Getting fit is often something on our goals for the year but starting can seem a little daunting, so we spoke to fitness guru Davina McCall about her own fitness journey and got a little inspiration and advice too!

What made you embark on your fitness journey?

It’s so weird. If you had said to me when I was pregnant with my second child, which is when I started trying to get fit, “in 18 years’ time, you’re going to be known for fitness and with some people, known for fitness more than you are for telly,” I would’ve just laughed. But I had enormous babies, like massive. The average baby weight is about 7lb 4. Holly was 8lb 12, Tilly was 9lb 11 and Chester was 10lb 2. I just make big ‘ens!

When I was pregnant with Holly, I looked kind of good, I looked kind of nice and after, I really didn’t bother very much with getting fit, because I thought “well, in a year I’m going to get pregnant and go again”. Luckily for us, we were blessed with being able to get pregnant quite quickly, so I thought it’d just happen again, and it did. But the second time I got pregnant, I remember looking four months pregnant when I was about eight weeks, and I thought, “Oh my goodness, what is going on?” Then I thought, “This might be my last kid, so I’ve got to try and at least look after myself and get a bit fitter for the birth. I’m going to reframe the way I look at fitness.”

Previously, I’d been a read-a-magazine-on-the-stepper-in-the-gym-type. Only when the rugby team came in did I put any effort in, because I thought, “Better look good!”. It was purely for vanity, but I was going to have two kids to look after now, I was going to need some energy. I looked up two trainers in my local rag and I said, “Could you come to my house?” Now I don’t think twice about going to a gym, but when I was pregnant with Tilly, I was probably the most famous I’ve ever been because of Big Brother, I was being mobbed everywhere and it made me quite self-conscious, so going to a gym for me was not a good option. I felt like everyone was looking at me, I didn’t know what exercises to do, I hated it.

I found these personal trainers called Jackie and Mark. Jackie was a gymnast, Mark a former marine, they were married, I literally fell in love with them both, and they trained me. I remember going to the BAFTAs about eight months after I had Tilly. I hadn’t lost all my baby fat, but I possibly looked better than before I had Holly. I was bigger but was more toned and had a better shape. I remember everyone going, “Wow, Davina!”, taking pictures, and I remember thinking, “What is going on?”. The next day the picture of me in the red dress was everywhere and I thought, “Oh my God, this is Jackie and Mark!”

About two months after that, everybody was asking, “How did you get fit? How did you do it? What did you do?”. I thought, “people want to know how to do this”. So, I suggested to my agent that I’d like to do a workout DVD and show people how me, Jackie and Mark did it. They’re very unique, I get two aspects. I get beasted by Mark and I get aerobics and gymnastics from Jackie. It’s a brilliant combo. My agent said, “I think it’s tacky, don’t do it,” but I went, “No, honestly, I really, really think…” and anyway, he did go with me in the end, and it was a big-selling workout DVD.

What are your favourite products to help enhance a workout?

I lay in bed this morning thinking for an hour, what is my hero product? What am I always saying we need to make five times as many of these? We make as many as we make of these because they just sells out everywhere in seconds everywhere, and that’s my weighted gloves.

I think the reason why they sell out so brilliantly is that they’re uber comfy. They aren’t too heavy, because if you’re going to wear weighted gloves for 45 minutes, it’s killer. These are so lightweight that you can wear them all the time, for walking, marching it out, for any kind of boxing programme, any kind of arm exercises. You can use your 2kg weights and add a little extra by wearing your weighted gloves if you want to go up half a kilo. They are so versatile and so good. I literally wear them non-stop, and we do them in the best range of colours so that’s my hero product, you’ve got to own a pair of weighted gloves, they’re amazing. For any women who say they don’t want to lift heavy weights because it’ll make them big, actually that’s not really true; it builds good quality muscle, but it won’t make you like Arnie.

I am a huge advocate of working out at home. I go to one class, a spin class, and I love that but everything else I do at home. You don’t need to go anywhere, and you can have a very, very small kit in your house, you don’t need a lot of stuff.

A workout mat is nice, because you can use a towel on the floor, but if you’ve got carpet, there’s a bit of movement that happens with a towel that is quite frustrating so a mat is a really, really good call. What I really love about a mat is you can roll them up into a tiny thing, shove them under a sofa out of the way, no one will see.

The second thing is weights. Now, if you’re a newbie, I would go for a 2kg weight. 2kg weights are brilliant, I use them almost all of the time, sometimes 3kg, but I never go beyond that and that freaks people out. I just don’t need it. I do high reps, low weights. If you want to have versatility, you could go for the weighted tower where you get 1kgs, 2kgs and 3kgs, which is brilliant. If you only wanted to buy one set, I’d go 2kg, so you’ve got weighted gloves, 2kg weights and a mat. Then there’s resistance bands, again the easiest thing to slide into a drawer, and there’s so many great toning exercises you can do with resistance bands. Also, a fold-away bicycle for cardio. Amazing. Put it in your hallway cupboard.

