The summer always takes me by surprise. God only knows how, because I wait for it with every fibre of my being! But the British weather being unpredictable as it is, you get lulled into a kind of ambivalence and then, when the sun finally comes out in full force, you find that you haven’t prepared yourself. Your legs are hairy and you can’t find a razor, your flip-flops are on the loft somewhere, your suntan lotion has gone all cloggy and useless…

Here are some useful little morsels that I’ve had on standby since the start of June. All of them are available online with next day delivery, so if you find yourself “caught short” in terms of sumer beauty, you won’t have to wait long to get yourself fully sorted out!

1) One of the best, affordable sunscreens for your face: La Roche-Posay’s Anthelios. It’s light, non-clogging, non-chalky and gives brilliant protection. Sits well beneath makeup, is nice on oily skin (dry might want a moisturiser beneath it) and stays on well. LRP have actually relaunched this range and the Ultra-Light version is really very impressive. It also has a third off at the moment, making it just £11 – find it at Escentual.com here.

2) Elemis Total Glow Bronzing Moisturiser; for those of you who wondered how my skin was so bronzed and glowy in my fashion post last week, it was this. Gradual tanner for the face. I’d only applied it once! Very good, very foolproof; has a slight whiff of biscuits, but nothing too extreme. I’ve been testing out quite a few gradual tanners recently so I’ll write up some more soon. You can find the Elemis one here, it’s £29.50 with free fast delivery. LookFantastic.com

3) Toni & Guy Radiating Tropical Elixir. This stuff just smells like summer. It’s an oil blend to make your hair sheeny and lovely – kind of like a serum effect, but a little more heavy duty than that. Use sparingly – I put a little between my palms, rub them together and then spread my palms over the lengths of my hair. This is currently on sale at Boots.com: £5.99 instead of £8.99. Find it here.

4) Bourjois Volume 1 Seconde waterproof mascara. I’m not usually a wearer of waterproof, but I love this formula and it doesn’t laminate my lashes so that half of them come out when I try to take them off! It doesn’t exactly take ONE second to apply it, but I get what they’re saying about instant volume – it’s a really easy, quick mascara and it doesn’t clump. £9.99 – you can add it to your clothes shop at ASOS.com or find it at Boots.com

5) Finally; not so much of an essential but I do love the colours in the summer eye palette from Clarins. The orangey-apricot especially, and the bright blue is a bit of a shocker! Haven’t been brave enough to use that yet, but Clarins eye palettes do always come with these handy little instructions for various eye looks and the classic smoky eye. So maybe I’ll try one of their looks when I have a moment.. £32 at Boots.com