make-up

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…)



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…)



There’s a Pat McGrath Star Wars lip balm about to land [upated]



Star Wars Pat Mcgrath Lip Fetish Balm in Flesh 3

How much is too much for a lip balm? These limited edition Pat McGrath Labs X Star Wars (Star Wars!) R2-D2 Lip Fetish balms* are crazy extravagant – and of course I want one badly. They land on Friday 13th December (£35) at Selfridges* and patmcgrath.com* as part of an entire collection in collaboration with the Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker film. [UPDATE: They’ve landed!] (more…)



Gentlewoman style beauty: Stella Tennant in HTSI



Stella Tennant How To Spend It

As much as I loved loads of Stella Tennant’s ‘punk’ looks in the 90s (flashback to all the Corinne Day and Melanie Ward goodness in Donna and Vogue Italia), I’m really enjoying her grown up ‘gentlewoman style’ modelling too. (more…)