By HANNAH BETTS, BEAUTY COLUMNIST & FEATURE WRITER, INSPIRE MAGAZINE
Daily Mail journalists select and curate the products that feature on our site. If you make a purchase via links on this page we will earn commission - learn more
How's your skin looking? Yup, mine too. After not one but four heatwaves, with more potentially pending, every woman I know is suffering from some sort of rash, welt or eruption. Midlife summer skin sensitivity: the pain is real.
I scratch my neck in the night, leaving marks that make it look as if I've been savaged by wolves. My hands have broken out into contact dermatitis brought on by soap irritation plus swelter. Happily, I know exactly how to cure these blights. Read on, sisters, and let me be your guide.
Reducing redness
The first thing is to bring down the redness accompanying any flare-up, be it allergy or acne. I give you my discovery of the summer: Dr Jart+'s newly reformulated Cicapair Soothing Color Correcting Treatment SPF 30 (from £29, spaceNK.com).
Before its August 1 relaunch, one of these K-beauty wonder unguents sold every 21 seconds.
The new version is packed with centella asiatica (known as 'Tiger Grass' and abbreviated to 'cica'), Korean skincare's redness-reducing miracle ingredient.
The improved version also boasts CoolSonic™ Tech, which breaks cica into smaller particles for improved absorption, plus SPF 30 mineral protection, greater skin barrier support via allantoin and peptides, a beautifully blendable texture, plus 12-hour, long-wear endurance.
Rosacea Society-approved, this cream calms and conceals rashes, sensitivity or spots, serving as skincare, sun shield and make-up - or, in my case, luminous, lustre-imparting primer. This ensures high-tech, gorgeously glowy brilliance and I'm hooked.
Soreness
More generally, my solution when my skin turns neurotic is Avène's Tolérance Extremely Gentle Cleanser (now £11.58, superdrug.com). Next, I deploy Avène's ultra-gentle Tolérance Control Soothing Skin Recovery Cream (now £16.78) for repeat coatings wherever is pained and/or peeling.
The best irritation-allaying SPF 50 is glow-inducing, redness-combatting Heliocare 360° A-R Emulsion SPF50+ (now £21.99, boots.com), which works fabulously even on rosacea. I've also fallen for Bioderma Cicabio Crème+ SPF50 (now £8, boots.com), which soothes even broken skin while protecting it from further damage (allowing no post-injury hyperpigmentation). It has been heaven on my irritated throat and hands.
Tackling pores
For the first time, I've had gappy pores on my nose; not constantly, but enough for me to appreciate the genius of Dcypher's new Blur Balance Primer (£25, dcypher.com). It smooths over pores while providing serious grip for foundation, looking velvety rather than arid.
Sorting out spots
Target sweat-induced pimples via Skin Choice Breakout Patches in Classic (£6.99 for 30, amazon.co.uk). These ultra-thin, transparent dots cure and conceal spots fast. If you've succumbed to squeezing, opt for Starface Hydro-Star Recovery Patches (£10.99 for 32, superdrug.com). These are purple, so not incognito, but seriously help healing.
Concealment
The Vieve Skin Nova Complexion Balm (£34, vievebeauty.com) skincare/foundation hybrid boasts niacinamide to improve uneven tone, and polyglutamic acid to reduce the appearance of enlarged pores and wrinkles. Skin looks plushly, plumply perfected.
Banishing bugs
On holiday I shall be taking no chances with Bodyguard (£12.90, bodyguardprotect.co.uk), a freshly scented mosquito repellent making waves across the channel. There are six incarnations, including Sensitive and Bébé, all suitable for faces.
Five endless summer scents
- No Amalfi Coast this summer? Let its lemon groves, sun, sand and sea come to you.
- The tender iris, ambrette seed and white musk hit; now in solid guise; refills £36 for two.
- A potent paean to vetiver: peppery; then yielding to moss; resin and velvety tonka bean.
- Warm fig; sea salt and saffron on a cedarwood and patchouli base. Greenly refreshing.
- Beachy coconut; blooming cyclamen; mimosa and tiare; on a buttery; woody base.
Finally, I have discovered the hair product I've always dreamed of. As someone who demands their locks feel silky, not crunchy, weird and alien, styling products can be lamentably thin on the ground. Formulated as an everyday version of Philip Kingsley's best-selling Elasticizer (from £21, philipkingsley.com), the pre-wash mask created for Audrey Hepburn; this award-winning Damage Defence Leave-In Conditioner (£21) is a godsend. Wielded on wet or dry strands; it provides instant nourishment. I use it to rescue my damp; frizzy; post-bath hair before bed. Come morning; I wake to soft; bouncy; shapely tresses. Life changing.