did end up feeling a little greasy, so this year I want to find a different approach. The method I have settled on is a combination of two products, starting in the shower with Sundae’s Coconut Cream Whipped Shower Foam. It’s a fun formula to use and, better still, the creamy coconut scent lingers on the skin long after you’ve washed it off. I also plan to use Bondi Sands’ Coconut Body Moisturiser. As well as having the requisite bug-repelling tropical scent, it also has the added bonus of infusing skin with intensive moisture and prolonging the life of a tan.
Coconut Cream Foaming Body Wash, £12.99 | Sundae Body
Coconut Body Moisturiser, £9.99 | Bondi Sands
Support Your Skin
Lots of eating, drinking and general merriment during the summer means I can often come back from a break feeling a little more sluggish than I would like, and the same goes for my skin. Regular gua sha-ing helps, but I’m not disciplined enough to have made this a daily habit yet. While I work on that, I’ll be happily bookending my summer with a Sunday Riley facial that promises to do the hard graft for me. The brand has recently launched a three-month residency at Soho Farmhouse’s new Wellness Barn, and has created an exclusive and entirely game (and skin) changing facial. Using a line-up of heavenly Sunday Riley products to revive, hydrate and brighten (including the inimitable Good Genes glycolic treatment) the facial combines Japanese kibodo and Korean facial massage techniques to define, sculpt and de-puff the face. As the (virtually newborn) face staring back at me in the mirror will attest, it is a transformative treatment, and I can honestly say the massage alone ranks it as one of the best and most effective I’ve had in my 20-year career. The one-hour treatment is available to book for Soho House members from 7th June to 8th September.
Love Your Lips
Iced coffee is a summer staple but there’s only so much I can drink before I start feeling the effects of too much caffeine. That’s why I’m thrilled to report that I now have an equally delicious alternative. The product in question – Iced Coffee Lip Butter Balm – is the latest in the excellent Summer Fridays’ lipcare line-up. If you’re familiar with these buttery balms already, then you’ll know the formula is second-to-none, imparting cushiony hydration, subtle shine and proper conditioning comfort in a single swipe. This one I think takes the crown, combining all of the above with a moreish, sweet but not sickly café frappé scent that makes it virtually impossible to stop licking it off your lips. Incidentally, because it’s a slightly tinted cocoa shade, I also like to wear it in lieu of a lipstick on low-key days, pairing it with a good lip liner to create a slightly more defined finish. Said lip liner comes courtesy of Glossier’s new Lip Line pencils which are available in eight fleshy tones colour matched to nipple colours for a seamless result. The formula is water resistant (so perfect for sipping copious amounts of actual iced coffee), properly creamy and beautifully blendable.
Lip Butter Balm, £23 | Summer Fridays
Lip Line, £18 | Glossier
Help Your Hair
We all know hair goes through a lot during the summer but, while I’m all for trying to negate as much damage as possible, I don’t want to bring an entire strand-saving suitcase away with me. R+Co’s Sun Catcher Power C Boosting Leave-In Conditioner is one of those brilliant products that not only does lots of different jobs – hydrates, softens, protects against UV, seals cuticles against frizz and detangles salty locks – it does all of them really well and in one small bottle. It’s quickly become my number-one holiday hair product, and I’m pretty sure that once you try it, it’ll become yours too. To seal the deal on flyaways and frizz, I shall also be relying on the new Dyson Supersonic Nural hairdryer this summer, which has some new additions that will totally change my hair game over the coming months. One is a wave diffuser attachment which is like a cup that you essentially drop sections of your hair into until they emerge dry and perfectly waved – genius! There’s also a scalp protect mode that uses cutting-edge sensor technology to lower the temperature when the dryer is getting too close to your scalp. When our hair’s already going through enough, none of us want an irritated scalp thrown into the mix.
Sun Catcher Vitamin C Leave In Conditioner, £30 | R+Co
Supersonic Nural™ Hair Dryer Ceramic Patina, £399.99 | Dyson
Choose A Candle
Eating outside is one of the greatest pleasures of the summer but – and sorry to bring it back to bugs – it’s decidedly less enjoyable when you’re plagued by hungry midges and mosquitos. I love using scented candles outdoors but find the dedicated outdoor ones have such a strong citronella scent that they only end up giving me a headache. To that end I have been conducting trials on which candles not only pass the bug-repelling test but are also fragranced enough for the scent not to just get lost in the open air. The two that I have found to be most effective for the job are Loewe’s deliciously peppery and green Wasabi candle (also available in the brand’s signature Wax Candleholder which doubles up as pretty table decoration) and Trudon’s De Oro Scented Candle which is fragranced with the heady summery scent of orange blossom. Who knew pest control could be so chic?
Medium Wasabi Candle, £175 | Loewe
Wasabi Wax Candleholder, £110 | Loewe
De Oro Scented Wax Candle, £98 | Trudon
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