Product watch
“Eyes are the new fashion accessory. People are obsessed with eye makeup. It’s the most complicated, and it’s the one thing that really can transform you the most.” So says Lanvin designer Alber Elbaz of his eye-focused collection for Lancôme. Elbaz has created three colourful prints featuring hand-drawn eyes, stars, polka dots and hearts. Each pattern “dresses” a Lancôme Hypnôse eye shadow palette, €49, eye shadow mono, €25, or mascara, €28. A set of feathery false lashes, €32, is the star item. The makeup is part of Lancôme’s permanent collection but the packaging is limited edition. Check Lancôme’s YouTube channel (LancomeUKIreland) for an animated film of the makeup’s first “catwalk show”.
Saturday, Jul 6, is International Kissing Day and Lush Cosmetics are making a Guinness World Record bid for the most lip-prints collected in 12 hours. From 11am, Lush stores in Dublin and Cork will be taking part. Staff will encourage customers to prep their lips with preservative-free products. Buff dry lips with bubblegum, mint or chocolate sugar scrubs with moisturising jojoba, €6.75. Choose from four sweetie-flavoured balms to soften your smackers. Finish with a lacquer from the Liquid Lips collection, €17.95, which aims to enhance a trait you might be weak in through colour therapy (eg, “Ambition” is a vibrant red), and leave your kiss-print!
Another MAC summer colour collection? Blame it on Rio. Tropical Taboo is inspired by samba and South American sensuality. Lipsticks, glosses, eye shadow and blush are available in “shades that define desire”. The creamy Mineralize Rich lipstick, €26.50, colours include Glamour Era, a warm brown and Midnight Mambo, a strong violet. Exotic eyes pop with shadows in Cha-Cha-Cha (a blue-green and pearly green frost) or Tropica (silver-blue and purple) €22.50. Give cheeks a deep pink flush with Sweet Samba blush, €26, and keep lips nude and glossy with Calypso Beat, €21.50.
French skincare brand Guinot introduces a gradual self-tanning milk this month. Lait Hydra Bronze, €31.75, is a floral-scented, non-sticky moisturiser that can replace your regular face or body cream. Erythrulose, a natural tanning agent, delivers even coverage while a combination of active plant-seed oils moisturises and protects the skin. Initial results are noticeable after three days. Skin reaches peak softness and colour after two weeks.
“This collection pairs wearable pinks and nudes with navy to foolproof your look while helping to transition [your makeup] from summer to fall,” says Bobbi Brown of her new, beachy palette. Create sultry eyes with Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner in Steel Ink, €24, Long-Wear Cream Shadow, €24.50, in Suede or shades of cement and taupe from the Navy & Nude Eye Palette, €57.50. Enhance BB cream with a sweep from the Pink Brightening Brick, €55.50.
I love the Virgin Islands but celestial Saint Lucia is a pricey Virgin Atlantic flight away. I stayed safely in the black this month with a sensory trip. The Escape Aveda Spa is part of Cork’s Imperial Hotel but is open to non-residents. Pampered customers are free to hang out in the Spa’s Relaxation Suite after treatments. This pedicure incorporates products from Aveda’s Caribbean Therapy range which smell wonderfully of mango, passion fruit and vetiver. After a brief skin consultation, I settled into a squishy leather massage chair.
My feet were soaked in a Jacuzzi foot bath frothy with Caribbean Therapy Body Cleanser, which left them feeling soft and conditioned. They were towelled off and then my therapist pushed my cuticles back and reshaped my toenails. The Caribbean Therapy Scrub sloughed off dry skin with salt, Caribbean cane sugar and avocado oil. My therapist was focused and impeccable in her work and went over each cuticle again at this stage.
My freshly smoothed skin increased the efficacy of an invigorating ginger and seaweed mask, which she painted on before wrapping my feet in hot towels. They tingled away for ten minutes and were then gently wiped clean and buffed with a file. A massage with lots of buttery Caribbean Therapy Body Cream followed. Two coats of Dulce de Leche (my favourite nude OPI polish) and my feet radiated with pre-platform sandals contentment. This is as close to paradise as a pedicure gets.
The Aveda Caribbean Therapy Foot Treatment is available at Aveda Spas nationwide, including Escape Aveda Spa, Morgan Street, Cork and Aveda C Spa, Summerhill, Ennis, Co Clare.
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