Hero beauty products

Yes, you may have noticed that this is not a blog where consistency is the writer’s watchword. One day you get a blog where I talk about my depressing experiences flat hunting in Manhattan, the next a rant about gourmet food overpricing. Today you get some beauty hackery. Ah yes. Variety is the spice of life.

I’ve been on the receiving end of big fat packages of beauty products to trial and to write about since I was twenty-four, and I still remember my astonishment after my first external beauty launch. L’Oréal had sent a car to Vague House and, as my magazine hadn’t yet appointed a Fashion & Beauty director, I was paired up for the journey with the then frankly terrifying veteran Vague Beauty Director, Kathy Philips. Boy, was the neophyte editorial assistant out of her depth.

We were whisked off to a floating Chinese restaurant in Regent’s Park for dim sum followed by an interminable presentation (yup the range was Chinoiserie-themed. Nothing like the imaginative powers of the beauty company PR) and, on the way out, I was handed what can only be described as a bucket of beauty.

Inside was the entire Winter colour range – every single item from maybe twenty eyeshadows right through to more lipsticks than I could count, plus two beautiful plain black lacquer boxes (which I still have on my desk here in New York). That’s the moment when I realised that if I stayed in magazines, I was never going to have to buy make-up , or skin care ever again.

Of course it hasn’t quite worked out like that. Sometimes I get given a product that is so good that I actually replace it by spending real money in a real store. These products are very few and far between as very little really impresses me. This entry here was pretty comprehensive on my hero skincare products. My hero colour cosmetics are Bobbi Brown’s Nude lipstick and RMK foundation. I added Lancome’s Oscillating mascara to the list last year. That’s it. Everything else is inter-changeable.

What I will add to my buy them myself skin care list are beauty serums. I'd been sent so many over the years and always gave them away. Then a couple of years ago I decided that prevention was better than cure for my thirty-something skin. The truly stand out ones I've tried so far are philosophy’s anti-oxidant when hope is not enough, Boots No7 Refine & Rewind Intense Perfecting Serum and Ole Henrikson's Truth Serum Collagen Booster, which is chock full of anti-oxidants & Vitamin C. And I'm actually considering stocking up on the philosophy product right now.

They all need moisturiser on top for proper hydration but they seem to make my skin glow the next morning. The Boots serum in particular actually makes my skin look softer & plumped out eight hours later. Extraordinary.