Beauty

Business of beauty: First look at Hermès make-up



Hermes make-up launches with lipstick

First look at Hermès make-up – and it’s very covetable.

Back in March 2019, Hermès announced it would be launching beauty this year. By some sort of spooky telepathy, I happened to email the PR yesterday to check in on the launch date. It’s launching in March, she said. And that was it. Today, WSJ has a bit more news. Hermès is launching Rouge Hermès, a line of 24 refillable lipsticks, in two finishes, a satin and a matte. They will be lightly fragranced with a custom blended scent created by Hermès perfumer, Christine Nagel.

I’m loving the traditional-meets-modern vibe. On the one hand it’s a classic bullet lipstick, not an ‘ink’, oil, or liquid. On the other, it’s an eco-conscious refillable concept in the vein of La Bouche Rouge (more…)



Buy it now: Westman Atelier Lip Suede is here (updated)



Westman Atelier Lip Suede Deep Red

An update for my American followers Westman Atelier fans. Westman Atelier’s Lip Suede compact has landed; a beautiful lacquered clamshell filled with stripes of peptide-rich and marula oil-infused lip colour. It’s priced at $85, €91 or £78 and is available on the Westman Atelier website here. There’s a brush to come at the end of the month.

UPDATE: It’s now arrived in Europe – at Net-a-Porter HERE* or Niche Beauty HERE*. Net-a-Porter is also selling this ‘Shanghai Edition Box duo of the Lip Suede compact with the Eye Love You mascara* HERE.

I know from my stats that you love Gucci Westman’s other products, so I’m expecting these to be a hit. Original story here. Gucci’s red lip masterclass – here – is excellent too. (more…)



Retail safari: inside the Glossier London pop-up (updated)



Glossier retail store design

I finally made it to the Glossier London pop-up in Covent Garden. It’s been open for seven weeks and it closes on 9th Feb* at the end of the year, but I wanted to get the Christmas crowds out of the way. And the wait was worth it. Glossier is as famous for its pop-ups as its cult-like community and influential cool-luxe aesthetic. Having started out as an e-commerce brand, it has slowly built a strategy of opening pop-ups in key markets to test our products, meet its customers and build hype around the brand.

With still only 36 products in the line, the five-year-old old brand is still small, but the appeal is huge. (more…)



The new direct-to-consumer classics



Paravel luggage - direct-to-consumer lifestyle brand

No-fashion fashion; it seems the world is catching up with the ‘gentlewoman style’ set (according to the New York Times), who covet the best version of a thing that they can wear forever. This was the premise of my book, The New Garconne, which came out in 2016. The wardrobe building blocks featured in there have held up pretty well, although silhouettes have morphed slightly over time. But classics are classics, so I think we will always need a blazer, a tailored pant, a slim-heeled shoe and a decent tote.

Interestingly, some of today’s best classics don’t come from the heritage brands but from ‘direct-to-consumer’ (aka DTC) start-ups. (more…)