Festive season party prep: your essential guide to products, treatments, and styling
You'd be forgiven for feeling out of practice this party season! After spending nearly two years in comfy clothes with no need to primp or style yourself, your skills may feel a little rusty! With that in mind, Paul and the team wanted to share their favourite party prep tips and product recommendations to get you back in the mood and feeling good.
Find out which treatments and products will get you back on top form, and how to keep flawless skin all December long (no matter how many late nights you have!). Let's get prepped!
Must-have products for party prep
There's one big beauty secret all our team members swear by: care for your natural assets, and your true beauty will always shine through. It's the foundation of our entire approach to hair and beauty! With that in mind, our experts have pulled together a list of must-have products for party season prep. This is how you maintain a wonderfully healthy base that's perfect for styling.
Kérastase Fresh Affair dry shampoo
Want to freshen up your hair but don't have time to pop to the salon? We recommend having a professional-quality dry shampoo to hand. Kérastase Fresh Affair dry shampoo is packed with Vitamin E and rice starch to draw oil from your roots without drying out your scalp. It's our top trick for refreshing second-day hair and for making your salon blow-dry last longer!
SteamPod 3.0
It's nigh impossible to create a gorgeous party hairstyle without using heated styling tools. Achieve silky straightness or flowing waves and an incredible mirror-like shine with high-pressure steam instead. Swap to L'Oréal Professionnel's latest SteamPod styling tool and protect your locks from dullness, brassiness, and heat damage.
Iles Formula Hair Mask Haute Performance
This luxurious mask targets overstyled, tangled hair that feels dryer in the cold weather and central heating. Wendy Iles developed the hair mask haute experience to repair the hair using a cocktail of raw virgin ingredients to give that signature silk finish.
SkinCeuticals Blemish + Age Defense
There's no time for blemishes when you have a full social calendar! Add SkinCeuticals Blemish + Age Defence serum to your at-home skincare routine and zap zits before they start. This potent treatment contains Salicylic acid and Dioic acid to minimise blemishes and reduce the early signs of aging.
Salon treatments fit for party season
Now that your at-home care routine has been catered to, let's turn our attention to in-salon treatments fit for the office Christmas party and other festive events! Visit us at Battersea Power Station or our Knightsbridge salon and enjoy some chilled 'me' time before the season hits full swing.
Lift your look with highlights
Add softness and dimension to your hair colour with face-framing highlights. They subtly lift the hair, hide greys, and give your look an extra edge of sophistication.
Don't be tempted to go for a half head of highlights during the festive season! Our experts recommend a full head to get the most out of your appointment and make your colour last longer. Besides — you'll be packing more 'wow' power when you opt for a full head!
Indulge in a blow-dry
All the impact with none of the effort! If you've got one big event in the calendar and want to feel like a million dollars, book yourself in for a blow-dry. Your hair will be cleansed, conditioned, and treated as part of a bespoke backwash experience, totally tailored to you. This'll help prep your hair while maximising the finished style. It's pure luxury and the end results are fit for the pages of Vogue. Literally!
Top tip! Preserve your salon blow-dry by following Paul's nighttime routine.
Festive manicures complete the look
You can't possibly accept drinks or open gifts without perfectly polished nails! Whether you want a sleek file and finish, or opulent nail art, our premium nail products and skilled technicians are ready and waiting to help you complete your look.
DIY skincare tips from the experts at Paul Edmonds London
It wasn't enough for our team to give you their best recommendations; they also wanted to load you up with tips for skin maintenance. A few simple tips and tricks can pave the way for glowing, dewy, healthy-looking skin all festive season. Our skin specialist Gené has rounded up her top tips for a great complexion this winter (because everyone knows great summer skin is made in the winter!).
Stay hydrated
For some people, party season is the perfect time to indulge in vices like alcohol and cigarettes. Both cause dehydration and reduced collagen production, so Gené recommends drinking one glass of water for every alcoholic beverage you enjoy. Sleep and good nutrition are helpful, too!
Cleanse properly
It's tempting to tumble into bed wearing a full face of makeup after a long night. If you can, try to cleanse your skin before and after a night out. This stops your pores from becoming clogged, so you can avoid breakouts!
Morning: remove excess oils with a gentle cleanser like SkinCeuticals Simply Clean or use Blemish + Age Cleansing Gel helps to gently exfoliate and purify the deepest layers of your skin.
Evening: double cleanse, starting with a cream cleanser like Simply Clean to remove makeup and help improve skin texture. Your second cleanse should be with a water-based cleanser, like SkinCeuticals Blemish + Age Cleansing Gel.
Get into masking
Want your makeup to sit better on your skin while on a night out? Try a clay mask several hours before you go out! A weekly routine of exfoliating and masking will remove excess oil and dirt. It's antimicrobial and can help prevent blackheads while regulating and hydrating the skin.
Go easy on the makeup!
Makeup is a wonderful way to express yourself but it's essential to give your skin a break once a week! Try to maintain a routine of regular facial steams, extractions, and mild peels to keep your skin fresh and youthful.
Adapt your skincare ritual
Are you in tune with your skin? Keep fine lines, dehydration and blemishes at bay by adapting your skincare routine to suit your needs. Gené recommends adding an antioxidant like SkinCeuticals CE Ferulic to your morning routine to improve firmness and protect from environmental oxidative stress at a cellular level.
Gené advises everyone to finish their skincare ritual with a hydrator to stop skin feeling tight. Choose SkinCeuticals Hydrating B5 for a light dose of moisture, or Triple Lipid Restore cream for stronger, deeper hydration (great for colder months!).
You can also add extra hydration while improving skin texture by adding SkinCeuticals HA Intensifier into your morning or evening ritual. It delivers 30% more hydration and improves skin texture, discolouration, and lines.
Don't forget the SPF
SPF is important, even in winter! No matter where your December takes you, don't forget to apply a high quality SPF after your morning hydrator to protect your skin from premature ageing and pigmentation.
Now you have everything you need to tackle party season with glorious abandon, looking and feeling like the very best version of you. Book your pre-party treatments now or head to the online shop and treat yourself to our top product recommendations.
Looking for extra gift ideas? Drop by our online gift edit and shop a range of exquisite products curated by Paul and the team.