Target beauty bargains

My dull, dull, dull eye disease flare up seems to have dissipated but, not wanting to take any chances, I’ve chucked out all my eye makeup. Usually I would just dig around for more in the crates of beauty product sent to me by publicists but they are all in storage in Manhattan. So, with no choice but to buy more (I've no desire to sport a mascara free face), I headed to Target for inexpensive temporary replacements.

There’s just something so addictive about Target. The creeping democratisation of taste over the past ten years means that everything from clothes to interior stuff there is generally attractive and enticing, at price points I can actually afford. After I got home from a major faff through the mega store, (my cart had everything from swim goggles, squishy dinosaurs for my godchildren & inflatables for the pool), I nipped upstairs to paint my face with the product I'd bought.

It took maybe 3 or 4 minutes, and I looked, well, I looked amazing actually. And that is not something you’ll hear me saying EVER. I am English after all: self-deprecation was bred into me from birth. As I came downstairs into the kitchen, J stared at me. “You’ve put your face on. Looks great”. Approbation from this gay man means I really have got it right: this is the guy who always points out my incipient wrinkles in harsh light.

From Sonia Kashuk, I bought Lashify Waterproof Mascara with Comb in Black/Brown $6.99 which, in contrast to my thick & gloopy Lancôme Oscillating mascara gives a very feathery, lengthening effect. But what really made a difference was her Dramatically Defining Long Wear Gel Liner in Cocoa $8.99

I painted it on in a line a couple of millimeters thick using a thin wide eyeliner brush (my own from Prescriptives) & then smudged the line a little, opening out my eyes in a faintly catlike manner (I hoped). It goes on extremely smoothly and, once dry, sticks around. It's great for a humid Manhattan summer.

I’ve always had problems with eye shadow: I’m too cack-handed to get it right, so generally don't bother, even tho my skim milk complexion needs it but, on a whim, I bought a little $3.99 palette from N.Y.C Color. Called Metro Quartet Eyeshadow in Union Square, it has four colours,

labelled in turn, all over lid, contour, crease, highlight.

I followed instructions (altho I used my own brushes, the one included being pixie sized) and in a matter of minutes, blimey, my eyes looked incredible, as good as when I last had my make-up done by a pro for work. What a revelation. And at my age too. Bloody wish I’d found this ten years ago. (If you are feeling a little more sophisticated, Sonia Kashuk does brilliant palettes along these lines, for specific looks - smokey, natural etc for $19.99)

Sonia Kashuk is now stocked in Space NK & Space NK in Bloomingdales as well as in Target