RED’S BEAUTY TEAM ON WHAT TO BUY AND THE TREATMENTS TO BOOK NOW
Beauty director Eve Cameron’s mantra is maximum gloss, minimum effort
Menopause, a committed colouring habit and a fondness for heated styling tools have left my hair looking a little exhausted – dull and dry in parts, frizzy in others. John Frieda salons’ Radiance Reset, a 45-minute treatment-meets-haircare lesson, was a revelation. It takes you through a deep cleanse, scalp exfoliation (rather than my usual scouring technique, creative director ZÖe Irwin advised a slower, firm kneading so the scalp moves and relaxes), bond-building and mask application (I’d never have thought to brush a little along my hairline to help de-frizz the greys) finishing with a gloss and blow-dry. I left, crib sheet in hand, vowing to carry on the good work at home. From £120, plus blow-dry from £40.
It’s not new, but a Hydrafacial is still one of my favourite speedy routes to clean, fresher-looking skin. And it’s consistently being combined with different treatments to work even harder. Case in point: Waterhouse Young’s Hydra Elixir (£400; 90 minutes) starts with the Hydrafacial, followed by microneedling with a serum cocktail of antioxidants, minerals and hyaluronic acid, and a half-hour LED light therapy session. Expect to look your glowiest best a day or two later, and results to last a few weeks.
Makeup artist Ruby Hammer’s thoughtfully curated range now includes a brilliant tubing mascara (in which polymers create ‘tubes’ encasing individual lashes for smudge-proof length, removable with warm water), dual-ended with a clear brow gel. The slim brush is inspired by the dental brushes Hammer uses to apply mascara on set, while the formulation is packed with peptides for stronger lashes. I will be buying it on repeat.
Lip plumpers are having a moment. Unlike the rest of the beauty team, I am devoted to gloss, so shine – plus fuller lips – equals great happiness for me. I’m wearing Gucci’s Gloss à Lèvres. It’s on the comfortable side of tingly, plumps swiftly while blurring lip lines and feels beautifully hydrating and never sticky.
I’m thrilled to see Australian brand Mecca’s lip balm land in the UK. Laced with shea butter, pomegranate oil and hyaluronic acid, it moisturises as it protects with SPF20, and leaves a soft, pinkish sheen. Then there are Summer Fridays’ new lip oils (yes, I am obsessed with all things shiny), which dry down from glassy to a luminous wash of pretty colour.
Body products are another obsession. While the ‘clinical smell’ (their words) doesn’t do Nécessaire’s The Body Retinol any favours, its ingredients are a roll call of facial-grade actives; alongside retinol, there are
