Deal or no deal? This week’s beauty drops, both good and bad, from a new-look designer beauty range to a new way to wear scent ….
1. Skin Expertise For Less
Check out Nuala Woulfe’s website to find a great range of high-performing SPFs, plus summer deals on skincare sets, including SkinCeuticals, and treatments too, such as massage and facials. Head to www.nualawoulfe.ie
2 Prada Beauty Makes A Comeback
Back in the 90s, Prada skincare was a key counter in Selfridges beauty hall. I remember the launch, and the genuinely groundbreaking idea of mini capsules – creams and serums were presented in travel-friendly single-dose blisters, as easy to pop as a paracetamol. It was, at the time, uniquely modern and exciting, futuristic almost.
Now Prada beauty is making a comeback, though not in its previous format, sadly. All we know so far is that there is skincare – called Augmented Skin, and featuring day and night cream, serums and cleanser, plus colour cosmetics – “Skin Optimising” foundation, lipsticks, eyeshadows – through to a range of brushes, and that Lynsey Alexander is the global make-up artist working with the brand. It’s all refillable. And the scent of the range has been created by master perfumer Daniela Andrier; think vanilla and iris.
We don’t know when or where it will land yet, or prices, but it has landed at Selfridges in London, where prices start from €44.50 (£37stg) for lipsticks (which look very matte and punchy), €59 for foundation (30ml) and £78 (£65stg) for eyeshadow palettes (6g), with brushes starting at €47 (£39stg). www.selfridges.com
3. The New Blue
Dr Laura Lenihan’s clinic in Galway stocks an interesting edit of skincare, from Heliocare to Medik8 (I’m using their Crystal Retinal vitamin A night serm at the moment, and like it a lot). I was most intrigued by the Anfisa Skin An-Balm (previously known as Lilou, which it’s called this on the website), made in the USA; it’s a buttery, blue-tinted balm that you massage into damp skin after cleansing, to give your skin a big boost of hydration in the evening. The fancy box packaging is unecessary, but it’s certainly indulgent, with lots of esssential oils, from carrot seed to blue tansy (hence the colour) and raspberry seed, making your skin really glow with five-a-day healthiness. Non-waxy and full of good things, it’s a natural, non-petroleum-based way of boosting and repairing the skin barrier (which is a trend rather unattractively called skin slugging). €150, at www.drlauraclinic.ie
4. Scent drops?
Talking of “single-dose” beauty, here’s the idea with a twist. I’m not sure what to think about these Marc Jacobs Daisy Drops. Think of Elizabeth Arden’s skincare capsules, recreated using fragrance. So you get a tiny – and I mean, tiny –?tin of single-dose capsules, each containing a drop of scent which you dab on your skin. Don’t get it on your clothes though! I can see this could be a handy format for travel –?you could just take three or four for a weekend away, or else throw the tin in your handbag; it’s clearly easier than lugging a glass bottle around. But at around €30, it’s a euro each for a single drop of scent. And I like to spray on perfume generously, so these capsules feel a bit gimmicky to me, and I’m not entirely sold (passing teenagers were equally sceptical). However, if you travel a lot, and are partial to sweet scents, you might find this a nifty idea. At pharmacies.
5. Home Fragrances
In this damp weather, we gather cosy things – candles, blankets, beautiful smells. Replica Maison Margiela, a L’Oreal brand, now has home fragrances (candles and diffusers) alongside the eau de toilette range and matching bath and body products, from shower gel to lotion. When The Rain Stops eau de toilette – inspired by Dublin – is surely the most appropriate we can wear right now. From €63 for 30ml.
I like the idea of a Jazz Club candle scenting the room, or By the Fireside – these smell great, and atmospheric (€61). I would stick to the candles rather than the diffusers, which seem pricey to me at €94 (185ml). As an alternative, I’m a big fan of the elegant French Carriere Freres diffusers (€68 for 200ml), because they smell exquisite (think orange blossom, rose and mint, or the fabulous tomato), are a bit original, and last for AGES. Other cost-effective, good quality options include Max Benjamin (the grapefruit one is divine), Voya and Rituals room sprays (at Arnotts).
6. The Face
YSL Beauty have just announced Elvis star Austin Butler as the new face of upcoming fragrance MYSLF, a “modern representation of what it means to be a man”, which launches on September 1 at counters nationwide. Here he is making us want to wear a soft black Saint Laurent leather jacket.
