Beauty files: 10 new products to try this summer

This time of year is all about newness, so we’ve tracked down the most innovative and exciting new products in skin, hair and body care – all designed to help you come out of hibernation and beautify yourself for summer.

Here are 10 new products to add to your summertime beauty routine.

AG Hair Sea Spray

$24, at salons and jcpenney.com and chatters.ca

We love beachy locks, but most of the sprays designed to create the look are loaded with salt, which can dry out hair and make it tangled. This one is salt-free and nourishes with marine ingredients like seaweed extracts, but still gives you the textured, matte, surfer-girl look.

Bliss Achilles Heel Spa Powered Heel Smoother

$49, available at Hudson’s Bay, Sephora and London Drugs

This battery-powered foot file is next level. Instead of the usual pumice, the head is made from textured metal that essentially grates away all that dead skin. Once you’ve worn away the callouses, add the buffing disc to make make your feet really smooth. All the dead skin is caught by the device so you don’t end up choking on a cloud of foot dust.

Clarins UV50 Multi-Protection Sunscreen

$42, available at Clarins counters and Clarins.ca

This is a revamp of one of our all-time favourite sunscreens. Why did we love the previous incarnations? They were sheer, made excellent makeup bases, and offered high SPF broad-spectrum sun protection and even fought against pollution. This latest version has added antioxidants and a new anti-redness ingredient to help prevent blotchiness in the height of summer.

Clarisonic Mia Fit

$199, available at Clarisonic.ca, Sephora, Hudson’s Bay, Holt Renfrew and Nordstrom

The original Clarisonic is great, but way too big and unwieldy to carry around – a problem for people who shower at the gym or travel frequently. This new version is light and compact (a little larger than palm-sized), and can be recharged from a USB port. It offers the same cleansing power as the original – six times better than hands alone – and has settings for delicate and normal skin. Brush heads cost $49 for a pack of two and should ideally be replaced every three months.

Clean Reserve Smoked Vetiver

$125, available at Sephora

We all care about sourcing, provenance and preparation for our food. Now, fragrance brand Clean brings the concept to beauty with its Reserve line of farm-to-dressing-table perfumes. All ingredients are from sustainable sources and fragrances are manufactured in a facility that uses 100% solar energy. The formulation contains kind-to-skin aloe. The cardboard for the boxes is FSC-certified, and even the plastic-wrap is derived from corn and is compostable. All the perfumes in the collection have a description of the notes on the packaging, as well as inspiration and what other Clean Reserve fragrances you can layer them with. Our favourite is Smoked Vetiver, which is light, citrusy, complex and unisex. It doesn’t evolve over time, so what you spray is what you get. Terra Woods, available exclusively at Sephora.ca, is also a hit.

Dream Water

From $3.59, see www.drinkdreamwater.com for stockists

There’s a reason it’s called beauty sleep; While we’re dreaming, our bodies repair the damage done by external aggressors like UV rays and rebuild collagen. Blood flow to the skin improves, so you wake with a rosy glow. The golden number? Most of us need at least six hours a night – less than that and we look ashen and puffy-eyed, and fine lines can start to appear. But what about people who suffer from insomnia or travel internationally and are always recovering from jet lag? One thing that may help with both is melatonin, which you can now find in handy drinkable form. Dream Water contains melatonin, 5-HTP, which supposedly helps the body produce more serotonin, and GABA, an amino acid that’s said to calm nerve activity. All three are derived from natural ingredients. Drink a 74ml bottle of the berry-flavoured water half an hour before bed. It delivers restful sleep that doesn’t leave you feeling hungover the next day.

Dyson Supersonic Hairdryer

$499.99, available at DysonCanada.ca from August

Dyson, one of the world’s most innovative companies, enters the lucrative beauty market with this eye-wateringly expensive dryer that was four years in the making. The team, headed by founder James Dyson, created the brand’s smallest, lightest digital motor and housed it in the dryer’s handle, rather than the head. That means it’s light, quiet and engineered for better balance. Strong airflow makes for fast drying times, and intelligent heat control means your hair isn’t damaged by high temperatures. Alas, we haven’t managed to get our hands on the dryer yet, but early reviews are promising, with reviewers being most impressed by its lightness, quietness (you can have a conversation or hear the TV while drying your hair) and efficiency at low heat.

John Frieda Sheer Blonde Go Blonder In-Shower Lightening Treatment

$12.99, available at select food, drug and mass retailers

We’ve always been big fans of in-shower products, and this one is really brilliant. Designed for those between-dye-jobs moments when your roots are just starting to creep through, it contains a small amount of bleach, though not enough to damage your locks. Apply to the roots of damp hair, leave for five minutes, rinse thoroughly and voila, no more roots. There’s also a version to cover up roots on brunette hair.

LUSH Sunny Day

$19.95, available at LUSH

It’s really difficult to find great hair products that can tame static – even more so if you’re looking for something that’s natural and won’t give you a sticky or greasy finish. So hooray for this lovely product from Lush, which tames flyaways with honey and lemon juice, and has a lovely floral scent. One note of caution: Lemon juice can sometimes make hair grow lighter in the sunlight. The brand says Sunny Day has the right amount to add shine without stripping colour, but if you really don’t want to chance it, give this a miss.

Miracle 10 Super C

$92, available at www.miracle10.com

Vitamin C is amazing for skin – it helps brighten and boost collagen – but in liquid form, it can lose its potency over time. So Miracle 10 came up with a stable powder version that you mix with any cream or serum (not oils) just before application. The Super C will make your skin feel softer and smoother and look more radiant – trust us, we tried it.