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Travelling Light (part two): last-minute holiday beauty buys

— by Alyson Walsh

Grace Coddington photo via Pinterest

This has been a week of Greek Guts, sprains and cuts – we’ve almost spent as much time at the local pharmacy as on the beach  – but it’s been wonderful to rediscover the magic of these beautiful islands. At the airport in London, I picked up a Jo Malone Basil & Neroli cologne (Agree with Vicci about Tom Ford’s gorgeous colognes but I’m a tightwad and this is a fraction of the price) which is fresh and lovely and perfect for spritzing. The inspiration for this fragrance is leafy London but to me it smells of summer holidays…

 

 

As kids, on the rare occasions we enjoyed a variety pack of breakfast cereals it felt like the best treat, ever.  For me, this effect can be recreated today with a small collection of bath/shower oils. Always a good thing to take on holiday as, in my very-low-maintenance-opinion, that’s the cleansing and moisturizing done in one. Elemis Life Elixirs Mindful Collection makes everything smell lovely – including the room. Particularly after the Clarity bottle, left open, tipped over in the shower…The Fortitude elixir came in handy after I slipped on the rocks and ended up battered and bruised. The other shower oils in the collection are Calm, Grace and Sleep – and that’s what being on holiday is all about.

To help avoid holiday hair I’ve been using 100 Acres Sage & Lemon Shampoo and Geranium & Clove Conditioner. This natural beauty range is a new discovery (two very generous 100ml bottles swiped from a hotel bathroom earlier this year and saved for summer holiday), products are made in the ‘English Countryside’ and smell delicious.  After a day at the beach, the shampoo really does leave hair feeling squeaky clean. 100 Acres is also available at Liberty. (The smaller 100ml bottles aren’t available but this is good stuff, worth decanting and Muji is good for plastic travel bottles).

At home and away, I use a dollop of Colour Wow’s Bionic Tonic after washing and then leave till almost dry and give my hair a quick whoosh with the dryer. It’s my only kale obsession and it’s brilliant (available HERE).

And finally, never think that it’s better to leave an overdue haircut till after the holiday. It’s not. I’ve spent all week looking like Catweazle

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This has been a week of Greek Guts, sprains and cuts – we’ve almost spent as much time at the local pharmacy as on the beach  – but it’s been wonderful to rediscover the magic…