Beauty: My top ten hits for 2022
From the magic gadget to the spa that helps me really switch off, here’s my roundup of this year’s beauty gamechangers. You heard it here first...
1. A beautiful way to recycle
Space NK is set to make sustainability easier as it partners with Handle (handlerecycling.com), a company that repurposes beauty containers into new packaging or its own-brand razors and mirrors. Drop by a Space NK store with your empties from any brand – even those not sold by Space NK – and let them do the heavy lifting for you. To find your nearest branch, head to spacenk.com.
2. The new buzz ingredient
The skincare ingredient of the moment is cica (a shortening of Centella asiatica), an anti-inflammatory medicinal herb with antioxidant properties that help to defend skin against environmental aggressors such as pollution and UV light. Cica has been used for years in Chinese medicine to help heal cuts and burns. It has also made its way into Korean skincare as a calming powerhouse and anti-wrinkle agent. And now the folks at Beauty Pie have incorporated it into its new Happy Face Moisturiser (around £60, or £12.82 for members, beautypie.com) to create a soothing, calming, hydrating cream – it can even help those with rosacea-prone skin.
3. The bar’s the star
Even small changes help on the environmental front, so why not consider switching from bottles and tubes to bars? Just one Eco Warrior Shampoo Bar (£4.50, littlesoapcompany.co.uk) replaces three 250ml liquid shampoo bottles so you’re saving around 600ml water per bar. Plus sales of all the brand’s bars – including shaving and body wash – have saved almost two million single-use plastic bottles and tubes.
4. A top tip for your nails
If you find your cuticle oil a little too greasy, swap it for a body oil. This was a tip given to me by nail artist Julia Diogo (@paintedbyjools_) who favours Keys Soulcare Sacred Body Oil (£25, cultbeauty.co.uk) as a lighter and more easily absorbed option. It’s great at its official job, too.
5. The magic wand for your face
Gadgets are becoming an increasingly key part of facecare – and the new one from LA-based facialist Shani Darden has some impressive results. Her Facial Sculpting Wand (£345, cultbeauty.co.uk) uses vibration therapy (a bit like some of those body massagers you may have seen) to transmit sound waves and target wrinkles by working below the skin surface. There are two head attachments to better serve areas from the neck, chin and forehead to the eyes and nasolabial lines. It isn’t uncomfortable to use but can get a bit ticklish. I’ve seen some pretty impressive results on lines and in firmness. For a video of how to use it, go to shanidarden.com.
6. Breathable make-up? no sweat!
If you don’t like to go without make-up and it’s inhibiting you from hitting the gym, consider reaching for Skin In Motion – a range of cosmetics designed to be worn during exercise that lets skin breathe while also being long-wearing. The formulas are good quality and the sweat-proof Blend It Concealer (£16, skininmotion.com) gives great coverage. Plus the brand happens to be a favourite of the glowy-skinned Natalie Imbruglia and athlete Paula Radcliffe is also a fan. Not that you have to wear make-up for your fitness routine ‒ but if you want to, this has you covered.
7. Upgrade your night-time cleanse
Try a simple trick I was taught by a facialist recently. Just add a drop of lavender essential oil to the cuff of a flannel and it’ll give your evening routine an even more relaxing vibe. I like Tisserand Lavender Pure Essential Oil (from £7.50, tisserand.com).
8. The stay-fresh flannel
We’re all increasingly aware of germs these days, so consider upgrading your flannel to Mela’s Clean Silver Face Towel (£20, melacomfort.co.uk). Woven with silver, it naturally repels harmful bacteria so the cloth is better and cleaner for the skin – yet feels as soft and fluffy as any plush alternative. Plus, as it stays fresher for longer, it needs to be laundered less, saving on water and energy consumption, too.
9. Try a different kind of plunge
Aire Ancient Baths is a totally relaxing and transporting space. Housed in the atmospheric vaulted cellars of a neoclassical townhouse in London’s West End, you’ll find a series of thermal pools from warm to cool, a steam room and there’s the option for a massage, too. No mobile phones are allowed so you can switch off as you swim and wallow your way to calm. Sessions (from £90 for 90 minutes, beaire.com) are timed and you’re gently told when to re-emerge into the outside world. It’s very romantic and full of couples but I went with a friend and we didn’t feel out of place.
10. Say adieu to your tattoo
…if you want to, that is. Naama Studios (in Great Portland Street, London W1) has introduced LightSense, a laser technology that offers effective but gentler-to-skin ink removal (from £159, naamastudios.com). It means you stagger your treatments over a shorter time period than other removal methods and still gain incredible results. Its website has impressive before-and-after photos but remember, in my view at least, you’re always left with a bit of a ghost – however faint – from your tattoo past.
