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.
In June, we have been awash with emerging beauty labels with one particular highlight being Megababe that is here to revolutionised the typically ‘taboo’ parts of our bathroom cabinets.
There has also been an emphasis on environmentally-friendly formulas and especially in the solid bar space with an entry from Kiehl’s and an update to the existing range at L'Occitane.
The worlds of fashion and fragrance collide with a collaboration from Jo Malone London and Richard Quinn, and OLEHENRIKSEN has made its first foray into bodycare.
For all this and more besides, see our edit of the hottest beauty drops you need on your radar.
Jo Malone London x Richard Quinn
London-born fragrance house Jo Malone has teamed up with British designer Richard Quinn to give its signature minimalistic packaging a bold and bright makeover. In Quinn’s flamboyant floral print, you will find the designs set across gift boxes, ribbons and other fine details as his first foray into the lifestyle space. “It was kind of the perfect collaboration, really,’” explains Richard of Design Editions by Richard Quinn. “We’re both interested in fantasy and florals, so it was a natural fit.”
The fashion label - who has been worn by the likes of Kendall Jenner and Billy Porter and who received the first of the Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design - has lent its eye to candles in Honeysuckle & Davana, English Pear & Freesia and Peony & Blush Suede, which are now packaged in limited-edition boxes and tissue paper decorated with floral prints.
Buy now £40.00, Jo Malone
Westman Atelier Vital Pressed Skincare Powder
Legendary makeup artist Gucci Westman is constantly innovating with her namesake label. The latest? A pressed powder that is designed to add longevity to and enhance your makeup look without dulling the layers that went before.
The ultra-lightweight micro milled formula smooths pores, evens out textures and with the inclusion of a trademarked vitamin C and probiotics-based Skin Defence Shield Complex, it will protect against ageing external aggressors and blue light.
There are six shades available.
Buy now £69.00, Available June 7
Glow Hub Tinted Pep Talk
Parched pouts are in for a treat with Glow Hub’s lip balm that has been given a fruity update. The pigmented lippie now comes in mango and cranberry with a peach-orange and pinky-red hue respectively. While giving a subtle tint, it nourishes your lips with castor oil and peptides that have a plumping effect.
Buy now £8.00, Beauty Bay
Peace Out Dark Spots Serum
Peace Out was created by the founder Enrico Frezza in a response to his own struggles with acne. The brand takes a no-nonsense approach to blemish busting with powerhouse products that are simple to use.
This serum combines AHAs and active ingredients to tackle dark spots and give a radiance boost to dull complexions. Whether it’s discoloration, age spots, pollution damage or hyperpigmentation, the combination of Tranexamic Acid, Kojic Acid and Alpha-Arbutin gets to work to lighten and brighten.
Buy now £24.00, Beauty Bay
OLEHENRIKSEN BeamCream Smoothing Body Moisturizer
OLEHENRIKSEN has ventured into the world of body care with two launches designed to smooth and brighten skin.
With the same potent formulas as its skincare products, the brand has created BeamCream that is designed to boost moisture levels with a noticeable effect in just a week of use. With continual application, your skin will feel super soft and strengthened thanks to the combination of gentle exfoliating AHAs and fruit enzymes, radiance-boosting caffeine and nourishing butters and oils. It also improves skin texture, minimises the look of dark spots and even tackles fine lines and wrinkles - in an eight week study, 75.3 per cent confirmed the latter. The formula also has a lovely citrus aroma.
The brand has also unveiled FirmlyYours Toning Dry Body Oil (£36), a firming and hydrating product with a glowy finish.
Buy now £32.00, Boots
Kiehl's Concentrated Cleansing Bar
Kiehl's is demonstrating its commitment to more sustainable practices with the launch of facial bars. The brand has transformed three of its most sought-after formulas into concentrated solid form that use five times less water.
The collection is made up of the Ultra Facial Hydrating Concentrated Cleansing Bar, Calendula Calming & Soothing Concentrated Cleansing Bar and Rare Earth Deep Pore Detoxifying Concentrated Cleansing Bar.
To use, you add water and it creates a lather that cleanses without stripping. They are also 96 per cent biodegradable - comprised of renewable or fairly-traded ingredients and less plastic waste packaging.
Buy now £20.50, Kiehl’s
Elizabeth Arden Prevage Ani-Aging Eye Serum 2.0
We dug deep into the world of eye serums to delve into the way that these products act as a more potent treatment to the periorbital area - and the same goes for this launch from Elizabeth Arden.
The brand has reformulated its Prevage Ani-Aging Eye Serum to pack it with skin-loving antioxidants as well as five super age-defying ingredients. Together, the brand has concocted a soothing, brightening and depuffing product to help you turn back the clock as well as protect against future damage from free radicals.
Buy now £92.00, Elizabeth Arden
Summer Fridays ShadeDrops Broad Spectrum SPF 30
The suncream space is constantly innovating and brands like Summer Fridays are making it easier than ever to apply - so you have no excuse not to be wearing SPF every single day.
