In this season of swimsuits and kaftans, feel good about exposing your body to summer.
It's a bit late to be worrying about getting the perfect bikini body right now (or in my case for a decade or two), but at least having your skin in tip-top condition will make you feel better about exposing some of it for the summer holidays.
If you're really keen on making a last-minute effort to get in shape there's always the boot camp approach to exercise, but I'd rather have a nice gin and tonic in the shade. Before that I'll be doing the hard yards buffing, polishing, hydrating and fake tanning.
Some women faithfully moisturise all over every day, and doubtless their skin benefits from a bit of self-massage, but I save it for when things are starting to look scaly - which coincides with summer and swimming. Applying an oil, lotion or body butter after the shower ensures good absorbency. All the better if you've used a gentle body wash first and then smoothed the surface by exfoliating. (I like to avoid exfoliators with polyethelene added as I see no reason why tiny bits of plastic need to be flushed out to sea when there's perfectly good natural substances that can be used instead).
You can happily find good budget products for daily use, just look out for an uplifting aroma and a non-greasy feel to anything you leave on your skin. (Try the likes of St Ives scrubs, Bio-Oil, and Palmer's body butters, all of which you can find in supermarkets.) For a seasonal treat be a bit more indulgent, though we've included some other value buys here.
Father Christmas might also be slipped the message that you fancy some body products in your favourite fragrance. This avoids you having to use alcohol-based perfumes directly on skin exposed to sunlight, which can result in patches of pigmentation developing. If you are spraying on scent in summer do it out of harm's way or walk through a mist cloud for a light touch.
1. Health Basics Sensitive Skin Soap Substitute Hydrating Gentle Wash $6.10
You won't find a liquid soap substitute much cheaper than this one which is pH balanced, perfume and colourant free. With aloe vera and glycerin, it can be safely used on face, hands and body.
2. Evolu Refreshing Body Wash $25
Light, refreshing after-smell with unisex appeal, which given ingredients including citrus oils, rosewood, juniper and manuka honey is no surprise. Evolu's all-natural ethos and a generous 500ml container with pump make this a practical and appealing option. (Stockists and online at evolu.co.nz.)
Antipodes Nirvana Body Wash is another New Zealand natural wash we rate.
3. The Body Shop Spiced Vanilla Body Lotion $30
Seasonal range for Christmas includes bath and shower gel, scrub, this lotion and a body butter. For a vanilla perfume, this is delicately fragranced, with warm spice notes. There's also a Cranberry Joy collection, which is rather more lolly sweet, but nicely festive looking.
4. Dr Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Daily Body Peel $168
Two-step 30-treatment regime billed as anti-ageing exfoliation. This involves wiping impregnated pads across the skin, each treated with the sort of active ingredients usually reserved for in-clinic use. Pad one contains glycolic, lactic and salicylic acid to clear skin and pad two includes retinol revivers. (From Mecca Cosmetica, Ponsonby Rd and Broadway, Newmarket or see meccacosmetica.co.nz.)
5. Nellie Tier Body Scrub May Chang & Mandarin $38
Lovely smelling sugar-based scrub with almond and apricot oil. Buy the smaller size with a companion body cream as a gift set from this Auckland-based company which still makes its products by hand. (Stockists Smith & Caughey's or see www.nellietier.co.nz.)
6. Nivea Body Touch of Happiness Body Lotion $6.49
With its silky feel and gentle orange flower scent you won't want to skimp on moisturising, and at this price you won't have to. With milk proteins and bamboo extract for nourishment. For skin wanting a little more help, the brand's Body Contouring Cream Q10 ($11.70) offers moisture with firming properties.
7. Mancine Professional Tangerine & Orange Hot Salt Body Scrub $46
Australian sea salts do the exfoliating while marine extracts and plenty of plant oils combine for conditioning in this imported spa range. The big tub of scrub smells a bit like Fanta and is coloured similarly. (Salon stockists ph 0800 223 288)
8. Jurlique Body Exfoliating Gel $64
Walnut shell powder is the exfoliating ingredient and green tea and grape seed are among the botanical extracts in this Australian natural gel, which makes a nice change from digging more solid scrubs out of their tubs. (Stockists: department stores or ph 0800 604 604)
9. Dr Hauschka Lemon Lemongrass Body Oil $47
Uplifting zesty smell from an oil that absorbs superbly. Designed to improve elasticity in skin prone to cellulite. Dr Hauschka's oils and companion washes and lotions include others with relaxing plant properties and buckthorn which is promoted to deter stretch marks.
