Let’s face it, skincare can be a bore at the best of times. You wash with a cleanser, exfoliate with a scrub and moisturise with a cream. It’s not called a ‘routine’ for nothing.

Thankfully, however, a new generation of skincare products are spicing things up a little by playing around with their formulas to create textures and sensations that help keep things a bit more interesting.

In some respects the beauty industry is much like the food one – it’s constantly in search of new ways of presenting things in order to keep them fresh and exciting (remember the craze for culinary ‘foam’?).

EMBRACE ENJOYMENT

Cynics might see this as just another clever marketing ruse  – and there’s an element of that for sure – but as much as anything, it’s about making looking after your appearance fun, in the same way that Bubble tea, with its weird and wonderful tapioca balls, provides a new twist on what you might feel has become something of a boring beverage.

Lush’s wibbly-wobbly jelly face masks (and yes, ‘wibbly-wobbly’ is a beauty term – or, at least, it is now) bring a kid’s party element to skincare while still being efficacious (its skin-improving Just To Clarify is great for men too, especially if used moments before shaving or applying a face mask).

Janjira Marine Radiant White Brightening Bubble Mask, meanwhile, gently bubbles and froths on contact with skin providing a superlative skincare sensation.

GOOD FOR EVERYONE

Also worth trying is Dr Jart+ Water Drop Hydrating Moisturizer, which forms tiny water hydrating droplets when applied, making you feel like you’ve been caught in a refreshing rain shower.

I’m also a big fan of Aesop’s Tea Tree Leaf Facial Exfoliant, a micro fine powder featuring ground tea tree leaf and walnut shells, which you’re meant to add to your regular cleanser but which I occasionally use neat if my skin is particularly dull-looking.

Like all the products featured here, it’s not only an instant skin improver but is also huge fun to use – and when things are fun to use you’re more likely to actually use them. Which is good news for your skin – not to mention your inner eight-year-old.

Skin comes alive with these featured five…

1. Origins Modern Friction Cleansing Stick, 45g, £25

2. Lush Just To Clarify Jelly Face Mask, £6.95

3. Dr. Jart+ Water Drop Hydrating Moisturizer, £27 , Selfridges

4. Aesop Tea Tree Leaf Facial Exfoliant, 30ml, £27, Liberty

5. Janjira Marine Radiant White Instant Brightening Bubble Mask, 40ml, £24

Writer Lee Kynaston, although a firm believer that real beauty comes from the inside, sees no harm in giving the outside some TLC.