Our favourite concealers, lip collections, stick highlighters and blushers, face tan, body sprays and perfumes for summer, plus our monthly round-up of beauty essentials …
BEAUTY NEWS
UNDER COVER Recent launches make us realise that we don’t need to spend €30-plus on a reliable concealer. Try out some of the new Irish owned brands: Poco Skintuition Concealer is excellent (€23, at Brown Thomas), and By SK Radiant Cover Concealer is limited to six shades but is good value at €16.
K-BEAUTY As beauty prices continue to rise, we’re glad to find some respite on the high street. We’re impressed with H&M’s new lip collection, which delivers some great colours and textures for just over a tenner. Made in Korea, the moisturising Sheer Brilliance lip colours are soft and sheer tinted balms; at €11.05, they perform as well as lipsticks costing three times as much. Berry Burst is a standout. For a more precise finish, try the refillable Satin Icon lipsticks €11 (refills €9); there are juicy lip oils available too (€8.50).
ONE-STICK WONDERS Stick highlighters and blushers offer an easy way to wear colour – forget faffy powder compacts. Sticks are neat, quick and pretty nigh on impossible to do wrong. It’s a handy multitasking approach: using the same tone across lips, eyes and face can be a good way to pull a look together. Try Trinny London’s creamy matte Trinity (€44, at Brown Thomas) for lips, cheeks and eyes, Violette’s chic Bisou Blush (€42; www.violette.fr), with a brush on one end, and Boots No7’s Pro Artist Colour & Glow Lip & Cheek Multi-Stick (€20). They are the capsule wardrobe of your make-up bag.
SKIN WARMERS The newly relaunched Vita Liberata tanning range, founded by Northern Irish entrepreneur Alyson Hogg, is one to explore if you’re usually averse to fake tan, as it suits a natural look; we especially rate the HA+ Deep Moisture Face Tan, €29.95; www.vitaliberata.com.
SCENT-WISE Body sprays are making a return as we seek more affordable ways to wear great smells. A spray can offer a fun, carefree way to enjoy the idea of a perfume, even if the pleasure is fleeting. Many brands – even the priciest ones – are choosing to diffuse their scents into lighter, more accessible iterations. New hair perfumes by Matiere Premiere capture some of the beauty of the French brand’s exquisite eaux (try soft, warm Vanilla Powder), while Tom Ford Neroli Portofino body spray is €60 at www.lookfantastic.ie.
FEEL THE HEAT Christine Nagel, creative director of Hermès Perfumes, delivers another modern classic with Terre d’Hermès Eau de Parfum Intense, a new twist on the cult original. It glows with heat and richly smouldering notes of burning wood, coffee beans and liquorice. A welcome flash of heat for summer. From €104; www.hermes.com.
THIS MONTH WE …
MADE a customised Lip Comfort Oil using the Lip Oil Factory machine at Clarins Boutique & Spa, Dublin 2.
LOVED the Spa at The Merrion Hotel, Dublin 4: stay over on a Sunday night for a perfect 24 hours of luxury.
DISCOVERED Brilliant Body Oil by Kinvara Skincare from Galway; a sweet, spicy blend of organic oils; €34.95.
WORE the new perfumes from Cos, from €25 for travel-sized 15ml to €79 (there are candles, too).
ICYMI …
WHAT’S ON MY BATHROOM SHELF? Take a look inside the beauty bags of insiders in the know to see what they swear by, from model Jade Parfitt (above) to soprano Claudia Boyle and Grove England’s founder, Laura Butler-Madden.
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