The Scottish Beauty Secret

By Fiona

I turned 61 this year and, according to my daughter, I have the skincare routine of a Victorian woman.

While everyone else seems to be spending fortunes on serums, creams, facelifts and treatments, I spend most of my time standing in the rain or climbing into freezing cold Scottish lochs.

I live in a small village in Scotland where the weather is rarely what you’d call ‘nice’. We get plenty of wind, plenty of rain and water so cold it can take your breath away. Most people spend their lives trying to avoid it. I’ve spent the last ten years embracing it, alongside my beloved husband, who is slightly less keen.

It started with wild swimming. A friend persuaded me to join her for a ‘dip in the North Sea’ and I thought she was completely mad. The water was so cold I could barely feel my legs but afterwards I felt more alive than I had in years.

Now it’s become part of my life to dunk myself into cold water at least once a day but in the local loch, not the sea, which is probably even colder.

I take the plunge throughout the year and I honestly believe the cold water has done more for me than any expensive beauty product ever could. My skin feels firmer, my face looks brighter and, perhaps most importantly, I feel younger. 

People often ask me what face cream I use and seem not to believe me when I tell them my beauty secret is a Scottish loch and a complete disregard for sensible temperatures. 

Of course, it’s not really about tighter skin and beauty. It’s about how it makes me feel. At 61, I don’t want to spend my time fighting my age. I’d rather spend it staring into our loch, laughing with my husband as we try not to gasp at the cold.