Tried and tested
Are you one of Nicki Minaj’s “Barbs”? Then you probably already know that #lavenderisthenewpink. MAC Viva Glam campaign continues this season with Ms Minaj as the “face”. This gloss is a very wearable shade of lavender, more pink than blue. Apply concealer to the lips first if you want a more “plastic” purple. As with all Viva Glam products, the full price, less VAT, goes towards helping people affected by HIV and AIDS.
I love a gloss that stays inside the lines. This soft pencil-gloss turns a gorgeous iridescent pink-gold on bare lips. Not ideal if you like to layer gloss over lipstick but you never have to worry about it staining strands of your freshly-washed hair.
Lip Maestro creates glamorous, red-carpet worthy lips with its non-sticky gel formula. This gloss combines strong colour with a satiny, rather than glassy-gloss, finish so lips never looked washed-out. Bellissima.
When developing a new product, the Smashbox Studios’ team tests it and photographs the result and then snaps some more to ensure it looks as great on as possible. If you’re “starring” on Instagram regularly these days, you may want to check out Adore Me, which makes lips subtly fuller without looking like you’ve tried too hard.
I’m a big fan of Diorshow mascaras. I love the fat, toothbrush-inspired wands that shroud every last lash in colour. This season’s Iconic Overcurl isn’t quite up to joining the team in terms of bumper-coverage but the curl, girls, is fabulous. The formula is a blend of nourishing oils and waxes called K-polymers, thought to be capable of strengthening and curving lashes more with each use. This is blessedly easy to remove, even with water.
Natural-looking day mascara that picks out tiny lashes well. This product comes in black and an aquatic blue that creates a fun, summery look.
Top marks for The Rocket, a masterful de-clumper and volumiser and a total bargain to boot. Maybelline may have created this decade’s Great Lash just three years in.
This Japanese mascara is a brush-on “lash-wig,” designed to bulk-up and lengthen lashes as natural-look falsies do. The formula fuses fibre-lash filaments with a liquid-to-film coating that you apply like regular mascara, and also contains conditioning oils. This is quicker to remove and feels softer on than false lashes and regular mascara.
As the name suggests, this base conceals dark pigmentation and also contains a mushroom-based ingredient thought to minimise the problem. It feels light and silky and has a natural, matte finish. Only three shades are currently available, so test in daylight to ensure it suits you.
A light-diffusing foundation containing fillers that even skin-tone. The formula is lightweight and blends quickly. The finish isn’t quite so barely-there as the name suggests, but the high SPF and nourishing ingredients like jojoba oil and black tea make it especially comforting.
A luxurious, luminous foundation in a weighty flacon. The formula blends perfecting foundation and a high-cover corrector enriched with brightening vitamin CG. The finish is extremely natural for a product that leaves the complexion so even and radiant. This product comes in 18 shades, so you’re sure to find a match to your skin.
Aerin Lauder created this foundation-concealer hybrid for application only where needed. The formula is super lightweight and may be built. Best for that clean, no make-up look New York women do so well.
