A Gentle Undoing: The Post-Vacation Reset Your Body Needs

There’s something about a vacation that makes you forget you have pores. Salt in your hair, sunscreen in every nook and cranny, too many margaritas and not enough moisturiser—you come back wrecked and somehow still glowing. A paradox. You’re radiant and parched. 

And look, no one expects you to launch into a 7-step routine the moment you unzip your suitcase. But a soft, sensory reset? One that makes you feel a little more hydrated, a little more held up? That, you deserve.

The Morning After

Post-travel skin health is built from within, and after a LOT of detoxifying. I'm not saying go on a hardcore juice cleanse, but I do like to have a liquid breakfast, which will allow my digestive system some rest without leave compromising on nutrients.

• First I'll do a tall glass of warm water, with a spoon of Gunam Beauty's Golden Glow Blend mixed in. It's great for toxin elimination.
• Cosmix's Feel Good Skin powder mixed into a yogurt smoothie (berries and almond butter always.) Genius. It's like feeding your skin. 
• I don't do coffee just this one morning. But matcha with coconut water on ice? Still caffeine, still delicious, and no acid reflux. Current favourite: Glow Glossary's GG Matcha.

Start At The Scalp

Your scalp is skin, too—and after days of chlorine, sweat, and random shampooing, it’s crying for attention. A pre-shampoo oil massage can work like sorcery. The Percy & Reed I Need A Hero! Wonder Hair Oil smells just like the vacation you want to run back to and gives your roots the reset they desperately need. Bonus points if you do it while catching up on laundry. Rituals, not routines.

Bathe Like You Mean It

Your regular shower? Functional. A post-vacay shower? That’s a full-blown ceremony. Dry brush before if you’re fancy (or just itchy), use a body cleanser that doesn’t strip your skin barrier (Aveeno's Daily Moisturising Body Wash is an old favourite), and follow up with something that makes your limbs gleam; the LúViálz Pro-Barrier Emulsion Body Moisturizer feels like a comforting hug. 

Show Your Body That You Care

If there’s one thing I’ll be making a ritual after every getaway, it’s this. I can promise a lymphatic drainage massage will reset you on a cellular level. My body felt lighter and the bloat was gone, my face visibly depuffed, and there was this delicious sense of being wrung out and rehydrated all at once. It's not a luxury—it's a comeback strategy. If you’re feeling sluggish, or mildly inflamed from airport snacks and alcohol, this is your move. Follow it up with a sauna and you'll leave a new person. Try it out at Reaviva Holistic Health.

Skin Recovery Protocol

Your face has seen it all—harsh UV rays, open Jeep rides, and a couple of nights where you definitely slept in makeup. Now it needs serious rehab. Consider a calming recovery mask, like the Biodance Hydro Cera-Nol Real Deep Mask. Its ceramides and glacier water soothe inflammation, rebuild your barrier, and rehydrate parched cells, all while you doom-scroll through work e-mails. Top-tier skin multitasking for when reality hits harder than that sunburn.

Re-enter Softly

The whole point is to get back to the version of you that felt warm, rested, and romantic. So pick one or two rituals, not twelve. Let your skin breathe. Let your body stretch. Let your hair down—literally and emotionally. The goal isn’t to bounce back to hustle mode. It’s to move forward with softness. And if that means lounging in a robe with wet hair and body oil on your shins? Perfect. Vacation you would approve.