Lisa Snowdon is a strong advocate for pro-ageing, the inside out approach to health and happiness and embracing skin at every phase of life. Here’s how she stays positive and looks so fresh-faced
During the pandemic, Lisa Snowdon started her ‘Selfcare Sunday’ series on Instagram during which she spoke to experts across the wellness field on topics from how to minimise anxiety and calm the mind to energy-boosting nutrition tips, how to handle the menopause, and the best skincare products to get a glow. She created a cult following and now is an expert herself when it comes to wellness. “I feel like we’re all friends – I’m always giving them advice and we share information. It was good for me and it was good for them and we’ve just been helping each other to keep mentally positive,” she says about her group.
Lisa Snowdon partly puts her healthy glow down to her 360 approach to skincare, saying: “When I started modelling at 17 and 18 I already knew about the importance of vitamins, supplements, nutrition, and hydration. Yes, you can put on great makeup or a good mask, but it’s also about your mind and what you put into your body that counts. Mindfulness, breathwork, and meditation came a little bit later, perhaps the last five years I’ve paid attention to my mental health and understanding how much that can impact my sleep, my skin, and feeling more positive in general.”
Today, Snowdon has signed up as brand ambassador for neck expert brand Prai Beauty and cited their products as favourites in her skincare routine. Prai Beauty’s neck range is designed to show immediate tightening results and with one Ageless Throat & Decolletage Crème selling every minute, the results speak for themselves. “This is the one I use everyday to give skin its bounce and hydration back and get it to a place where I want it to be,” says Lisa.
I sat down with Lisa to learn all about health, wellbeing and skincare habits:
What approach do you take with skincare?
‘Wellness and happiness shows in your skin. It is a whole 360 approach; what you’re putting into your body and exercise definitely plays a big part and it really helps to boost the blood flow and release all of the good endorphins and serotonin, making you feel happier, so in turn you make better choices about what you eat and drink and how you sleep.
I do love applying creams topically too and enjoy that process, the aromatherapy and the power of touch – but you can’t just put on a moisturiser and hope for the best.’
How does stress affect your skin?
‘I see a really big difference. I grind my teeth at night if I’m stressed, so in the morning I can feel a bit tighter around my jaw, and have to do more massage around my cheekbones and underneath. I also don’t sleep as well when I’m stressed and just don’t feel refreshed, which makes me notice a big difference in how I hold myself, so that has a big knock on effect.’
Do you go for regular facials?
‘I love facials. I go to see Sarah Chapman where she does lots of deep cleansing. I also see Dr. Gaylna Selezneva at the Rita Rakus clinic for blue light laser and heat treatments to boost collagen. I’m all about fighting gravity and about trying to do it in a natural way by giving my skin a kick start. At home I do a lot of gua sha, facial rolling, and use the Current Body LED lights.’
How do you notice your skin changing?
‘Gravity is trying to get a hold of my skin so I’m about fighting it with nourishment, lots of hydration, and lots of facial massage. Having clean skin is fundamental and I exfoliate twice a week (with nothing too harsh or abrasive) so the products I apply on top can permeate or absorb into the skin. Then I really find that layering products is the way forward, applying in an upwards direction. If I’m a little bit puffy in the morning I use my cryo balls, which I keep in the freezer.’
What do you do everyday without fail?
‘I dry-body brush; I do it before I go into the shower on dry skin. When I come out of the shower, I apply some oils with another body brush and just go up onto the butt and the legs, just to really get the product into the skin. I love Legology, the new Prai Beauty Ageless Crepe Body Correct Crème is really thick and super nourishing, and Weleda does a nice anti-cellulite oil as well.’
Do you think prevention is better than cure with the neck area?
‘If I could’ve told my younger self to not neglect my neck, then I would’ve whispered; ‘don’t forget your neck when you’re cleansing, don’t forget your neck when you’re moisturising, or when you’re using your sunscreen!’. If you can start young, absolutely you should. But I think there are so many great products. I also love the little roller in the Ageless Throat & Decolletage Serum, it’s a cooling serum that tightens. I’m also really impressed with their MenoGlow range with M&S; not only is it brilliant to be bringing that conversation into the mainstream, but the products are so cooling and hydrating too.’
