While I mourn the loss of summer, I am steering sharply into my excitement over the many key autumn beauty launches. I’ve been waiting months for the reformulation of Nars’ The Multiple (£33) creamy lip, eye and cheek stick and it has overdelivered, even improving on the beloved original. The texture is soft, satiny, blendable and its lasting finish – softly matte and mercifully devoid of its former shimmer – is perfect. The shades are thoughtful, nuanced and sophisticatedly desaturated – every one’s a winner, but beigey Dazed and mauvey Behave are my favourites. There are few – if any – better blushers in town.
My pleas directly to hairdresser Sam McKnight to produce his haircare’s trademark English garden scent in perfume form can finally cease. Though, naturally, he couldn’t just leave it at that. Hair by Sam McKnight’s new The Fragrance With Benefits (£44) adds UV protection for hair to perfumer Lyn Harris’s unusually addictive creation, although I’ve been misting it as freely on my skin as my barnet to no ill effect. It is heavenly, distinctive and, given how longlasting it is, reasonably priced.
Speaking of fragrance, L’Occitane en Provence has gone back to its roots – and about time. What have always been excellent and fairly priced (£65-75) fragrances have suffered relentless and clumsy rebrands in recent years, but the new clean and uniform packaging elevates them back to where they belong. All are charming, but Noble Épine is my choice because I’m a sucker for the woody, milky, almost bitter smell of unripened almonds – especially those from Provence.
Autumn always brings with it a raft of new makeup bases, but I never expected to love one with as much opacity as Charlotte Tilbury’s Airbrush Flawless Foundation (£39). I won’t pull my punches – this is a reformulation of a product I loathed. But what was once, to my eye and touch, dry, heavy, dull and lifeless, is now fresh from a glow-up. The reboot is comfier, more luminous (though entirely without glitter) and somehow covers everything while maintaining a healthy, skin-like finish.
Many of us in the beauty industry can be snobby about full coverage, but these products are important to lots of consumers for many valid reasons, such as scarring, birthmarks, professional uniform or it being entirely their own business. This one is especially worthy of their cash.