(For specific department, health store, pharmacy or salon stockists, ph 0508 423 737.)
10. Estee Lauder Body Performance Mani Pedi $66
This rich cream rubs into hands and feet for an at-home mani-pedi paraffin treatment to soothe and soften. Especially effective if applied overnight. (Available from brand counters.)
11. Designer Brands Pomegranate Body Butter $14.99
Fruit-of-the-moment extract mixed with coconut oil to condition skin from a company that says it commissions the same manufacturer as The Body Shop. Also available in a pump for the same price, with other options including mango and olive.
Finishing touches
12. Le Tan Fast Tan Instant no-streak tan in Bronze Glow $22.95
Easy as spray-on that gives instant results and develops darker over time. Le Tan also makes good sunscreens and is the official supplier to our surf lifeguards this summer.
13. Queen of ... Ta-da Shaving Gel $7.95
Shaving with soap isn't such a smart idea, so use something less drying that will also allow for better blading. Smells of eucalyptus and contains aloe. From the British King of Shaves company which also makes, especially for women, a flexi-handle razor at $10.99.
14. Schick Quattro for Women Trim Style $16.30 (four refills $17.10)
At one end it's a four-blade shaver at the other a bikini-line trimmer, making the Trim Style doubly handy. It comes in its own little plastic purse - perfect for packing for that beach holiday - and replacement blades are available. Schick's Intuition Plus ($14.95) is another goodie, with an in-built solid that releases a moisturising lather.
Stockists: Department and variety stores and selected pharmacies or as indicated. Designer Brands pharmacies only. Nivea, Health Basics, Schick, and Le Tan supermarkets also.
Indian immersion
For something a bit different that leaves skin feeling conditioned and you detoxified, a Vishuddi treatment ends with you sitting upright steaming in a little wooden cabinet with only your head out. Before that you are massaged all over with a warmed herbal poultice steeped in medicated oils. This is gently pounded along your body, with the pressure helping the oils absorb.
* $165 for 90 minutes, recommended as a course of six at Spa Ayurda, 213 Ponsonby Rd, ph (09) 360 0007. See spaayurda.co.nz
Rub-a-dub dub
Dry brushing is an exfoliating beauty technique that's really catching on. It involves an all-over run with a brush to stimulate circulation, help break down lumpy bits, promote skin cell turnover and get glow going. Devotees include top Australian model Miranda Kerr who does this daily.
The practice dates back centuries and is used in saunas, spas and bath houses in Europe and Asia. In places like Russia and Turkey it sounds akin to flagellation. Dry brushing is no offered at various New Zealand spas, but it's simple to do at home if you want to give it a try. If you follow the brush down with a shower that includes temperature variation for a further circulation rev up, ending with a quick cold blast, you'll be leaping out to face the day.
You need a good natural fibre brush with a long handle (try pharmacies, health or variety stores). If that sounds too gruelling, start with a soft synthetic brush, loofah or sponge and work your way up to bristles.
Brush all over, using long sweeping movements inward from the fingers and toes and upward along the body. As with massage it is recommended you work towards the heart.
Vary the pressure according to where you are brushing, going harder on bits that can take it and gently over the breasts. Avoid brushing any irritated skin patches.
The rubdown should take 10-15 minutes each day, followed by a shower, a good towelling and then the application of some plant-based oil.
Pax Pacifica
The next best thing to being there is dreaming you are and Pure Fiji's Blissful Journey Ritual does a pretty good job of transporting you. A treatment room heated to tropical temperatures and steeped in the fragrance of exotic flowers is your boarding call for a mini-break from Aotearoa.
Once aboard the massage table you're anointed with Island Bliss oil and soothed with sweeping strokes and gentle kneading, leaving your skin silky smooth. Finally a snooze-inducing facial massage and hot oil gair and scalp treatment gently ground you.
* Available at spas nationwide priced between &130 to $150 for 75 minutes. To find a treatment near you call toll free on 0800 7873 3454. Viva went to About Face, 415 Mt Eden Rd, Ph (09) 623 8400, where there's a range of Pure Fiji treatments on offer. See aboutface.co.nz
