I promised to hold my tongue on/fingers from typing about Christmas launches until after Halloween, so to satisfy my itchy fingers here are eight non-Christmassy launches I’ve been testing (those of you looking for a unifying theme, these have nothing in common bar their newness; expect the normal service to be resumed tomorrow)…
DELILAH MAKE-UP / from £20 here //
My my my, Delilah, your make-up is special (sorry – couldn’t resist). Seriously though, this British brand launched with little fanfare, quietly appearing online and then completely blowing my mind with its brilliance. The collection is luxe, carefully considered and edited down. It calls Hourglass and By Terry to mind. Regular readers will know this is the highest praise I could bestow.
DOVE OXYGEN MOISTURE HAIR RANGE / from £2.99 here //
If I had a pound for every press release I receive promising to magically add volume to the hair, I’d be a pretty wealthy lady. Imagine my surprise, then, when after using this range my hair really felt and looked fuller at the roots. I dug out the press release and had another read: ‘Oxyfusion Technology’ is to thank (basically, the formula adds moisture while the oxygen goes about plumping hair). In a nutshell: this is the range for women like me with hair that wants to sit flat at the root and is slightly dry towards the ends.
YSL BLACK OPIUM / from £40 here //
As a rule, I am adverse to sweet scents (bear this in mind, those of you for whom a waft of vanilla and floral spells good things). You know what I’m going to say about this now, don’t you? It did not do it for me. It’s cloyingly sweet and spicy, made me feel slightly nauseated with the first sniff and didn’t mellow down to a nice, subtle scent. Instead, it clung to me all day, assaulting the nostrils of all who passed me. One person actually asked why I was wearing Britney Spears’ perfume. That was the final nail in the coffin for this one over here.
DHC PORE CLEANSING OIL / £25 here //
The failure of many a product promising to deal with oily or enlarged pores lies in their aggressiveness. Enlarged pores are often a sign of dehydration and an alcohol will not do anything for them bar ruffle your skin barrier. A cleansing oil, however, will gently life dirt and go some way to dissolve oil sitting in pores, therefore making them appear smaller. This one contains grapefruit and tangerine oil so is naturally antiseptic, too (though those of you who are sensitive of skin, stick to the brilliant Deep Cleansing Oil).
JURLIQUE NUTRI-DEFINE SERUM //
I’ve previously mentioned this in my serum post but wanted to revisit it because I have well and truly fallen in love. It may be aimed at the over 40s, but using this on occasion has really had an impact on my skin – it sits a little smoother, looks tighter and feels more moist. Serum fanatics: buy in.
GHD CURVE / £110 here //
I last owned some GHDs over ten years ago, when straighter than straight hair was the thing. Now it’s all about adding movement to the hair so GHD have accordingly released four tools designed to achieve different kinds of curls. I got my hands on the Classic Wave version, which is an oval shaped wand designed to quickly achieve large, deep waves. Above is the result. I like it muchly and have now reinstated GHDs as part of my morning routine.
PURESSENTIEL / from £9.99 here //
This range already has a huge following outside the UK, where one of the eight products which are now on sale here are snapped up every two seconds. The aromatherapy products may not look too pretty on your shelf, but you’ll understand the hype when you use them; they’re beautifully blended and contain high quality essential oils. My favourite has to be the Purifying Air Spray, which is comprised of 41 essential oils designed to vanquish allergens, bad odours, viruses and airborne pollutants.
TOPSHOP FOUNDATION / £16 here //
I’m a big fan of Topshop’s lipsticks and on the strength of them was pretty darn excited for their base make-up to come out. When my foundation arrived, I dropped a little onto my eager hand from the pipette (which is a nice touch – hygienic and makes dispensing it feel fun), then applied. I was sadly to be disappointed – it was greasy and didn’t smooth onto my skin as a good foundation ought. The coverage was pretty poor and I needed to conceal all areas of even moderate redness, which begged the question of why I’d even used it in the first place.