The one last thing, again because its so versatile, is my Total Body Workout piece of equipment, which is like a seat and you can do arms and press ups, in fact there’s just so much you can do on there, and again, it slides away. It’s all about where you can hide your kit, and nobody’s got any space. It just needs to hide in a cupboard or slide under a sofa.

Why do you think exercise is so important for wellbeing?

Never before have we quite understood the correlation between exercise and mental health. The last year and a half have pushed most of us to our limits, even the most positive people. I really do feel like I’m a sunny person, but there were very dark moments in the last year and a half, and the thing that kept me going was a walk outside, or a quick 20 minute-half an hour workout inside. Walking outside and getting fresh air is very good for your mental health, but there’s something that happens when you do a class.

I think if you go online and do a class it’s like you’re with someone else, and what happens very rapidly, is you get to know all of those trainers on there so you can form some kind of bond. You know what kind of person they are; you get to know all their little ways and they become your friends. When we’ve all felt a bit lonely or a bit lost, joining an online class has been an absolute godsend, but of course there are the physical benefits. When we were unable to get out, you see the benefit from joining an online class and getting those endorphins up, the dopamine, the serotonin, all those lovely things that happen.

This is something that I don’t understand, why all governments around the world are not prescribing exercise and food a lot more?! If you want to boost your immune system, eat properly and exercise, look after your body, and your body will look after you. So, it’s mental health benefits and protecting yourself, in the best way that you can, from getting ill.

How do you fit exercise into your busy daily routine?

Sometimes I really miss my day job. When I used to work at Models One as a booker on the men’s desk, there was a really reassuring thing knowing that I’d go to work at 9am, and I would finish work at 6pm. That was always lovely because if I wanted to work out, I’d get up at 7am, do my workout and go to work. I could do that four days a week, which is what I probably would’ve done. Now I could be working three nights a week, so I don’t want to work out in the evening – it’s definitely a case of working out in the morning. Sometimes it means setting my alarm for 6am and just doing 15 minutes.

This is why I love the versatility of online working out because you can choose the amount of time, you just go, “I’ve got 15 minutes, and this is all I can do”. Sometimes I’ll be doing it in my bra and pants. But it’s a question of when you’ve done a little something in the morning, you start your day on the right footing. You feel a bit smug. I do my workout in the morning and think, “Ha! I’ve done it!” You don’t need to feel guilty if you’ve just done 10 minutes. You’ve done 10 minutes more than someone sitting on their sofa, so well done. Anything you can crowbar in is good and will make you feel good about yourself.

Which workouts would you recommend for someone who’s new to fitness?

There’s a lot of beginner’s programmes on my app that I would recommend. I cherry pick the exercises that I want to do, but I have been going back to beginner’s programmes because I felt like I wanted to go back to basics. There are also some foundation exercises that are amazing for mobilising, that’s where I am at now – I need mobilising. If you are completely new, start with a beginner’s programme, it’s really gentle and my best advice would be if it hurts, stop, and go again the next time.

Don’t do anything that you hate. If you hate running, don’t start running, because you’re never going to want to do it and it’ll be a barrier to you enjoying it. If you love dog walking, do lots of dog walking and maybe get some weighted gloves or some ankle weights and add a bit of oomph to your dog walk. Find something you love and do that. Set yourself small goals. Do not set yourself an enormous goal of doing the London Marathon if you’ve never worked out before, because you’ll only beat yourself up. There’s something about an enormous goal that feels unachievable and makes you not even want to start working towards it, it’s too much. So set yourself small, achievable goals that make you feel good, not bad.

Thanks for the help, Davina! You can check out her range here, plus the rest of our fitness equipment here.

The post Get fit with Davina appeared first on Stories.

Hey Alison! Why is having a well-rounded beauty routine beneficial to our everyday lives?

“Beauty is more than skin deep; the skin is the largest organ of the living body and reflects how you look and feel. It’s also a physical indicator, so how you look after it is crucially important on a basic level, for just assessing the health of the skin, hair and nails. But also from a feel-good factor, it’s what you see when you look in the mirror, which people have noticed more over the last year. Maybe there’s more sensitivities, more irritation, or more weakening of the hair, more split ends if they haven’t been to the hairdresser, and all of that affects your confidence. If you can have a beauty and grooming routine where you can wake up in the morning, look in the mirror and be pleasantly surprised, then your day can start off better.”

