Wealden Times | WT184 | June 2017 | Kitchen & Bathroom supplement inside

Beauty
Unsung
Heroes
Josephine Fairley names some lesser-known products
that know how to pack a punch
Buying any beauty product without a personal
recommendation, a magazine review or a tip-off
from the growing number of beauty websites and
blogs is always a minefield. How do you spot the potential
winners, from the thousands – and thousands and thousands
– of products out there? Particularly since beauty editors
(guilty as charged) often focus on skincare, make-up and
haircare that is sexily packaged, or just new, new, new.
But let’s hear it for the unsung heroes: the footsoldier
products that just keep quietly doing their job for (beauty)
queen and country. Quite often, they’re under-recognised
because their packaging doesn’t make the heart soar – or
they’re so cheap you reckon they couldn’t possibly work, and
walk straight past them on those crowded shelves, without a
second glance. All of these, so far as I’m concerned, deliver on
their promises – and are often ridiculously cheap, with it.
M&S Formula Absolute Sleep Cream, £22 for 50ml. ‘Sleep’
creams are all the rage – and often really pricy with it. This
isn’t as inexpensive as some of M&S’s skincare, but a price like
this isn’t going to induce sleepless nights, that’s for sure. It’s
plumping, smoothing and ever-so-slightly radiant-making.
Very slightly scented (which isn’t always
the case with high street skincare offerings;
I often find them to be over-perfumed).
Above all, this is just very, very ‘comfy’
on skin – a sort of hot-water-bottlecashmere-socks
of a product, and one
that I don’t think you’d regret adding
in to your regime at any price.
3INA Lipsticks, £4.95. I’ve always
splurged on expensive lipstick –
the luxury of the click, the glide,
the colour! – but I’m a convert to
these, which pack a pigmented
punch, are comfy on the lips (and
the pocket with it). In an amazing
24 shades. (Check their website,
uk.3ina.com, for stockists.)
Weleda Skin Food, £10.95 for
75ml. If I had to take just one desert
island beauty cream, this would
probably be it. A longstanding
part of the biodynamic beauty
brand Weleda’s line-up – Skin Food has been nourishing
complexions since 1926 – it’s a great facial moisturiser,
body cream, hand cream, cuticle nourisher, elbow-softener.
(We’ve also seen it used backstage at London Fashion
Week, to perk up tired complexions and generally soothe
faces that have been over-cleansed.) It features wild pansy,
calendula, chamomile and rosemary – though the fragrance
is ultra-subtle – and chaps love it for razor-burn, too.
Sainsbury’s Boutique Nail Polish, £4. Toss one or
two of these in your trolley with the frozen peas, and I
promise you won’t be disappointed. I tried these polishes
with less-than-zero expectations, and was incredibly
impressed by the staying power, ease of application and
finish. This spring saw a fabulous burnished, Venetian
gold in the collection (I’m a sucker for gold nails) and
10 days later it was going strong. The same can’t always
be said of designer polishes at four times the price.
Simple Kind to Skin Micellar Water, £4.94 for 200ml. The
whole Simple range is brilliant for sensitive skins; when friends
are having flare-ups I point them in Simple’s direction. Many
(but not all) micellar waters are truly miraculous for removing
every last trace of make-up – including hard-to-budge eye
make-up – but the price of this gentle but effective option
makes this an excellent choice for a
test-drive, if you still need convincing.
Cath Kidston Hand Creams, £6
for a trio of 30ml sizes. Different
retailers stock different designs of these
brilliantly hand-softening creams, but
the formulas all sink in fast to leave
hands velvety and rich, without being
sticky or heavy. (A little bit of inside
track info, here: Cath Kidston is just
one of the ranges made by Heathcote
& Ivory; they’ve also collaborated
with Kaffe Fassett, Morris & Co.
and offer their own Vintage & Co.
bath and bodycare – and it’s all topnotch.)
With packaging this pretty
you’re unlikely not to have noticed it,
where it’s on sale – but you may have
written it off thinking: ‘At that price, it
can’t be any good.’ Trust me: it is.
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