Beauty Treatments at Home During Lockdown

 

We're in lockdown in the UK and not likely to see hair or beauty salons opening for several weeks.  While I'm quite high maintenance with my hair, having a cut, regrowth and highlights every seven weeks - I've realised I'm low maintenance when it comes to beauty routines.

I've never had gel nails done at a salon;  I've never had anything done to my brows or lashes professionally, and I've never had anything waxed, sugared or lasered.

I've always preferred to do my own pedicures.  I went to a top London salon the day before my wedding for a facial and pedicure, and was horrified when I had to sit upright on the bed with my feet in a bowl - very awkward - for the pedicure.  Another time, I was told off for not removing my nail polish. 

So for a bit of fun I'm going to try at home a gel manicure, plus take you through a couple of my other rituals.

Facial with Ice Globes

I couldn't resist these glittery ice globes when I saw them on Instagram - @facialiceglobes. They're made of glass and come in several colours. You keep them in the freezer and while they get deliciously cold, the liquid doesn't freeze.  If I wake up puffy eyed it's great to run the ice globes over the face and the results are very good.  I also use them for a massage while wearing a face mask. 

I'm not going to use these disposable masks anymore because they're very bad for the environment.  My view on masks is that they're all the same, no matter how cheap or how expensive. You get a temporary glowiness and tightness, and with some masks, redness. What matters is the few minutes of relaxation, and the fact that I will have exfoliated beforehand, so at least I'm giving my skin a good cleansing and plumping with some short lived moisturizers.

Instead of investing in the Fraicheur ice globes you can use the back of two dessert spoons, placed in the freezer for a while.

Green Flash Plant Based Gel Nail Polish

I very rarely apply nail polish.  I don't like the chemicals or the upkeep, and anyway, my nails are the bane of my life.  They are thin, ridged and flaky, and although I apply nail and cuticle creams and oils two or three times a day, and take MSM, they don't respond very much.

Just before Christmas I was on a roll because my nails, on both hands, were at last quite long and well shaped, and I bought an OPI gold nail polish to use. Disaster struck when a nail broke. I tried to mend it with glue but it kept snagging on things so I had to cut them all short. Now I'm back to square one.

But I thought I would try a product which India Hicks raved about in the Sunday Times:  plant based nail products with an LED lamp. The system is called Green Flash and came from Manicurist in Paris.

The kit comes with a nail polish remover made of sugar cane and ricinus seeds, a base coat,  the colour of your choice, and a top coat, plus the LED lamp. I chose a very pale nude colour so that any disasters would be largely concealed. 

It was very simple, even for a novice like me.  After applying the base coat you cure the nails in the lamp for a minute and then apply the polish. Cure for two minutes. Then the top coat and a final cure of three minutes. The lamp plugs in and was very easy to use. 

I was impressed with the final result:  the nails were perfectly dry and very shiny The polish was very even and looked professionally applied, unlike many normal nail polishes I've used where the brush has left streaky lines.  

But did it last? Well, just a day after applying, the nail on my right index finger was totally bereft of nail polish. I don't know where it went - perhaps trapped in a rubber glove?  The rest of the nails look OK, a little less shiny. So maybe this is a treatment best left to the professionals.

A Professional Home Pedicure

Another home ritual of mine is a pedicure.  I do this quite often in the summer and less often in the winter, although I do apply a foot cream every day so that I don't have to deal with rough scaly skin when summer suddenly arrives.

My foot products are mostly cheaply priced from Boots - their foot cream in particular is very good.  But I have a little luxury in the form of a foot soak from Margaret Dabbs, the well-known London podiatrist.

For my pedicures the steps are:

• Remove nail polish. I never wear any in the winter to let my nails breathe
• Soak the feet in warm water and a suitable soaking product  (olive oil is fine)
• Trim the nails, cutting straight across, and then file with an emery board
• Push back the cuticles gently with an orange stick
• Slough off hard skin on the soles with a callus file 
• Apply base coat if using nail polish, and then your polish and top coat
• Once the nail products have dried, apply some cuticle conditioner and foot cream

Your feet will look sensational. 

And for DIY Hair....

As for my hair, there's very little I can do because although the dark roots are starting to show, it wouldn't be at all advisable to use a bleach on my highlighted hair  to try to lighten the roots. None of the root touch up products are the right colour to address this. I just have to live with it, or learn how to wear scarves on my head or hats.  If your hair is brown or red and you have greys appearing, you can easily use one of the very good root touch-up products from Josh Wood, Clairol or Colour Wow.

No products were gifted for this post.

 

What home salon beauty hacks do you have? Do share in the comments. 

#OnMondaysWeLinkUp at Glass of Glam, Top of the World Style at High Latitude Style, Chic & Stylish at Mummabstylish, #LinkupOnTheEdge at Shelbee on the Edge, #AnythingGoes at My Random Musings, Thursday Moda at Elegance and Mommyhood, Turning Heads Tuesday at Elegantly Dressed and Stylish,  Style with a Smile  at Stylesplash, Style Six at Coast to Coast, TFF at Doused in Pink, Fancy Friday at Nancy's Fashion Style,  #iwillwearwhatilike at Not Dressed as Lamb,  Lizzie in Lace  and Confident Twosday at IDoDeclaire, Beauty by Miss L, Rena at Fine Whatever, Fabulous Fridays at Lucy Bertoldi

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