I wrote this from very sunny Corfu, while Britain enjoyed – or suffered, depending on your tolerance – a full-blown heatwave. Dyson’s new HushJet Mini Cool personal fan (£99.99) temporarily sold out (since restocked), and questions about Shark’s viral new ChillPill 3-in-1 Fan, Mist & InstaChill System (£129.99) were racking up in my DMs.
I happened to have the latter with me (so do many of you – it’s sold out in the prettier colours), and while it’s nice to look at and works well, it’s quite fiddly to switch the different heads.
The cool plate – just hold it on your skin to instantly cool down – is simple, effective and arguably the best bit. The fan is very good, but too noisy for an embarrassed Brit on a crowded train. The mister (dispensing a cooling lotion in a fine cloud of moisture) is a pleasant and refreshing feature that nonetheless does feel overengineered when there are countless lovely face mists that don’t need special cartridges and interchangeable heads. I have some Shark appliances I like very much, but feel certain that I’ll have lost all the pesky attachments from this one by autumn.
For festivals, holidays and crowded trains, I’ll be sticking with my JisuLife****Ultra1 Handheld Fan (£65.46) – the greatest personal fan I’ve ever used, and it scores many extra points for working with my iPhone charger – preceded by a hydrating, cooling face mist to heighten the pleasure.
My weapon of choice is Dr Althea’s excellent and respectably priced 345 Relief****Cream Mist (£15.90). This is, to my mind, a perfect mist. The spray component – an often overlooked aspect that makes up at least 50% of the practical success or failure of a facial mist – is ideal. It dispenses a superfine monsoon of hydrating hyaluronic acid and soothing, calming ingredients such as aloe, rice,panthenol and centella.
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It doesn’t disrupt makeup or smudge mascara and, when combined with a fan, instantly cools a fractious face. It’s suitable for all skin types, particularly dehydrated, but if you’re very dry and need something creamier, I strongly recommend Laneige Cream Skin Cerapeptide Mist (£10.50), which has the consistency of coconut water and leaves a thin but unmistakable layer of moisturiser on the skin.
Fenty Beauty’s skincare is far better than one might expect from a makeup-first brand, and its new Dew N Plump Hydrating Nectar Face Mist (£29) upholds its reputation. The aluminium can keeps the polyglutamic acid hydrating liquid especially cool, and it leaves skin looking decidedly juicy.
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