Nadine Baggott Shares Her Beauty Dozen
For Moisturiser...
For many years, hyaluronic acid loaded serums were expensive and often, quite frankly, not worth the money being charged. Now Japan’s No1 best-selling line has hit Amazon, and is in English language packaging to make things easier. This Hado Labo Lotion No1 is the classic three molecular weights HA and is brilliant value and suits all skin types and genders and ages. It sold out over the summer as it’s so good but it comes back in September. While you’re on the site, look at the night version with Retinol and the lovely lightweight gel moisturisers.
For A Good Quality Retinol…
Paula’s Choice 1% Retinol Resist is such great first retinol. It’s 1% so at a good strength, in a lightweight easily absorbed lotion and crucially in an airtight, lightweight pump bottle. Retinol is a derivative of vitamin A and a great ingredient to use at night to help repair sun damaged and ageing skin. Don’t waste your money on granactives or ‘natural’ plant-based retinol alternatives, go for the real deal, and this, in my opinion, is it.
For Skin Pigmentation…
I swear by IPL Treatment. I have tested a lot of new generation lasers over the past ten years and still come back to IPL (Intense Pulsed Light). Not technically a laser as it’s a broader wavelength, but there’s nothing like it to zap sun damage, pigmentation and age spots. I grew up in the seventies and no one knew how bad the sun was for your skin. One treatment of IPL (which stings like being splashed with hot fat, I cannot lie) and the pigmentation turns dark brown and, over the coming week, migrates to the surface of the skin where it flakes away. Oh, the satisfaction is wonderful. You have to stay out of the sun or the pigmentation comes back, but no self-respecting beauty expert puts their face or chest back in the sun after having laser. By the way, this is the same technology that zaps unwanted hair too. IPL really was, and remains, a game changer in beauty. I often go to the Mallucci Clinic but on a budget, I would go to any SK:N clinic nationwide.
For Cleansing Skin…
Can I share a secret with you? I never double cleanse; eventhough I wear all the liner and mascara I can get my hands on. The reason is because I team a rinse off cream cleanser with warm water and a microfiber cloth and one cleanse gets rid of everything, gently and quickly, leaving my skin soft, hydrated and clean. Your Good Skin’s Nourishing Hot Cloth Cleanser is my favourite – it’s basically in the vein of Liz Earle’s iconic Cleanse and Polish but without all the essential oils, so better for sensitive skin types.
For A Supercharged Skincare Regime...
These Primark PS Make-Up Remover Cloths sell like hotcakes when they’re in stock, (I hear that I am often to blame) but essentially, they are super soft face cloths that super charge any cleanser that you use. They work with just water, but I prefer to team them with a gel or cream cleanser and use a fresh one every day. You can find lots of expensive versions but these are the best. I was in Chicago last week and tried to use the hotel flannel and it felt like sandpaper in comparison.
Available in store
For Pollution Protection…
Skinceuticals CE Ferulic is probably the most expensive thing I put on my face/neck/chest, but it’s my first line of pollution defence all year-round. I fly with it, take it on holiday, wear it most days in London – it’s just a great, stable vitamin C serum that doesn’t irritate or tingle, just protects and brightens my skin. It’s an investment but worth it in the long term, especially if you live and work in a polluted city as I do.
For Flawless Foundation…
For decades, I wore mineral make-up and still do on my days off, but IT Cosmetics CC Cream is my game face foundation. It’s not really a CC cream, rather a full coverage foundation with mineral SPF50 in it. It’s just a shame it doesn’t come in more shades. It hides everything, blends beautifully and looks great on the camera. It was created by the Founder of IT Cosmetics, Jamie, to conceal her rosacea, so I recommend it to anyone with less than clear skin.
For Smooth Hair…
I know the Dyson Sonic Hairdryer is a lot of money but it’s brilliant; lighter, more powerful, more air, less heat, so it’s easier to use and better for your hair. I really didn’t want to love it as much as I do but whenever I use a bog-standard dryer now, it’s like going back to a dial phone as opposed to an iPhone (you just wonder how you coped with anything so archaic).
For At Home IPL…
Philips Lumea is a brilliant at-home IPL machine for hair removal. This gadget has been around for years now and it really works. Philips have a love/hate relationship with me because I mention it all the time but always advise to buy the cheapest version you can, and get it on sale too during those mad Black Friday/Monday events. The light technology is the same if you spend £200 or £600, so shop wisely. The light wave targets the melanin pigment in your hair and heats and heats and destroys the cells in the hair follicle. Over time you get finer, softer and the less hair. A brilliant investment.
For Treating Spots…
Paula’s Choice 2% BHA Gel is a great SOS on the spot, ingrown hair gel. It is 2% salicylic acid, (the acid that is oligophillic), in other words it’s attracted to oil so gets into pores. This makes it great for blackhead and spots, breakouts and even ingrown hairs. The gel also means that it stays in place on the spots. There is a lotion that’s good for larger areas and a body spray for body breakouts.
For Finishing Powder…
Unlike most on Instagram and YouTube I like a demi matte finish as it’s more flattering on older skin. This Beauty Pie One Powder Wonder is my go-to, it’s an uber translucent powder. It’s also pressed, so easy to travel with and give soft focus finish, never ashy or cakey. Also, because it’s genuinely translucent it suits all skin colours.
For Full-Fat Lashes…
I like what I call a stripper lash; in other words, don’t make me choose length, or volume, or curl, or depth of colour, I want it all from one mascara, and to be able to apply layer after layer without clumps or smudging. Benefit’s Bad Gal Bang formula is the holy grail of mascaras. It transforms even the finest, shortest and palest lashes, yet melts away easily at the end of the day if you use a cream cleanser and cloth.
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