In our monthly Let’s Make-Up round-up, we bring you a selection of the tried and tested, freshest, and buzziest beauty launches that are worth adding to your basket.
All types of lotions and potions across makeup, skincare, haircare and more cross our desks and we take it upon ourselves to review them all so you don’t have to. If we include it below, then you know it’s a good ‘un.
It’s February and whether you honour the love month or not, you’ll fall head over heels for the latest cosmetics, complexion care and fragrance newness.
Direct from the US comes the balm-based makeup label MERIT on a mission to simplify the application process, while Hermès has us dreaming of warmer weather with its latest lipstick shades.
Do it likes the pros with the powdered bronzer that comes two years in the making from Bobbi Brown’s Jones Road, the Valentine’s Day edit from Pat McGrath and the next in what we hope is a series of beauty wands from Charlotte Tilbury.
For all this and more besides, see our edit of the hottest beauty drops you need on your radar.
Jones Road The Bronzer
We had high hopes for Bobbi Brown’s first venture since leaving her eponymous makeup brand and every new launch from Jones Road proves her mastery. The Bronzer is finally here after two years in the development process. Brown’s aesthetic is all about enhancing your natural beauty and that’s what this velvety powder achieves, adding subtle warmth and glow to the skin without being orange, imparting shimmer or leaving the complexion crying out for moisture. There are seven shades and The Bronzer Brush (£40) to match.
Buy now £32.00, Jones Road
Rouge Hermès Spring-Summer 2023 Limited-Edition Collection
Much like the brand’s Kelly Birkin bag, Hermes’ makeup collection is hugely covetable. The chic lipsticks have a retro feel but pack incredible pigment into their very modern formulas. The luxury leather house has unveiled its spring/summer 2023 collection that is comprised of three new shades that will dispel the winter blues in just a few swipes of the tubes. First up is 06 Corail Parasol, a orange-pink hue that is given a lustrous twist with a very slight shimmer, representing the sun bouncing off the sea waves. The 10 Beige Croisette, as the name suggests, is a beige with a pink tone that is subtle and has universal appeal and finally, 22 Brun Yachting is brown with touches of copper to give the shade a luxury feel and impart a glowy finish on the lips.
£62.00
Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk Matte Beauty Blush Wands
You don’t need to be a professional makeup artist to get creative with your daily application. Charlotte Tilbury created the Beauty Light Wands to simplify the process so you only need to dab where you want the shade and blend. First a highlighter, now a blush, it doesn’t get much more foolproof than this. The liquid formula glides onto the skin to create the label’s signature flawless complexion with a matte finish and great colour pay-off. It’s buildable but immediately glowy thanks to the Lumi-Blur Technology that imparts light-reflecting pigments.
Buy now £29.00, Charlotte Tilbury
Ariana Grande MOD Vanilla and Blush Eau de Parfum sprays
It’s one of the most lauded celebrity fragrance lines on the market and now, Ariana Grande is unveiling not one but two new eau de parfum sprays to add to our scent wardrobes. The double drop is made up of aromas that are designed as an expression of freedom, taking inspiration from the 1960s movement of the same name but putting a modern twist on it with its scent profile.
While its name suggests MOD Vanilla is a sweet scent, it actually opens with an unexpected note of dark plum and musk with pink freesia, a play on the senses that paves the way for what follows. Taking the experience on is gourmand, orris butter and white praline and finally vanilla absolute, cocoa butter that has been upcycled and papyrus that ensure this is not your ordinary vanilla.
MOD Blush is equally as alluring where Italian bergamot is set against passion fruit and dark raspberry and then given a spicy twist with pink pepper. Rose petals, magnolia and pear sit at the heart, while it is anchored with a sensual concoction of ambrox, dreamwood and musk that leaves a trail.
Buy now £33.00, Boots
StriVectin Peptide Plump Line Filling Bounce Serum
The innovation-led skincare label has created this product to keep injectables out of your routine, or at least buy you more time in-between salon appointments.
It’s a no-filler filling serum that was created in a hugely different way, using AI technology. This was desirable as it allowed to brand to get ultra-precise with its design and they were able to create a specialised peptide that forms the building blocks for three key proteins; collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid.
In clinical test, 96 per cent saw improvement in the look of skin plumpness and smoothness, while 93 per cent believed forehead frown lines improved.
Buy now, StriVectin
Pat McGrath Labs Limited-Edition Love Collection
Pat McGrath is one of the most renowned makeup artists in the world and through her namesake label, she makes high performing professional-level makeup part of our everyday routine. In honour of the love month, the British artist has turned her attention to a limited-edition collection to celebrate all things romance with pigmented colourways across eyes, lip and face.
The MTHRSHP Eyeshadow Palette (£50) is the first all-matte palette for the label and has six pans of creamy, blendable shadows. The combination of steamy shades includes nudes, peaches and metallics encouraging you to get creative with your date night eye looks.