Sounds great to us. What makes this time of year the time to look at your routine?

“September is the perfect time, because normally when the kids go back to school and you’ve bought the school uniform we’re into autumn, and I speak a lot about the seasonal change – it’s when you check everything. You check your skincare, haircare, make-up, your beauty routine, your grooming routine, everything. Just at the season changes of the year. Skin type, hair type and condition is what you should be looking at and I always encourage people rather than repeat purchase after repeat purchase of their favourite, is to look forward. Think about what happened to your hair, skin and nails at this time last year and what’s going to happen to them this year, because sometimes we’re guilty of buying our favourite stuff and keeping going, rather than looking at what we actually need. Do you love what you’re buying, is it still working, and do you want to repeat purchase? Or have you enjoyed it, but you’d like another result? If you’ve enjoyed it but you’d like another result, let’s look at something else for the next three months.

September as well, once you’ve got your kids back to school, there’s only a short period of time before the Christmas season. Reclaim your life and routine in September and October and set yourself up with some good key products in the right places around the house so that you’ll use them, then you’re sorted until Christmas.”

Okay, so we need to be reassessing our beauty choices! For those that may have got out of the habit, can you share any tips for re-establishing your routine?

“It’s finding a new habit. You might’ve gotten out of the habit because we’ve all had a very different time over the last year and a half, and it might be that the old habits aren’t right for you. They might not fit into this new normal and going forward. You might have discovered that you need to make some new habits, and new habits are enjoyable. If you’ve always rushed having a shower or a bath because it’s been functional around the kids, family, school runs, getting to work – you may have realised in lockdown that your bath or your shower is your mindfulness, your salvation, your luxury, your essential and your reset button. It’s looking at those things going forward and saying that you’re going to go and have a bath earlier in the night, you’re going to take your make-up off as soon as you get home from work, or if you’re working from home, that actually, you’re going to have a walk every 40 minutes or so and have your lip gloss and your moisturiser next to your desk. It’s what’s your next routine looks like as we’re all coming out of this and what’s really going to work for you.

When you’re reassessing your beauty routine, reassess where you’re putting it. I muck out everything, cupboards drawers, bags, everything. Just sit there one day with a nice drink and put it all out there, relook at it, what’s gone out of date, what’s not gone out of date, what do you want to repurchase? There will be things in your make-up bag from last year that you can reuse, things from old Today’s Special values that you want to bring out now for autumn. You might think “wait a minute, I have a facial mask, I have a facial scrub”, well put it next to your toothbrush, or on the side of the bath! You’re not going to use it if it’s in a cupboard or stored underneath the bed. Get your beauty stash out, rearrange it, reanalyse it, repeat purchase your favourites when there are great offers, but also, look at some new. To get a new result, it’s a new ingredient, it’s not the same product. Do you want the same result, or do you want a new result? Sticking to a routine that’s no longer working for you is like having a best friend who is no longer good for you.”

Great advice Alison. Do you update your routine with the season? What should we look for when planning our routine for autumn?

“Yes. Every season is the best check point to reanalyse your skin, hair and nails and your grooming routine for everyone, for every age group. The reason is that the weather changes and habits change, food changes… that all affects your skin. Central heating going on and off, wearing thick clothes, they affect your body skin, all of these things as the seasons change technically affect your skin. Dry skin will often go drier, and oily skin can often have a little flare up. With all ethnicities during the summer, even when we’ve been staycationing, you would’ve caught some kind of sun and your skin would’ve gone darker, which hides imperfections. When your skin goes back to your original skin tone, which it tends to do in the autumn months, that’s when you suddenly look and go “oh, wait a minute, I’ve got more spots than I thought,” or “that redness is showing up,” or “I’ve got some pigmentation.” It’s all because your skin tone will go back to your winter colour. The sun helps to stimulate the oil glands, so during the summer months you could’ve been having more flare ups, but as we’re heading into autumn, you can play catch-up.

For your skincare routine, on oily skin you’ll be cleansing and balancing, for dry skin, adding more anti-wrinkle formulas, retinols and glycolics, it’s a time to step up. Summer, you might have stepped-down to an easier, care-free routine, care-free make-up, but autumn, you’ve got to step it up a bit. The care-free look of summer fashion and hairstyles allow you to wear less make-up. The darker nights, comfort food where we might put on a couple of pounds, the central heating going on, your dark circles will start to show up more, because our skin goes paler. In the summer months, you might not have noticed them because you were using a lot of self-tan, or you were sunbathing, or your complexion would naturally go darker anyway, but it’s the winter months where things start to come out of the skin and you start to see them more. They were just disguised in the summer. If you’ve got a tan, things like breakouts at the time of the month or a shaving rash look less noticeable. To the absolute extreme, acne and high colour also look less noticeable. In the winter months, if that’s you, step up your self-tan drops, or add a night-time self-tanning cream, because if you’re noticing these things coming through, they were there anyway – it’s just your tan fading.

