NINE NEW SEASON BEAUTY BUYS YOU NEED IN YOUR LIFE

We spend so much time focusing on updating our winter wardrobes with new coats and boots once the weather turns (and I’m not complaining, winter coat season is my fave) but less attention is paid to the amazing new season beauty launches that are landing on counter. Autumn is the perfect time to switch your skin and hair products over to something a little richer and those make-up shades you’ve been wearing all summer may suddenly not suit so well once the tan has faded. So many products have been landing on my doormat (used to be my desk until I went freelance) that I really wanted to share with you.

When it’s your job to test every single beauty product in the world, you quickly learn whats ground-breaking and whats merely marketing hype. The products that make it from my office (ok, spare bedroom) into my make-up bag and onto my dressing table are the ones worth spending on. So here is your new season beauty shopping list. Everything here is totally mum-proof (as in, whack it on at 7am and it’ll last all day) as well as being fool-proof and will make your life easier. From the £2.99 shampoo to the must-have candle and the foundation that will change your life, treat yourself (you deserve it) or add to your Christmas list…

Buy this. Buy this now. If not for yourself then team up with friends and buy it for the new mum in your life. I didn’t realise when Leo was born that ‘mum hands’ were a thing but they totally are. All of that washing, steralising, bathing, hand sanitizing left my hands red raw. And I felt so un-chic. Had someone given me thisas a new baby present (because lets face it, the babies get enough) I would have kissed them. The fact that it absorbs fast without leaving hands feeling greasy or over-perfumed and the clever packaging (just squeeze the egg shape for the perfect dose) means that it won’t leak or spill in your baby bag means It’s totally worth the price tag,

THE FLU FIGHTER

Strangely, I’m massively excited about the launch of a hand sanitiser. But this, let me just point out, isn’t any old hand sanitiser – this is the Rolls-Royce of hand sanitisers, the Chanel 2.55 of anti-bac. This is a Byredo hand sanitiser. As winter creeps towards us, bringing with it a slew of coughs, colds and flu (Leo’s been summoned to the GP for the flu nasal spray, apparently this years flu epidemic will be a bad one) avoid picking up any bugs by keeping your hands clean. The formula won’t dry your poor, sore mum hands any further and the citrus scent won’t set your stomach off if you’re pregnant.

I wasn’t sure about this. I’d mentally labelled it as big a miss as Kylie Jenner’s Lip Kits (not worth the hype) so I wasn’t in a major rush to go and get colour matched. So when I turned up to Harvey Nicks two weeks after the launch I was shocked to see a que wrapping the whole way around the building with women desperate to get their hands on the foundation. They were right and I was wrong because

Not just for the 40+ shade range, meaning you are guaranteed a good shade match, but because the foundation ‘wears’ really well on the skin. Have you ever noticed your foundation goes a bit orangey throughout the day? That’s because it oxidises (think what happens to an apple when left out in the air), yet this one doesn’t. I would suggest wearing over a hydrating primer as by the semi-matte nature it’s a tad drying. But if you’re on the hunt for the perfect foundation, this very well could be it. My shade is 230.

I have always believed that you don’t need to spend a lot of money on a good mascara. The best ones (and I have tried them all) can be found in your local Boots. I have worn Max Factor’s False Lash Effect for years. Whenever I have a break for it and then use it again, I wonder why I stopped. People comment on my lashes when I wear it. When does that ever happen?! Anyway,this latest mascara from Max Factor arrived the other day so I gave it a whirl. It has a little extra tip on the end that’s handy for getting into the base of the lashes and the inner corner where most wands cant’ reach. It really fans out the lashes for ultimate separation. My lashes look longer, it doesn’t flake or smudge. I’m sold.

THE MUM FACE HACK

BOBBI BROWN ESSENTIAL 5 IN 1 FACE PALETTE

One for the working mums. It’s 7:06am and you have four minutes to get yourself and/or the kids out the door, find your keys and get everyone into a coat. This genius Bobbi Brown Essentials Palette is designed to be applied on-the-go, has every basic that you could need (concealer, corrector, foundation, powder) and the addition of a bronzer to make you look human. Chuck it in your bag along with a mascara and apply on the way to work. It’s all you need.

Some mornings you just can’t be arsed. You feel knackered, you look knackered, your hair is dirty with no time to wash it and all that’s on your agenda is to get to Waitrose and back without a tantrum on your hands. On days that you look like death,

Tired, winter skin is dull skin, and the trick to fighting a flat complexion is always highlighter – it literally lights up your face. I’m partial to a stick highlighter because, well, they’re easy to use. This one comes with a foam tip to apply the super sheeny yet totally sheer formula with. There’s no glitter, there’s not even shimmer. It just looks gleamy on the skin but I swear, takes about five years off. I call this my Magic Wand. The rose gold shade suits all.

When winter hits it’s time to power up your haircare routine with hydrating formulas and nourishing ingredients to feed back everything that the wind – and central heating – whips from it. I’ve been using thisfor the last few weeks and can honestly say, it’s changed my hair. You would automatically think that coconut oil would leave hair looking and feeling lank but the fine coconut oil penetrates to the core of the hair fibre without weighing it down, adding nourishment where it’s needed. My hair feeling soft, silky and glows with shine.

This has changed my life and streamlined my make-up bag. Little known fact: Terry is the woman behind the YSL Touche Eclat. Now the make-up genius has created this little stick of wonder saving time poor women everywhere. A solid cream foundation-cum-concealer, with one click cover dark circle, blemishes, redness – you name it. The coverage is incredible and the tear-drop shape helps get into the inner corner and around the nose where we, well, I, tend to need it most. Great for on the go or those ‘no make-up days’ where you just want to look ‘not tired’.

Pregnancy can completely alter your sense of smell. If you’re pregnant and heavy scents are making you feel nauseous, look for something cleansing and refreshing instead. Grapefruit oils have been found to relieve nausea as well as alleviate stress and boost circulation. Sadly there’s not much you can do when someone gets on the tube wearing a heavy perfume, spritzing around them wouldn’t be welcomed but

Paint onto wrists, inhale and breathe.