Life & Style
Beautiful New Beginnings
New Year’s resolutions arrive on a wave of verve and determination, yet it’s all too easy to lose your drive and admit defeat. The good news? Expert advice goes a long way, so we asked five beauty and fitness icons how to start 2025 as we mean to glow on!
Sophie Carbonari – The Skincare Supremo
French facialist Sophie is renowned for her personalised treatment regimens, using age-old methods from all over the world, alongside natural formulas she concocts herself, to boost glow from without and within.
Sophie’s Top Tips For Spectacular Skin
• A flawless makeup look begins with properly prepared skin. Start with a hydrating mask, follow with a toner and finish with a serum rich in hyaluronic acid to deeply moisturise and plump your skin.
• Cleanse your skin from within by drinking warm water with a spoonful of apple-cider vinegar before meals. This simple ritual supports digestion and promotes a clearer, more vibrant complexion.
• Incorporate tools like The SC Tool, a face brush, Gua Sha or a facial roller to improve your skin’s circulation, reduce puffiness and enhance the absorption of your skincare products.
• A healthy gut equals healthy skin! Boost your gut flora with a daily probiotic to improve digestion, reduce inflammation, and enhance your natural glow.
• At the end of the day, focus on recovery by using nourishing and rejuvenating products that help repair your skin’s barrier and replenish essential nutrients.
Sophie’s Top 5 Picks For Premium Skincare
Lottie Murphy – The Exercise Expert
Fitness guru Lottie Murphy delivers so much more than strength and suppleness via her body-boosting classes. Follow her daily pilates practice, and ease of movement, mindfulness, awareness and acceptance are all within your reach.
Lottie’s Top Tips For A Fitter Future
• Remember that moving your body is a celebration, not a punishment.
• Focus on your technique and form rather than rushing through a workout without being mindful. This will help prevent injury and deepen your mind/body relationship.
• Try to practice your exercise in a quiet and calm environment, leaving distractions out of the room. Turn your phone off or onto flight mode, declutter your space and be present.
• Find an accountability partner. That could mean going to workout with a friend or committing to practicing online together. Within my pilates app, we have such a supportive community, which definitely keeps me motivated to jump onto my mat.
• Just 10 minutes can honestly be enough. Sometimes we feel we need a full hour and if we don’t have that time then it’s not worth bothering. But 10 minutes of stretching, core stability or balance work is honestly better than doing nothing at all. You’ll feel 10 times better for it too!
Lottie’s Top 5 Picks For Workout Wellness
Lorraine Pascale – The Wellness Wonder
Supermodel turned TV chef and self-care advocate, Pascale’s ageless beauty and her effortless approach to wellbeing espouse healthy eating and a happy mindset as the twin peaks of positivity.
Lorraine’s Top Tips For A Mindful Lifestyle
• Wellness isn’t about perfection, it’s about progress. It’s about starting small and being kind to yourself each day.
• Mindfulness starts with being present in the moment you are in today.
• Take the pressure off yourself around “New Year, New You” thinking, and instead embrace a more compassionate approach to self-love.
• Do what feels good for your mental health this year.
• Trust the process; good things usually take time.
Lorraine’s Top 5 Picks For Pure Positivity
Megan Margot Evans – The Nailcare Guru
Manicurist Megan Margot Evans isn’t just a leading light in the nailcare sphere, she also understands the wellbeing boost we get from devoting dedicated time to our own self-care. High five to that.
Megan’s Top Tips For Healthy Hands & Nails
• For healthier nails, try a vitamin-infused nail serum. Packed with nourishing ingredients, these cocktail treatments work to rejuvenate and strengthen, improving and maintaining your nail health.
• A targeted treatment can transform the health and beauty of your nails. The Manucurist Active Smooth is enriched with vitamin E and castor oil to restore and protect the nail bed, while its sheer, peachy-nude shade is universally flattering.
• Oiling your cuticles is non-negotiable. It stimulates growth, improves appearance and protects your polish or gel manicure, for stronger, healthier nails. Top tip: keep cuticle oil in your bathroom to make it part of your AM and PM skincare regimen.
• Elevate your handcare routine with a retinol-infused hand cream. Acting like a serum for your hands, it reduces dark spots, wrinkles and brittle cuticles, leaving your hands looking youthful and refreshed.
• Gently pushing back your cuticles is a simple way to achieve a more elongated nail appearance. Over time, it exposes more of the nail bed, giving your nails a healthier, more elegant look – just take care to avoid damage.
Megan’s Top 5 Picks For Flawless Fingers
Nicola Clarke – The Haircare Queen
A world-renowned colourist who tends to the locks of Kate Moss, Kate Winslet and Cate Blanchett among many others, there’s nothing Nicola doesn’t know about caring for your crowning glory.
Nicola’s Top Tips For Protecting Party-Season Hair
• Central heating and cold weather can weaken and dehydrate hair, so maintaining your locks throughout party season is essential. Have a trim every 6 to 8 weeks to remove any split ends, keeping your hair looking healthy and combatting breakages or tangling while brushing.
• Leave-in conditioners and oils are a great way to protect your hair from heated tools and seal in moisture. Dry hair often lacks shine so hydrating products will also improve glossiness. Your scalp can get dry, too, so keep it healthy with gentle exfoliation.
• Adding a few sparkly golden highlights gives hair a gorgeous lift. I give them to blondes, brunettes and even redheads – and not just for party season. Lowlights are equally effective – I just paint the lowlight on, giving the impression of high and low shadows, which makes faded hair look like brighter without using a lightener and possibly causing damage.
• Using hair masks in winter is just as important as it is throughout summer. Masks add moisture to hair, making it softer and more malleable. Just make sure you steer clear of applying a mask on the day of a party, in case it doesn’t rinse it out properly or it leaves hair heavy and difficult to style.
• If you have greys, be sure to use a good moisturising shampoo – Virtue is great for coloured and non-coloured hair. If you are going to use a violet or de-brassing shampoo, only use it sporadically – every other week or once a month – as they can make your hair dull and tend not to moisturise.
Nicola’s Top 5 Picks For Healthy Winter Hair
