2023 hasn’t been a massive beauty product year for me. Since trialling Renude’s skincare advisory a while ago, I’ve stuck to a few regular trusted skincare products. Plus, I don’t get sent nearly as much PR stuff to try these days, which is something of a relief. But here’s an end-of-year rundown of new-ish products I’ve been enjoying and old ones that still deliver. (more…)
If there’s one thing this year has proved, it’s the importance of the human touch. Not being able to hug, enjoy a massage or simply shake hands has been, for many, beyond brutal. And for good reason. Skin-on-skin contact is scientifically proven to boost our emotions, releasing powerful feel-good hormones. According to Tiffany Field of the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami, so-called ‘skin hunger’ actually weakens our immune systems, effectively allowing the stress hormone cortisol to run riot.
The next best thing then, according to Field, might be self-administered touch. (more…)
A few years ago I was obsessed with the concept of ‘airport fashion’. A craze originating in Korea, it was about dressing up for the airport, shopping up a storm in duty free and documenting it all on social media. Back then we were witnessing the rise of K Fashion, street style and the experiential economy, all merging in a retail sweet spot for airports to reposition themselves as luxury shopping malls. In fact, so great was this opportunity that travel retail came to be known as ‘the sixth continent’, with a billion consumers passing through it.
Fast-forward five years and it’s beauty’s turn to grab the spotlight and the um, travellers cheques. (more…)
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…)
