Notes for the season
Supporting cast
Days off work provide the ideal opportunity to give our face and skin a breather. On those days we rely on a different, but equally important, group of products, or supporting cast if you will.
Much like an overnight kit, ‘day off’ products belong in the supporting cast category. There was a time I would dedicate days off to using up all the ‘product mistakes’ I had bought. Looking back now, they must have been scary days. Those days are over. I meet just as many people on a day off as I would a day working. Now I just feel like life is too short, so I have edited ruthlessly and every product I use, even on a day off, is a key player, or MVP.
On days off we can use a heavy duty moisturiser or oil (I like Clarins Blue Orchid) and let it take its time really sinking in. We can forget about a lot of our ‘colour’ products and focus on skincare, the most important. A good tip, if you do need to wear make up on your day off (and probably a tinted moisturiser is the way to go), and you have just soaked your skin in moisture, try patting on a little of Bobbi Brown’s vitamin enriched face base. This product is divine, faintly smelling of orange, it provides ‘grip’ for your foundation, so it does not go on all patchy and streaky. If you have not yet visited the Bobbi Brown counter in Brown Thomas to view the skincare, go now. The range is superb.
Sometimes I love a product so much that it has ‘cross-over’ effect and that means I use it daily, in my overnight kit, and on my days off. Estée Lauder’s BB cream is one of those products. A tinted moisturiser with a high SPF, you have to see the colour quality to believe it. The texture is also perfection, you just lash it on and no need to blend or worry about evenness. This BB cream is huge in Asia, and because Irish girls’ skincare habits mirror their Asian sisters so closely (think obsessed), Estée Lauder is confident this cream will be big in this country too. Every girl should have a tube in her kit.
Another product that finds itself crossing over into every kit is the handy little Benefit Brow Zing; it is a complete natural eyebrow compact, because even a face almost bare of make-up needs perfectly defined brows.
Most girls do not bother with eyeliner on days off, but a sweep of nourishing mascara can rescue a very bare face, and I like Lancôme’s precious cells, for lazy day days, knowing it is moisturising and fully grabs and covers every last lash.
For lips, I am still obsessed with Clinique’s chubby sticks. Yes, I wish they had another name. Yes, I wish the packing was different. But I love the texture, and it is the only cosmetic house clever enough to do a complete hybrid of a lipstick and a gloss, perfect for casually reapplying, no mirror necessary.
You can get out of the house much quicker if you have your key products in place, and I find using three separate bags, for work days, days off, and overnights, really simplifies my routine.