This mineral formulation has been created to be so lightweight that it washes over the skin in much of the same way as a serum. No casts, pilling or balling up, it sits nicely onto the complexion, nourishing with the combination of vitamins, antioxidants and chamomile (known for its soothing benefits), while also protecting against UVA/UVB rays.
Buy now £35.00, Cult Beauty
GHOST Summer Dream
It’s hard to put into words the smell of summer. Sun-drenched skin, the slight saltiness of the beach, a cocktail in hand... it doesn’t have a specific olfactory note but somehow its instantly recognisable when you catch a whiff of it.
This is what Ghost has managed to bottle in its Summer Dream scent. A warm weather cocktail, it is a spicy-floral aroma that opens with a pink pepper, lemon and orange flower water, envelops into a heart of jasmine, tuberose and gardenia and anchors with an intoxicating base of driftwood, cedarwood and amber.
Buy now £16.00, Superdrug
Jo Loves Fragranced Hair and Body Mists
You know you had a childhood that straddled the 90s and 00s when body mists played a key role in your beauty cabinet, but Jo Malone is bringing them to the realm of the 2020s with her latest fragrance launch.
Body mists with a very adult twist, the lightweight formula comes in the signature headiness of the Jo Loves fragrances; fig, grapefruit, vetiver and tuberose.
There’s also hair mists to bring scent and shine at the same time in the same aromas.
Buy now £55.00, Cult Beauty
L'OCCITANE Solid Conditioner
As brands strive to make more eco-friendly practices, L'OCCITANE is ahead of the charge with its solid products.
The luxe French label has packed the efficacy and expertise of its Intensive Repair Conditioner into bar form with five botanical essential oils for a pampering experience with every wash. The nourishing product contains angelica, ylang-ylang, sweet orange, lavender and geranium oil but is entirely free from sulphates and silicones.
Buy now £12.50, L’OCCITANE
Huda Beauty Faux Filter Luminous Matte Concealer
Three years in the making, Huda Beauty has brought its Faux Filter Concealer to market. Much like its foundation counterpart, this is a full coverage product and yet the creamy product has been specifically designed not to sit in creases but instead to move alongside your skin. Through conditioning agents like almond oil and vitamin E, it is kind to the delicate area surrounding the eyes, while brightening and concealing. It also leaves a filter-worthy finish with true lasting power.
Buy now £24.00, FeelUnique
Megababe
There’s a new brand on the block, challenging attitudes with its positive and inclusive range of the previously considered less sexy end of the beauty sphere. Katie Sturino founded Megababe to tackle issues often forgotten like chafing, BO and sweating.
The range includes Body Dust to absorb sweat and moisture with a more kind-to-skin formula that traditional talcum powder thanks to ingredients like aloe and chamomile.
There’s also Space Bar with activated charcoal and tea tree to control odour and Thigh Rescue, an anti-chafe balm-texture that prevents friction as you walk (plus it can slip seamlessly and unassumingly into you bag!).
Buy now, Megababe
Tata Harper New Resurfacing Body Serum
With its latest launch, Tata Harper is on a mission to encourage us all to give our bodies the same love, care and attention as we do our faces. Adding to your collection of facial serums is one designed specifically for the body.
It has a milky texture and contains gentle exfoliants in the form of AHA superfruits to encourage better absorption of the other powerhouse ingredients, namely hydrating hyaluronic acid, brightening vitamin C and anti-ageing vitamin A. Use a scrub first to maximise the benefits and massage into skin.
Buy now £135.00, Space NK
Charlotte Tilbury Sun-Kissed Glow Bronzer
For such a widely used and widely loved part of the makeup application process, it is surprisingly difficult to find the perfect bronzer. Enter Charlotte Tilbury and the entrepreneur and artist’s innovative makeup-skincare hybrid.
This base layer is enriched with hydrating and skin-smoothing properties so that while you are adding a tinted glow, you are also treating your complexion at the same time. It comes in four shades; fair, medium, tan and deep and has long-lasting effects. The product can withstand sweat and humidity, firming its place as an essential in your holiday washbag.
Buy now £42.00, Charlotte Tilbury
Noble Panacea The Exceptional Chronobiology Sleep Mask
Luxe skincare label Noble Panacea counts Jodie Comer as its face. It was founded by Sir Fraser Stoddart, the Nobel Laureate who harnesses the power of science to create his efficacious product line-up.
One such is The Exceptional Chronobiology Sleep Mask that is made up of eight doses that you apply before bed to encourage the ingredients the optimal absorption process. Each of the sachets ensure you have the correct dose of the active components that sink into the skin with the brand’s trademarked supramolecular delivery system. The formula contains botanical oils for a sensorial experience.
Buy now £288.00, Net-A-Porter
Susanne Kaufmann Hyaluron Body Gel
With an addictive watermelon scent, Susanne Kaufmann’s Hyaluron Body Gel will become your go-to all summer longer. The soothing gel formula has an instant cooling effect to offer relief to dehydrated or overly sun-kissed skin. Calming irritation, it is boosted with hydration hero hyaluronic acid as well as supportive balloon vine extract, gentle aloe vera and menthol.
Buy now £50.00, Cult Beauty
