5 SURPRISING BEAUTY BENEFITS OF LOCKDOWN
Not all of these will appeal if you’re taking Zoom meetings, have only recently started living with your partner or fancy your flatmate, but going easy on the beauty practices during lockdown can actually be very beneficial in the long term. If you haven’t embraced these beauty silver linings yet, there’s no time like the present.
LET YOUR EYEBROWS GROW
Want to see what your eyebrows might have to offer after diligently plucking them since you were 15?! Well now you can let them GROW!!! I managed this about 13 months ago after doing a Panchakarma for a month and, although my eyebrows are naturally quite sparse, I was able to let them grow and reshape them when I got back from India. I’m in the middle of growing them again now — there were about 2 weeks when I almost apologised to anyone tuning in to my Insta Lives as they looked so scrappy, but eyebrows which grow in a life cycle of 5-7 weeks means that all the hairs at different stages of the cycle are all starting to catch up with each other so they look a bit more au naturel than partially attacked by tweezers. I’ve also started applying castor oil to my eyebrows and lashes, which many people swear by as a traditional treatment for conditioning these facial hairs and making them grow stronger and thicker. I’ve known about this for a while but it’s taken me ages to find my castor oil. Will update you when I’ve fully tested this treatment out!
A HAIRY SITUATION
Let those body hairs grow wild! If only for the sake of saving money and the fact that beauty salons have closed shop during lockdown or for saving the time and inconvenience if you carry out this kind of maintenance yourself, or even just to celebrate your hairy self! It’s all the rage now don’t you know? Not to mention you’ll save yourself razor burns, ingrown hairs and other unfortunate side effects of depilation.
LET YOUR SKIN AND NAILS BREATHE!
Take off that varnish and away with the maquillage — it’s holiday time for your skin and nails. My STILL London nails grew out nicely so I was able to cut them off a week or so into lockdown — thank goodness, as I’m not sure how I would have removed them with no salons open! The toes have been bare since then too and the yellow haze of constant nail varnish wearing over the past year is slowly bleaching out as I potter around in my sunny veg patch and only Nick, the dogs and the garden will be seeing these tootsies for the foreseeable future anyhow.
Makeup-wise I might slick on some concealer and dab on some cheeks for the camera and my Insta Lives but a bit of camera phone filter and lighting will do the hard work so my skin doesn’t have to take the flack — and I reckon my complexion is at least one shade darker now thanks to all this extra daylight, so we all may need to rethink the concealer shade at some point before we head back into the big wide world.
MAKE YOUR OWN BEAUTY PRODUCTS
Oaty yoghurt scrubs and honey face masks are messy (and delicious) and lockdown may well have given us the opportunity to actually rest while you’re wearing a face mask (you know, that bit on the instructions that we ignore while we multitask wearing a face mask and hanging the washing).
WASH YOUR HAIR LESS
I used to have to wash my hair at least every other day, if not every day when I was modelling. Some hairstylists wanted it squeaky clean, for obvious reasons and while others preferred it more like a day old, you couldn't really rock up with hair that had been hairsprayed and backcombed to within an inch of its life from a previous job. When I changed profession some10 years ago I was able to finally give my hair a break and a good chop, and cut out all the damaged hair from all that teasing. During lockdown I’ve been trying out those new “no wash” shampoos that are supposed to be better for you and the environment as they don’t strip your hair. They do require a grace period for your hair to adjust so now’s the perfect time to try them out. Again will update you on my thoughts!
TEST DRIVE THAT NATURAL DEODORANT
As well as letting my skin breathe, and giving my scalp a rest from shampoos, I’ve also been a bit lax about the deodorant — after all... who’s sniffing? If there was ever a time to go au naturel it’s now. Having said that, now is also a good time if you’ve been wanting to switch to a more natural deodorant but been too scared to take the leap. Again, what better time than the present!!! If you end up a little stanky with your first choice, it’s no harm no foul (even if your cohabitators might give you the… ahem… stink eye for a few weeks). Don’t waste the deodorant, but next time you try a new one, it might just stick. For the record, I like Aurelia Skincare Botanical Cream Deodorant and Nuud’s “fresh armpits worldwide”. They cost more than your average deodorant but when you really look at the potential health risks from the aluminium that many commercial brands contain, you might think twice about what concerns you more… Nuud actually only needs applying every few days so it’s worth a try, and my bestie holistic makeup artist and beauty expert Sjaniel Turrell swears it works even better than the semi-natural ones that still contain some chemicals for increased performance.
BANK THAT SUNLIGHT
Vit D is all important and we need to get the sunlight on our skin and in our eyes. During spring when sunshine is still haphazard, those working from home can quickly make a break for it when those rays do peak out — grab your kids, your pets, yourself, throw open the window and bathe in them for a few minutes, or make for the streets, but keep to the 2-metre distance please! Take care with strong sunlight — and remember that clouds and a cool breeze still allow those sun rays through. If you want to enjoy the sun and hang out in it, the recommendation from health experts for an average sunny day is to keep it before 11 a.m. and after 4 p.m., but do use your judgement and knowledge of your skin on this one — if you burn easily opt for a higher SPF on your face for your one-hour outdoor walking/exercise time.
GET STUCK INTO THE AYURVEDIC DAILY ROUTINE
From self-Abhyanga (vital during these stressful times!) and that 20-minute oil pulling sesh for oral health that you’d been putting off (because how could you possibly before work???) to making sure you get that daily meditation in, now is the perfect time to build your daily Dinacharya. Integrate some healthy habits gradually (don’t forget to Tongue Tingle!), and you’ll soon observe how much better you feel when you live according to the rhythms of nature.
GET YOUR BEAUTY SLEEP
Have you been getting an extra hour of slumber in, or even 30 minutes, since lockdown started? Guys, beauty sleep is free… and it works! When you sleep better, your skin looks healthier, your eyes less puffy, even your hair can be strengthened — and forget the highlighter, you naturally GLOWWWW.