Colours will change too, nail colours change, make-up textures change, we often go to fuller coverage and start to bring in some matte this time of year, and some eye shadow. Eye shadow becomes more fashionable during autumn/winter because it reflects the texture of your clothing. It’s also the time when your haircare changes, because your hair will be drying out with central heating and air conditioning as well, so you could be adding in more conditioning or shine products. Even the greasiest hair will be needing hair masks for summer recovery. Hair masks, hair serums, hair oils, all of those need to be dotted into your regime. Your hair products and your skin products are kind of your technical requirements, while your fashion and your fun is your make-up bag and hair tools, as in what style are you going to do your hair.”

Now we’re getting back into the swing of things, mornings can be a rush. Can you share any advice for quick beauty routines that can be done before the school run or commute?

“Don’t feel guilty. Don’t feel guilty if you haven’t exfoliated and masked together for example. How do you find time to exfoliate and mask, when you’ve got to find a good 30 – 45 minutes? The morning may involve a hair wash too, so a lot of people don’t exfoliate and mask as much as they should. When you wake up of a morning, and your skin is looking dull and tired, just do an exfoliation – forget about a mask, you can always catch up with a sleep mask, like these ones from Elemis, Gatineau and James Reed, before you go to bed that night. If you just split your routine up into 60 second achievable wins, then that will work for you. Self-tan of a night before you go to bed and you wake up looking healthier. If you give yourself a good blow-dry earlier on in the week or at the weekend before you start doing the school run, with a blow-drying hair treatment like Wonder Balm or one of the relaxing treatments, then that will last longer. So a few minutes on a Sunday afternoon blow-drying your hair, self-tan the night before or a quick facial scrub like from Alpha-H of a morning, they’re all quick correction but big improvement products that will just sustain you through the week.

Also, reassess your make-up routine. If you’re back on the school run, or commute, or both, (even if you haven’t got kids, that snooze button is attractive!) then it just means if you have a morning where you wear make-up, you’ve got your morning essentials. You definitely need more mascara, you definitely need an eyeliner, and you might’ve gotten away without an eyeliner through the summer. Try a precision one, like from Tarte or Laura Geller. You definitely need a concealer, again, you might have gotten away without a concealer in the summer. It’s just that essential make-up routine needs to be a little bit more now going into autumn, and just have it in your make-up bag so that if you’re running out of time, it’s with you and you can do it on the bus or the train, or while you wait for the kids.”

If time is no limit, what is your ultimate, self-indulgent skincare routine after busy or stressful days?

“I am completely famous for locking myself in the bathroom. For me, it’s all about an essential oil experience. I’ll start with a facial exfoliant and then put a mask on. I’ll then go in the shower and stay in that shower with a drink. If I’ve got to work, of course, it’s water or coffee or tea or chamomile tea, but quite often it’s prosecco. Last night, I went in the shower with Liz Earle products, and designed a cocktail to match my Liz Earle shower gel. I’ll take something that matches those ingredients and link up a scented candle, or burn essential oils, so everything smells like the products I’m using. So rather than having a shower and every time it being the same experience or just being functional, I do this when I’ve got time as a bit of a treat, but most of the time I want to do it when I’m exhausted. If you make time for yourself, time will make time for you back. You sleep better. I even do this at 3am when I come off a Today’s Special Value. I am absolutely shattered and exhausted, but I make myself get in the shower, not necessarily with a cocktail at that time. Just smell some different oils, use some different formulas, like the Elemis neroli, the rose, the Korres vanilla blossom, Liz Earle, all of these lovely essential oil aromatherapy products, whenever you smell something different, it makes you think different. It makes you stop thinking about work or stress or family things, it just makes you stop and gives you a bit of space. Just go that extra mile beforehand for yourself.”

This sounds lovely Alison! Any tips on how to really enjoy that time for ourselves?

“Be inspired. Try and do it on the day you change the bed sheets. That always works because if you’re top to toe fabulous in the bath or the shower then the ultimate indulgence is getting into clean bed sheets, like a hotel at home. Or do it on a day where your washing is all dry and warm, you’ve got your new towels and your dressing gown. I put my dressing gown in the dryer, or I’ll hang it on the towel rail, so that everything’s warm when you come out of the bath or shower.

