Beauty Q&A with Lisa Snowdon

We sat down with our first-ever brand ambassador and Chief Pro-Aging Advocate, Lisa Snowdon to discuss all things beauty! Read on to learn Lisa's favorite products, skincare secrets, and the rituals and routines that keep her looking and feeling fabulous at 50. 

PRAI: So firstly, what is your skincare philosophy?

LISA: I have always looked after my skin, I think having a good at home regime is really important. I think cleansing and keeping your skin really clean twice daily, adding lots of moisture, adding serums, an eye cream and obviously not forgetting your neck.  And I love to incorporate massage when I’m applying oils or serums.

PRAI: In terms of skincare, do you look at it as topical products or do you take a 360 approach?

LISA: I think skin wellness and happiness, everything shows in your skin.  What you’re putting into your body, good hydration, good nutrition, exercise definitely plays a big part, it really helps to boost the blood flow and release all of the good endorphins and serotonin.  It definitely makes you feel happier, so in turn you make better choices about what to eat and what to drink, nourishing yourself and getting good sleep; it is a whole 360 approach.  I do love applying creams topically, I do enjoy that process, I also enjoy aromatherapy and the power of touch.  It is a whole 360, you can’t just put on a moisturiser and hope for the best. You’ve got to get fresh air, do exercise, do meditation, mindfulness, it is all really important.

PRAI: When did you realise about that 360 approach to skin?

LISA: I think I’ve always known.  Because I was modelling a few years ago, I always knew that vitamins, supplements, nutrition, water, I always knew that from such a young age; 17 or 18, that it was really important.  Yes you can put on great makeup or a good mask but you have to have good hydration, especially when you’re travelling a lot.  When you come in from a run or brisk walk and you have that lovely flush to the skin, you just look so much healthier. I’ve always known that. The more mindfulness, breathe work and meditation came a little bit later, perhaps the last 5 years I’ve paid attention to my mental health and knowing how much that can impact my sleep and feeling more positive in general.

PRAI: If you are stressed, do you see a difference in your skin?

LISA: Yes absolutely, I see a really big difference.  I grind my teeth at night if I’m stressed, so in the morning you can feel a bit more tight around your jaw, so I have to do more massage around my cheek bones and underneath.  I don’t sleep as well and I just don’t feel refreshed; I notice a big difference in how I hold myself.  It all has a big knock on effect.

PRAI: Do you go for regular facials?

LISA: I do love facials.  I go to see Sarah Chapman, she does really beautiful facials, she does lots of deep cleansing.  I see Dr. Gaylna as well at the Rita Rakus clinic, she does all sorts of beautiful things like blue light laser and heat treatments to boost the collagen.  I’m all about fighting gravity and trying to do it the more natural way.  Get the body to give it a kick start.

PRAI: How often do you have facials?

LISA: It really varies.  It depends on when I can, in an ideal world I’d go every month but it doesn’t always happen like that!  There was a big long stretch, especially with covid, where I didn’t go and so I’ve done 3 this year.  

During Covid I started my series, Selfcare Sunday, so I was really proactive in talking about self care and doing a lot of self care.  I was doing a lot of gua sha, I’ve got facial rollers, the Current Body LED lights, I have all sorts of tools and I use all of that stuff.  So I am really good at home, I don’t have a kid though!

PRAI: Your Lives must have helped a lot of women?

LISA: Yes it really helped, I’ve got a lovely little group of women on Instagram.  You do feel like you’re all friends and 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 just to keep mentally positive because it was so hard.

PRAI: What part of your skincare routine is more important to you now?  What do you notice has changed in the last 10 years?

LISA: Obviously gravity is trying to get a hold of my skin!  I’m about nourishing skin, lots of hydration and lots of facial massage.  You’ve got to have clean skin before you can get any of the products to even permeate or absorb into the skin.  So clean skin for me is your first fundamental start, maybe exfoliate twice a week, nothing too harsh or abrasive.  Then I really find that layering products is the way forward, taking your time, putting on your serums and your creams. Also when you apply it I always go up, I do lots of massage around the jaw, around the neck, everything has to come up.  I always like saying to my fiancé, ‘up, always up, always up’ and he’s always making fun of me! Lots of nourishment, lots of hydration and fighting gravity with massage. 

