The Ordinary
FASHION + BEAUTY
The Beauty Beat 2017 cont.
TOP SPOT
The Ordinary
Taking the beauty wold by storm this year is The Ordinary, a brand of skincare developed by DECIEM to celebrate honesty and fair pricing in an industry that gets away with overcharging people who’ ll happily pay up in their pursuit of youth. There is nothing new about the technologies or formulations used in The Ordinary products, but what they have brought is massive integrity to the sale of functional beauty products – what’ s more, their products really work. Free of parabens, animal oils and other nasties, each product is sold in its purest form in matte glass bottles with rubber bulb pipettes; you want hyaluronic acid and retinoid to combat the signs of ageing? That’ s what you’ ll get, in liquid form, which you then apply a few drops of. There’ s oodles of advice about what to use in conjunction with what depending on your personal skin concerns at www. victoriahealth. com, and the very best bit? Their most expensive product is £ 14.90. Bravo.
Metallics
Last Christmas, the beauty shelves were awash with leading brands bringing out special edition lipsticks in sparkly metallic shades, notably gold and silver, but the trend has stuck and is set to continue this year. It’ s not restricted to lips either – metallic eyeshadow and glitter dust applied to cheekbones and brow bones is big news too.
Metallics
Highlighting
Just when we’ d all got used to the apparent facial weather map of warm fronts and low pressure lines that is contouring, it’ s apparently had its day … sculpting out every curve and crevice of your face is out and high-beam highlighting is in. Cheek bones, brow bones, collar bones, Cupid’ s bows – if it sticks out, grab a highlighter and brush a youthful sheen over it.
Blurred lips
Phew. We can all give our hand-eye coordination a well-earned rest as the days of perfectly applied lip liner encasing matte lipstick in shades of berry, plum and nude are over – instead, women all over the world are being encouraged to embrace the naturally blurred edges of their lips and apply lipstick in a far more carefree fashion. Fuzz up your liner with a cotton bud and apply deeper colour to the centre of your lips to nail the look.
Underliner
For over two millenniums, since Cleopatra’ s reign in fact, winged eyeliner flowing along the top lash line has graced the eyelids of every bombshell from Marilyn to Angelina Jolie, but every dawn has its day and 2017 has subverted the look. Bold sweeping makeup statements in bright hues and thick, glittery strokes now belong below the lower lash line – straight lines, kohl smudges or flashes of neon; anything goes.
Hair foam
A few years back, dry shampoo became the new shampoo, but now hair foam is the new dry shampoo … you following? Hailed as the ultimate, on-the-go hair cleansing product, hair foam is waterless and has been designed to soak up oil, excess product and light sweat, so it’ s a must have for lunchbreak gym goers. You apply the foam from the root out and then scrunch your hair as you would while washing it, it then dries as you do so leaving hair super clean, with added volume and with no powdery residue.
Dewy eyes
There’ s a fine line between glossy lids and a sweaty makeup mess, so this one takes a little bit of effort to get right, but the key is for your eyelids to look dewy with a slight sheen – there are lots of eyeshadows being brought out to help you accomplish such a look, but if you can’ t find one in the particular shade or brand that you love, try adding a small amount of Vaseline to your already applied eye makeup and rub it gently over the top. Don’ t attempt this with winged eyeliner because every time you blink you’ ll smudge it further up your eyelid.
Fuzzy brows
If you were fortunate enough to avoid The Great Plucking Disaster of your teenage years and have been left with brows that actually still grow, this trend bucks the sleek, over-groomed eyebrow that seems to have become a global beauty obsession and instead urges you to let them grow to their thick, fuzzy and uneven best. Avoid plucking or waxing when they get to that awful random sprouting stage and you’ ll find the gaps will fill leaving you with a thicker brow in your natural shape that you can then tame slightly with a bit of gel.
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