Eight ocean-fresh hair and beauty must-haves

Whether you’re heading to far-off shores or staying closer to home, come the warmer weather, chances are you’ll be hitting the beach. If you can’t wait that long, bring the seaside home with marine-inspired products, perfect for pre-holiday pampering. Author and beauty writer, Karena Callen shares her favourite oceanic treats

Catch a wave

You know the ‘oomph’ that a day at the beach gives your hair? Get the look in the comfort of your own home with a spritz or two of Maria Nila Ocean Spray (£18), a cult Swedish styling mist that’s also vegan-friendly and cruelty-free. It’s packed with body-boosting natural salt and conditioning sunflower seed extract – spray onto damp hair and air-dry using your fingers to create enviable just-off-the-beach waves.

Sea spray

If you want to conjure sand, sea and surf, pre or post-holiday, reach for Bobbi Brown Beach Fragrance, (£52). This delicious cocktail of ozonic sea spray, honeyed sand jasmine and zingy, mood-boosting mandarin is guaranteed to get you in a holiday mood before you can say ‘pina colada’. And it smells even better on sun-kissed skin.

Deep sea treat

Pep-up your circulation and calm sensitivity in one fell swoop with Elemis Sea Lavender & Samphire Body Cream (£26), a skin-cosseting blend of super-moisturising sea lavender and macadamia oil, protective samphire and soothing oat extract. To enhance the benefits, massage it into damp skin after showering or bathing, using upward sweeps, working from the ankles all the way up. Trust us – it’s like a spa in a tube.

The Elemis Sea Lavender & Samphire Body Cream is available in the new seven-piece amenity kits designed exclusively by Temperley London for British Airways First cabins.

Liquid assets

I’m always wary of the ‘phaff factor’ when it comes to beauty products, a category that includes potions and powders that require any kind of mixing, but I’d make an exception for Katherine Daniels’ award-winning Instant Effect Eye Mask (£58). Okay, so you have to press the product pod to infuse the under-eye patches with liquid sea kelp – but the results are worth it. The line-smoothing kelp and plumping hyaluronic acid visibly work their magic in 20 minutes. Perfect for an in-flight eye treat, too.

Balmy days

Prepping my skin is an all important part of the pre-holiday ritual. Step-up your cleansing routine and treat your skin to a daily hot cloth cleanse a couple of weeks before take-off. If you love a balm cleanser (I’m hooked), Emma Hardie Moringa Cleansing Balm (£46) melts easily into your skin before you buff it off with a double-sided cleansing cloth. It has vitamin-rich Moringa purify the pores, as well as orange, neroli, mandarin, jasmine and rose essential oils.

The buff and the smooth

I love skin-smoothing scrubs and polishes, especially when I’m getting beach-ready. I’ve recently fallen in love with Haeckels’ Exfoliating Vegan Seaweed Block (£18), a chunky body bar that cleanses and buffs in one and, a bonus, it leaves you pleasantly tingly all over. Crushed coriander seeds and peppercorns smooth away roughness, while stimulating seaweed, aloe vera and tea tree extracts tone, tighten and hydrate.

Take a dip

A soak in Ren Atlantic Kelp and Microalgae Bath Oil (£28) is like a dip in the ocean, albeit considerably warmer, all thanks to the mineral and seaweed-rich formulation. Energising kelp, stress-relieving plankton, and strengthening microalgae give skin a top-to-toe boost while you lie back, relax and dream of blue skies and palm trees.

Sea(weed) rescue

It took Dr Max Huber 12 years to create Creme de La Mer, a skin cream enriched with marine extracts, originally created to rescue his own skin which was burnt in an accident. His ‘miracle broth’ brewed from kelp harvested from the Pacific Ocean, is packed with reparative nutrients and moisturisers. I’m a fan of The Moisturizing Cool Gel Cream (£60), a lighter incarnation of the original crème. It still packs a punch and has a cooling effect that is lapped up by all skin types, especially in warmer weather and sunnier climes.