Unfortunately, the impact this has on the confidence of the masses ultimately closes down potential escape routes that you or I have had to prevent being sucked into the ever growing spiral and even the most positive thinkers amongst us are affected in some way.

Economic crisis usually means cut backs on luxuries. I decided to ask the opinions of people visiting the salon of what they deemed a luxury and what was considered a beauty essential that could not be lived without.

Unsurprisingly, the younger clientele felt nails, makeup and self tanning were absolutely essential and would always find a way to maintain these come what may.

Moving on a decade, saw facial moisturisers and eye creams as something that would be considered sacrilege to even contemplate giving up and felt standards such as immaculate nails, eye brows and waxing could never be dropped.

Then another decade on ………yes, face & eye creams, nails, toes, self tanning, facials (both pampering & clinical) waxing etc, etc, they wouldn’t give up any of it! Well maybe the occasional massage or holistic treatment could go…………….

So what do we summarise from this? Word on the street is that we as women will not compromise when it comes to our visual standards. Beauty and image is now so important to our social standing and self esteem that we would have our own families eat beans on toast for a week before letting standards slip.

Women, who have juggled families, careers, finances and everything life has to throw at them simply FIND A WAY!!! There is a growing expectation and demand to look our best at all times and many women would simply not compromise themselves in this area no matter what the cost financially.

So that being said, but knowing that life might be a struggle for a while, it occurred to me that maybe its time to take a few shortcuts yet still achieve great overall effects.

So here is a helpful guide to what I consider are the basic beauty must haves:

• Skin health- the most important building block. This is achieved internally & externally. ;-

Regular exfoliation i.e. Microdermabrasion once a month together with a good home care product e.g. Elemis papaya enzyme peel. This will not only Improve circulation & drainage, improve fine lines, takes away congestion and dead skin cells but will give a beautiful luminous glow to the skin and will increase the life time of your precious anti-ageing facial cream ten fold – as so much less is needed on a healthy skin.

Then, protection, creams with high EPFs(environmental protection factors) to protect our skin from environmental oxidate stress i.e. free radical damage as well as SPFs are absolutely critical.

Superceuticals (bio-engineered skin care) such as Priori by Vitage contain a molecule called Idebenone which is the most potent anti-oxidant known to mankind and it taken from Benzoquinone used to preserve organs for transplant. The idebenone neutralises the free radicals before they can attack and ravage the skin – destroying collagen, melanocytes and paving the way towards skin cancers.

Thus the skin is free to focus on repair and re-generation.

Following this, with small amounts of advanced performance anti-ageing moisturisers, skin health may be achieved. Summer brings dehydration so look for good quality ingredients such as hyaluronic acid which acts as a water magnet and can be found in M.D. Formulations or try the Karin Herzog oxygen range which delivers high levels of oxygen, water, vitamin A & Vitamin E into the skin. Elemis’s Pro-Collagen Marine Cream, containing collagen boosting padina pavonica, continues to hold its own as a firm favourite and their pro-collagen eye-cream is much sought after by clients and celebrities alike.

• Self Tans – Social acceptance of self tanning has dramatically changed over the last few years. It is now totally acceptable to admit to your favourite brand of self tan and to actually frown on sun worshippers and sun bed die hards. With cut backs on holiday’s abroad but dreary weather in England, self-tanning application in the salon or at home is soaring. We all feel and behave so differently with a beautiful golden glow, confidence increases, clothes look better, we feel slimmer and yes the feel good factor is achieved! Pasty is not pretty and pale and interesting is extremely high maintenance!

Product houses such as Fake Bake are working hard to promote sunless tanning in their teenage “Save the Skin” campaign and pride themselves on their cream being totally organic and paraban free – something not many companies can claim – Full of antioxidants, self tanners now provide Nourishments and colour to the skin and after care is such that a perfect, Natural looking tan is easy to maintain.

The self-tanning industry is set to rocket – work is already being done on Methods of delivery and whilst tablet forms are not such a great idea – injectables are being tested to stimulate melanin production in the skin – so get ready for changes.

• Instant gratification treatments such as immaculate nails and toes – yes are very important. Bio Sculpture gel is a great solution here as it won’t chip or break and is available in the most fabulous colours. Toes will last the whole summer!
  
• Save on mascara by having eyelashes permed and tinted and eyebrows are definitely worth the investment to balance out your whole face and give that well groomed appearance. Waxing goes without saying but look out for offers on the latest generation of lasers for permanent hair reduction which will be out there this winter and do away with it for good!
  
• To polish and soften the skin of the body without feeling the pinch on your pocket, try mixing copious quantities of raw sea salt with high grade olive oil. Of course it won’t smell as sublime as Elemis’s Lime & Ginger salt glow – but boy will it to the trick!
  
• For flawless faces without the weight, try I.D. Bare Essentials Mineral make-up – Unbeatable coverage, yet pure mineral content which feels light as a feather on the skin and has an SPF of 15 which doubles as your sun protector to boot.

So there you have it – everything you need to ensure that you look fit and fabulous for the summer no matter what.

My last key piece of advice is of course diet & exercise – you can’t get away from it, the healthier your body is – the healthier your skin will be, the shinier your eyes will be and don’t forget those endorphins –you’ll feel great despite the current financial climate. Eat healthily, drink lots of water and keep smiling – it takes years off!

And when the country’s economics crash down around us – at least we know we’ve never looked so good!!!

Love Helen