by Chrissy Iley
I spend a lot of time forgetting that I have extremely fair Celtic skin prone to redness if exposed to the wrong moisturiser or the sun.
I try to use moisturiser or foundation with some kind of an SPF but really I should be thinking 50 or 70, not 30 because I wander out and forget to reapply and burn. I have a red chest all year round because of it. I know that this is wrong. I know it is dangerous even.
I have always got too many things on my mind to remember to bring creams out with me. And when I do, they simply explode in my handbag because I forget that they’re there.
That’s why I’m already in love with Murad Essential C Sun Balm with SPF35 (£19.50). It’s the perfect size. Not so tiny that I will lose it in the bowels of my bag, but not so large that I mind carrying it everywhere. I am a fan of Murad and believe that they genuinely produce a quality product.
The balm itself glides on, glows into the skin as it is absorbed. It is easy to carry with you constantly, so you can apply across your nose, cheekbones, chest, all those areas that are suddenly more exposed than you think, at a moment’s notice.
It is only £19.50 and it seems to have other properties that work to seriously nourish skin. It contains broccoli extract and tangerine butter. Broccoli to stimulate a natural defence, tangerine butter to lock in moisture. It really does leave the skin extremely silky. It contains Dr Murad’s new powerful ingredient MuraSol which he is putting in a lot of his products. It is a powerful blend of antioxidants with Vitamins A, C and E, pomegranate extract and hyaluronic acid which also preserves skin elasticity.
I never go out to get a tan so I often find summer a painful time where most of me is white, with a red nose, cheeks and chest. Foundation becomes either too pale or too dark. It has become so difficult that I usually spend summer months veiled by the QMS Sport Active Cream (£66.00), which is their version of a tinted moisturiser, rather oddly named in my case because I’m not sporty at all. Maybe it was initially intended for people who wanted to ski and still keep their face on…
But I’ve just come across Guerlain’s Terracotta Joli Teint (£34.50) which is rather magical. It is a foundation which comes in a choice of shades – I chose the palest, light – but it has a healthy glow in it so you can be pale-skinned and look as if you have been sun kissed. It sounds simple but it’s taken me all of my life to achieve that. Sun kissed in my case invariably means burnt or wearing so much blusher I look like a clown.
It is a super creamy formula that is feather light yet has coverage. It also has SPF20 and it does this clever light diffusion thing that seems to even out the skin and blur any imperfections, wrinkles and pores, to an extent anyway.
More than anything it is believable. It doesn’t look fake. It just makes you look rested and as if you might have been away somewhere sunny.