Most impulse beauty buys are useless – but these actually work
Suppose you’re scrolling idly through Instagram, searching for something mundane on Amazon, or arranging wallpaper swatches on Pinterest. From nowhere, you’re confronted with a beauty item you had no idea you needed, but that instantly seems essential and life-changing.
Now imagine you’re me and, despite knowing that 95% of these “thirst buys” (an unplanned purchase implanted in your brain at moments of least resistance) are useless, you have a professional imperative to buy them in the name of research, so that everyone else need not: face masks that dry so hard as to cause temporary paralysis; the “fast acting” gel polish remover that took longer than the painting of the Forth Bridge; and “ingenious, luxury” toiletries cases that appear fashioned from vinyl by someone on opiates. These are just a few of my many genuine thirst-buy disasters.
But during a recent clearout, I noticed a handful of TBs that delivered on their promise well enough to stay. My thermal ceramic hair rollers are one. When pushed for time, I quickly roll them into my (dried) crown, blast with a dryer and leave to cool while I apply makeup. It’s a fast, lazy-girl’s pouffy blow-dry.
My cleansing wristbands were sent to me, and I’m glad, because I’d previously dismissed them as pointless.
They’re brilliant and genuinely solve a problem, protecting my pyjamas and dressing gown from drippy, dirty cleanser so I don’t have to sleep with wet cuffs. So simple, so indispensable.
My Real Techniques brush cleansing mat (discontinued, but there are dozens of dupes on Amazon) makes washing makeup-brushes a cinch, dramatically speeding up the process, and cleaning bristles thoroughly. You just dot some dish soap on to the wet mat and stroke wet brushes back and forth on the knobbly surface until water (quickly) runs clear.
If you struggle to keep a winged liner sharp and straight, or a smoky eye neat at the edges, a roll of Micropore surgical tape is your new best friend. A small piece on each outer eye, slanting upwards, lets you be as messy as you like – just peel off afterwards to reveal clean lines.
I hear complaints about the inconvenience of removing gel nail polish and I can relate. Baggy foils falling off, dripping remover everywhere. Gel remover clips solve the problem completely, keeping remover in direct contact with lacquer, dissolving it faster. I can even just about hold a cuppa while they work.
Cleansing wristbands protect my sleeves from drips so I don’t have to sleep with wet cuffs. So simple, so indispensable