beauty

SS19 trend report: Baby bangs



Prada baby bangs trend ss19

Baby bangs are back! So sez the New York Times in its SS19 beauty trend report and Pinterest in its top 100 2019 trends round-up. Actually, I got on this one early but let’s not split hairs (lol).

Prada’s SS19 show completely nailed it with its Mia Farrow micro-fringed crops under giant hairbands (above and below), while Miu Miu followed suit with 90s Riot Grrrl choppy baby bangs tied up with a skinny bow (more…)



Positive beauty: Costa Brazil by Francisco Costa



Costa Brazil Francisco Costa sustainable beauty brand

I’m liking the sound of Costa Brazil, the new sustainable beauty brand by – who’d have guessed? – Francisco Costa.

If you remember, he was ousted as women’s creative director of Calvin Klein to make way for Raf, but this art-meets-beauty concept (partly inspired by artist Piero Manzoni) has apparently been on his mind for a while. “The last three years at Calvin were nothing but brutal. I felt liberated to do something new, and I already had this in mind. It switched the energy positively,” he told Vogue.com.

Core to Costa Brazil is a super-ingredient, Breu, a sweet-smelling resin that comes from the Almacega tree (more…)



Trend report: Namastay in bed




One of this year’s inescapable lifestyle trends has been for stressed out, cash-poor millennials to stay home rather than go out. Which means the money they do have gets spent on small pleasures like scented candles, cute lighting, superior bedding and sheet masks aplenty. Vox unpacks the story in detail here. The TLDR is that  – as with any emerging grassroots movement – commercial brands have been quick to hop on this gravy train, with the so-called ‘homebody economy’ spawning all manner of businesses catering to the #Namastayinbed brigade.

Beauty-wise, it’s a huge cash cow. (more…)



Chanel beauty in the red



 Chanel Creation La Palette Caractere lip palette

Red is a key colour for Chanel global creative make-up and colour designer, Lucia Pica. It was the focus of her first makeup collection for them; she considers it the colour of life and it’s also the colour of the delicious new limited edition Chanel no 5 bottle (which makes the classic scent seem suddenly seductive and animalic).

The Chanel Christmas makeup collection is also big on full-bodied reds. The standout is a car paint-esque crimson nail polish called ‘Flamboyance’, perfect on short nails to elevate a tuxedo-pant-and-silk-shirt look. (I’m thinking Isabelle Huppert at a Christmas eve supper). (more…)