Treat it like a salon. This is what we do in clinics and hotels that makes it the ultimate experience. When I’m designing treatments, I’m looking at everything, what you eat, what the aromas are, what you’re using, where you’re going, where you’ve been. If you’ve got a busy home that could be your only place to relax. One of the few things that most of us have is hot water, and hot water is therapy. You might not be able to get to a gym, you may not be able to get out, it may be 3am like me, but the ultimate indulgence is to say, what the heck, it’s 2pm in the afternoon, I’m going in the bathroom!

Think outside of the box. Do it at a different time. If you leave your bath or shower until 10pm, 11pm when you’re absolutely exhausted anyway, you’re not inspired to do anything, it doesn’t work for you. But if you do your bath, shower and beauty treatment as soon as you get in from work, it might feel a bit strange. You might be like “oh I need to do dinner, what do I do?” Just doing it then completely cuts off your day. It finishes your day and starts your evening, and you’ll find you’ll have a more relaxing evening and that really works if you’re working from home. If you’re then putting on a comfy tracksuit or your pyjamas at that time, then you think “I’ve got some time to do some yoga” or ” I could watch a film, enjoy my evening”. What’s happening with everyone working from home is that the end of their day and their evening is being merged into one. They’re feeling exhausted and drained and just plonking themselves down in front of the same television show and sometimes it’s about doing something different, a different attitude to give you a different perspective.

If you just switch to an early evening for your beauty regime, rather than late evening when you’re exhausted, you’ve suddenly got this whole evening ahead of you. You’ve said goodbye to your workday and it’s hello you time! You’ll suddenly go to bed earlier, you’ll feel relaxed, you’ll sleep easier, because you’ve given yourself that wind down time. We often talk at QVC about our lovely sleep products, but sleep products don’t work if you get to 11pm, putting the computer down, rushing around, not getting changed, doing the same stuff and feeling stressed and start spraying your pillow spray like crazy. It’s all about the wind down and reclaiming your time.”

Thanks so much Alison, we can’t wait to get back into a great routine (and in the shower with a cocktail!) Check out our Feeling Good Together campaign too, where we’re regularly updating the page with fitness inspiration, wellbeing top tips and expert interviews to help support and inspire you throughout 2021.

The post Getting into a routine with Alison Young appeared first on Stories.

While we know fresh air is good for us, can you share why getting back in touch with nature as part of our daily routine is so important?

Every day I go outside to walk my dogs, Alfie and Mimi. Even if this is just for a short time, I have always found that being outside in the fresh air rejuvenates me, and this became even more apparent to me during lockdown. Whatever the season, I notice the benefit in my mental health, my body, and in the radiance of my skin.

How do you like to incorporate the natural world into your day?

I love herbal tea, drinking green tea throughout the day to help cleanse the body, and at nighttime, chamomile and lavender tea before bed to help me relax and unwind after a busy day. I spray the Relaxing Pillow Mist onto my pillow every night as part of my bedtime routine. Lavender has such a calming effect on me, so I try and incorporate it into my day-to-day too, rather than just at night. I have the most beautiful lavender bushes outside my lounge window, and when they are in full bloom, I have my window open wide to get as much of the beautiful scent into the house as possible. If I close my eyes, even if just for a second, I could almost imagine I was at the Valensole Plateau in Provence. I like to always have flowers in bloom in the garden, no matter the season. In particular, I like the purity of white flowers.

Bringing it back to beauty, do you find different ingredients have different purposes through your routine? 

Yes absolutely – different ingredients do different things! I love the Immortelle Divine Cream! I love the smell of all the essential oils of the Immortelle and the aromatic scent on my skin. When I wash my hands, I love the feeling of clean, fresh verbena and in the summer months, I only ever want to shower my body in its invigorating scent because I want to feel clean and non-sticky. In the winter months, I use a more comforting scent such as the Almond Shower Oil or one of the floral-scented shower products, like rose.

I like to have different scents for different purposes, and when it comes to a fragrance, I love L’Occitane Rose Eau de Toilette. I would always opt for different scents rather than fragrance layering, having a shower gel that matches the body lotion, or that matches the fragrance. I’d rather choose a product on its benefits. For example, shea because it is most moisturising, verbena because it is invigorating, Immortelle because it is hard-working anti-aging. Despite being a huge fan of the verbena collection, I would choose the Shea Butter Hand Cream over Verbena Hand Cream. Verbena Hand Cream has a lightweight gel texture, whereas Shea Butter Hand Cream is rich and intensely hydrating; perfect for soothing my dry hands in the winter. It is really important to choose a product that works for you, basing your choices on your personal skin and body care needs.

What are your “can’t live without” products inspired by nature?

The Immortelle Divine Cream. Divine by name, divine by nature. I have tried so many face creams from other brands, some being more than double the price, but I always come back to the Immortelle Divine Cream – nothing else even compares. And then, of course, the Shea Butter Hand Cream, which is undeniably the best hand cream in the world for me!

