Tailor your beauty regime to combat urban life
“The three major threats for skin in the city are sunlight, stress and pollution,” says Tom Mammone, Clinique’s executive director of skin physiology and pharmacology. “A city lifestyle can also pose a real hazard to skin, in particular breathing in cigarette smoke, excessive alcohol, processed foods, as well as a lack of sleep. These modern stresses can compromise the skin’s natural defence system, leaving it open to damage.”
Employ some city-specific beauty into your regime.
Metropolitan living means that your skin’s pounded with a daily dirty cocktail of different pollutants.
“Pollution is one of the main causes of skin damage, creating harmful free radicals which strip the skin of moisture causing fine lines and wrinkles,” says Shirin Valipour, founder of Orico London. “Look to pollution-proof your skin by keeping its moisture barrier strong.”
Cleansing morning and evening is essential, but even more so when living or working in the city. Pollution, smog, and emissions see skin become dry and flaky as bacteria builds up.
“It’s important to remove city dirt and grime at the end of each day,” says Simple skincare make-up artist Caroline Frazer.
“Use facial cleansing wipes when you get home from work to remove build-up and then cleanse thoroughly before bed.”
Frazer suggests a double cleanse for a city detox: “Use a purifying cleansing lotion first to remove surface dirt and make-up, and then a cleansing facial wash to penetrate pores and clean your face.”
If you’re living a fast-paced lifestyle, stress can take its toll on your skin. Suffering with unexplained sensitivity, puffiness, redness, acne or extreme dryness? Your whirlwind city lifestyle could be the culprit.
“The impact of environmental and emotional stress becomes immediately visible,” says Dr Andrew Weil, an expert in integrative medicine.
“Stress interferes with tissue regeneration and can trigger a cascade of cellular signals leading to chronic inflammation in skin. The reaction can be activated by emotional and environmental stress, which can further aggravate the body’s inflammatory response.”
Even on days when the sun is hidden, your skin is exposed to damaging rays.
Consultant dermatologist Dr Susan Mayou, says that in the long run “UV damage causes poor texture and a sallow complexion, brown spots, fine lines, wrinkles and scaly, red, patches.
“Apply a teaspoon of minimum SPF15 to the face daily all year round — just because the sun isn’t hot in January, doesn’t mean it isn’t there.”
Embrace the warm weather with sunny nails. An insta-happy yellow lacquer is guaranteed to put a smile on your face. For sorbet-inspired nails, the colour of Lemon Drop is pretty mouthwatering for summer. It’s a cool tone yellow that looks almost chalky and, although it didn’t look ’gel-like’, it left a super-shiny finish after two coats.
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