4 smart beauty ways to fight the elements

Stay protected rain, hail or shine

Beauty Crew Beauty Editor / May 25 2017

You may be well accustomed to protecting your skin from UV damage before heading outside every day, but what about the other environmental factors, like pollution, wind and rain, which can all wreak havoc on your face, hair and makeup? Read on to see which elements to look out for and ways to protect yourself from each of them.

Pollution

It’s not always obvious to see polluted air in Sydney as much as other cities like Beijing, but it doesn’t mean that it’s non-existent. In fact, it has been reported that 80 per cent of all signs of skin ageing are due to environmental aggressors such as pollution and smoke. The big culprit, however, are air pollutants called ambient particulate matter. These cause skin to generate excess free radicals, which can interfere with the skin’s ability to produce collagen and elastin, and retain moisture. Here’s how Elizabeth Arden’s new PREVAGE® City Smart can help – it almost creates a barrier to protect your skin from pollution, and contains a special antioxidant blend of Idebenone, green tea and ferulic acid to neutralise free radical damage that can cause the appearance of lines, wrinkles and hyperpigmentation from forming. To use, pop on a light layer in the morning, with or without foundation, and go about your day as you normally would.

TOP TIP: This product contains tiny optical diffuser particles to fill in fine lines and a universal tint that suits all skin tones.

Elizabeth ArdenPREVAGE® City Smart

Sun

Even when it’s cool outside, your face and lips are still susceptible to being burnt by the sun’s UV rays. To counteract this, make sure to use face and body products with an SPF, and keep a lip balm with sunscreen close by (we like Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream Lip Protectant Stick Sunscreen SPF15), and continue to reapply every few hours or so.

Wind

Imagine the horror when your fresh blow-dry is mussed up after a strong gust of wind, and even worse, when it gets stuck to your lip balm or gloss. Instead of wearing your hair down on particularly windy days, try wrapping your ponytail into a loose chignon with a snagless hair tie (try Invisibobble Original) followed by a quick mist-over with hairspray, like Matrix Style Link Style Fixer Finishing Hairspray, to tame flyaways. Or, you can try one of these easy-to-copy up-dos

Rain

A diagonal drizzle can ruin eye makeup in an instant, even if you’re huddled under an umbrella. So when you see those sheets of rain outside, switch to a waterproof mascara, like Revlon Super Length Waterproof Mascara, that’ll stay put when there’s just moisture in the air.

TOP TIP: For hard-to-remove waterproof mascara, soak a cotton pad with micellar water or eye makeup remover solution, then hold the damp cotton pad over your closed eye for a few seconds before swiping downwards.

Iantha is BEAUTYcrew's Beauty Editor, and has been part of the team since the site launched in 2016. Besides pinky-nude nail polish and wispy false lashes, she has a healthy obsession with face masks and skin care ingredients. Her previous work can be found in Virgin Australia Voyeur, Women's Health, and SHOP Til You Drop.

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