For beauty addicts, the close of August isn’t about school shoes or sharp pencils. No, this is the time of year when the world’s beauty brands gear up to reveal their glossiest, most hard-hitting innovations ahead of the Christmas rush. Here’s my pick of the best to add to your basket now.
Hair by Sam McKnight Cool Girl Body
How I love hairdresser Sam McKnight and his genius product line. The latest gift to the people? A volumising styler-treatment hybrid that builds soft, swishy, touchable body that lasts.
(M)anasi 7 All Over Colour
Swedish make-up artist Susanne Manasi’s beautiful line feels of-the-moment, delivering performance skincare and pigment-rich make-up that is microbiome-friendly and packed with wild-harvested and certified organic ingredients. Its All Over Colour can be tapped quickly onto cheeks, lips and lids for dewy, fresh enhancement.
Skinceuticals P-Tiox Cream
Perplexed by the size of your pores? Skinceuticals has barely been able to keep this clever new cream — which tackles deep-set wrinkles, pores and uneven texture — on shelves in the past few weeks since launch, such has been demand. I’ll see you at the checkout…
Dries Van Noten Velvet Violet
Another showstopper from Dries, this time delivering violet — but not the powdery, old-fashioned kind. Perfumer Gael Montero takes the greener, fresher violet leaf, pairing it with toasted sesame, vetiver and tonka. Oof it’s lovely.
Allies of Skin Peptint Tripeptide & Goji Cells Plumping Lip Treatment
Famous for its advanced skincare formulations, Allies of Skin turns its attention to lip gloss. Expect sheer, high-shine colour with tripeptides, goji androse cells to smooth and hydrate.
Uni Rain 24-Hour Body Serum and Gentle Exfoliating Body Wash
Uni’s Ischia Sunset-scented body serum is currently the only body treatment that I use daily, because it smells amazing and does marvellous things to parched limbs. Out next week is a new, equally irresistible scent — Rain — which bottles a summer storm, bringing with it a jolly good exfoliating body wash.
Olaplex Shape Set Hairspray
Hairspray has a reputation problem that Olaplex has decided to tackle head-on. Three years in the making, this clever silver can harnesses flexible polymers alongside panthenol, glycerin and encapsulated peptides to hold hair while leaving it swishy, soft and hydrated.
Vieve Skin Nova Concealer
A balmy, brightening and blurring concealer that moves beautifully with your skin throughout the day. Out this week, it’s already graced the faces of Maya Jama, Jessie Ware, Aimee Lou Wood and more.
Dermalogica Smart Eye Density Serum
Rather than disguising eyes that look shadowed or hollow through fatigue or — ahem— the passing of time, Dermalogica has turned its attention to the quality and density of the delicate under-eye skin, using growth-factor technology to improve its function and resilience, so boosting lost volume.
Westman Atelier Supreme Bio-Complex Liquid Foundation
From face-painter extraordinaire Gucci Westman, a foundation for those who don’t really like foundation. Why? Because it’s beautifully light, skincare-packed and silicone-free with biocompatible pigments that melt into skin rather than sitting atop it.
Dermalux LED Face Mask
There are hundreds of LED masks out there, but this is from the people who really know their LEDs. Yep, Dermalux brings 14 years of clinical know-how home, with clever Off-the-Skin Technology positioning every LED at the optimum treatment distance to maximise coverage, precision and performance.
La Bonne Brosse Body Brush
Taking its refined, artisanal approach below the neck, La Bonne Brosse’s new body brush comes in two strengths and is pretty enough to leave out bath-side as an elegant objet.
Diptyque Les Rituels de Soin Collection
Diptyque says we must slow down when it comes to washing, and given its belter of a new range inspired by ancient bathing rituals, I’m very willing. The Nurturing Body & Hair Cleansing Gel, (£59) and Evening Scented candle (£59 & £63) are not to be missed.
Solférino Paris Lumière D’Automne Eau de Parfum Adieu August
This delicious tribute to autumnal Paris bottles golden light, amber leaves and chestnuts roasting on street carts with creamy chestnut, vanilla and sandalwood.
Oribe Bond-Building Elixir
Sufficiently lightweight for even fine hair, this works to strengthen, lengthen and repair over time and is just the ticket for delivering essential TLC to frazzled, post-summer strands.
M&S Formula Ultra Peptide Serum
Scooping up great skincare alongside picky bits and new smalls will never not thrill me. Follow my lead and try this smart new serum which tackles seven skincare concerns in one with peptides, ceramides, omegas and a NAD+ booster for firmer, smoother, glowier skin.
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