makeup

I don’t like foundation. Never have done, never will do. As a beauty editor, it’s safe to say my gripes with foundation cause me some issues. Because while I hate the way it makes my skin feel greasy and appear 2-dimensional, a huge amount of people wear it every single day. And the most confusing part of it all is, I love the way certain formulas look on other people—I just can’t stand them on me. If I could have it my way, I’d never wear foundation ever again. However, in the name of research and being a good beauty editor, in reality I’ve tried virtually every foundation and base product out there. And while I know my disdain for foundation is particularly extreme, I also know that there are a lot of people out there who s...

If I could only use one product forever, I would be very torn between foundation and mascara. I reckon that I have tried over 40 different mascaras in my lifetime, so it takes a lot for one to impress me enough to keep flitting between tubes. Everyone has different lashes, and therefore, what you look for in a mascara may be completely different to someone else. While some want their mascara to deliver length, curl and hold, others will favour a mascara formula that volumises lashes without clumping. The best mascaras, however, tend do it all. While my eyelashes are naturally dark and long, they are also stubbornly straight and won’t hold a curl easily. Coupled with having hooded eyes, I’m often prone to mascara transferring onto my lids. For this reaso...

Having an eyebrow horror story must be a rite of passage, right? Everyone has at least one incident that they can recall. Mine was over-plucking one of my eyebrows in one of those terrifying magnifying mirrors. It was only when I came up for air that I noticed I’d preened my left eyebrow into a tadpole. They say that eyebrows should be sisters and not twins, but mine were not even related at that point. It’s safe to say that I wish I had stayed with my eyebrow technician to avoid this mishap, but thankfully, it’s easier than ever to choose a brow shape that will suit you. Whether you prefer a natural, fluffy eyebrow or a perfectly defined arch, getting your eyebrow shape right can make or break your look. If the eyes are the windows to t...

Charlotte Tilbury’s Beautiful Skin Radiant Concealer certainly delivers coverage, consistency and texture. It works like a heavy-duty concealer but feels and looks almost undetectable on the skin. It’s cleverly formulated with mica-based pearls, which work to create a light diffusing effect, soft focussing silica to smooth the skin’s appearance and glow peptides to reflect light, leaving you with a brightened, concealed and lifted under eye area. It’s packed with high powered skincare ingredients like hyaluronic acid, vegan collagen, niacinamide and vitamin C, which when combined work to hydrate, smooth and brighten the skin at more than just the surface level. It’s really working to recreate its appearance level results on your real skin. Formulations have come on leaps and bo...

I take my beauty products very seriously, so when something gets internet famous, my knee-jerk reaction is to be suspicious. Listen, that’s just how I am after working in this industry for more than a decade. I’ve been tricked by before-and-afters, sucked in by buzzy marketing lingo, and have let my guard down one too many times. But part of the fun of working in this space is being proven wrong. In fact, Erin Jahns and I live for it—nothing is more exhilarating than realising a viral product is actually deserving of its fame. And we’ll be the first to come out and say that these 17 special finds have not only earned the spotlight but we can’t live without them now. From makeup and skincare to fragrance and tools, these mega-famous beauty products have changed us. Y...

When I first started experimenting with makeup in my early teens, it was usually after school at a friend’s house. We would dig out our makeup bags of Miss Sporty and Maybelline products and give each other makeovers. One day, we decided to give a strong, winged-eyeliner look a go. As we drew a slick of black eyeliner on our upper eyelids, I noticed that it looked great on my friends’ eyes, but on mine it looked a little bit off. And I couldn’t place why. The same went for false eyelashes, which completely overwhelmed my eyes but seemed to suit my friends’ eye shapes. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat a...

When all of these things comes together in one aesthetically-pleasing bottle of skin tint, you get pure makeup magic. Sheer Skin Tint is the single best everyday base product I have ever used—no exceptions. I slap it on, brush up my brows, apply some mascara (if I want to), and I’m good to go. Forget layers of priming skincare, forget highlighter, and forget layers and layers of concealer—this product is genuinely the does-it-all, no-makeup makeup base I’ve been searching for my entire life. If, like me, you dislike foundation and are in the market for a lightweight base that delivers subtle coverage with genuinely skin-like results, I urge you to give this a go. In fact, I’ve never felt more passionately about a recommendation in my life. While other ...

As summer comes to what feels like a sharp end, things need not look bleak for the colder seasons. The start of the autumn/winter season signifies change, and one particular change I am ready for is to rework my makeup routine. After a summer of the ‘clean girl’ aesthetic, I think we’re all ready to inject a new lease of life into our beauty routines.  I am what you call basic when it comes to my makeup. I have my go-to base routine, my uber-simple eyeshadow and never-changing brow routine, all of which have served me well. That has also left room for experimentation in one area, lips. Lip colour is one part of my routine, I am constantly changing up, it’s become a sort of accessory to finish up my makeup look. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for D...

As a luxury makeup lover, it might surprise you to learn that I almost exclusively use mascaras that cost about a tenner. The reason being, I simply have never found a luxury mascara that can compete with my affordable favourites on results. I like my lashes to look long, full, hold a curl, and most importantly, still look like my lashes. I don’t want clumps, I don’t want smudging, and I certainly don’t want them to appear unnatural. It just so happens that my trusty affordable mascaras (Maybelline Sky High and L’Oréal Paris Lash Paradise are favourites) do that for me better than any others. Except that is, for one luxury brand. You see, I have adored Chanel mascaras since I first tried one at aged 16 for my school prom....

As summer comes to what feels like a sharp end, things need not look bleak for the colder seasons. The start of the autumn/winter season signifies change, and one particular change I am ready for is to rework my makeup routine. After a summer of the ‘clean girl’ aesthetic, I think we’re all ready to inject a new lease of life into our beauty routines.  I am what you call basic when it comes to my makeup. I have my go-to base routine, my uber-simple eyeshadow and never-changing brow routine, all of which have served me well. That has also left room for experimentation in one area, lips. Lip colour is one part of my routine, I am constantly changing up, it’s become a sort of accessory to finish up my makeup look. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for D...

“Any complementary colour on the color wheel is going to make your eye colour pop,” explains Greenberg. Blue’s complementary colour is orange, so she and Dempsey both recommend prioritizing eye shadows with warm or blue-based tones: ruby-rose, peach, apricot, coral, copper, bronze, and even something like a beige-pink shimmer. If warm eye shadows aren’t your vibe, Greenberg says the next best shades will be something similar to your actual eye colour, like blues or a light purple. Her fave tip? Do a little bit of both! “I love to use a complementary colour like coral on the lids and then line the eye with a blue eyeliner. It’s like a double trick to make the eyes pop. Or you can use blue mascara instead of blue eyeliner.”  Dempsey is also a fan of enhanci...

Having said that, the glaring issue when it comes to red lipstick is that so many of us struggle to find the right one. If I had a pound for every time someone told me they don’t suit red lipstick, I’d be a very rich beauty editor. The truth is, however, there is a red out there for everyone—you just need to know what to look for. International pro makeup artist at Dior, Jamie Coombes, tells me that shopping for the perfect red comes down to two simple things: undertone and texture. The best way to find your skin’s undertone is to look at the colour of the veins on the back of your wrist. If the veins appear bluey-purple, your undertone is cool. If they appear bluey-green, you have a neutral undertone. Veins that present a more olivey sh...