If you could offer one top tip about getting in touch with nature, what would it be?

At L’Occitane we are Cultivators of Change, and what this means, put simply, is that we can all make a huge difference together with the small things that we do. I love that we have eco-refills across more than 25 different ranges, including haircare, hand soaps, skincare, and body care, which helps to reduce our plastic usage! We say it is best to refill your bottle rather than your bin and I love this motto. I know this may seem small, but it all adds up, and it’s also money-saving for you! We have wonderful products that look after your face, body and mind, but we also have that knowledge that you are using products that in turn look after nature, people and the planet.

Thanks Alexis! If you need a little more inspiration about getting in touch with nature, make sure to check out our Feeling Good Together campaign, where we’re regularly updating the page with fitness inspiration, wellbeing top tips and expert interviews to help support and inspire you throughout 2021.

The post Exploring the power of nature with Alexis from L’Occitane appeared first on Stories.

Hey June! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and Makeup Junkies?

“Sure! I’m June Kelly, founder and owner of Makeup Junkies International, a London based make-up artist agency. We provide professional make-up and hair artists to the TV, fashion, film and music industry in the UK, Europe and Australia. We’re proud to say we get to make up some of the most gorgeous faces in the industry, which include all the fabulous QVC presenters!

At Makeup Junkies International, all our artists have a creative and can-do attitude and we want to pass on some of our expertise to you guys and help you feel inspired after lockdown. You’ll be back at your make-up mirror and styling those locks in no time.“

We’re ready, June! Take us through it.

Step one: it’s time to deep clean, team!

“As they say, ‘a change is as good as a holiday’ and seeing as we can’t go on many holidays right now, let’s start with changing up our make-up bags. It’s out with the old and in with the new.

Gather all your beauty products and I mean all. Check the expiration dates. Are they clean? Stop holding onto eyeshadow palettes from years ago – get rid of them! Pop your make-up bags in the washing machine. Let’s start fresh!

We use a sterilizing spray every single day on the presenters’ make-up kits at QVC. You simply spray it on powder, lippies, palettes and more to sterilize them. Let it dry, and you’re good to go. We also sterilize all the presenters’ brushes with brush cleaner each day. Having clean, sanitized make-up and brushes helps massively in the fight against blemishes and germs.

As an artist, you get through so much make-up and we’re constantly trying new brands. It’s always so exciting trying new products, textures and finishes. Get out there and start to sample all the new, awesome make-up and beauty goodies!“

June’s top QVC beauty brands:

• Doll 10
• Philip Kingsley
• Tarte
• Laura Geller
• Percy & Reed

Step two: skincare, getting the skin hydrated for masks

“Beauty is only skin deep, or so they say. Let me tell you, having a proper skincare regime is 100% where it’s at. As a make-up artist, preparing the skin is step one and the founding pillar to flawless, lasting make-up.

Two free and natural ways to beautiful skin are as simple as getting plenty of sleep and plenty of water. The next step is to stick to a skincare regime like your life depends on it. Personally, I can’t recommend double cleansing enough. Never, ever leave your make-up on overnight, and moisturise, moisturise, moisturise! Your skin is the largest organ in your body and needs a lot of hydration and care. It goes through a lot in a day, so remember to look after it. Face, body, hands, feet… basically head to toe!

I’m turning 40 this year and I am obsessed with face and eye masks. They’re an amazing way to get a whack of hydration back into your skin, and I’m also a big fan of supplements for skin, nails and hair.

Self tan is my secret weapon to make myself look healthier and feel slimmer in one swoop. I’m a big fan of any kind of tanning products. There are so many amazing gradual and instant formulas, plus it’s a safe and simple way to look and feel better.

When working with models, actors and of course, the fabulous QVC presenters, we use great moisturisers, primers and facial mists to prep, lift and hydrate the skin before we apply any make-up.“

June’s top names for priming and tanning:

• Laura Geller Spackle Original Make-Up Primer
• Elemis – especially the moisturisers and facial mists
• Decleor
• Tan-Luxe

Step three: make-up tips – re-establishing the basics

“This summer’s make-up and hair trends are all about fresh, clean skin and make-up. We’ve all been mask-bound and we’re ready to freshen up our looks and brighten things up.

My new find that I’m officially obsessed with is the Doll 10 Skin Serum Primer. It’s incredible. Pop some on the skin and follow with one of my absolute go-to products – IT Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC Cream. It has SPF 50 and looks like your skin but on a really good day.

