I’m not travelling this month. However, just because I’m stuck at home doesn’t mean my make-up can’t go on holiday.
Given the choice, I’d be in Sicily — and that’s precisely where my face has headed care of a pouty, eye-flicky Dolce & Gabbana makeover in Harrods Beauty Hall.
There’s also a D&G counter in Milton Keynes as part of H Beauty by Harrods, which has stores across the UK including in Bristol, Gateshead, Edinburgh and Essex.
I never normally get in-store makeovers; I don’t like being told what to do by some school-leaver likely to strip me of my slap in public, then make me look like an airline hostess.
Hannah Betts explains how a in-store makeover made her look like she had been on a fabulous summer holiday
But a change is as good as a rest, and it’s vital for old dogs to learn new tricks, or we’ll look like we need putting down.
Happily, make-up artist Fajar Hassan is a genius and my new oracle.
Novelty number one: a different style of base. Dolce & Gabbana’s new Velvetskin Perfect Matte Foundation (£49, lookfantastic. com) has customers going gaga, especially those with oily skins and/or occupying sweltering Sicilian-style conditions (pretty much all of us these days). I’m not big on matte, yet this is soft, luminous and second-skin-like.
Don’t want to stretch to D&G? Beauty Pie’s Everyday Great Skin Foundation (£13.50, beautypie. com) also creates a long-lasting radiant matte effect.
Fajar tells me most women want to go a fraction darker than their natural complexion. However, she approves of my decision to aim for marginally paler, confirming that this does, indeed, make a face look spring chicken-ish.
Next, she teaches me a fabulous flicky eye trick. Instead of starting your cat-eye kohl on your upper lid, take a straight-edge brush and draw upward from the underneath corner. I’m obsessed — it’s far more flattering on those of us who won’t see 30 again.
Hannah (pictured) describes all the tricks and tips she learnt from her in-store make up artist. For example, custom-blending lipsticks
Use eyeshadow instead of liner. Felineyes Intense Eyeshadow Quad in Volcano Stromboli (£55, lookfantastic.com), includes a sparkling white to offset it.
You could try Zara’s excellent Eye Shadow Duo in 802 Thunder and 211 Delta (£11.99, zara.com) for a similar set-up. The effect is softly fetching rather than that harsh quick-to-smudge flick that can look prematurely ageing.
For the lips, we custom-blend a shade between The Only One Lipstick in Passionate Dahlia and Bright Amethyst (£42 each, dolcegabbanabeauty.com) — sumptuous colour in a silkily lightweight guise. And I fall for Dolcissimo Liquid Lipcolour in Purple (£36), a smoulderingly intense liquid lip.
Kiko is another excellent place to lose yourself in lips, if you’re looking for bargain takes (from £1.25, kikocosmetics.com). We don’t quite find the pinky blusher I crave. However, this again pushes me out of my comfort zone towards a more terracotta hue; & Other Stories Burnt Cinnamon Cheek and Lip Tint (£17, stories.com) is worth a look on this front.
A flutter of D&G’s gorgeously inky Passioneyes Mascara (£37, lookfantastic.com) — try Bourjois Twist-Up The Volume Mascara (£11.99, superdrug.com) for a cheaper option — a speedy dye of the eyebrows and a slick of oil in my hair, and I feel quite the southern temptress: fabulously foreign and one sexy signora.
‘You look different,’ cries the world and his wife. ‘Have you been away?’
‘Yes,’ I reply airily, ‘to Sicily.’
RACE YOU TO IT
On TikTok, the ‘Face Wine’ craze has gone wild, billed as the means of achieving gorgeously hydrated, dewy skin without make-up. The secret? Caudalie’s classic Grape Water (from £11, johnlewis.com) is a cooling and hydrating, 100 per cent grape water spray, packed with antioxidants. Sales at John Lewis are up 115 per cent.
johnlewis.com
MY ICON OF THE WEEK
DEMI MOORE
Demi Moore, 59, (pictured) is a fan of make-up eraser cleansing cloths and is obsessed with moisturising
The 59-year-old is a fan of make-up eraser cleansing cloths (from £5.95, amazon.co.uk) and is obsessed with moisturising, using Biologique Recherche’s Creme Dermopurifiante (£86, biologiquerechercheuk.co.uk), and La Grande Crème (£750), and Retrouve Intensive Replenishing Facial Moisturiser (£290, net-a-porter.com).
HEAVENLY PERFUMED OILS
COSMETIC CRAVING
Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Deep Moisture Express Body Mist
Even the most impeccably groomed individual cannot be high‑maintenance about every aspect of her routine — something’s got to give.
Full disclosure: covering myself in slap and scent apart, I’m actually pretty low-maintenance, not least as a result of being incredibly lazy.
I am also a Brummie bargainhunter, saving here (basics) to spend there (joys). All of the above means that covered areas tend to get ignored.
However, if I buy Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Deep Moisture Express Body Mist (£6.99, boots.com) — and I buy it in bulk — I use it; unlike fancier, more expensive wares that get ‘saved for best’.
A quick, non-sticky spritz onto damp skin and the job’s done.
Life doesn’t have to be any more complicated.
boots.com