The drop also includes FetishEYES Longwear Liquid Eye Shadow – a new creation that has a liquid shimmer texture that is lightweight and stay firmly affixed without creasing. There are seven high-shine shades from chartreuse green to luminous champagne. The Satin Allure Lip (£24( range has been expanded with three new shades in Nude Venus – a natural nude, rose In The Flesh and a bright red called Crimson Ecstasy.
Buy now, Pat McGrath
TULA 24-7 Moisture Intense
Probiotic skincare label TULA landed on UK shores last year, but its cult 24-7 Moisture Day & Night Cream quickly became a bestseller. This latest launch builds on the nourishment of this lightweight lotion but cranks it up a gear. For our worn-out winter-tired complexions, 24-7 Moisture Intense is deeply hydrating with the likes of squalane contains within the formula. There’s also the label’s signature prebiotics and probiotic extracts as well as anti-ageing heroes like peptides and collagen with superfoods too to give it that ’24-7’ long-lasting effect.
Buy now £49.00, Space NK
Rituals Cosmetics Namaste Glow Line
The wellbeing behemoth has unveiled an entirely new range to its collection of skincare favourites. The plant-based line is made up of clean and conscious formulations using natural origin ingredients (at least 95 per cent) and refillable packaging without sacrificing on efficacy. The high-performance line-up is targeted specifically for ageing and should be incorporated when you begin to see the first signs of fine lines and wrinkles. A natural alternative to retinol, bakuchiol plays a starring role with niacinamide so that you get the anti-ageing benefits with none of the harsh skin feel.
The collection is made up of the Glow Anti-Ageing Day Cream (£37.50, refill - £33.50) with the brand’s Bakuchiol Repair Complex paired with wild indigo to minimise the appearance of fine lines and improve elasticity, and the Glow Anti-Ageing Night Cream (£37.50, refill - £33.50) that rejuvenates the skin as you slumber. For a lighter texture, there’s also the Glow Anti-Ageing Serum (£32.50, refill - £29.50) that hydrates at the same time.
Buy now £37.50, Rituals
Perricone MD Essential Chia Oil
Perricone has kicked off 2023 by harnessing the power of superfood chia seed to support your skin’s natural barrier. This hugely hydration oil combines the nourishing ingredient with its patented Acyl-Glutathione and Vitamin F blend to replenish lost moisture and improve elasticity and plumpness at the same time. You need just a couple of drops of the nutrient-rich formula and it leaves skin supple and glowing.
Buy now £79.00, lookfantastic
MERIT
US beauty brand MERIT has landed this side of the Atlantic and brings with its no-makeup makeup approach to product creation. With Cameron Diaz and Bella Hadid among its fan base, it was founded by Katherine Power – the entrepreneur behind Who What Wear and Versed.
Each of the kind-to-skin formulas are created to be used on a daily basis and to strip back our routines, pushing overcomplicated multi-step regimes to one side by combining the likes of foundation and concealer in The Minimalist. While imparting the colour onto your skin, they nourish at the same time with ingredients like squalane, vitamin B5 and antioxidants treating the complexion to hydration and shielding against external aggressors.
The label focuses on balm textures for ease in application contained within luxury packaging that is recyclable, reusable or biodegradable so kinder on the planet. See the Five Minute Morning for your complete makeup routine using the core line-up.
Buy now, MERIT
Get your Glow with Liz Earle, exclusively at Boots
As we emerge blinking and weatherworn from winter, it’s time to admit that our faces could do with a little pep. Skin-enhancing revival comes courtesy of skincare supremo Liz Earle who has launched a shiny new Glow line, designed to restore natural radiance.
Housed in pretty peach tubes and tubs to separate it from the well-known, highly-regarded Cleanse & Polish collection, there are three transformative products to shake up your skincare routine: a Cleanse & Glow cleanser (£26), Smooth & Glow tonic (£20) packed with prickly pear to brighten and exfoliate, and a Revitalise & Glow gel moisturiser (£28) to lock in hydration.
The gentle formulas smell divine and work instantly, with results lasting all day. Our skin hasn’t looked this good in a long time.
Exclusive to Boots.
Buy now, Boots
Glossier reinstates Wild Fig Balm Dotcom - permanently
Following colossal demand cult beauty brand Glossier has brought back the Wild Fig flavoured Balm Dotcom. Now a permanent addition, much to the delight of its fans, the no-touch applicator delivers a hit of juicy, jammy hydration to lips, leaving behind a flattering coral tint. But that’s not all: before restocking its shelves, Glossier tweaked the formula by swapping Petrolatum for castor jelly, a vegan-friendly alternative. It gives the same gloss and offers even more moisture.
Buy now £11.00, Glossier
