MEET THE FIND: Kate Shapland of Legology

Kate Shapland is a beauty journalist who has developed her own brand, Legology, with a very specific purpose – to bring contour and comfort to our legs in a way that makes us feel good from the feet up.

She felt the world was lacking a dedicated leg care line which encompassed treatments for the entire leg, not just cellulite. Her products address contours and cellulite, as well as fluid retention, slackness of tone and dehydration. These can all be problems for lots of women, especially as they age and when they fly. The main point of Legology is that the products can be relied on to work brilliantly and they also make women feel good when using them.

KATE'S TOP 3 TIPS

• Start seeing the bigger picture with cellulite. If you have it, or fluid retention, and your legs feel heavy or look puffy, it’s usually a whole body imbalance which can be transformed with good leg care, diet and exercise. Yes, it’s a lifestyle approach, but it doesn’t have to be particularly onerous – taking a few extra steps a day (up the stairs, an extra bus stop), eating less carbohydrate, drinking more water, having regular massage, body brushing and applying a deep drainage cream like Legology Air-Lite Daily Lift For Legs will make a big difference in a remarkably short space of time.

• Start body brushing. It’s definitely not the chore it’s made out to be – you only need to do it for a couple of minutes on wet, dry or damp skin a day to see improvements in the contours of your legs and skin tone. Don’t be tempted by brushes with rubber nodules – they do nothing more than a simple brush made with natural bristles. And this is not about breaking down fat. Body brushing is about promoting the lymph, your body’s natural waste disposal, to clear the trapped fluid that makes legs feel heavy and congested.

• If it’s your legs that drive you to do regular exercise make sure you’re doing the activities that will actually benefit them. To be really effective in this area of the body exercise needs to be fast (so good at burning calories) and provide some mechanical stimulation. So steady state running, high intensity interval running or training (HIIT) or circuit training, spinning and aerobics classes will all help, but yoga and pilates not necessarily. Power Plate is great – it gives very intense mechanical stimulation and burns calories. Interval swimming and fast sports like netball, football and basketball are all excellent leg shapers too.

KATE'S LITTLE FIND

Bamford for the way it epitomises stylish simplicity.

And One Evening Body Splash is out of this world.

KATE'S TOP TRAVEL HACKKeep moving when you’re flying! Try to maintain some level of activity, be it walking up and down the airplane a few times every 20 minutes or so, or flexing and pointing your toes, rotating your ankles and stretching your legs in the seat. It helps your circulation greatly which in turn helps to prevent puffiness.

KATE'S FAVOURITE QUOTE

'Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it’s the courage to continue that counts.'