Here’s how to fake the fresh faced look this winter
SURELY I can’t be the only woman still removing New Year’s sparkly eye make-up, gazing at her raddled features in the mirror and concluding: ‘Something needs to be done.’
I’m talking about a palette cleanse — back-to-basics simplicity in the form of a stalwart, dog-days-ofwinter fresh facial formula.
For, in the same way that drab January and February benefit from a cashmere roll-neck plus basic bottom half rig-out, brightened by a bold scarf, so an effortless beauty uniform will see us through until March. The drill: nourishment, faux lustre and a shot of vivifying colour.
Cleanse with a lovely, buttery balm for these bitter months. Two that have captured my attention are Perricone MD Essential Fx AcylGlutathione Chia Cleansing Balm (¤44.07 for 118ml, cultbeauty.com) and Aromatherapy Associates newish, but hotly-fangirled Nourishing Cleansing Balm (¤61 for 100ml, aromatherapyassociates.com). Both are melting heaven, replenishing as they dissolve dirt, slap and SPF.
The Body Shop Camomile Cleansing Butter (¤19.50 for 90ml, chtralee.com) offers a sumptuous budget take. The flannel with which you remove such unctuous unguents providing gentle, winterfriendly exfoliation.
In the same way that electrolytes restore hungover bodies, Drunk EleBeckham’s phant F-Balm Electrolyte Waterfacial (¤54.05 for 50ml, spacenk. com) gifts recovery to hungover complexions.
This easy, non-greasy, overnight niacinamide, squalane, ceramide, omega fatty acid and antioxidant cocktail simply sorts everything out.
Origins GinZing Energising Gel Cream (¤34 for 50ml, brownthomas.com) also nurtures while feeling fresh rather than claggy, a bolt of vitamin C and caffeine that renders skin pertly.
I deployed it recently after three hours’ sleep and no one believed me when I told them how little rest I’d scored.
In terms of cosmetics, the aim is to create the illusion of bursting health — to fake a fresh face if you will. For this, one requires a foundation so preposterously luminous it’s almost mad.
I give you Pat McGrath’s Skin Fetish Foundation (¤70.65, look fantastic.ie). Yes, seventy quid is punchy, but the texture is ultrafluid, meaning the bottle never seems to run out. Apply it and you look as if you have lived a life of astonishing virtue. Go for a single-shade, neutral lid. For lowkey emphasis, there’s a brown for every colouring. Alternatively, for lending yet more light, veer offwhite: golden taupes for warmer tones, silvery snows for cool.
Bobbi Brown does nuanced neutrals like no other. Work out which of her 15 minimalist, but mighty Jones Road The Best Eyeshadows (¤24, jones roadbeauty.com) is your lid-lifter. Or play with Kiko’s 59 High Pigment Eyeshadows (59 High Pigment Eyeshadows ¤5.99, kiko cosmetics. com), featuring neutrals in matte, pearl, metallic, satin and shimmer finishes. Use Jones Road The Best Pencil (¤22) in brown or black along the outer corner of your upper inner lid, before smudging it into the roots of your lashes.
Next, shape those lashes with Sculpted By Aimee MyMascara (¤21, boots.ie). This creates fat, glossy definition, every flutter of which semaphores good health.
Hold the brush with its curve uppermost to scoop hair up at its root, then flick out the outer edges to cheat eyes bigger and Bambi-esque. Finish with Victoria — and my — magic trick: a swipe of Victoria Beckham Instant Brightening Waterline Pencil (Victoria Beckham Instant Brightening Waterline Pencil, ¤31 victoriabeckhambeauty.com) along the lower inner lid to look alive.
Brows should be made to look as luxuriant as possible. With bills looming, I’m relying on e.l.f.’s Enhancing Lash & Brow Serum (now ¤9 elfcosmetics.com) before bed. By day, I fill in gaps with (any) suitably coloured pencil, then brush upwards.
Your final flourish should be Glossier’s cult Generation G (¤20, glossier.com) in a shade one darker than your natural pout to give the impression that blood is pumping. Try Zip (coral red) Punch (rosy red), or Jam (a bitten berry). Gen G’s USP is to be a sheer matte with a perfectly diffused flood of colour.
The result is a blotted guise, without having to blot, an effect that is healthy-looking, and thus incredibly young and sexy.
Brush a little on to the apples of your cheeks for a flush illusion and no one will realise how rackety you really feel.