Unwanted hair

Another curse of getting older is the hair that pops up in unwanted places. I mean, it's not as if I didn't have enough unwanted body hair but jeez. I've talked about my foray into laser hair removal before. Let me give you an update on that since I posted it four years ago. I completed the New York treatment and I would say hair was 80% gone on my legs.

When I moved back to London, a new beauty salon opened opposite my house. Thank god it did. I am in there a lot, let me tell you. It's completely brilliant, small with two awesome therapists who just know what they're dong without it being all la de da intimidating.

I embarked on finishing the leg project with IPL treatment. I am including a link to explain IPL as it does it so much better than me. Good news: it doesn't hurt anywhere near as much as the laser. Lovely cold gel is applied first and it's a breeze in comparison. Having said that, it's not pain-free and the longer you have it done (in one session) the more it hurts as the nozzle gets very hot. I reckon with several of these sessions (specifically on the hair, not the whole leg) I got down to 5%. Which is when my therapist told me the only way to completely get rid of those stubborn last few was electrolysis. The hairs may be stubborn but so am I. I was determined to be hair-free so we have been on that project for the last few months. Yes, my quest for hair-free legs has now been going on for four years!

I've never had electrolysis before. It is still the only guaranteed way to get rid of hair but obviously it's time consuming since each hair is zapped individually. On my legs it's mild pain, nothing too bad (but don't talk to me about toes, I drew the line when she started needling my toes and decided a few odd hairs on my toes can be dealt with thank you very much).

Which leads me on to my current obsession. Chin hair. Oh yes. I have a few, not like a beard or anything but more than none is too many, am I right? I've always tweezered them and not thought anymore about it. This is a no-no. They just come back more fierce than ever. This is actually true. My therapist confirmed it and said she would zap them. This was my third new year's beauty resolution.

The hardest thing about this is that you have to let them be until your appointment. This is really hard when you are borderline obsessed and have tweezers in every room in your house together with magnifying mirrors. Come on, I am not the only one. I have weekly appointments and I've had three treatments. It takes no more than five minutes because your chin is not a large surface area and each week I race across the road, offer up my chin and say ZAP THEM ALL! The relief, I can't tell you.

It barely hurts. Your chin is hardy and if you've been plucking them as I have, it's used to pain. I would almost call it relaxing. If you've never touched your chin then yes, it will hurt. I honestly don't know why it took me so long to do this, it's deeply satisfying and I am so pleased to be on the way to a hair-free chin forever. Any new buggers that come up will be zapped pronto. It's also cheap - £5 a session.

Is it all worth it? Should we just embrace hair and not worry about it? It's up to you, if you do, fair play to you. I am too much of an 80s girl to not care. I was brought up conditioned to want to be smooth and I can't uncondition my mind on this. So, the battle continues but I am winning.

La Roche-Posay Anthelios XL Tinted Fluid SPF 50+

January is a slightly odd time to be discussing sun protection. It's grim out there and I don't think I've seen sunshine this year yet. Yet every expert says we should be wearing SPF all year round and we all know that the sun is bad for our skin and that means January cloud too apparently, it can still damage.

My second new year resolution was to start wearing an SPF. I admit that I don't unless it's scorching on the basis that I work in an office and am not outside all that much. But guess what? I've got a dog now and she needs walking and I find myself outside more.

Do I need SPF 50+? Umm, probably not right now but I do like La Roche-Posay. I picked this up for £17 which is quite reasonable and I like that it's tinted. You can use it instead of a foundation. Because you're not meant to combine your SPF with your moisturiser. This way, it will be the last layer to my routine which is what we're after. Except if you use foundation. It's all very confusing.

I have tried this a couple of times. On the upside, it's very light and a great texture. Downside - it bobbles. Nothing is more frustrating than skincare that bobbles. I am persevering with it because it could be I simply have too many layers of product. Maybe I just need to master it.

Readers, do you use SPF every day? And if so, what do you use and when do you apply it in your routine?

Mio: my new favourite brand

Congratulations, we made it through the first week of January.  25 days to go before February! I have made three beauty resolutions for 2018: to start dry body brushing, to wear an SPF on my face every day, and to stop tweezing nefarious hairs and get them zapped with electrolysis.

Dry body brushing. Every beauty writer raves about it. It's boring to do but I decided to bite the bullet and help my lymphatic system out a bit. I read up about it and this brush from Mio got good reviews. I have used it exactly once so far (it only arrived a few days ago!) So far, so good, yes I could feel my blood pumping a bit and I can see it'll be good for me.

Obviously I did not just order a body brush. I mean, that would be dull and they had a sale on.

This Liquid Yoga bubble soak is astonishingly good. It's perfectly named. If, like me, yoga is not your thing then assuage your guilt and lie in a bath with this in it. No bubbles but it's deeply relaxing and smells like heaven.

Anything that jump starts my mornings is worth investing in at this time of year. This quick start shower gel is very zingy and delicious.

I have mentioned this muscle gel before. I got a little sample a while ago and immediately ordered a full size and I have now bought some more. Post work out - after the above mentioned shower gel, rub this in and your legs feel alive. I am seriously addicted to it. Sometimes it can feel almost too much tingling but it stays just the right side of painful. You will become addicted to this.

I am loving it all. I look forward to reporting back on my new regime soon and wowing you all with my glowiness. More on my other two resolutions in future posts.

Ouai dry shampoo foam

I aspire to be someone who has a blow dry once a week and makes it last. Imagine how blissful life would be if you never had to wash and style your hair again. I was recently in Amsterdam and had the best blow dry ever in a funny little salon which was in the hotel. It was an old-fashioned kind of place with hood hair dryers. The woman was very Dutch in that she listened and then sharply moved my head around, told me off if looked down, and set my hair in rollers after the blow dry. I admit I was a bit scared of what I would look like. Not least because I had to walk straight back into a meeting room afterwards, no time for it to calm down. Basically I looked like something from the 60s and all the better for it. Swingy, shiny, bouncy hair which did settle down but it was a miracle. I waited four days without washing it.

Now, this is a long preamble to say if I'd had this product in my arsenal, I could have made it last even longer. This is a dry shampoo foam. I have yet to find a dry shampoo spray that works for me, it's probably my fault but they all just seem cakey. This is a revelation. work it into roots and you're done.

I like it very much and there is no worry about white, dusty hair. It's £10 from here for 50g which is a generous size can. The 150g must be enormous. It's my first recommended product of 2018! Happy new year to you all.