I DON’T know about you but I’ve always thought that ‘season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’ was selling the autumn just a teeny bit short.
For me it has to be the best time of the year – the beautiful changing colours of the leaves, the drop in temperature giving you a good excuse to have a bun and a hot chocolate and not fret about being ‘bikini ready’, a time for new jackets and boots and coats and best of all, from a personal perspective, the children go back to school. Bliss.
Of course thanks to the fact that we’re deep in the period that will be known historically as ‘austerity’ few of us have the chance to indulge in new attire – most of us will have to do with last year’s boots and that coat that prompts friends to say ‘aren’t you getting great wear out of that all the same’.
Fear not though, even if you can’t afford a new wardrobe you can still update your look to reflect the blessed change in seasons. A few choice bits of makeup will not cost the earth and has the benefit of not only making you look like a new woman, but feel like
one too.
What a bumper autumn this is for colours and shades.
Don’t be fooled by the name of the new limited edition Fall 2013 Collection from Smashbox which is called Fade to Black. That Fade to Black Eye Shadow Palette (£32) goes from nude shades to extreme black might sound bleak but when teamed with the dramatic Fade to Black Be Legendary Lipstick (£15.50) which comes in two intense shades (with great names – Cognac and Black Cherry) it can produce an understated look for daytime or a stronger image for going out and having your picture taken.
The name itself, Fade to Black, takes its inspiration from film and these colours really conjure up the glamour of the golden age of Hollywood.
The individual shades go from matte to shimmer and the palettes come in two ranges: Fade In (gold pearl to safari green) and Fade Out (soft peach to deep plum). While I adored both shades of lipstick in this collection I fell deeply in love with the New Always Sharp Waterproof Kohl Liner (£16.00).
All About Shadows by CliniqueFor a long time now I’ve been a straight liquid liner girl, I didn’t think it was possible to return to any sort of pencil ever again. It just goes to show, you should never say never. This pencil gives precise lines and a long lasting finish and it’s self-sharpening!
There are eight shades, I tried Violetta (prune) even though I normally wear black and it looked fabulous – dark and dramatic without looking obviously purple, definitely a must-buy. I had a similar experience with the Clinique Quickliner for Eyes Intense (£14.50) which works beautifully to produce a long wearing, non-fading smooth liquid like finish (good for those who don’t always have a steady hand).
Clinique have also produced a fabulous new range of colours for eyes available in singles, duos, trios and quads. I tried Jenna’s Essentials Quad (£28) which like the Smashbox Fade to Black palette can be used to be as subtle or as dramatic as you want. The All About Shadow range contains a huge variety of colours and shades so there is something for everyone.
Over at Estée Lauder they’ve embraced The Metallics for Fall 2013. Oh be still my beating heart, the lipsticks are fabulous, the lip glosses are fabulous but most fabulous of all is the new Limited Edition Pure Color Vivid Shine Nail Lacquer (£14.50).
There are nine amazing shades and if I could I’d have the lot of them, they are all so beautiful it’s hard to choose between them but I did especially like the Metallic Green and Chrome Violet. Speaking of nails another colour that I just had to have is Black Sugar (£26) from the Tom Ford Fall Color Collection.
Like pretty much everything that carries the Tom Ford name this shade just quietly states sophistication. Yes, I do try to be sophisticated from time to time, usually at the school gates during the first few days of the term, but I’m not sure anyone is buying it.
At heart though, I’m a Magpie and can’t resist a bit of glitz and glitter so the MAC Indulge collection is perfect for me with a wonderful range of deep autumnal shades and plenty of glitz for nails and lips.
Retro glamour seems to be a recurring theme on the make-up counters this autumn. Apart from the Indulge collection, MAC have also produced a limited edition Retro Matte Lipstick (£15) which includes eight luscious fall shades and eight Longwear Lip Pencils (£14.50).
Kate Winslet models Lancôme productsSimilarly the Lancôme limited edition AW13 Makeup collection also conjures up images of glamour and sophistication (not least as they’ve got Kate Winslet as their cover girl). Nothing says Hollywood quite like a killer red lipstick and the AW13 collection has repackaged their best-selling L’Absolu Rouge Caprice (£22) in the special limited edition black case.
Lancôme have also created a brand new shade for the collection – Prune Désir, a deep autumnal plum, perfect for puckering up and drawing attention away from your hard-working coat.
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A quick step to advanced beauty sleep
Advanced Night Repair has been around for some time and is, quite justifiably in my opinion, a best seller. Now the folks at Lauder have improved it. There’s a lot of science stuff about sleep and new technology but I’m not going to bore on about that.
I tried it in circumstances that were pretty ideal to see how a skin renewal cream works. When I applied it I hadn’t properly moisturized in over a week and I was under hydrated. My skin felt dry and looked dull. The next day, it felt soft! It also looked a lot better.
See, at times I don’t moisturise properly (I know, I know) the reason being I don’t really like putting on any sort of cream, as I don’t like feeling even temporarily greasy. With the new Advanced Night Repair there’s no messing. Being a serum it goes on easily and is quickly absorbed and as I said earlier appears to be fairly quick working. What can I say, I love it.
Price: £48 for 30ml
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For more information or stockists please see:
Smashbox www.smashbox.co.uk
Estee Lauder www.esteelauder.co.uk
Clinique www.clinique.co.uk
Lancôme www.lancome.co.uk
Origins www.origins.co.uk
MAC www.maccosmetics.co.uk
Tom Ford Beauty is available in select department stores nationwide.
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