Some thirst-quenching skincare bits to see us through the last of the warm weather. I’m actually off on my hols soon (I have never been so glad to have some time away!) and will definitely be slathering these on to keep my skin hydrated and comfortable. We have, from left to right:

1) The Hyaluronic Concentrate from Hand Chemistry. This big bottle of hydrating gel for hands, body and (I don’t see why not) face contains 99.5% pure hyaluronic acid, helping the skin to hold on to moisture and making any cream or lotion that’s applied over the top even more effective. It’s not the kind of product that you’d want to use on its own – I found it a little sticky and odd-feeling without a body lotion over the top – but it’s a brilliant moisture booster. A kind of body serum, in a way, getting down to the nitty-gritty of the hydration business without adding any oil or slip. Boots have it on sale at the moment – it’s £20.99 instead of £27.99 here.

2) The Powerball intensive moisturiser from Time Bomb. I can’t rave about this enough; it is so, so hydrating. It does contain oils, but it’s not a heavy, greasy kind of moisturiser. In fact, Time Bomb suggest that this is a pre-serum moisture boost – though I can’t begin to imagine how moisturised your skin would be if you followed this up with another moisturiser. As it is, the Powerball effect lasts for a good twenty-four hours on me – my skin is plumper and dewier and more bouncy. Forget in-flight masks; a layer of this and you’re good to go. Less oily than the Wild Rose Beauty Balm that I reviewed last week (here), and also less fragrant, but with a similar end result. Find it QVC – it’s £36

3) Apivita’s Aqua Vita 24H Moisturizing Cream. Fitting for my holiday, because I’m going to Greece and Apivita is a Greek brand. A very nice one, at that; there have been quite a few wonderful things I’ve tried, including the sachet masks and the hair and body care. (I’ve stayed at a lot of hotels in Greece that have bathrooms stocked with Apivita so have had a good old test!) The 24H Moisturizing Cream-Gel is a lovely hydrator for combination skin; it doesn’t sit heavily or feel greasy, but still has more moisturising clout than most of the gels intended for oilier skins.Some of the oily-intended moisturisers seem to simply disappear, leaving the skin tight and fresh – great for a quick fix, but for an all-day hydration hit the Aqua Vita is great. You can find it at Amazon for £29.50 here and there’s also a version for dry/normal skin which is £25 at Marks and Spencer Beauty.

4) Dr Jart’s Water-Max Sleeping Mask; I have to be absolutely truthful and say that this product managed to slip through the net due to the fact that 1) it looked good in the photograph and 2) I really liked the name. Shamefully, I lined it up in my pretty picture without giving it a recent and thorough test and I couldn’t crop it out without ruining my colour scheme! There are definitely more intensive “sleep masks” on the market (I’ve been testing, will report back soon) and you could layer up a bit of Hydraluron serum with a nice dollop of Powerball and get a much better face treat, but for convenience and a nice cooling, soothing fix, Water-Max isn’t the worst option. The mask absorbs in around ten minutes on my skin, so I don’t get where the “sleep” part comes in (a complaint I have with many of these overnight mask things) but it does give a little moisture injection and it’s pretty nice after a little session in the sun. You can find it at BeautyBay.com for £23.25.