Do-good Beauty

Make this the year you support good beauty causes such as The Hygiene Bank (www.thehygienebank.ie). Donate via the website or by dropping off new, unused personal care and household cleaning essentials at points across Ireland. Look Good Feel Better supports people with cancer (www.lookgoodfeelbetter.ie); donate via their website. And anyone qualified in make-up or beauty therapy can volunteer to help at workshops.

Outdoor bathing

Outdoor swimming is all very well, but there’s a more luxurious alternative in the form of outdoor bathing. The Garden Room spa at Cliff at Lyons offers a range of water therapies and seasonal treatments in their fabulous outdoor spa area, complete with copper baths, canopied showers and sauna. €150 for two people for 60 minutes; www.thecliffatlyons.ie.

Outside influences

It’s not surprising that we’re taking our training outside. Many of us are avoiding gyms, and not everyone can afford home equipment and outdoor classes offer a breath of fresh air. Chris Molloy set up the Outdoor Yoga Society, with teachers nationwide; her own outdoor yoga classes draw hardy yogis of all levels to practise in parks and beaches around Dublin; www.chrismolloyyoga.com. Sylvia Ferguson guides moonlight meditation under the stars in Wicklow, plus online sessions; www.sylviayoga.com.

Game-changing massage

Aches and pains? Stress-related tension? Beauty therapist extraordinaire, Andreas Paroczai, who gives (in my opinion) the best massage treatments in Dublin, is stocking a range of Hungarian naturopathic supplements and skincare. He recommends humic acid and fulvic acid to reduce inflammation and stimulate the immune system; www.andreas.ie. 

The skin spring-clean

“The trend is towards healthy and radiant clear skin,” says DR ROSEMARY COLEMAN of the Blackrock Clinic in Dublin. “I feel that people are swinging away from that very exaggerated look – frozen foreheads and overfilled cheeks or lips. I never fill foreheads, incidentally – it is too high-risk. Certain celebrities are dissolving their lip fillers, and this means the young may follow. Our latest device is Morpheus8 Microneedling Machine, which uses pulses of radiofrequency to tighten and brighten the skin. It’s like a spring-clean for your skin. You treat the whole face – no one can say what you’ve had done, you just look fresher. It is excellent for rejuvenation, acne and scarring, facial remodelling and we’ve also seen an improvement on redness, rosacea and broken blood vessels. You might have one to three treatments a year, and we use a local anaesthetic to make patients comfortable. Also popular are skin stimulators such as Sunekos – injectables with a very high-quality combination of hyaluronic acid and amino acids. It takes four to six weeks to stimulate collagen and you see a visible improvement: skin is bouncier, thicker and more radiant. It can also be used on the body, on the upper inner arms or stomach.” www.restorativedermatology.ie. 

A lower lift and a nicer neck

“Particularly post-Zoom, people have become more aware of their lower face, with the neck and jowls the biggest concern,” says aesthetic surgeon DR GEORGE NEMA. “Laxity in this area starts at around age 35-plus, and becomes more pronounced. But using filler in the lower face is a disaster – you’re adding weight to an area that’s already sagging.” Dr Nema’s signature Sculpt Lift (exclusive to Sculpture Clinics in Dublin and Nenagh) uses a surgical device to “harness the energy of laser to melt the fat and tighten the skin” combined with skin-tightening technology. “It is minimally invasive, and one treatment can last a minimum of five years. It’s only been launched six months and we are seeing great demand already.” The neck too is a much-neglected area, and one that became a focus on all those conference calls. While we should take our skincare down to the decolletage, including the neck, it can only do so much. “Nonsurgical neck lifts can include a unique combination of treatments, from neuromodulators such as Botox, suspension sutures and radiofrequency (ideal for tightening sagging or loose skin) to Profhilo and collagen bio-stimulation injections,” says Dr Nema. www.sculptureclinic.ie. 

The rich lip

“I’m seeing a lot of darker, stronger lip colours for spring, such as rich burgundies,” says make-up artist EMMA O’BYRNE. “French brand Violette does the most amazing lipgloss in a deep colour – it’s very powerful and looks amazing with dewy skin. Her longwear eyeliners are so easy and brilliant, too. Petal Bouche lipgloss, €25; www.violettefr.com. 

One simple rule

“Make a sustainable commitment this year,” says TRACEY WOODWARD: “Simply use up everything you have in your make-up bag and bathroom. Occasionally, something new will make us feel special and bring joy, but in reality we only need five lipsticks we really love. It’s the first step into living a sustainable beauty life – use everything you have and replace with products that add purpose to your life.”