A daily skin care regime is crucial to keeping your skin looking and feeling its best, especially with colder months approaching. This is because the cold wind, rain and snow can play havoc with your skin’s hydration causing irritability, dryness and even contributing to the appearance of ageing. Therefore, to counteract the elements, you should try to ensure that you adhere to your skin care routine and drink plenty of water to keep yourself hydrated from the inside out.
Exfoliation
The usual skin care routine will begin with a gentle exfoliation to remove dead skin cells and leave your face feeling smooth and prepped ready for the next step of your regime. You needn’t spend a lot of money on expensive facial exfoliation scrubs as you can make one easily at home with ingredients you will be able to find in your store cupboard. A simple facial scrub may contain granulated sugar, natural yoghurt and honey. Simply dampen your face and then rub the mixture into your skin before rinsing off with warm water.
Cleansing
Once you have removed any surface cells from your skin, you will be ready to cleanse it. You can do this with a mild soap solution, warm water or even milk. However, you should be careful during winter to not over cleanse by washing your face too many times as this can also contribute to dryness and irritability.
Toning
You can tone your face with a gentle store bought toner or rose water, to give your skin a finished look giving it a gentle glow. Toning your skin can also help to combat the signs of ageing by helping the skin to be taught and less saggy.
Face masks
Once a week or so, you should aim to apply a face mask to your skin for a short while, to allow the nutrients to go into the layers of your dermis. You needn’t spend a lot of money though, as you can again use your kitchen ingredients to concoct an effective yet gentle face mask to rebalance your skin. Mashed bananas or avocados work especially well when applied like this. Although, you can also use a mixture of milk and honey with a small amount of turmeric too, if you prefer.
Moisturise
It’s important to thoroughly moisturise your face at least once a day, but twice if possible, especially during the cooler months. This is to help to prevent the skin from drying out and chaffing and chapping. If you have a plain moisturiser, you could try adding a few drops of essential oil to it, lavender for example, would be useful for soothing the skin and helping to ease you into sleep at night time.
Facials
Even if you religiously follow a skin care routine, blemishes and breakouts can still appear, not to mention seasonal dryness and dehydrated skin raring its head from time to time. One of the nicest, and most effective, ways to counteract any damage is with a nourishing facial. It really will work wonders not only to rehydrate and soften your skin, but also to rebalance your senses and soothe your tired or stressed out mind.
There are many fantastic types of facials offered at the spa at the Montcalm London, whereby you can choose a tailored facial routine dependent upon what is bothering your skin. For example, you might think your skin has become dull looking and so opt for a brightening facial, whilst if you have noticed slight signs of aging, you might want to book an anti-aging treatment instead. If you’re unsure which one to book, simply call and request some advice, the receptionist should be able to either point you in the right direction of the perfect facial for you, or ask somebody who can.
If you really want to push the boat out, then there really is no better excuse for a spa trip than to let your skin get some much needed nourishment and rehydration. There are many great deals to be found online, even if you’ve left it to the very last minute to book. Simply hop onto Google and tap in a simple search like, ‘top spa hotel London deals and the search engine will display an array of options for you to consider. Once you’ve picked your hotel and room options, you will usually be presented with an opportunity to book additional spa treatments too, this is an opportune time to book a facial, massage or even a spray tan to give you a bit of colour during the bleak winter months. All that’s left to decide then is how you will travel to the city and what to pack in your suitcase!
If you’re travelling to a London spa, then the last thing you will want to do is to get all stressed out trying to navigate through rush hour traffic and being stung by congestion charges. Instead, a more pleasurable way to travel to London is by rail, since you can enjoy reading a book or magazine during the journey as opposed to being cut up on roundabouts or taking the wrong turning! There is also a fixed ticket charge rather than guessing how much fuel your vehicle will consume, and how many pit stops at service stations you will need to make to purchase coffee to keep you awake whilst driving. Since the main terminal for rail passengers is Paddington, the onward journey to your hotel is made simple by the adjoining tube station in Paddington too. This means that the entire journey from start to finish should be smooth and stress-free- the perfect way to begin a spa break!
