It seems like only yesterday, but it’s actually a whole year since I wrote my post around the Anne Sémonin made-to-measure skincare routine I used to be prescribed. You can read about that here, if you’d like a quick trip down memory lane!) It had been quite a complex routine, involving daily masks and mixable concentrates, toners included in this and drops of oil added to that, but I really got into the swing of it and loved that the products were so active and potent.
I still – despite having a million other things to test – use the Anne Sémonin Miracle Eye Contour Anti-Wrinkle Cream on a really regular basis and have a whole line-up of their gel and cream masks within the shower that I whack on during my morning ablutions and rinse off last thing. And the Soothing Intensive Complex, a concentrated duo of essential oils and trace minerals that are mixed together before application, is a permanent fixture on the skincare shelf.
And and so i was delighted when Anne Sémonin asked me to write about summer skin prep – they have loads of beautiful products for face and body that really do help to get your skin glowing and smooth, there were a few new launches that I couldn’t wait to try. Here, then, is exactly what I’ve been up to around the summer skin preparation front – AKA Project Descaling.
Body Prep
Shins covered in scales, knees rough as brillo pads, elbows capped with skin as hard as tree bark: I’ve been carrying out a full, daily buffing and toning routine using three key products. The first, the Exfoliating Shower Gel, has been a lazy method of incorporating a scrub into my life without adding an extra step. It’s less scrubby as a standalone scrub, but there’s a good enough grainy feel to make you want to give it a good rubbing-in. (The exfoliation originates from the cellulose extract from biodegradable wood pulp – no microbeads here!) And the rubbing-in part is actually quite energetic, I've found, so that ticks off my exercise for the day. If I do my feet and don’t lift them off the shower floor, then my stretching is done too.
Skin smoothed, I then go in with a double-whammy tone-and-nourish plan of attack: the Lipoliss Intense Firming Body Serum to then firm (it has an intensely fresh, uplifting feel that’s great in hot weather!) and the Nourishing Body Oil to soften and soothe. The serum is completely new and packed with a cocktail of ingredients to help with skin elasticity and strength, including brown and green algae to hydrate and sweet almond and soy proteins to help stimulate collagen production and improve firmness.
And I have to admit that I find the body oil incredibly potent – it’s almost like an all-over version of the Soothing Intensive Complex for the face that I mentioned earlier. It uses the best essential and botanical oils and it is really concentrated – the aroma is so strong that I feel as though I’m having a spa treatment! There’s a mix of hazlenut, sesame and buriti oils to nourish and protect your skin and then added essential oils – lavender, mandarin and marjoram – to heal, de-stress and stimulate. Massaging this was a proper treat – very luxurious – and I tend to press it on in small amounts rather than baste myself.
With the oil, I tend to concentrate on drier areas – calves, arms, lower back – but on tum, bum, thighs and chest I tend to use the firming serum first after which press the oil on over the top. Just as I would on my face, I suppose – it’s like a facial but on a larger scale.
Face Prep
With body prep, I appear to have adopted a full self-prescribed Anne Sémonin routine, but with face prep things have been quite different. I like to find products that can easily slip into any skincare line-up therefore i mixed and matched the following things with my usual cleansers, serums and moisturisers.
I are saying that the key consideration for just about any summer skin routine needs to be helping to protect it against the sun. Safety is the priority and soft, toned, glowing skin is really a bonus. So a daily SPF, then (I’ve used Anne Sémonin’s Oligo Protect Cream SPF30) but also the brilliant Phytarosa Serum, which has been formulated to help build up the skin’s own protection before exposure to the sun and give a natural, sunkissed glow. This oil is really deeply moisturising and a great little booster to apply in the mornings either before SPF or on its own, if you’re not going to be basking within the Bahamas or spending a long time outdoors. It has actually been designed for very dry, damaged skin like a deep repair treatment, therefore it leaves it incredibly soft and also the macadamia nut oil and beta carotene helps you to build up a beautiful colour.
The Phytarosa almost includes a very (very) gradual self-tan impact on me – when I used it for some months last year, I definitely saw a more even colour on my face. And I don’t really expose my face to the sun very much at all, nowadays – I’m usually to be found hiding beneath an enormous hat, if I’m anywhere hot. (See holiday photos!)
But for any less gradual glow (and i'm a fan of very gradual things – I'm afraid instant, un-wash-off-able tans and anything permanent!) there’s this nifty spritz-on-bronze called – very simply – Glow.
Now this bi-phase complexion enhancer is absolutely not supposed to be sprayed directly onto the skin, but I’ve never been one for following rules and I think that it works perfectly this way! You have to be ready to work quickly, if that’s what you’re doing, because it’s similar to spraying on a concentrated liquid bronzer, but dab it in with a makeup sponge on top of a dewy base and it works a treat.
Or straight onto freshly-applied moisturiser and press in – it gives a gorgeous bronze sheen. Subtle but chic. You’re designed to apply with a cotton wool pad (shake the bottle thoroughly before use) and swipe it on pre-moisturiser, but why waste it on cotton wool? I much prefer the direct approach!
There’s no residue with Glow and it’s shimmer-free, although the colour pigments are very clever and reflect light to provide a brilliant luminosity. No transferring, no sparkling, only a healthy – buildable – tan that can be removed with cleanser after the day. But I’m focusing on the instant, visible effects here when I should really mention the skincare benefits, because that’s what sets Glow apart from other wash-off tans; it’s more “concentrated essence with added tan” than “tan with benefits”. Despite it feeling almost weightless on the skin, it’s actually a bi-phase formula – the oil base contains nourishing tomato seed, buriti and apricot kernel oils and then the water part is super-charged with anti-oxidants to help protect the skin and enhance its natural tan.
I’ve also been spritzing a little Glow into my palm and mixing with my moisturiser for a very easy (though far more subtle) fix.
Ooh – I’ve gone slightly off with my order of service, here, as this should have come first, but I’ve also been using the Anne Sémonin Exfoliating Mask every other day whilst performing my body system shower-serum-oil routine. I’ve used this before, a great deal, so I’m no stranger into it, but it’s a great one for gently brightening and de-clogging your skin.
It’s a clay mask, but not as you know it – more foamy and light than your typical chisel-it-off kaolin affair – also it leaves my face feeling soft and deep-cleansed with no harsh scrubbing or stripping. Red seaweed exfoliates away the dead skin cells on the surface of the skin and the kaolin absorbs excess oil and you may actually tweak the effects of this mask depending on how long you leave it on for – a few momemts will leave skin brighter and smoother, especially with a bit of a massage before you rinse off, but for a more purifying treatment the mask could be left on for up to ten minutes.
I’m very impatient when it comes to masks and I like the fact that I can take this one off early basically need to – a good massage directly into get the little beads of algae sloughing away and then I’ve turned a nose and mouth mask fail into an exfoliation triumph.
So there: face and body prep done. Now I need to go and do my other type of prep which isn’t hair removal (I just do a once over with your garden strimmer when things get too beyond control) but is, in fact, wardrobe-cleansing. Bag of stuff for charity, distraught bikini bottoms in to the recycling bin at Sainsbury’s (that's for cloth, isn’t it?!) plus some laughably small Diane Von Furstenburg dresses to the dress agency.
You can find all Anne Sémonin products online online here – they are also stocked in Harrods and their treatments are in 200 luxury spas worldwide. (Find your nearest here.) I still haven’t had an Anne Sémonin treatment but almost booked a holiday solely based on the fact they were built with a spa at the resort, so it’s merely a matter of time! I shall report back…
Anne Semonin are offering readers 25% off all Anne Sémonin products for five days! Please use code RUTH25 whenever you place your order.
