Your Beauty SOS!

YOUR BEAUTY SOS!

Help! Your hair’s a ball of frizz, your skin’s scaly, and your face has seen better days. If you’re looking – and feeling – like a frazzled mess, then it’s time for a beauty SOS.

Winter plays havoc with your hair and skin – central heating, hot baths and thick scratchy wool jumpers seep moisture from your body and leave you looking dull and tired.

But let’s face it, the days when you could lock yourself in the bathroom for hours on end, buffing away dry skin, slathering on exotic potions and wrapping your hair in a deep moisturising mask are long gone. These days you’re lucky if you get your teeth brushed and your hair washed before you leave the house – and the only thing you’re likely to find in the bathroom cabinet is some nappie wipes and a rubber duck.

But if you could find the time to get yourself back to your old self again, you would, wouldn’t you?

With just a few spare minutes every day, you could leave yourself looking and feeling scrumptious. Here’s our Beauty SOS to get you looking fresh and glamorous again:

Body SOS
If your skin’s dry and flaky, there are plenty of ways of getting it soft, supple and glowing again.

Swap your moisturiser for a product that gives your winter-white skin some colour. Johnson’s holiday skin will give you a gentle glow without making you look like you’ve been tangoed – and with no waiting around for a fake tan to develop. £6.99 for 400ml.
If your bath water is so hot you can hardly get in, you’ll be stripping your skin of even more moisture. Keep baths and showers warm rather than scalding.
No time to get a leg wax or shave? Reduce the need to shave by applying a hair minimising cream, such as Boots Botanics Hair Minimising Lotion (£4.49, Boots). It softens the hairs and makes them seem finer.
Still got stretch marks? Try Elancyl Stretch Mark Concentrate £14.95, Boots. Alternatively, try Bio Oil, which reduces stretch marks, £8.95 for 60ml.
If you’re still struggling to shed any post-baby weight, then do as the stars do and cheat! Nancy Sorrell swears by her girdle, which she claims helped her get back into modelling underwear just a few months after giving birth to twins. Try the Slimming Belt (£39.99 from play.com), which claims to help you lose more than an inch of fat in less than a month if you wear it six days a week.

Hair SOS
Summer sun, hurried hairdrying and central heating can leave your hair dry, frizzy and lank. But it doesn’t take long to get hair looking in tip-top condition again.

Get a new cut that’s easy to look after. If you’re not sure what suits you, you can try out new hairstyles risk-free at HQ Hair.com, ukhairdressers.com or lookfantastic.com. But however tempting it is to get it all chopped off, try to keep some length in it, says top hairdresser Jonny Engstrom, Art Director at Guy Kremer salon in Winchester, as it softens and frames your face.
If your hair is crying out for some moisture, try a detox shampoo such as Trevor Sorbie Mg Detox Shampoo, £4.99 for 250ml. Follow with a deep moisturising mask: Aussie 3 Minute Miracle does exactly what it says on the tin, and nourishes desperate hair in just three minutes. £4.99. Do this very three weeks and your hair will thank you for it.
Been dashing around and have had no time to wash your hair? Try a dry shampoo, which you spray in your hair to get rid of the grease. Batiste Dry Shampoo, £2.09.

Face SOS
After having a baby, your skin rarely goes back to the way it was before, so your old creams probably won’t do the trick any more.

Banish puffy, tired eyes with Origins Eye Doctor. It reduces puffiness and dark circles. £21, Origins.co.uk
Make dark circles disappear instantly with the Body Shop’s Lightening Touch – it works in the same way as celeb’s favourite Touche Eclat – but only costs £11 – half the price! It covers dark circles and leaves you looking awake.
If you don’t even have the time for mascara every morning, consider getting your eyelashes dyed at a local beauty salon recommends Sarah Jagger, The Baby Channel’s Chief make-up artist and beauty director for Beautyzone TV. ‘You won’t need mascara for a few weeks,’ she says.
If you’re looking pale and tired, give your face an instant glow with a tinted moisturiser, such as Nivea Visage Young ‘Be Beautiful’ Tinted Moisturiser, £4.95 for 75ml, or Botanics Instant Glow Tinted Moisturiser, £3.99, Boots.
If your skin is lacking radiance, try Revlon Skinlights all over your face, says Sarah Jagger. ‘It contains vitamins A, C and E to nourish and protect the skin.’