One of my most delusional beliefs is that I’m low-maintenance. I think of myself as this casual wash-and-go kind of girl, but really, a lot goes on behind the scenes for me to have this seemingly minimal skincare routine.
I’m faced with it every time I decant my beauty products for a holiday. If it’s a long weekend, I can get away with a light wash bag, but if it’s over a week, I’m stretching out the plastic pouches in those liquid allowance bags.
My seemingly low-key beliefs crumble further when asked for skincare recommendations. I start off like an A-list celeb trying to be relatable - "just a lot of water, a good hyaluronic acid serum and sunscreen!" But when interrogated, the truth eventually spills out. "...And I have one of the best LED masks... "I had an amazing hydrafacial last week, to be fair..." "Actually, I’m testing out this mad new serum that costs £200..." So here I am, finally cornered into admitting the truth.
The high-maintenance tricks that help me stay low-maintenance
In reality, at my core, I’m a quite lazy person when it comes to self-care, but I’m also a beauty journalist who has a lot of products and access to the best treatments and expert advice. Every week, hundreds of new products and high-tech innovations arrive on my desk, and I can’t pretend that it doesn’t impact my routine - at least I can’t any more.
Because of this intrinsic impatience when it comes to beauty maintenance, I prefer a bare-bones minimalist daily routine - cleansing, hydration and sun protection. I find that having a few fancy (some might say wildly excessive) little extras allows me to get away with a slightly slovenly day-to-day routine.
It really works for me - I get to keep my evenings sink-side quick, and the hardworking extras do a lot of the heavy lifting for me. So, what are these heavy lifters?
1. I use the occasional wildly expensive ingredient
Because I get to try a lot of different products, brands and formulations, I get access to ingredients I wouldn't normally bother trying, or frankly, would be able to afford to buy myself. I don’t like liking expensive skincare - I’m always more impressed when something works brilliantly and costs under £20, but the occasional spendy buy really justifies its mammoth price tag.
This is annoying - it means I can’t recommend it to my friends without a veil of guilt, and it means I’m locked into a lifetime of big spending once my samples run out.
RRP: £229 for 30ml
I was quite scandalised when I first heard about this serum and its price tag. In what world can you justify hundreds of pounds on what is seemingly just a hydrating serum? Well, from the first use, I could see why - literally, I could see it on my face. My skin always looks incredible when I use this, thanks to its expensive hero ingredient, epidermal growth factors.
These help boost the skin’s natural collagen production, and in this serum they're combined with hyaluronic acid, which keeps moisture in the skin, and glycerin, which locks it in. EGF is slowly becoming available in high street serums, but in the meantime, I’m unfortunately committed to this expensive version. I use it every few days to keep my skin looking plump and dewy.
2. I use red light therapy regularly
It’s really hard to pretend to be a cool, low-key girl while sitting under the ominous glow of a £500 LED mask. The red light therapy benefits far outweigh the potential embarrassment, though - the effect my LED mask has had on my skin is transformative.
Speaking as someone who was always historically anti-tool, I had to eat my words (and disown my minimalist beauty persona) when I saw the difference in my skin after a few weeks of use. While not cheap, and certainly not an essential purchase, this is an investment your skin will really thank you for.
RRP: £465
This is the mask that helped me understand what red light therapy is, and the difference it can make to skin. I've written about it at length in my gushing Dr Dennis Gross Spectralite Faceware Pro review, but here are the headlines. It features settings for both red and blue light therapy, the treatment times are short (just three minutes), making it easy to slot into your day, and the results are truly transformative.
3. I use prescription services
If you’re looking for the ultimate high-impact, low-effort solution, consider prescription skincare. They create bespoke formulas for your complexion's needs and specific problems, giving you access to medical-grade ingredients usually not available to buy over the counter, namely tretinoin, which is a more potent form of retinol.
While it may sound a little excessive, the one-and-done formulations mean you can streamline your routine, while the hardworking ingredients work overtime to transform your skin.
RRP: from £59 a month
I've been using Klira's service for around 6 months, and the results have just been getting better and better. In my Klira review, I was dazzled by my clearer, firmer and brighter skin, but I'm impressed to report that it's continued to improve.
While it's an ongoing investment, it's not prohibitively expensive - you could easily spend more than £60 a month on various other serums and treatments. If you're looking for a more affordable alternative, we've also been impressed by Skin+Me and Dermatica.
4. I get facials regularly
There is no cool-girl way to say this - I have facials pretty much on tap. It's the main perk of the job - access to the best salons, spas and even medical-grade skin services.
How often you should get a facial depends on a lot of things - your skin concerns, lifestyle and budget, but luckily for me, when my skin's misbehaving or looking a bit 'blah', I can book myself in somewhere.
This is an enormous privilege, and one that my skin and I are very grateful for, but the best part of this pampering is that I have experts regularly assessing my complexion. If I'm accidentally overdoing it on glycolic acid and at risk of harming my skin barrier, or my skin's noticeably dehydrated, they can tell me, and I can alter my routine accordingly.
Sure, it's lovely to have your face massaged in a quiet room for an hour, but the expert examination is the thing that makes a real difference.
Being high-maintenance to stay low-maintenance: why it works
As the saying goes, a stitch in time saves nine. These diva-ish extras help keep my skin healthy, protected and plump, which means I'm relying less on quick fixes and solutions that tend to overly complicate things - one of the worst skincare mistakes you can make.
Keeping my daily routine minimal saves me time and effort, and the frill-free consistency keeps my complexion happy. The occasional frills then help step things up to the next level, without overwhelming my skin - or my schedule. It's a win all around.
