ALL The September Launches You Need To Know About / The Make-Up Edition

… And carrying on from where I left off yesterday, let’s plough straight in with make-up. There’s a big, fat caveat here: no foundations, no full collections. They’ll follow in separate posts //

Maybelline Color Drama Intensive Lip Paint in l to r: Vamped Up, FIght Me Fuchsia, Never Bare, and Stripped Down

One word summarises the new lip launches: colour. Matte, glossy, creamy, velvet; no matter which, you just want to load ’em up with a colour. New options abound. Maybelline Color Drama Intensive Lip Paint is impressive, with a highly-pigmented formula that if applied sparingly gives a velvet veil of colour. Loaded on, it’s Minaj-territory full-on colour.

Nars Audacious Lipsticks in l to r: Shirley, Apoline, Stefania

Nars are extending their Audacious Lipstick range, adding five more of the classic creamy colours that somehow all beg to be bought (case in point: I’ve about six lipsticks that look close in hue to Apoline, but I still had to have it – I felt it might just be the one… And then felt exactly the same about Stefania. Fickle old me).

Smashbox Be Legendary Lipsticks l to r: Stylist Matte, Tabloid and 9 to 5

The prize for the vastest range of shades has to go to Smashbox. Their Be Legendary lipstick range comes in 120 colours, encompassing the brightest magenta, the palest rose and the boldest violet. Two finishes: 74 standard creamy and 46 mattes.

Shiseido have decided to fire all their guns in one direction: red. Yep, just like Chanel, they’ve decided that this is the colour to really nail, or should I say lip. I’ll move swiftly on from that poor pun (or should I say paronomasia?… my fancy word sheet is out in front of me again). 16 shades, all in the same old school creamy finish.

A shout out to another red: By Terry Rouge Expert Click Stick in 16 Rouge Initiation. I GUSH about this to friends. It glides on so easily, doesn’t need a million layers to look like a proper bosh of colour, and the shape of the nib is clever and means you won’t need a lip brush.

Maybelline Master Strobing Stick in l to r: Nude Glow and Light-Iridescent

Highlighting – sorry, strobing – has still got legs and pharmacy brands are finally realising that if it’s greasy, it’s gross, if it’s too dry, it emphasises wrinkles. Quagmire. Maybelline have launched two Master Strobing Sticks in Light-Iridescent and Medium-Glow that are just right, fusing with the skin after a few taps and without any shimmer particles in the mix. I’m a big fan (though the ultimate highlighters are still made by Becca in my opinion).

Nars Brow Defining Cream in l ro t: Tanami, El Djouf

When Anastasia Beverly Hills Dip Brow Pomade won acclaim, it was clear that many imitators would follow in its wake. As always, some have improved on it, others have just failed abysmally. I’m going to put the Nars Brow Defining Cream in the former camp. The colour range may not be vast (4 in total: light brown, dark brown, blonde and auburn), but they’re just right in that they aren’t shiny, impart a decent amount of colour in a single stroke, and are cool-toned so don’t make brows look silly.

Blush l to r: Diego Dalla Palma Shade of Rose Blush, Marc Jacobs Beauty Air Blush in Kink & Kisses, Nars NARSissist Dual-Intensity Cheek Palette

The reemergence of blush was very welcome news to me. I’ve just made a video for Marie Claire on ‘draping’ with Gilbert Soliz, the Global Make-Up Artist for Marc Jacobs, in which he shows how very versatile blush is and – spoiler alert – how you can really direct the gaze with blush and therefore change how your face is perceived. New ones to try: Marc Jacobs Air Blush (clever because the line design mean you effectively have three blush colours in one palette – just focus your brush on the left, right or sweep across the whole palette); Diego Dalla Palma Shades of Rose Blush (Can’t. Go. Wrong. Also comes in five strips so you can customise the intensity), and the limited edition NARSissist Dual-Intensity Cheek Palette, (contains three blush shades and a highlighter, can be applied wet or dry).

The main eye palette being launched that caught my attention was the Maybelline The Rock Nudes (due out here in the next week). I was a huge fan of The Nudes and had as such had high hopes for this one. I don’t find this quite as useful (I use nudes daily and jewel colours only on occasion), but still think this is a sound buy. In the mix are velvet, metallic and shimmery finishes and all don’t crumble and apply well.

Too Faced Sketch Markers in l to r: Deep Espresso, Deep Navy Blue, Black

Companies continue to spew out liquid eyeliners, though few improve on classic formulas and application enough to warrant attention. Not so Too Faced’s Sketch Marker. Available in 12 shades, the felt tips dispense colour evenly and, once dry, are waterproof so you needn’t worry about smudges.

Marc Jacobs Twinkle Pop in l to r: Honey Bunny, Stardust and Three Shakes

I discovered Marc Jacob’s Twinkle Pop Cool Eye Shimmer Sticks last week and have been sporting them since. They feel fresh and cooling when slicked on (a bit like these Chanel sticks), then stick around for a long time so would be ideal if you find your eyeshadow disappears over the course of the day. Lovely colour range, too.