Fresh base done, then onto the eyes. I personally don’t wear a lot of eye make-up but I love liner and lashes. It’s a simple, quick, fresh look. I recommend a Laura Geller liner followed by a Tarte mascara, a magic combination! My secret summertime weapon is Tahitian Glow by Laura Geller, which is a shimmery, glowy bronzing powder. It’s for face and body and I use it as an eyeshadow and contour too. It’s a Makeup Junkie must-have. Then it’s lips – QVC presenter Eilidh Nairn loves her bold lips and funky liners.“

Step 4: enjoying getting ready, make an event of it

“As a make-up artist, every day is glam day. There’s always a reason to make someone fabulous and look their best. Why not take that same ethos into your daily make-up and skincare regime? Your face, body and mind will thank you for it! Pamper, treat and look after yourself. After all, there’s only one you. Now that we can get the girlies round for a make-up party, help each other out with what you know and love, and we’re finally allowed out to mingle with friends, so why not try something new? A pop of colour on the nails, a new up-do, some self-tan, a different fragrance. Put your face on and style your hair – life is for living and being fabulous. Plus, it’s so much fun too.“

Step 5: the finishing touches

“When we create looks for the presenters or the models we work on, it’s all about the finishing touches. That last spritz of hairspray, matching the nail colour to the outfit, carefully spritzing fragrance. It’s all about the detail and everything coming together. If it’s daytime events you’re heading to, pop a clean, fresh scent with hints of summer-like roses and citrus notes. If it’s a romantic dinner with your other half, make the scent a little moodier, possibly a hint of sandalwood or bergamot. Who doesn’t love a sassy scent?! Having different fragrances for different occasions is a great way to create memories. I have so many that with one spritz they immediately take me back to that day, event or memory, the same way music does. It’s time to shine, ladies and gents. Get your summertime scent on and get that brunch booked in!“

June’s top brands for finishing touches:

• Percy & Reed
• Nails Inc
• OPI
• Dyson

Thanks so much, June! We can’t wait to get back out there. Head to our virtual shelves to find the latest in beauty must-haves for your revamped collection.

The post Get ready with the Makeup Junkies appeared first on Stories.

As well as being an ambassador for Liz Earle, Sarah is a trained yoga teacher and likes to focus on maintaining a positive attitude and regular exercise routine. Along with her great diet, it all combines to make her a guru when it comes to destressing!

Hi Sarah! First of all, why is it so important to make time for de-stressing during the day?

“Understanding how stress affects you and learning what you can do throughout the day can help prevent it from building up. Little things like going for a walk, taking some slow deep breaths, writing a list of the things that are stressing you out and calling a friend to help share the load can really help.“

Great thinking! Taking a look at stress before it gets overwhelming is a really helpful tool to keep things calmer. At the end of a long day, what do you like to do to help you unwind?

“I’m such a creature of habit! I think I know what works for me and stick to it. Early dinner, write a to-do list, switch my phone off, drink a relaxing tea, book, skincare routine, bath and bed!“

Taking a moment for a skincare session is one of our favourite ways to unwind too! How do you use your beauty routine to help you destress? Care to share any of your must-have formulas?

“Skincare products are my go-to for relaxing me and my skin. I love Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser to either prep my skin of a morning or remove the stresses from the day. Having a regular routine is my time to switch off and enjoy my products, instead of it being a chore. Face oils are my savoir for facial massage and face masks are my big treat, and Balancing Gel Mask is done without fail three mornings a week, I love that mask! I’m a huge fan of DIY beauty too and make sheet masks (made from our Liz Earle Pure Cotton Cloths) infused with oat or rice water and natural yogurt is my favourite weekly skin treat. It would be rare for you to see me without nail varnish too! Manicures and pedicures are a big part of my beauty routine. Neom is one my bath oil faves too.“

From essential oils to candles, fragrance plays such a role in helping us to destress. What are your go-to scents to help you slip into a calm and relaxing routine?

“I’ve used the Neom rrollerballs for a few years, I got bought them when my son was in hospital and they were incredible at supporting how I felt. The moment I pop some Neom De-Stress in the bath it is like someone giving you the most comforting cuddle! My other go-to fragrance is Liz Earle Liz Earle Botanical Essence No 1.”

Thanks for all your top tips Sarah, we’ll definitely be incorporating some of your ideas into our routine this evening!

If you need a little more relaxation inspiration, make sure to check out our Feeling Good Together campaign, where we’re regularly updating the page with fitness inspiration, wellbeing top tips and expert interviews to help support and inspire you throughout 2021.

The post Sarah Carr’s guide to relaxation appeared first on Stories.

Hi Loren! We’d love to know your fitness story. How did you end up getting into Reformer Pilates?

