British blogger Caroline Hirons has just seen her new book, Skincare: The Ultimate No-Nonsense Guide, become the first beauty title to top the Sunday Times Bestseller chart in 18 years.
The trained aesthetician, who has almost one million followers on her social media channels, joined Jim Mora to discuss the book, why we need to rid ourselves of face wipes and sunbeds, and how people can get great skin on any budget.
Caroline Hirons Photo: Supplied
Listen to the full interview with Caroline Hirons on Sunday Morning with Jim Mora
Hirons says her book was written for all types of people.
“It’s for pretty much anyone, whether they are seasoned, hardcore skincare pros, or newbies, or teenagers.
“I have lots of older women who come to me and say 'I’ve literally never done anything except whack a bit of cream on my cheeks whenever they get tight'. I’ve made it for all skin types and skin tones, I didn’t really want to leave anyone out.”
Photo: Supplied
Men are also accommodated in the book, with emphasis on men with heavy beards.
“There’s been a bigger interest from men in recent years. When I first started blogging in 2010 they weren’t really that interested… but there’s now a health trend of men taking more care of themselves.”
Common sense approaches to reacting to skin problems and determining what the skin needs is key, she says.
“It’s all about taking care and paying attention. If you eat something and you get bloating and the next day you’ve got a few spots it’s probably linked.”
She says there is no age limit to looking after the skin, with visible benefits for older people.
“Especially if you use actives like retinoids, things like niacinamide, which is a great ingredient for brightness.
“The main thing, for women in particular, is that once you are past the menopause it is very hard for your skin to do two things — one, retain moisture and two, your collagen is depleted. If you think of collagen, it’s like the scaffolding of the face.
“The older you get you just keep pulling away at the joints of the scaffolding and eventually things fall down… But at the end of the day there is nothing to give a quick lift to older skin better than facial oil… you will see a difference.”