The summer sun and heat are great fun, but they can also pose major threats to your body. British skin care specialist Liz Earle outlines a hot weather strategy to battle these potential enemies on several fronts.
Daily dry skin brushing is valuable for boosting the blood and lymph circulation and helping to detox the system from within. She advises using a long-handled brush, and "concentrate on hips and thighs, before your morning bath or shower."
Earle, who has developed her own range of "naturally active" skincare products, suggests adding the contents of a capsule of natural-source vitamin E, a powerful antioxidant, to sun cream and after-sun treatments to help speed skin cell recovery. It's a good idea to keep a small bottle of lavender oil on hand, to add to warm bath water for a "soothing aromatherapy soak."
She also recommends keeping an aloe vera plant growing on your kitchen window sill. The plant contains a form of sugar that can moisturize and rejuvenate the skin; and if you snip off a leaf and extract the sap, it can be used on sunburn or minor wounds.
