From Byredo’s latest candle to a high coverage concealer, these are the buys the team's raving about this week
With Christmas approaching, brands are starting to roll out their A-games. There are new arrivals as far as the eye can see - which can be a little overwhelming at times. However, we’ve got just the thing to help you get over a case of product overload, our weekly edit of launches to help separate hype from reality and ensure you spend your pennies wisely. Here are our top picks.
Lancome Long Time No Shine Translucent Loose Powder, £32 - buy online
Loved by: Alexandra Harrison, Admin Assistant
“Loose powder is an everyday essential for me if I want to keep my t-zone looking shine-free. Recently this new mattifying version from Lancome has been my powder of choice. It’s very lightweight and sets my base in place all day without creasing. The blurring effect helps give an airbrushed effect and ensures there's no cakeyness in sight.”
Hayo’u Beauty Restorer Precision, £35 - buy online
Loved by: Victoria Woodhall, Editor
“A few sweeps with the original Hayou Beauty Restorer has been my daily ritual for bringing life back into my stressed face. If I ever don’t do it, my hormonal chin spots come back. This jade precision tool is even better. It has a smaller and less blunt edge, which feels more satisfying and which you work in flicks over the face around your facial crannies – eyes, frown lines and mouth. I use it all over. As essential as my book at bedtime."
Ameliorate Softening Bath Milk Oil, £19 for 250ml - buy online
Loved by: Anna Hunter, Senior Features Writer
“This new milky bath unction makes you feel like Cleopatra in the tub but it’s certainly not what I’d call glamorous. It’s made with soothing colloidal oats and a lactic acid-based hydrating and softening complex that the brand has become famous for (it’s particularly renowned for treating keratosis pilaris ). What it lacks in frou-frou it makes up for in functionality - it leaves skin silky after the bath and after a few weeks’ the psoriasis on my feet has definitely calmed down. It’s pH balanced and suitable for almost everyone. I couldn’t recommend it more highly.”
Byredo Chai Candle, £54 - buy online
Loved by: Sarah McGinnis, Art Editor
“In three simple words, I love chai. I get through gallons of the stuff weekly, constantly reminiscing about my summer Indian adventures, and all of the delicious masala chai I drank. This new candle’s full of intensity and warmth, making the cold and dark evenings that little more comforting with its complex and spicy blend of cardamom, incense, birch tree, warm latte and Indian incense. It's the perfect balance of everything I love about India and the most cocooning scent for winter.”
MAC Studio Fix 24-Hour Smooth Wear Concealer, £18.50 - buy online
Loved by: Alexandra Harrison, Admin Assistant
“MAC base products very rarely let me down and this new concealer is no exception. It’s an addition to the Studio Fix line, which means that it packs a punch with coverage and stays in place all day. I love that it’s buildable, as regardless of how much sleep I’ve had, I can still rely on it to cover those nasty eye bags without budging.”
Aurelia Cell Revitalise Rose Mask, £24 - buy online
Loved by: Sarah McGinnis, Art Editor
“If you were a fan of the original Aurelia Rose Mask, then this revamped, limited edition version will have you bulk-buying in an instant. Infused with damask rose and probiotics, it’s lightweight yet deeply hydrating for dry winter skin, while working to protect, restore and balance. It’s designed for skin that is exposed to daily pollutants or that needs a little radiance boost. Plus, the serene blend of botanicals brings some much-needed relaxation to the #SundayFacial ritual.”
Huda Beauty Overachiever Concealer, £23 for 10ml - buy online
Loved by: Ayesha Muttucumaru, Senior Features Writer
“De-puffing and high coverage, this concealer is a bit of a dream of a product for the sleep-deprived. With a cooling metal tip and formula that contains light-reflective spheres that provide a welcome blurring effect, it stealthily disguises the effects of a late night while its dense level of pigment is great for glossing over veins and redness. Plus, it’s available in an inclusive 20 shades too - ‘overachiever’ seems apt.”
Filorga NCEF Night Mask, £60 50ml - buy online
Loved by: Victoria Woodhall, Editor
"This mask is super clever. It claims to trick your skin into thinking it’s had more sleep than it has via Melatonin CX, a ‘silk tree extract’ which ‘activates the synthesis of [the sleep hormone] melatonin in dermal cells’. And it’s the presence of melatonin, which kicks off night time repair. It can’t make you feel like you’ve had more sleep, but I found it had a moderate morning wow factor, that certainly helps you look it."