Ingeborg Van Lotringen On 2023’s Best Beauty Investments
Another year over in the blink of an eye and what have we got to show for it? Well, if nothing else, a whole lot of brilliant beauty buys launched in the last 12 months that have brightened up a rather gloomy world. Here are the ones that, in my opinion, are the cleverest, most useful and most delightful of the annual crop of products and treatments.
Luscious Curl Reactivating Mist
£22.50 | Christophe Robin
I find that blow-drying fine, wavy hair like mine can manage frizz but can also leave it, and particularly the ends, flat and straw-like. Leave-in creams and hair oils don’t work for me: they respectively turn my hair lank and stringy. This mist, though, which is a mix of water-based hydrators and light plant oils, hits the spot. It weightlessly puts the spring back into my waves, giving them gloss and definition without any greasiness at all and without me even having to touch my hair. It’ll do the same for much thicker or much coilier hair too. Love it.
Available at SalonsDirect.com
Superluminous Skin Genius
£55/£20 for members | Beauty Pie
I’ve never been a foundation user and I still don’t like covering up my skin but, with age, I do inevitably get more shadows that need addressing. So, I’m lucky to live at a time when make-up formulators are ever more adept at creating textures that are traceless and feel like hydrating skincare, but somehow give just enough coverage and luminescence to give my face some of its youthful glow (once so taken for granted) back. Beauty Pie’s Tinted Hyaluronic Complexion Brightener is a weightless triumph: in eight shades, it blurs and evens out small imperfections but leaves skin itself as the glowing star of the show, without looking oily or greasy. If you want more coverage, you can mix it with foundation or use it as a primer.
Available at BeautyPie.com
Perfection Ultime Miracle Eye Contour
£34 | Gatineau
This has been around for a while but was sort of re-launched this year and has become an instant beauty editor’s fave. An oil-free, weightless blend of humectants (like glycerin) to hydrate and silicones to seal in moisture, it also has a host of antioxidants to fend off damage, as well as tiny bubbles of pigment that burst when you smooth them on, giving undereye skin an instant tint and very decent coverage. It immediately adjusts to your skin tone to cover dark circles and blur lines, and it blends in so well, you can do it without a mirror if you’re in a bind. The perfect emergency standby to have in your handbag.
Available at Sephora.co.uk
Bespoke Healing Facial
POA | Mina Lee
Okay, Mina has a waiting list and she’s not cheap – expect to pay around £325 for a 90-minute treatment. But, if someone wants to treat you, ask for this. She combines traditional Korean massage and healing techniques (lifting massage, reflexology, acupuncture, ear seeds, TCM diagnostics) with modern technology including peels, mesotherapy, radiofrequency and LED, all as needed. Totally intuitive, she can see as well as sense a lot of what’s going on inside and has a definite healing quality, aside from a knack for giving you beautifully radiant, plumped-up skin. Her studio in Chelsea at 106A Draycott Avenue feels like a little airy bachelor’s flat and you’ll emerge from it slightly afloat.
Find out more @MinaLee.London
Phyto-Glow Lip Balm
£12 | Naturium
With just the right level of stickiness so as to last really long but without being too gloopy or tacky, these are my favourite lip launch of the year. The finish is that of a seriously glossy lip gloss but they feel like proper balms, with shea and cocoa butter to nourish and only a very subtle vanilla flavour. They make lips feel instantly twice as plump and the four colours (red, grape, baby pink and fleshy pink, as well as a clear one) are really good – not too flimsy but still sheer. Instant favourites.
Available at SpaceNK.com
Palissandre Night Eau De Parfum
£265 | Mizensir
Created by the perfumer who composed my two favourite scents (1987’s Karl Lagerfeld KL, a discontinued 80s explosion of cloves, cinnamon, orange, myrrh and patchouli, and Mizensir Celebes Wood, which is all cinnamon and cardamon, vanilla and pepper, amber and musk), Alberto Morillas’ latest piece of olfactory art might end up there with my go-tos. Another ‘amber’ (it’s what we used to call oriental and my preferred fragrance category) perfume, it captures a moonlit garden and is all cool (but gentle, spicy and honeyed, not headach-y) woods with warm animalic ambrox and sweet nutmeg to give it a slight gourmand feel. Yum.
Available at Harrods.com
Nutritive Masquintense
£37.26 (was £41.40) | Kérastase
I’ve mentioned this before, but it really is the first hair mask in years that I’ve tried that makes a huge difference to my hair and doesn’t just seem like a regular conditioner in a pot. It softens, smooths and adds gloss to my very fine hair, but without weighing it down in the slightest. It aims to restore the hair fibre with proteins, vitamins, humectants and lipids (and niacinamide, but I haven’t a clue what that does for hair) and does so admirably. This is an updated, more ecologically packaged version of the original Nutritive masque. There is a version for thick or coarse hair as well, called ‘Masquintense Riche’.
Available at LookFantastic.com
Cacao & Reishi Rest Ritual
£28 | Ancient & Brave
I like the idea of supplementing with functional mushrooms – so many doctors and nutrition therapists extol their immune-boosting, skin-plumping, supernutrient benefits that they seem like something you can’t go wrong with. Often formulated in powders you can add to drinks or food, I’m particularly fond of this ‘hot chocolate’ mix featuring organic cocoa, hops, stress-relieving ashwagandha and immune-supporting reishi mushroom alongside cinnamon, baobab and beetroot for flavour. If you’ve got a very sweet tooth, this’ll take some getting used to; I don’t but I do like to add a hefty scoop to my Hotel Chocolat drinking chocolate in my Hotel Chocolat Velvetiser hot chocolate machine – the perfect mix of health and indulgence.
Available at Ancient&Brave.com
Tooth Micro-Layering
From £655 per tooth | Netaji Clinic
This is a unique and proprietary dental treatment that’s only available in this one Belgravia clinic. If you’re after an alternative to veneers that looks entirely born-with-it and doesn’t require any filing down of your natural teeth, this is a brilliant investment, both for individual teeth and entire sets. The technique involves applying very fine layers of a porcelain composite (in a bespoke shade) to re-sculpt, re-balance and brighten teeth. Cracks and discolouration will disappear, chips are repaired, and teeth that have shortened with age can even be made longer again, but individual characteristics such as shape, little ridges, and front tooth gaps are preserved (unless you don’t want them to). Your natural teeth will be strengthened and the work wears down no faster than your own enamel. It’s painless, with the procedure taking 2-6 hours depending on the number of teeth involved.
Find out more @NetajiClinic.com
For more inspiration follow Ingeborg @TheOGBeautyBoss on Instagram.
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