Product watch: October makeup launches
The balance between matte lip colour that sticks and the hydration vital to creating a plumped look is tough to strike.
Has Chanel hit it? Allure Lip Ink is the luxury giant’s new liquid lipstick.
Its texture is extremely fine — far lighter than comparable paints by Laura Mercier and Smashbox — and the formula feels slightly tacky but not uncomfortable.
This bearable lightness is down to silicones, which make up the bulk of the non-coloured ingredients.
There are small amounts of plant oil in the mix (sweet almond, jojoba, and Chanel will always find a way to use camellia), but the formula is thoroughly modern in that it delivers intense colour without making you feel coated in it.
It is not plumping, and if you have lined or especially dry lips a primer like MAC Prep+Prime Lip, €17.50, is good preparation.
Kaolin, an oil-controlling clay, is present in a tiny amount that accounts for the tackiness and helps prevent colour-fade.
This is nice, because the colour is Rouge Allure Ink’s best feature. Consistent, velvety and vivid, all eight shades are very wearable and flattering.
Vivant, a soft rose, and peony-pink Creatif are especially pretty.
Clinique offers a whopping 13 foundations, not counting its three BB/CC creams and including one already called Superbalanced.
Surely they have every complexion-perfecting concern covered at this point? Why add Silk?
I really like the existent Superbalanced Foundation, €32, which is full-coverage liquid makeup for combination skin, the most common type.
The formula is antioxidant-rich and quite thick and creamy, so rarely requires additional concealer.
Its texture can make you feel quite made-up, however, like the makeup equivalent of cotton or velvet.
Silk contains plenty of antioxidants, but is more silicone-heavy. It is easier to sheer out into a fine layer (though this will make the sunscreen ingredients less effective), and the finish is a natural matte.
If your want the uniform, flawless look of Superbalanced with a lightweight feel, choose Silk.
Both foundations are called ‘Superbalanced’ to sum up the brand’s claim that they both hydrate and absorb oil, depending on the needs of any given patch of skin.
Cosmetics can no more tailor a response to a specific area than a painkiller can detect which part of your body aches.
It really is an ‘all for one, one for all’ effect, so if your skin has especially oily or dry patches, treat them with skincare first or choose appropriate foundations.
Clinique Stay-Matte Oil-Free Makeup, €32, will still do a better job of keeping your skin shine-free and Supermoisture Makeup, €32, will still leave it softer at the end of the day.
Mascara needs to be replaced three months after opening, more frequently than any other item in your makeup bag, so a good bargain tube is always a find.
Maybelline ‘The Falsies’ Mascara, €11.99, is my favourite for lifting and lengthening.
If you’re looking to bulk up those lashes, however, a little Scandal Eyes Reloaded goes a long way.
Reloaded builds volume faster and more smoothly than the original Scandal Eyes.
Glossy polymers enrobe the lashes with pigments to create a deep-black lacquer effect.
A tapered brush mirrors the shape of the eye with dense bristles, capturing every lash and building volume from corner to corner.
This mascara is long-wearing and remains smear and smudge-proof for hours.
Katherine Von Drachenberg is a tattoo artist, US reality TV star and the brains behind Kat Von D makeup. A selection of her products is now available via debenhams.ie.
Like the tattoos she gave celebrities on camera, her eye palettes and lipsticks dramatically contrast bold, glossy colour with skin.
Her concealer and powder foundation — the best of the brand, in my view — are perfecting, yet traceless. Kat von D ‘Lock It’ Powder Foundation, €34.50, is medium-to-full coverage makeup.
There is an awful lot of pigment in its silky fibres, you really don’t need much to create an even complexion, but even a substantial application does not cake.
It is long-wearing and the compact has a good-sized mirror. The formula is fragrance-free and suits all skin types, though any tenacious powder can highlight dry patches.
The Kat Von D ‘Lock It’ Crème Concealer, €26, is kinder in this regard. Rich and hydrating, it keeps blemishes under wraps for hours.
Irritation delays healing time, so it helps that the formula is emollient and unscented.
Von Drachenberg is a strict vegan and all Kat Von D products are cruelty and animal byproduct-free.
Beauty with a purpose is always a nice gift, especially when the product is universally flattering. Clarins continues its support for the Amazonian reforestation programme ‘Povos de Floresta’ this season with another covetable eye palette.
‘The Essentials’ for autumn is a symphony in pink and grey. Eminently wearable, this palette offers satin shades in fresh pink, grey-violet, taupe, violet grey, plum and black violet.
Mattes include beige, smoky pink, and aubergine and there is an iridescent pink that doubles as highlighting powder.
It’s perfect for creating a variety of day and night-time looks.
The shadows are blended with annatto, a fruit oil indigenous to the area their sale is helping to rejuvenate.
Drawings of annatto flowers decorate the palette, which can be used as a pencil box when the shadow-step is detached.
The double-ended brush has pony-hair tips — one shadow, one precision — that are exceptionally gentle on the skin and are produced with respect for animal welfare.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