Do you do any neck exercises?
‘I do a lot of neck stretches to try to counteract all of this tech neck; we’re literally always on our phones. If I’m on the phone, I try and hold it up a bit higher, and if I’m out for a walk, I always look up. I find a lot of massage is really good too; when you apply your neck cream, go up behind your ears as well, and just sort of grab the product up behind your neck.’
Do you think touch has an impact on mental health?
‘I’m a big believer in selfcare. Give yourself a lovely foot massage in the evening – this is your body, this is your skin, you’ve got to look after it, look after you.
I always say to people ‘you can be really mean to yourself (and I’ve been guilty of this in the past), looking in the mirror and thinking “I don’t like this”, or “this needs to change” ‘. And you’d never speak with such harsh words to a friend or family member, and I think we can apply that to ourselves.’
How do you feel about body confidence?
‘There have been moments in the last couple of years where things have started to change quite a lot for me and it affected my confidence quite a bit. I ended up putting on weight and not feeling comfortable in my skin. If you don’t feel confident then you’re fighting against yourself. It’s really hard to stand there and own it if you don’t feel your best self. But as you get older you do have to learn self-acceptance, but there’s also things you can do to help that, like exercise. It can help stop you wanting to snack on naughty things, keep you in check with your alcohol and sugar consumption, your posture changes and your attitude changes.’
How did you feel going through the menopause?
‘During the menopause, I had moments when I felt really lost, scared, and out of my depth. A lot of women end up leaving their jobs because they just don’t have the confidence, they don’t have the brain power anymore. It affects your mental health so much, your brain fog, you can’t process things, you can get anxiety. That’s why I’m such a big advocate of taking HRT if you can, but also taking your health seriously and taking responsibility for that as well.’
The skin on the body is often really neglected. How do you keep yours fresh and toned?
‘Dry body brushing is great for the blood circulation and for getting the lymphatic system working after being asleep. Cold showers are a good shock to the system and a test of mental agility. Some days I don’t want to, but I do and it just feels really positive. Exercise obviously is great, and using good products helps.’
What does wellness mean to you?
‘Wellness to me means feeling good inside and out and having energy when you wake up in the morning, being positive and grateful and being excited for the day. I’m really grateful that I’ve got my health. When you’ve been poorly, you appreciate having that energy to go out and do things, go to the gym, or make decisions about what to drink or eat. Wellness for me is feeling the best version of me and being happy.’
How do you keep your positivity up?
‘I am pretty much positive most of the time. There are days when I’ve had a bit of a sulk or a bit of a funk or been a bit of a b**tch to George or to myself. But when that happens I recognise that I have to exercise and that sorts me out. If I work hard and stay focused either doing pilates or strength training, it resets and re-balances me. But most of the time I’m positive because I realise I’m very lucky, I love doing what I do, I’ve got some great friends, I’ve got an amazing partner who I love and a gorgeous family, and I feel really grateful. Practising gratitude is a really good way to generate positivity.’
What do you do when you wake up to make sure you start the day on the right foot?
‘George and I say ‘good morning baby!’ and make ourselves really happy in the morning. We make each other laugh and we get up and go. It’s taken me a long, long time to get to this place but we genuinely love each other’s company. He’s been the most positive force around me, especially when I was going into the menopause. He had to deal with a lot, he’s been incredible.’
What supplements do you swear by?
‘I always take the live active bacteria, Symprove, first thing in the morning. I also take Correxiko marine collagen capsules which are amazing with hot lemon. They have hyaluronic acid, vitamin C and marine collagen. I take vitamin C, zinc, vitamin D. I rattle, basically. In the evening I take magnesium, 5HTP, CBD, power drops, sleep drops, all of that stuff.’
What’s the best piece of beauty advice you’ve been given?
‘It was to make sure I was getting the right hydration (I drink three litres of water a day), because that makes everything better in lots of ways. So water, sleep and laughter, those things are all really good places to start.’
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