All this warm weather is calling for limbs to be exposed. But because anything too rich in the way of body moisturisers can make you feel a bit sticky in the daytime, what I’m doing is using a body balm in the evening – and waking up soft as a toddler’s backside.
Balms are a solidified oil, that you can warm up in your hands and apply with all the benefits of an oil itself – but none of the mess. In the summer, they make you feel all exotic, and put paid to any rough heels and sandpaper elbows too. Here are my top five.
A permanent fixture by my bedside at the moment is Pure Lochside Calm and Soothe Luxury Balm (£40), which is amazingly unctuous, and smells so posh and spa-like that I cannot get enough of rubbing it into heels, elbows, cuticles, you name it, before I go to sleep. Last for ages too.
Equally rich is Body Shop Shea Butter and Sesame Oil Body Balm (£13). The fragrance of this says summer evening like nobody’s business and it gives a wonderfully glossy sheen to limbs. The jar is a bonus too – once you’ve finished, wash it out and keep vanilla pods or something fancy in it.
If you’re in a ‘spa-at-home’ kind of mood, call in Sultane de Saba’s Ginger, Honey & Caffeine Slimming Massage Balm (£42.50), which looks like honey in the jar and feels a bit like honey when you put it on. However, I don’t think I’ve experienced such a tightening, firming, smoothing effect from a body product in a long time. Definitely one for ‘big night out’ prep.
Lanolips Lovely Buttermilk Body Balm (£13.99) is my go-to when I need the effects of a night-time balm but in the morning. This bad boy really seems to lock in moisture for the whole day, and it’s my favourite body product if my skin is feeling extra dry from either sun or chlorine.
Finally, a balm that’s not quite a balm in the shape of Nourishing Body Balm with Nordic Berry (£3.99), which is brand new from Neutrogena. It’s not exactly pride of place on the bathroom shelf stuff, but what you’re getting (for under a fiver remember), is a more of super-rich cream than a balm, with a scent that’s a bit fruity and a bit sweet but not too much of either.