PRAI: Do you think that’s just around the neck and jawline area or all over?

LISA: It’s a lot of the neck, it’s a lot of the jaw and then I do a lot of gentle massage around the eyes, where I hold the eye and I just massage in a circle.  If I’m a little bit puffy in the morning I brought my little cryo balls with me this morning, which are little ice balls I keep in the freezer.  Take them out of the freezer, let them warm up a bit so they don’t stick to your face!  Then they slowly depuff your face.  All of those things really help.  Its about looking at your face in the morning and seeing what you need.  Different foods and things like that can affect you the next day, like when you wake up and you’ve had too much salt and you just feel a bit puffy the next day.  I just look and see what I need and then I apply the massage depending on where I need it.  I always do a little bit of lymphatic drainage around the neck.

PRAI: Do you do that everyday without fail?

LISA: Yes, I do it with my cleanser, I walk around and just cleanse and I just massage.  Dry body brushing as well.  It just becomes second nature and you don’t have to take hours out of your morning routine. 

PRAI: Do you dry body brush even if you don’t go in the shower?

LISA: I always have a shower, but I do it before I go into the shower onto dry skin.  And then when I come out of the shower I might 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 smell is beautiful, the new PRAI Beauty Crepe Correct body crème is really thick and super nourishing and Weleda do a nice anti-cellulite oil as well. 

PRAI: Do you think with neck, prevention is better than cure?

LISA: If you can start at a younger age and if I could’ve told my younger self to not neglect my neck then that’s what I would’ve always 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!’.  So I think if you can start young, absolutely you should.  But I think there’s so many great products.  Obviously PRAI Beauty’s neck range is fantastic at being able to really get your skin back to a place where you want it to be, with all of the amazing technology and ingredients in the products.  The Ageless Throat & Decolletage Crème is one I use everyday to give skin its bounce and hydration back.

PRAI: Are you quite surprised at the results with PRAI?

LISA: Yes, I am surprised!  They are immediate and when you feel those beautiful new Ageless Superboost Capsules as well, they just feel beautiful; not only do they hydrate and lift the skin, they give that lovely luminosity to the skin as well.  But I love the little roller in the Ageless Throat & Decolletage Serum, it’s a lovely cooling serum that tightens.  I’m also really impressed with their MenoGlow range with M&S, not only is it brilliant bringing that conversation into the mainstream, but the products are so cooling and hydrating too.

PRAI: Do you keep it in the fridge (Ageless Throat & Decolletage Serum)?

LISA: I do in the summer, in the summer you can, but I definitely just keep it in my dressing room; that’s a good way to walk around as well, or you can sit and watch the TV as well in the evening or just before bed and you can do a whole neck routine.

PRAI: Do you do any neck exercises?

LISA: Yeah, I do a lot of stretching the neck.  Basically, you just want to counteract all of this tech neck; we’re literally always on our phones. So if I’m on the phone I try and hold it up a bit higher.  If I’ve been on my computer if it’s a bit lower, I try and do those stretches.  If I’m out for a walk I always look up, look higher than down at my feet.  Just try and keep the neck 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.  Obviously not too much into the hair but use that last bit of cream on your fingers all the way up behind your ears. 

PRAI: Do you think touch is important to feel your skin, feel yourself; do you think touch has a massive impact on mental health?

LISA: Yeah, I love being caring.  I always say to people, you can be really (and I’ve been guilty of this in the past) you can be mean to yourself, looking in the mirror and thinking ‘I don’t like this’, ‘this needs to change’ or ‘this has changed’.  And I think, you’d never speak to a friend or family member like that, you would never speak with such harsh words.  You’d always choose the words you’d use, you’d be more gentle and more kind and I think we can apply that to ourselves.  It really is a lovely nurturing thing, to even apply your hand cream, lovely aromatherapies, that sensory experience, do a lovely foot massage in the evening, you know just take care of yourself; this is your body, this is your skin, you’ve got to look after it, look after you.

PRAI: How do you feel about body confidence?

LISA: I’m all for 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 did effect my confidence quite a bit.  I ended up putting on weight and not feeling comfortable in my skin.  But as you get older you do have to learn self-acceptance, but there’s also things you can do to help that.  Exercise is a massive help your mental health, it can help stop you wanting to snack on the naughty things, it can keep you in check with your alcohol consumption, sugar consumption, your posture changes, your attitude changes and it can help you lose a few pounds as well which is great.

