It’s hot. Properly hot. The kind of heat that causes the horizon to shimmer and makes you roam the suburbs, hoping the arcing spray of a wayward sprinkler accidentally hits you. Here’s how I’m faring with my attempts to stay cool – in temperature and temper.
(If you’re reading this in December: Merry Christmas! How’s the future? Remember when we used to complain about the heat?)
1. Fruit-infused waters
Extra fluids are a must for cooling down in the summer months, but water doesn’t do much for the palate. I’m trying to cut down on caffeine and sugar, and apparently one can’t drink booze for breakfast, so I’m revisiting H2O, but with bonus features. Chop a whole lemon and about a quarter of a cucumber. Roughly dice some fresh ginger. (I used a chunk the size of my thumb, but if you don’t have that to hand, your own thumb will do.) Put everything into a two-litre jug of water with a handful of fresh mint and refrigerate overnight. Verdict? Two very enthusiastic ginger-scented thumbs up. It’s fresh and refreshing, with fire from the ginger, sweetness from the mint and tang from the lemon, though the cucumber doesn’t do much. You can refill the jug a couple of times and still get some flavour, but you probably won’t get much more than three jugfuls from each batch. I’ve been drinking it all week, and have the banging caffeine-withdrawal headache to prove it.
2. Swimming
It’s a fabulous way to physically cool down – I can almost hear the “tsssss” when I hit the water. But it’s also amazing for rebalancing your mood. If I’m down, I feel happier. If I’m wired, I become mellower. If I’m lethargic, I’m recharged and if I’m confused, I find clarity. I don’t try particularly hard when I swim: I always do the same stroke at the same pace for the same length of time. I don’t want to get better at it. I don’t want to get faster or fitter. It’s monotonous in the best sense: it gives me space and time to think of everything or nothing. My wedding was planned in the swimming pool. This blogpost was written in the swimming pool. I’ve had imaginary fights and conversations and figured out tricky problems as I ploughed up and down the Vancouver YMCA pool. There’s a scientific basis to its mood-altering qualities too: aside from the endorphin rush that all exercise produces, some psychologists believe that swimming’s rhythmic movements and breathing act like meditation to calm you.
3. Facial sprays
I love these – I have them scattered round my house and handbags like other people have lipbalms. I even had one in my maternity hospital suitcase – labour scenes in Australian soaps had convinced me giving birth would be a far sweatier affair than it was in reality. I’m currently trying to offset the heat with Saje’s Cool Spray Refreshing Mist. It’s a simple mix: just water and essential oils of peppermint, eucalyptus and basil, so it’s refreshing, instantly cooling and uplifting. The scent is subtle, but enough to mask the faint smell of chlorine that usually follows me. But I don’t just use these sprays for cooling down. As a former beauty editor, I loathe conventional skin toners because they’re often packed with moisture-stripping alcohol. A facial spray is a fantastic alternative. Use it after cleansing and before serum. It hydrates the superficial layers of skin, and also helps active ingredients in the serum to be absorbed.
4. Essential oils
Being heavily pregnant last summer played havoc with my sleep, and my usual sleep aid (white wine) was off the menu, so I gamely waddled to my local high street in search of solutions. Aromatherapy was an option, but I thought they’d direct me towards lavender, which, though proven to help you nod off, is also proven (by me) to make you think of grannies and old folks’ homes. The team at Saje recommended Unwind Harmonizing Diffuser Blend. It does have lavender, but that’s lifted by orange and bergamot and softened with geranium, so it’s just generally soothing and floral. I used it during the last couple of months of my pregnancy with a diffuser lamp and also on a tissue inside my pillowcase. I still use it now – not just because it relaxes me, but because it smells lovely too. It would work well with a nebulizer too, especially if you have summer allergies because products like the Aromaom purify the air too.
5. Yoghurt-dipped strawberries
I’ve wanted to try this for a while. It’s refreshing! It tastes like delicious sorbet but without the sugar and calories! What’s not to love? My recipe said to dip the strawberries in yoghurt (holding them by the leaves), then freeze them on a wire rack, tip-side-up for an hour, then re-dip and re-freeze. It also advised using extremely ripe, sweet berries, and vanilla-flavoured, sugar-sweetened yoghurt. I breezily disregarded this and instead, used slightly sour strawbs and plain natural Greek yoghurt. Big mistake! Huge! I ate one. Not great – definitely lacking sweetness. I blended one and fed it to my 10-month-old. She gave me a look that said: “Why would you do this to a lovely strawberry?” In the end, I bunged them in the next day’s oatmeal and had some shop-bought chocolate gelato instead. After all, there’s such a thing as being too healthy.