“It was you guys actually, thanks QVC! Ha ha. I’ve been a personal trainer for about 18 years and I’m also a yoga teacher, so I’ve always been passionate about the benefits of movement. Thinking I’d tried just about every physical activity though, I was hired to demonstrate the AeroPilates Reformer on QVC. One session on it and it felt so good, I was hooked. It then opened up a whole new world of physical and mental health benefits for me.”

That’s amazing! How would you say Reformer Pilates effects your wellbeing?

“I genuinely feel it de-stressing me and bringing balance back to my body. When I feel balanced, there’s this wonderful deep sense of comfort in my own skin, and I get a bounce in my step, I sleep like a baby and I just feel really positive and happy with myself. I’ve been particularly grateful for it over the past year as it’s kept me strong, energised and sane! I find the methodical movements really calming and I always feel a nice sense of achievement when I’ve finished a session.”

You’ve definitely sold us Loren. How does Reformer Pilates fit into your home workouts?

“Currently I’m training for an ultra-marathon, so I am running a lot, and as a yoga teacher, I spend many hours demonstrating postures. These two things leave me feeling stiff, sore and tired. I do one hour, twice a week on the Reformer and honestly it has been a game changer. I always feel 100% better the day after a session. I haven’t had a single injury since I started using it regularly, I’ve noticed my co-ordination and reflexes drastically improve and I run far more efficiently. It just enhances everything else that I do.“

What advice would you  share with someone looking to start Reformer Pilates at home?

“First step – get a Reformer. What I love about the AeroPilates is its ease of set up, use and size. I was a beginner once too, back when I’d slot the workout DVD into the DVD player! But now it’s even easier to get started. It comes with a 30-day kick-start programme and loads of different workout videos, all available online, which I still use all the time. I would focus on getting your body used to it and commit to just 10 or 20 minutes every day to begin.“

This is such great advice Loren. Do you have any top tips on integrating exercise into your daily routine?

“Start off small and stay consistent. Try not to rush the process by pushing too hard, too soon. It’s all about building those little positive habits every single day so it just becomes a natural part of your life and something you look forward to and enjoy. Write your goals down, pick the day you’re going to start and then commit. I also find it incredibly satisfying to write on the calendar (that I print out and stick up where I have to look at it!) at the end of every day what I have done, and that motivates me to exercise the next day, and the next, and the next.”

Thanks for all your brilliant advice Loren! Make sure to check out our Feeling Good Together campaign, where we’re regularly updating the page with fitness inspiration, wellbeing top tips and expert interviews to help support and inspire you throughout 2021.

The post Getting to grips with Reformer Pilates at home appeared first on Stories.

My name is Nadine Baggott and I am a serum-a-holic; I made this silly joke on Instagram and the comments flooded in. You see I hardly ever use a moisturiser and, to be honest, I haven’t for the past fifteen years. This might sound like beauty blasphemy for a beauty editor of 25 years standing, but I’m part of a growing movement of ‘skintellectuals’ and dermatologists who think that you can give your skin everything it needs in a power-packed serum.

‘It’s a myth that the thicker the cream the more nourishing it is, and honestly only dry skins require a moisturiser every day,’ Deciem founder Brandon Truaxe once told me (Deciem being the company behind amazing brands The Ordinary and NIOD).

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You can give your skin everything it needs in a power-packed serum

So what does your skin need from a serum? Well that depends on your skin’s concerns. If it’s dehydrated, look for hyaluronic acid, your skin’s natural moisture magnet that attracts water into the cells. If it is pigmented and sun-damaged look for vitamin C, while oily skins should look out for vitamin B3 niacinamide, and anyone prone to breakouts should try salicylic acid as their first port of call.

Now, here’s the thing about buying serums, there is not really a ‘one bottle suits all skins’ quick fix. Instead it’s like choosing a fresh juice every morning; ask yourself how your skin feels and is behaving and then apply accordingly. Because, let’s be honest, we all get the odd hormonal breakout, have dehydrated post night-out, dry skin days, and get back from a winter or summer break with a little sun damage (oh, is that just me then?).

Ask yourself how your skin feels and is behaving and then apply accordingly

And so my bathroom shelf is stacked full of serums (I posted a few to go with that Instagram joke) and, at last count it was around 20. I mix and match depending on what I feel that my skin needs on that morning or evening and can do everything with my serums from hydrate and repair, to resurface and exfoliate, firm my fine lines and deep clean my pores – yes they really can be that powerful. Now that’s the thing about serums, you will see a visible difference in your skin, beyond simply plumping it out with a moisturiser.

Follow Nadine Baggott on Instagram, YouTube and Twitter.

The post Why Nadine Baggott gave up moisturiser appeared first on Stories.