Sigrid Agren by Aitken Jolly for Dansk A/W 2011

For me, this is perfect skin. Fresh, slightly dewy, not packed with makeup and none of this photoshop business - just real, pores and all. I’m the biggest advocate in letting your skin breathe, and you know what, it’s not going anywhere so it’s super important to embrace it and make the most of it. I go makeup-free (foundation & concealer especially) on weekends (parties & fancy dinners excluded), the days I’m working from home, on photoshoots, at family dinners & get-togethers with friends, at the gym, supermarket, window shopping and… I think you get my gist. Basically, anytime when I’m not at an event or in the office. Above is my default (skin) look – here are the two steps to getting glowing skin…

Step 1: Exfoliate.

I’ve just tried Grown’s Facial Exfoliant with Peppermint, Jojoba Micro Bead and Juniper Berry and I give it two very enthusiastic thumbs up. I find lots of exfoliants dry out my skin (très annoying) but this one was gentle and surprisingly soothing. Also, with no petrochemicals, animal derivatives, silicones, parabens etc etc, how can you go wrong?!

Step 2: Apply oils.

For a divine glow and hyper moisturisation, massage a facial oil onto clean skin. For normal to dry skin, try Clarins’ Orchidèe Bleue Face Treatment Oil, for very dry skin try Ren’s Rose O12 Moisture Defence Serum, and for those with combination or oily skin, use a toner post-cleansing (such as this one) and Jurlique’s amazing Herbal Recovery Gel. Make sure to warm up the oils in the palms of your hand and press lightly into skin, and if you’re planning on heading outside, don’t forget that sunscreen (applied under the oil).

Now take off that foundation and get even more gorgeous!

xx

Enjoy! xxo

So, as you can imagine, due to my active eating schedule, my skin hasn’t been the best lately. And that’s fine, I know what I need to do but have found some awesome cheats along the way…

I’m not usually a toner kind of gal, but to suck away all of the excess oil my insides have been creating due to my indulgent diet, morning and night after i wash my face I’ve been applying Aesop’s Bitter Orange Astringent Toner. It smells great, contains bitter orange, witch hazel, rosemary leaf and green tea, and most importantly, it works. It’s quite a strong product and one that I wouldn’t use all the time, but it’s a quick fix.

Now to spot relief. For not-huge-but-still-annoying-spots, at night I’ve been applying Aesop’s Camomile Concentrate Anti-Blemish Masque. It dries up the spots without sucking the life out of the surrounding area.

For those I-have-to-stay-inside-the-world-isn’t-ready-for-this-kind-of-catastrophe spots, I have found just the thing, Eve Lom’s Dynaspot. It’s a godsend. It has the perfect quantities of antiseptic tea tree oil, yarrow extract and mistletoe, amongst other things, to really work it’s magic on the sucker immediately and then to heal asap! It won’t solve agressive acne, but for those soul depleting spots that always pop up at the wrong time, it’s the best!

I also hear drinking lots of water, doing vigorous exercise and taking evening primrose oil are definitely going to help, funny that.

xx

At Chanel:

And Chloe:

At Giambattista Valli:

And Hussein Chalayan:

And finally, other It-label, Stella McCartney:

Getting gorgeous matte skin is easy! You don’t need a matte moisturiser or foundation, but instead a good powder. My favourite is the Laura Mercier Loose Setting Powder. It’s oil-free and doesn’t seem to cake. Just what we need! Use a Large Powder Brush (MAC #150) or Small Contour Brush (MAC #109) and unless you want dewy cheeks, lightly apply all over your face. See, it really is that easy!

xxxx

(all images from http://www.style.com/fashionshows/)