Venetia Archer, founder and CEO of beauty concierge app Ruuby, shares her time-saving intel on getting preened before a trip abroad.
19 September, 2019
It's rather fitting that I am sitting in my hotel room in Vence writing this, swathed in large fluffy bathrobe, hair lathered with the finest of Ayurvedic hair treatment (I'm trying to grow it). For I am finally enjoying a holiday this year, post a very, very busy few months at Ruuby.
For those who don't know us, we are an on-demand beauty concierge app. If you live in London, you can download Ruuby and book an expert beautician direct to your door in the same amount of time it takes for your Uber Eats to arrive (well maybe slightly longer, an hour, but you get my point).
This makes Ruuby the perfect accompaniment to those of us en route to finer climes, with limited time at our disposal.
The most important thing is timing. If you're anything like me, you might have left all of your beauty admin to the last minute (so I am a fan of the 6am blowdry and 10pm wax). Start like you mean it with your spray tan. It needs time to develop, and we don't want you hopping on the plane smelling like biscuits. The benefit of a spray tan at home is multifold. Your tanner arrives with a small bag, which miraculously births a full-on tanning tent, which ensures your walls, floors, and anything else precious remain clean. Then comes the tanning hose and bottles of various solutions, which can be mixed to find your perfect shade. You're all set!
I've always been a bit hesitant about a spray tan, so I go for the lightest shade of Vita Liberata, an organic tanning solution, which comes out incredibly naturally. If time is of the essence, you can choose the "Express" tan option, which develops over a couple of hours, and can then be washed off. The traditional tanning mixture requires more hours to develop, so best left on overnight. Voila - bronzed skin pre-Bahamas!
Side note, it's important to do this the day before your tan, so you don't strip off the new colour. I book with the amazing Jucy, the self-proclaimed "Queen Of Waxing". I agree with her. She hails from Brazil, and knows a Brazilian better than the rest. Always ask for Lycon wax - it honestly makes the experience as pain free as possible. When I do it at home, it's all done on a massage table!
Nothing beats a tropical toe, and this is the most essential of all holiday treatments. As discussed, I left this to the last minute, and so had Kelly come to my home at 7am as I diligently checked in to my midday flight. With a wheel of colours, I chose a coral for my feet, and a mint green for hands. My autumnal favourites are a forest green and midnight blue.
A pre-holiday facial is a nice-to-have. Often I save these for when I come back to drench my dehydrated skin and attempt to reverse my hours in the sun. For the pre-trip facial, I would recommend a simple, hydrating treatment to prep your skin for the plane. I am a great fan of the Murad range - its products are extensive and suitable for all skin types. For the return, I always go full on. I'll book an acid peel and microneedle, to slough away the dead skin cells. Microneedling is my favourite. Your therapist will use a dermaroller, which uses needles to inject small pricks into the skin, which encourages micro-tears, leading to collagen formation. Two days afterwards, my skin is always glowing, and results continue over the next two weeks as your skin regenerates.
The final step - ensure your beauty stash is complete for the holiday at hand. Don't try to save space, and bring your key favourite products. My beauty routine is always infinitely better when I am on holiday; there's more time to languish and spend time on it. I have been known to us a face mask in the air, and they are a must for sunburnt skin.
