Two Holiday Skincare Essentials That Do (Almost) Everything

From pre-holiday exfoliation and in-flight hydration to post-sun body care, beach hair and fading self-tan, these are the two products I never travel without.

There is plenty to love about the PROSHINE Shimmer collection on holiday. Gold Shimmer on sun-kissed skin. Glass Skin before dinner. Pink Shimmer swept across the shoulders for a night out.

But if I could only pack one PROSHINE product, it would always be the High Shine Solid Body Oil.

It may not be the loudest product in the suitcase, but it is invariably the one everyone ends up using. It is 100% natural and works on the face, body and hair, making it as useful beside the pool as it is on the plane or getting ready for dinner.

Add a Cotton Scrub Towel and you have an entire holiday skincare routine taking up remarkably little space.

Before you go: prepare your skin, don’t punish it

The temptation before a holiday is to attack every dry patch you can find. But good holiday skin prep is about gentle, consistent body exfoliation and hydration—not scrubbing yourself into oblivion the night before your flight.

In the days leading up to your trip, use a Cotton Scrub Towel to gently exfoliate areas prone to roughness or uneven texture: heels, ankles, knees and elbows are usually the chief offenders.

Each textured cotton towel comes saturated with skincare, so it cleanses, conditions and buffs the skin at the same time—no soaking, rinsing or additional product required. It leaves the body feeling smoother and creates a more even canvas if you plan to apply self-tan before travelling.

Follow with the High Shine Solid Body Oil. Its blend of mango butter, grapeseed oil, moringa seed oil, tomato seed oil, tamanu seed oil and pro-vitamin B5 conditions the skin, while its oil-and-wax base helps lock in moisture.

The result is soft, supple, beautifully finished skin without a complicated ten-step body care routine.

On the plane: the routine that replaced 900 products!

Long-haul flights used to turn my hand luggage into a travelling beauty counter.

I would bring mists, serums, creams and oils, layering them all in the hope of arriving with hydrated skin. Inevitably, half of it would begin to pill and roll off before we had crossed the first time zone—and my skin still never felt properly moisturised.

On one particularly long flight, I abandoned the lot.

I cleansed my skin with a Cotton Scrub Towel, then applied the High Shine Solid Body Oil to my face, hands, arms and anywhere else that felt dry. That was it.

It was a game-changer.

The solid oil gave my skin the rich, comforting layer it had been missing, without leaks, spills or a clear plastic bag full of products. Now it is my entire in-flight skincare routine.

One towel. One solid stick. Face, body and hair taken care of.

After the beach: your head-to-toe reset

Saltwater, sand, chlorine, sunshine, hiking, dancing and aggressive air conditioning can all leave the skin and hair feeling dry and stripped.

My favourite reset happens during that little transition between day and night. Take a cool or lukewarm shower to wash away the day, then glide the High Shine Solid Body Oil over slightly damp skin from shoulders to heels.

The combination of oils, mango butter and wax helps seal in moisture and gives dry, sun-soaked skin a rich, conditioned feel. It also creates the beautifully polished finish that makes everything you put on afterwards look better.

You can use it on your hair, too. Warm a small amount between your hands, smooth it through dry-feeling mid-lengths and ends, then pull the hair into a sleek ponytail or bun. You get a polished evening look while the oils, mango butter and pro-vitamin B5 condition the hair beneath it.

Used sparingly, the oil-and-wax base can coat the strands and help hair feel smoother after exposure to saltwater or chlorine. However, it has not been tested as a UV, chlorine or saltwater protectant. Wetting your hair with fresh water before swimming and rinsing it afterwards remains the best starting point.

The High Shine Solid Body Oil is not sunscreen either. Always use a broad-spectrum SPF during sun exposure. Think of the oil as your nourishing post-sun body-care ritual—not a replacement for sun protection.

When your tan becomes less cooperative

Whether it came from a bottle or developed naturally, every tan eventually enters its less attractive phase.

Colour disappears from some places while clinging determinedly to others, particularly around the ankles, heels, knees and elbows. Once your skin is completely free from sunburn, tenderness or active peeling, use a Cotton Scrub Towel to gently buff uneven areas and lift loose, dry surface skin.

Follow immediately with the High Shine Solid Body Oil to replenish moisture and restore a smoother, healthier-looking finish.

Never exfoliate sunburned or sore skin, and resist the urge to pull away peeling skin before it is ready. At that stage, comfort and recovery matter considerably more than perfect-looking ankles.

For everything else the holiday throws at you

The Cotton Scrub Towels really come into their own when you need to turn yourself around quickly.

Use one after a sweaty hike, before changing for dinner or when you return from a night out wearing considerably more makeup than you left with. The skincare-soaked towel cleanses and refreshes the face and body while its textured cotton surface gently exfoliates.

Then use the High Shine Solid Body Oil wherever you need it: face, body, hair—or all three.

Holiday skincare should work wherever you happen to be: on a plane, beside the sea, halfway up a mountain, getting ready for dinner or recovering from the night before.

The High Shine Solid Body Oil and Cotton Scrub Towels are the two essentials I pack because they make looking after yourself easier.

And because, no matter who comes on the trip, someone always asks to borrow them.