Alexandra Friend
SENIOR BEAUTY EDITOR
I’VE BEEN EKING OUT A TINY SAMPLE OF NARS’S NEW FOUNDATION SINCE CHRISTMAS. Now it’s available to buy, I urge everyone to try it. It leaves skin looking glowy but groomed and not at all overdone, which is all I want from anything in my makeup bag, really.
I WEAR POWDER MORE AND MORE AS I GET OLDER. Between and just above my brows, and around my nose, it pulls even a bare face together. It helps that modern powders – such as the one from Saie – are so floaty and light.
YELLOW IS THE NEW NUDE. So says Chanel, whose spring makeup collection shows how lovely a pale primrose manicure can look. Clarins’s new and more luxurious version of its iconic hand cream had me at ‘balm’. Who wouldn’t want balm for their hands? There’s one in my bag right now.
THE BYREDO MASCARA IS AMAZING, AND NOT JUST THE TUBE. It moulds lashes into extravagant swoops, and it builds and builds without clumping.
PARIS, CAPITAL OF GUERLAIN IS MORE THAN A BOOK ABOUT PERFUME. It will make you want to be in Paris immediately. I love the Shalimar and makeup boutique ads from the 1960s and 1970s, and the pictures of recent ‘bee bottle’ collaborations with contemporary artists.
RE PERFUME, I AM A LATECOMER TO GUCCI’S BLOOM FRANCHISE AND I WISH I’D STARTED SOONER. They are green and lush and romantic, and this eau de toilette version is incredibly easy to wear. I recommend it to anyone who wants a ‘perfume boutique’ kind of smell but without the triple-figure price tag.
HAIRSTORY HAS JUST LAUNCHED ITS FIRST NEW PRODUCT IN FOUR YEARS.
I’ve used this capsule haircare line for two years and now have softer hair that falls vertically rather than puffs out horizontally. This hair oil is brilliantly good. It conditions, smooths and suits all hair types.
NÉCESSAIRE BODY CARE IS AS GOOD AS YOU MIGHT HAVE HEARD. It’s full of skincare-typical ingredients, such as hyaluronic acid and niacinamide, and it feels sleek and fresh to use. There’s a new deodorant coming in April. It’s quick-drying and looks great.
I’M DECORATING AT HOME, SO THAT’S WHERE MY SPARE MONEY IS GOING.
Vanderohe skincare’s founder Olivia Thorpe now designs the dreamiest hand-blown glass, under the name of Curio. What I want most of all for spring is one of her pretty hearts or pebble stacks to sit next to my beloved spring candle by Vilshenko.