Why am I sprouting hairs like mad? Emer O'Callaghan on this and other beauty questions 

The Junior and Leaving Certs have started, the Cork Summer Show is on this weekend, and we’re all hoping for more sunshine.

It’s fair to say we love the summer in Cork, everyone is in good form, apart from the cranky ones who complain about the heat and keep telling all of us how rain is on the way!

Those of us who have a sunny disposition just smile and laugh at the doom and gloomers and choose to focus on all the beauty this season has to offer.

I am loving my summer colours, and I really feel everyone looks so much better in summer with a bit of colour and some tan - either fake or natural - we all look better for it.

We have had busy communion and wedding seasons and us beauticians are run off our feet this time of year, doing body scrubs, tans, nails, facials, tinting and make-up.

The mothers went all out this year, and proper order too. If we have learned anything from the past five years, it is we have no idea what the future holds so take the good days when you get them.

Take the celebratory moments and savour them because life is short, and isn’t it lovely for those who do have these days that they can look back in time at the photos and think, yes, I did look well that day, I am glad I made such an effort.

As we recharge after the manic May, we fall forward into debs and grads season soon, and the weddings always dominate the summer.

I was doing make-ups for weddings since 8am last Saturday, I had four clients back to back, all going to different weddings. As one client left looking amazing with her beautiful professional make-up and hair done, ready to pop on her dress and go, my next client for make-up passed her by on her way in.

It’s great to see women feeling fantastic about themselves and making the effort to glam up and wear the stylish dresses and look sensational,

While those going to events and weddings will be Hollywood-ready, as I call it, the rest of us work on looking summer-ready.

As I always say, there is so much more skin and body on show of us all every summer, so we need to do lots more beauty preparations too.

That said, every day as a beauty doctor and skin specialist, I meet people at Emerald Beauty Clinic who have summer dilemmas they need help and advice with. So this week I’m going to answer some of the most commonly asked summer beauty questions I get.

Q: WHY AM I SPROUTING HAIRS LIKE MAD THIS SUMMER?

I’d say hairs are the No.1 bane in every woman’s life. We love hair, don’t get me wrong, just when it’s on our heads and nowhere else.

Every day, I treat women of all ages with facial hair that does grow more in summer, and the reason is because of the heat.

This is how it works, when the humidity picks up, the pores of all our skin, face and body, will open to cool the body down, and once the pores open, the hairs have more chance to get out.

As the pores open and expand, all our hair growth increases, this is not the case in winter as it is colder.

So many come to me after forking out hundreds on laser and various other forms of hair removal, and what they needed was to be educated and told that hair is hormonal, and there is NO form of hair removal that is permanent.

In my professional opinion, the best form of hair removal is electrolysis, I believe no woman of any age should ever be getting her face or neck waxed as you will end up with a lot more hairs from doing so.

Q: WHY DO I HAVE ROUGH, DEAD SKIN ON MY HEELS?

Ah sure, look, we all have it and while we all see it more in the summer as our heels and feet are more exposed, I would encourage you to get your hard skin and feet done professionally by a chiropodist.

This will have you on the right foot, so to speak, because it’s easy to maintain it once you have it gone.

We have foot files and foot creams you can use at home a few times a week that will keep your skin soft for longer. But, that said, mother nature gives us some of the most amazing foot exfoliation too by simply taking off your shoes and walking bare foot on the beach. The sand, sea and salty water all act to naturally exfoliate your skin of your feet, I do this a few times a week and my feet are so soft.

I did one of my popular beauty videos on the beach about this recently and you can see it on our Emerald Ceauty Clinic Facebook, Instagram and TikTok pages.

I do a Guinot foot peel treatment with many of my clients’ facials now and they love it as you’re getting two jobs done at once.

Q: HOW DO I GET THAT SOFT- FEELING SKIN TO MY BODY?

None of us wake up with baby soft skin naturally, you need to do some work in order to achieve it.

First thing to point out is that lots of soap and perfume-based shower gels make our skin feel drier and coarser, this is why the smart lady invests in better quality shower products.

Next up, you need to be removing the dead skin cells from your body, so invest in a good quality body exfoliator, it must be perfume-free as the scented ones just dry your skin.

Dry brushing is another fantastic way to remove dead skin from your body, but I wouldn’t recommend it if you have sensitive skin.

Q: WHY DO I ONLY GET BREAK-OUTS IN SUMMER?

In the same way the hairs get out of our pores of our skin in summer, the oil does also.

Again, temperature and humidity has us all heating up more and sweating, so oil is pushed out of our skin all day in summer, this gets blocked and trapped in skin and forms noticeable spots when you are not cleaning your skin correctly using the correct skincare products.

Summer is spots season and everyone needs to be doing regular facials to keep their skin clean and spot free. A concoction of different products, none working in harmony, is often why so many have spots, blackheads and a damaged skin barrier.

• Emer O’Callaghan is a beauty doctor and skin specialist who won Irish Beauty Therapist of the Year and works at Emerald Organic Beauty Products Ltd, trading as Emerald Beauty Clinic, 021 4365949. A Multi Award Winning Five Star Gold Standard Clinic 2008-2025, www.emeraldbeautyclinic.ie, follow us on Facebook/instagram/TikTok.
• SPECIAL OFFER: All next week, our Dermalogica Oily and Acne Prone Skin Facial is reduced from €125 to €95, 90 minutes, includes a full skin analysis, eyebrow shape, samples and treats, appointments necessary. To book, call Emerald Beauty Clinic, 021 4365949. Free parking.