BEAUTY BITS: GLOSSIER, TOPSHOP, L’OREAL MAKEUP GENIUS, KOREA GROOMING, BELLA FREUD LION, YSL BLACK OPIUM, KEVYN AUCOIN

INTO THE GLOSS GETS GLOSSIER

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Is Into The Gloss entering into the beauty product space? It sure looks like it. Everyone’s favourite beauty site is leaking sneak previews of ‘Glossier’ on Insta here and on first glance it’s looking extremely enticing… UPDATE! IT’S JUST LAUNCHED! It’s starting with skincare, is fairly affordable and all the deets are at Glossier.com. (No international shipping yet but they’re working on it…)


TOPSHOP BEAUTY INTRODUCES THE FACE

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Topshop beauty has stepped up its popular makeup line to introduce The Face. Alongside The Foundation (which is designed with silicone-coated pigments to adjust to your own skin tone), there are primers and concealers, including a multi-tasking concealer palette. Looking ahead to SS15, designers really are pushing a very minimalist make-up aesthetic so I reckon sales of foundations, primers and concealers are going to spike. Buy The Face at selected Topshop and John Lewis stores from £10 -£16.


L’OREAL’S TRY-BEFORE-YOU-BUY MAKEUP GENIUS APP

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It’s a wonder any of us have jobs anymore with technology continually encroaching on the skills of the service industries. The latest is nonetheless highly impressive. L’Oréal’s Makeup Genius app (launching in the UK any day now) is designed to do the job of your  in-store makeup advisor. Open the app, select the L’Oréal makeup of choice and your smartphone camera will virtually apply the products to your face. The clever bit is it syncs to move along with your face muscles so you get quite a realistic picture. While some say it can be a bit heavy-handed (agreed, I’d like an option to apply a lipstick as a sheer stain, rather than a full-on red mouth), L’Oréal says future iterations will be more subtle. For now, Make-up Genius will be iPhone only, with Android due later this year.


KOREA LEADS THE MALE GROOMING MARKET

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All eyes are on Korea as the main drivers of the men’s skincare and grooming market. Here’s an interesting read on FT.com (login required but it’s quick and free!) which reveals that South Korea’s 19 million men spend the most per head in the world on skincare, taking up nearly a fifth of global market share.


BELLA FREUD’S LATEST CANDLE…

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A West London girl can never have too many Bella Freud candles, so here’s a new one to know about. Lion is the fifth in the line-up, and promises ‘fiery notes of poivre, star anise and nutmeg’. I love peppery, masculine, woody fragrances so this should tick those boxes. Very much liking the reggae-fied packaging too. Buy it here.


HEDI SLIMANE GETS SNIFFY ABOUT YSL BLACK OPIUM

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Oh the outcry about the new Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium perfume! The update on the classic Opium fragrance is sweeter, headier and sexier than ever, so if you’re an up-all-night kind of girl then this is one for you. But don’t for a minute confuse the edgy rock chic aesthetic with anything that Saint Laurent RTW designer Hedi Slimane might dream up. Non! The fragrance and the fashion are connected only in name and Mr Slimane wants you to know it. Hence his twitter statement declaring zero involvement in such shenanigans. If that confuses you, then have a read of this FT article (login required), which reveals the mysterious workings of the fashion/beauty licensing biz.

SPACE NK HOSTS KEVYN AUCOIN RETROSPECTIVE

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Exhibition alert: Kevyn Aucoin: The Legacy of a Makeup Icon is making its way to London. Aucoin died 16 years ago but his legacy lives on. This is the man who influenced Pat McGrath and Charlotte Tilbury and whose how-to books are still considered the best of the best for budding (and established) make up artists. From 23rd-26th October at The Discovery Space at Space NK, Hans Crescent, SW1, you can see this lovingly gathered selection of photos, sketches and now-iconic products.

There are a few ‘layers’ of viewings which are as follows: The weekend of 25-26th October is an informal free-for-all for anyone to come and browse. For a more insightful experience, you can book a guided tour and 45 minute appointment with a Kevyn Aucoin makeup artist (tickets are £15 and fully redeemable against any products purchased at the event). Or for £50 (also redeemable) there’s the one-hour VIP tour appointment which includes a private guided gallery tour and a complimentary copy of Kevyn Aucoin’s step-by-step bestseller, Making Faces. To book, call 020 8740 2085.

 

WORDS: Navaz Batliwalla/Disneyrollergirl
IMAGES: Glossier via Instagram; L’Oreal via Vanity Fair; Korean grooming via FT.com.