Product watch: July’s beauty launches

July’s beauty launches include a bouquet from Giambattista Valli, a beach walk with Maison Martin Margiela, and shades of Bobbi Brown’s favourite getaway. Rachel Marie Walsh reports.

Bobbi Brown’s The Telluride Collection

Just in time for ‘Resort’ season, Bobbi Brown is launching a collection inspired by her favourite holiday destination.

Telluride, Colorado, is famous for its spectacular scenic beauty.

The cosmetics queen is particularly fond of sunsets behind the San Juan Mountains.

A new addition to the brand’s range of Shimmer Bricks, €42.50, best sets off the dusk, combining stripes of pearl pigment in tawny nude, pink, and gold.

The Telluride Eye Palette, €50, which Bobbi’s team used at New York Fashion Week, is the collection’s centrepiece.

Create a modern take on the nude eye with powders in gold, cream, brown, plum, and three different roses.

Kate Upton works the look to perfection in the ad campaign.

The palette includes a shadow and liner brush for on-the-go application.

Pot Rouge, €26, is a great holiday buy for lips and cheeks. New shades Maui (coral) and Telluride (warm mauve) give skin a healthy, dewy look.

Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Cream

The ‘3-Step System’ (cleanse, exfoliate, moisturise) has been central to Clinique’s skincare range since the ’70s .

The brand now offers far more beneficial products for all skin types in my view, but the core regime is still so appealingly simple that a new ‘step’ is always worth a look.

If you are a system devotee with oily skin, for example, the Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel, released in 2014, is a far better option that the Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion, the original ‘Step 3’.

The lotion’s formula was updated for its 40th anniversary in 2013, but I still find the number of antioxidants and reparative ingredients you’d expect of modern moisturiser lacking.

These extracts are especially important for women who use nothing but the ‘3-Step System’, as it has no serum to provide extra goodies for skin.

Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Cream, €30, debuts on July 3. This is the richest member of the ‘Dramatically Different’ family.

It suits normal to dry skin and offers a good mix of naturally emollient, antioxidant, and collagen-supporting ingredients.

For dehydrated skin, this cream is a major step up from the original lotion, even when used independent of the system.

MAC x Giambattista Valli

Giambattista Valli is currently celebrating a decade of his Paris-based label and MAC has joined the party.

With a view to “dressing the lips”, designer and makeup brand have come up with a bouquet of floral-themed lipsticks, €21.50, and a clear crystal gloss, €24. The collection arrives on counters July 9.

MAC collaborations are extremely frequent, involving the fashion and celebrity partners you’d expect of a youthful company but also comics, film, toys, and art.

The brand did twelve last year, in addition to seasonal colour collections and skincare releases.

The success of the fashion projects is largely down to MAC’s product developers, who nail the adaptation of couture colour for cosmetics every time.

Four of Valli’s lipstick shades — peony pink, electric pink, yellow-red, and yellow-peach — are bang-on interpretations of colours used in past fashion collections.

The fifth is based on a black cherry the designer brought to a creative meeting, a shade that also showed up in details of his autumn dresses.

Maison Martin Margiela Replica Beach Walk

Belgian designer Martin Margiela described his work as ‘anti-fashion’.

In the early ’90s, when designers were just beginning to realise the power of branding, he sewed blank labels into his clothes and sold everything in plain packaging.

He kept a low personal profile and his models’ faces were often covered, so as not to distract from the designs.

It was always about the product, never hype or heritage. Since the founder’s retirement in 2009, three decidedly pro-fashion things have happened to the Maison.

Jay Z and ‘Kimye’ made Margiela a household name, John Galliano was hired by Renzo Rosso (who owns a majority stake in MMM), to design its women’s wear, and the company entered the fragrance market.

The point of fashion perfumes is to make a brand’s ‘essence’ accessible in ways the clothes are not. Versace’s, for example, are always sexy, and Marc Jacob’s are girly.

Margiela’s essence being undefinable, perfumers Jacques Cavallier and Marie Salamagne took a more conceptual approach with the Replica collection, a growing range of fragrances named for the Maison’s Replica vintage clothing and accessories line.

Each fragrance is designed to promote the positive images and emotions associated with personal memories. This process echoes the thinking behind Replica apparel.

The charm of these pieces, discovered around the world, remain identical to the originals. Each garment is faithfully reproduced and bears a label explaining its origin and function.

Replica Beach Walk, €97.50, launches at Brown Thomas this week. Notes of bergamot, lemon, pink pepper, and coconut milk aim to evoke seaside holiday memories.

Their success is subjective, but it is a very lovely perfume and a nice gift for those not into commercial, ubiquitous scents.

Environ AVST Hydrating Lotion

Rough patches on knees and elbows feel horrible but before you start scouring, consider a gentle leave-on exfoliant. Harsh scrubs and brushes can do skin more harm than good, depleting its natural moisture barrier.

The AVST Hydrating Lotion, €46 @monicatolan.com, uses a light blend of exfoliating and water-binding ingredients to clear dead cells, improve texture, and make skin feel deeply hydrated after just three applications.

The non-greasy, quick-drying formula feels like toner and won’t mark clothes.