PRAI: It’s important when you’re presenting and things like that, if you don’t feel confident then you’re fighting against yourself a bit, so it’s important for you to keep in shape

LISA: Yeah, you have got a lot of pressure on you and it’s really hard to stand there and own it if you don’t feel your best self.  I think the menopause gave me moments when I felt really lost, scared and out of my depth, clothes didn’t fit me.  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. So you know, that’s why I’m such a big advocate of yes, taking HRT if you can or you want to, but also taking your health seriously and taking responsibility for that as well.  Just pay attention to what you’re doing; what you’re saying to yourself, who you’re surrounding yourself with, what you’re eating, what you’re drinking, how you’re sleeping.  All of that stuff; you just can’t get away with the stuff when you were younger unfortunately!

PRAI: The skin on the body is often really neglected.  How do you keep yours fresh and toned?

LISA: Dry body brushing, I really find that it’s a really nice start to the day and is great for the blood circulation and getting the lymphatic system working after being asleep.  Cold showers are a good shock to the system and a test of mental agility, can I push myself out of my comfort zone!  Some days I don’t want to, but I do and it just feels really positive.  Exercise obviously and using good products.  It’s a little bit hard because I was a sun worshipper back in the day so I’ve got an uneven skin tone but I’m very regimented with my sunscreen now and do fake tan rather than a real one!

PRAI: What does wellness mean to you?

LISA: Wellness means feeling good inside and out and having energy when you wake up in the morning and you’re excited for the day and you’re in a good head space.  You feel positive and grateful.  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.

PRAI: You are such a positive person. How do you keep it up, did you ever have to pretend or are you quite good at sort of going with the flow?

LISA: 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 do exercise, because exercise is my number one me time that sorts me out.  If I’m working hard and I’m focused, I’m either doing Pilates or strength training or weight training, it resets me 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. Practicing gratitude is a really good way to generate positivity. 

PRAI: You just said about what exercise you enjoy.

LISA: Well sometimes I don’t enjoy it.  Sometimes when I’m in the moment I’m thinking this is absolute hell, but after I’ve left, I never regret it.  The strength training I’m finding really interesting and I quite like that challenge because its new muscles that I’m getting involved and waking up and I can see changes in my body.  I really like the way it makes me feel, so I get a lot of joy out of it – and walking.  Walking I love, George and I live near Eppingham Forest which is completely surrounding us, so we go on lovely walks really early in the morning or after work or at night after dinner or sometimes both and we just get out in nature, see the birds, I love it!     

PRAI: What do you do when you wake up to make sure you start the day on the right foot?

LISA: I do a big stretch and say ‘today is going to be a good day’!  You have to get yourself into that headspace.  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, I mean poor guy!  He had to deal with a lot, he’s been incredible.

PRAI: What supplements do you swear by?

LISA: I always take first thing in the morning, live active bacteria, Symprove, I also take Correxiko marine collagen capsules which are amazing, with hot lemon in the morning.  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. 

PRAI: Do you feel like you can really tell the difference with the collagen?

LISA: Yes, especially Correxiko, it’s just pure collagen and it’s from ethically sourced fish skin. It’s the fish skin, not the scales which are usually cheaper, you can take it in powder as well, pop it in your tea or your overnight oats.

PRAI: What’s your go to hair look?

LISA: I like a lightly tousled look, I quite like my GHD Curve to give it a little bit of bend but not too done.  And dry shampoo by Living Proof.

PRAI: What’s the best piece of beauty advice you’ve been given?

LISA: I think perhaps when I was younger, making sure you’re getting the right hydration, because that’s going to make everything better.  It’s going to make you feel better mentally, it’s going to help flush out the toxins, its going to help hydrate from the inside.  So water and sleep and laughter, those things are all really good places to start.

PRAI: How much water do you drink a day?

LISA: Probably about 3 litres.

PRAI: What’s your favourite makeup look of all time?

LISA: I quite like the makeup I’m wearing now, a little bit of a line, lots of mascara and pale lips so its all about the eyes, a statement eye rather than a strong lip, with bronzed glowy skin.