Skincare maven Kate Somerville shares tips for a spotless complexion.
When it comes to keeping your face in tip-top shape, nothing beats expert advice. And when it comes to expert advice, nothing beats the wise words of Hollywood’s go-to skincare maven Kate Somerville. Luckily for Seattle’s skincare junkies, the guru herself is sharing the wealth.
Photo: Kate Somerville
Somerville was on hand at Nordstrom in Bellevue Square to share tips from her new book Complexion Perfection ($27.95, katesomerville.com), and Seattleite picked her brain on ways to weather the Northwest’s climate without losing your rosy glow.
Somerville identifies typical Seattle skin as blessed when it comes to sun exposure, though protecting your face from random sunbreaks is still crucial.
“I’d definitely use Serum 55 sunscreen,” she says. “It’s light, has antioxidant properties, and you can just throw it on. And it smells amazing.”
“What you see here are the issues that come with going indoors and outdoors all day from hot to cold and back,” she adds. “There’s not as much sun damage, but there’s rosacea, acne, wrinkling and skin laxity.”
The battle against the scars of a Seattle winter isn’t in vain, though. “Really what women here need to protect from surface dryness is exfoliation. ExfoliKate comes in separate gentle, intense and acne formulas for specific skin types, so above else I’d recommend ExfoliKate, ExfoliKate, ExfoliKate.”
As far as keeping the glow when the sun doesn’t cooperate, Somerville isn’t short on tricks. She recommends Somerville 360 for staying just tan enough without sacrificing your skin, and CytoCell to keep your skin energized and fresh.
There are tons of fresh products coming down the pipeline too, including a color collection, a lip treatment, and a brand new acne treatment, all set to come out over the next year. Somerville won’t release anything until it’s up to her standards though, so rest assured that everything on the shelves is the best of the best.
“Women in Seattle are much more natural than anywhere else, and they’re very conscious of what they put in and on their bodies, which I love,” Somerville adds. “I’m a mom and I’m all about things that are healthy and easy, so unless the delivery system is preservative-free and very wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am I won’t release the product. I love a beautiful glass jar, but I also want to be able to just go.”
