As I was just on holiday in Cyprus I thought it best to test what the beauty world has to offer in terms of products made for those beach get-a-ways. Products to help us control and perfect our holiday beauty.
It can be very difficult to achieve, or get right, natural looking holiday beauty, especially in a place that reaches over 40 degrees Celsius! There are many products that claim to help us a long the way, but these are a few I picked that helped me try to look gorgeous, when really all I want to do is jump in the pool and shave off my hair it was so hot!
Being a huge fan of the miniature (every product just looks so much more appealing in tiny sized versions of itself) they make perfect travel essentials. The brand that has the perfect selection of take away, holiday products I have come to adore is Mac. Their Sized To Go collection comprises of everything a girl needs to beautify while away – and also maybe a few things, you didn’t know you needed. My favourite product from the collection is the Fix +. A spritzer for the face infused with green tea, cucumber and chamomile to refresh and energise the skin. I have been took this to the beach with me and don’t think I could have lived without it. 5/5 Other products from the collection, such as the Oil Control Lotion and Strobe Cream – products I would normally over look – also make for great companions.
Mac Fix + from Sized To Go Collection, £7, available from Maccosmetics.co.uk
Although Cyprus is the perfect place to relax and catch some rays, those romantic evening meals can be ruined by the constant irritation from biting insects. I have yet to find an insect repellent that works over there, but one product that helps get rid of the swelling and redness is Banalasta’a Instant Scratch, Bite and Sting Rescue. Mostly made up from homegrown eucalyptus radiate, this little Australian product has helped me relieve the pain and itchiness from the little flying things we call mosquitos. This product is also a handy size that fits in any little bag, even if your mobile phone doesn’t. The aromatic smell can be a little over powering, so I recommend applying the oil to your bites outside. 4/5
Banalasta Instant Scratch, Bite and Sting Rescue, £14.95, available from oxygetonline.co.uk
No holiday is complete without lying in the sun and getting a bit of healthy colour to our skin, but no suitcase, ready to embark on a trip to a hot climate is complete without a heafty supply of Aftersun. A moisturiser with Aloe Vera it may be, but this go to holiday product must leave your skin, nourished and silky smooth, without being sticky, greasy or just damn right smelly. My ultimate favourite is Garnier Ambre Solaire Hydrating Milk. Simple, but oh so affective, this product does exactly what it says it does – don’t you just love a product like that! What I love most is that it cools my skin and helps slightly over exposed pink areas turn into a dark golden tan. 5/5
Garnier Solaire Aftersun Skin Soothing Hydrating Milk, £10.20 for 400ml, available at Boots
When on holiday, the other area, apart from our skin that gets a little frazzled is our hair. Sun, wind, and lets not forget sweat, all can make our hair dry and loose its natural body, and don’t forget that humidity that likes to make us look as though we just been shocked with 500 volts.
There are many, many holiday hair survival products, here I have tested some on the market.
My mother taught me young that when you come out the pool or the sea and you are about to lie in the sun and fry, you not only have to put on SPF, but condition your hair. Combing through with conditioner would allow your hair to dry smoothly and not shrivel. Sometimes a spray bottle with beach waves, would be used, but they usually just make your hair smell rather nice and do not do much else, however, Bumble and Bumble Surf Spray left my hair feeling soft, nourished as well as smelling great. My hair can feel very coarse after the sea, but this spray not only nourished it styled also – my hair was volumised and had great texture. I will never leave for the beach without it. 5/5
Bumble and Bumble Surf Spray, £19, available from Space NK
The sun can lighten our hair. We all know this. From March onwards, its all about going lighter and during those dark winter months we lust after hair to match. But some of us like the colour we are working with. A product that is meant to safeguard colour is Charles Worthington Takeaways Sun-Shine UV Protection Conditioner. I have to mention that this product did infact condition my hair, very well indeed, but helping to protect from the suns lightening, it did not. As part of the Charles Worthington Takeaways collection, it makes for a great beach product – being of its handy size, but when a product claims to do something and is basically just a fancy conditioner, I am not impressed. Nor is my hair, it is two shades lighter. 2/3
Charles Worthington Takeaways Sun-Shine UV Protection Conditioner, £1.99, available from Boots
Another collection that takes a tiny travel size is Lee Stafford Poker Straight. Although my hair is not straight and I barely bother to use an iron, I was attracted a product from the collection due to its name – Lee Stafford’s Poker Straight Dehumidifier. There are so many products that claim to de-frizz your hair but to actually de-humidify, there aren’t many. So I had to try it. Claiming to be like an umbrella for the hair, I found that I would have still got wet. My hair still became over zealous and big, like it tends to do in such climates as Cyprus, but the frizz was lessened. Just a tad. 2.5/5
Lee Stafford Poker Straight Dehumidifier Spray, £5.89, available from Boots
Soon to be published on My Fashion Life.com
