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Gia Mills works in the world of fashion, celebrity and advertising – as well as doing make-up tutorials and private client work. She counts Keira Knightley, Dervla Kirwan, Beverley Knight, Kevin Spacey, Sir Tom Jones and Annie Lennox among her clients.
After a wonderful, relaxing summer break you can proudly return to work with a glowing, fresh-air invigorated and sun kissed complexion. The stress lines pre-holiday seem to have melted away and spending lots of time outdoors does wonders to your skin. The problem is keeping that glow and not letting the skin ravaging air-con and work-related stress draw all the life out of your face.
Here are few great tips which should be of help:
Air-con
Air-con can be a nemesis for your skin. It causes it to suffer from loss of moisture and lose that lovely plumpness. Even in an office with little fresh air circulating can have similar effects.
- Keep some eye cream in your desk drawer. The mixture of staring at computer screens all day and the dehydrating air-con really puts the strain around the delicate eye area. Dabbing a few drops around your eyes is inoffensive to your colleagues near you, so don’t worry about looking too vain. Try Neal’s Yard Rehydrating Rose Eye Cream (£22).
- To prepare your skin for a day in the office, equip it with a good nourishing and protecting moisturiser. It seems obvious but can sometimes be overlooked. Using one packed with natural ingredients and a good SPF is essential for protecting and nurturing. A great one I have just discovered is Origins’ Brighter by Nature with SPF 35 (£32).
- Liz Earle does the most amazing 40 seconds to two minutes face treatment mask with aloe vera and witch hazel. It is like a supercharged fast working face pack which gives your skin extra plumpness ready for the day in the office. Just pop it on after you have washed your face and perhaps whilst you do your teeth and then wash it off. I use it all the time and it very quickly brings life back into the skin. Liz Earle Brightening Treatment Mask (£12.75).
- The most obvious but utterly utterly essential air-con buster is water. Drinking lots of it and regularly will ensure parched skin is kept at bay. Diet Coke or tea is no substitute.
Stress
There is very little one can say about avoiding stress at work. I would be in world demand if I had the secret to eradicating it. But I can give you a few ideas to consider which may help keep you looking less browbeaten.
- Try lavender hand cream. We all know that lavender has calming properties but using a lightly scented hand cream won’t stink out the office. What’s also great about a hand cream is that the soothing application acts as mini massage. Really massaging your hands to apply the cream and taking big deep breaths allows a few moments of calm to ease some tension. Try L’Occitane lavender hand cream (£12.50).
- An old favourite for stress relief is Bach’s Rescue Remedy, a natural remedy with proven calming effects. It comes in all sorts of guises; from a mouth spray, a tincture or pastilles, so you can be discreet about how you ingest it. It contains the following flower essences: Rock Rose for terror and panic, Impatiens for irritation and impatience, Clematis for inattentiveness, Star of Bethlehem for shock and Cherry Plum for irrational thoughts (www.rescueremedy.com).
- And finally, the best antidote to stress and radiant looking skin… a good nights sleep. No cream or pill can replicate its amazing benefits.
Tags: beauty, Christmas Party Advice, Fashion and Beauty, Gia Mills
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May 28th, 2011 at 9:34 amGia’s Daily Mail Beauty Blog: Tried and Tested – Long stay lipsticks that stay put without trashing your lips - Gia Mills says:
[...] published in Financial Mail Womens Forum on Friday, May 27th, 2011 at 6:00 [...]