Product watch
L’Été Papillon, Chanel’s new make-up collection, is inspired by the colours of butterfly wings. Creative director, Peter Philips, looked to lepidoptera to create azure nail lacquer, €22.50, and inimitable, waterproof mascara, €30, in citrus shades. The brand’s gorgeous Rouge Coco shine lipstick, €30.50, is available in a vibrant tomato red, called ‘Pygmalion.’ The crème de la crème are the eyeshadow pens, €28 each. A smooth-gliding pen applies a lightweight, long-wear shadow that lets you colour-block six, shimmery shades, including platinum, jade and coral pink. The refreshing formula creates a smooth veil over the lids, or works a precise liner. This collection is on counters May 31.
If MAC did desserts, they’d surely be macaroons. The light-yet-rich treats were clearly on the table when the ‘Baking Beauties’ collection was whipped-up. Pistachio nail lacquer, €12.50, pearlmatte face powder, called ‘Pink Buttercream’, €28.50, glacé-tinted lip balm and a Pro Longwear eye paint-pot, €19, in ‘fancy Frosting,’ all appear in this tooth-achingly sweet range. Pots of pink and turquoise glitter, €24.50 each, and a bottle of highlighting lustre drops, €22.50, are also on the menu. My favourite product is the creme-sheen lipstick, ‘Decorate’, €18, possibly the prettiest nude lippy this season.
Estée Lauder knows how we look in holiday fantasies (like we ought to be fanned with giant palms) and is helpfully providing the real-life make-up. The new ‘Bronze Goddess’ collection includes zingy roller-ball lip-glosses, €19.50, vermilion nail lacquer, €20, an illuminating gel-powder for cheeks, €39, and a choice of a luminous liquid or powder bronzer. I prefer the powder, €39, which sits in a large oyster-compact that looks straight from Elizabeth Taylor’s Cleopatra dressing table. The island-inspired batik sun eye palette, €46.50, includes dry, earthy tones and a great grass-green. The ‘sumptuous extreme waterproof’ mascara, €28, is great for creating a long-lasting curve without needing curlers. Brush the wand through to the tips of the lashes and hold them in a curl for 20 seconds to set.
Students! Resist vandalising your desks (you’ll ‘heart’ someone else next week, anyway)! Make a far cooler impression with Ciaté’s chalkboard manicure set, €25. The pack contains a matte base polish, four polish pens and a Ciaté ‘mattnificent’ top coat. Once the ‘blackboard’ dries, get arty with the pens (if you mess up, the ‘ink’ can be wiped off with water) and then apply the top coat to seal your design. Top marks.
Many brands launch seasonal updates of signature scents in May. My pick is from the coolest of Brit heritage labels, which keeps the competition in check with Burberry summer, €60. This eau de toilette has a sexy, white musk, cedarwood and sandalwood base, offset by rose and lily-of-the-valley notes. Fresh-green leaf and fruity top notes, including pomegranate and mandarin, really smell like summer. When autumn comes, keep the frosted fuchsia bottle safe, so the last drops can remind you of holidays.
Chocolate Manicure at 5th Avenue, 84, Oliver Plunkett St, Cork
The mere scent of chocolate is thought to release the same endorphins as consumption. If you’ve eschewed sugar since Easter (a great idea year-round, beauty-wise), 5TH Avenue’s Chocolate Manicure offers a serotonin fix and pretty hands. The friendly team recently moved to stylish new premises on Oliver Plunkett Street and they wear it well. I become quite a talker when forced to sit and do nothing and nail technician Hanna is very adept at working and chatting. I could just as easily have zoned out, listened to RedFM and taken in the warm, girly atmosphere.
Hanna begins by shaping my nails and tidying my cuticles. I soak both hands in a refreshing almond milk bath before Hanna gently exfoliates them with an alpha-hydroxy scrub, to remove dead skin and boost skin-cell turnover. I then dip both hands in warm, chocolate-scented paraffin oil. My coated paws are wrapped in cellophane to intensify the emollient effect. After the wax has set, Hanna flakes it off before massaging my hands with lotion. My skin is gleaming and soft as a newborn’s. She finishes with two flawless coats of an Essie polish called “She’s Pampered.” And I felt it, too.
* Price: €40; Duration: 45mins
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