While skin care cream is one of the most popular ways of ensuring our skin is kept in tip-top condition, there are other products available that can offer excellent moisturising, protecting and even cleansing. Skin Balms are often overlooked when it comes to skin care products, as they are thought of as heavy, greasy products but this is far from the reality. With some lovely light textures and divine smells along with a powerful punch of active ingredients, skin balms are a fantastic product to have in your skin care regime, even if you only use them occasionally as a boost for your skin.
Bobbie Brown Extra SPF25 Tinted Moisturising Balm
This is perfect for dry or dehydrated skin, but is lightweight so doesn’t leave your skin feeling clogged and heavy. With a slight tint, this balm is an excellent alternative to foundation, and blends in easily and smoothly leaving a beautifully dewy finish, making you skin look younger and radiant instantly. With a high SPF this balm protects your skin from damaging UVA and UVB rays which it moisturises your skin to keep it hydrated.
The Balm Balms Away Eye Makeup Break-Up
This balm is designed to cleanse your skin thoroughly but gently, with a combination of some fantastic ingredients which form a luxurious, vegan skin cleanser and make up remover. With vitamins A, C and E for moisturising, conditioning and nourishing your skin and plant-derived lipids to help melt away even the most stubborn waterproof make-up. A soft, clear balm that melts easily to smooth away make up with the need for rubbing, it can be used for the whole face, and will even take off lip stains that can sometimes be a nightmare to remove.
Oskia Micro Exfoliating Balm
This is yet another variety of skin balm and is an exfoliating balm, which helps to remove tired and dead skin cells to leave behind fresh, soft skin. The balm also nourishes the skin as it exfoliates with tiny micro-exfoliating beads that are gentle but effective. With some powerful ingredients such as prebiotics and peptides to help keep your skin in perfect heath and MSM repair and regenerating complex, this balm is a great all rounder for your skin. Easy to use and wash off, the balm goes on smoothly and turns to a light milk when in comes into contact with water so it simply rinses away to leave behind soft, clean, glowing skin.
With a balm to suit almost every need, whether it is cleansing, exfoliating, moisturising or giving a light tinted coverage to the skin it is surprising that they are only just becoming popular. As more and more people realise that balms aren’t greasy products that will overload they skin, more and more people will begin to enjoy the benefits of using them. Using something a little different in place of skin care cream can be very beneficial to your skin, and will add a bit of variation to your skin care routine.
This is a lovely cream, and unlike some tinted moisturisers comes in a range of 8 different shades catering for even the palest of complexions. This is actually a bit heavier on the coverage than many moisturisers, but still feels light and fresh on your skin, so is perfect for those that need a little extra help with their complexion, or even as a summer evening foundation. It has a very slight hint of red pigmentation which gives skin a lovely summery glow without looking too sunkissed making it perfect for creating the illusion of spending the day on the beach when you have really been stuck indoors!
Now Nivea have been making skincare products for longer than any of us care to admit remembering and this is another fantastic addition to their range. While this tinted day cream only comes in one shade, it is sheer enough to blend into even the fairest skins without leaving any telltale lines. The bonus factor with this is not only does it have an SPF15 but also co-enzyme Q10 which packs a fantastic anti-aging boost, meaning this not only a tinted moisturiser but also a very good skin cream. It has a soft, sheer finish and goes on smoothly, making it the perfect choice for anyone who can’t bring themselves to veer too far away from their regular skin care routine.
Tesco’s Skin Wisdom range is one of the best supermarket skincare ranges around. With all the products created exclusively for Tesco by Bharti Vyas you will find some truly unique and really effective products here. Their tinted moisturiser is one of these and gives a lovely healthy glow to skin. It glides on smoothly and give a fantastically smooth coverage, and with the added benefit of Acerola Cherry and Vitamin C it also energises your skin. As with many tinted day creams there is only one shade available, and it may be a little too dark for very fair skin, but it does blend very well, and can even be mixed in with a touch of Skin Wisdom’s Oil Free Moisturiser to make it a bit more sheer.
This is an incredibly popular aftersun, and comes in a gel form which is immediately cooling to the skin and is absorbed quickly and easily without any greasy feel. While the bright green colour of the gel may be slightly off putting, the smell is pleasant and fades after an hour or two so is not overpowering at all. One great thing about this aftersun is that it can be used for other purposes to such as minor cuts, bruises, rough or dry skin and minor skin irritations. COmbine this with the fact that even the small bottle lasts a very long time, Banana Boat Aloe Vera Gel is the perfect one-stop bottle to take on holiday with you.
Hawaiian Tropic comes in a range of “flavours” so you can choose from Body Butter, Lime Coolada or Mango in creams or Aloe Vera in a gel which is the latest addition to their range. All of these use a luxurious combination of Cocoa, Shea and Mango butters, making them rich, creamy and very moisturising. They all go on smoothly and smell divine, making them a pleasure to use, and with the added bonus of helping to extend the life of your tan, these creams are pefect to use not only while you are on holiday, but also when you get back and are clinging on to your tan for as long as possible. Hawaiian Tropic Aftersun Gel is developed with sunburn in mind and contains Lidocaine, which helps to ease the sting and heat of sunburn on application. This is combined with Vitamins and Aloe Vera to help soothe burnt skin and prevent peeling, while moisturising. Great for those that have a habit of spending just a little too long in the sun.
Nivea have long been a well respected name in skin care, and their sun cream and after sun ranges are extensive. Nivea’s Moisturising Aftersun Lotion is superb, offering intensive 24 hour moisturisation, with enriching advocado oil and Vitamin E. Using this aftersun regularly after exposure to the sun helps to keep your skin nourished and soft. Even when you return from holiday, using this as your daily moisturiser will ensure your skin stays in tip top condition, making your tan last longer and keeping your skin healthy.