Notes for the season
Purple passion by Estée Lauder.
Seven deadly sins of beauty
Lust: The product I’m lusting after at the minute is by Chanel, and has the world’s largest title. It is the Chanel Soleil Tan de Chanel bronze universel bronzing make-up. I have seen it in so many YouTube tutorials, and I have tried it at the Chanel counter in Brown Thomas, so I know it is only a matter of time before it is mine. The only thing that is stopping me from rushing down to Edwina on counter this very minute is the fact that I currently have no fewer than four bronzers, which leads me quite nicely to the next deadly sin.
Greed: The beauty product that I end up being the most greedy about has become almost a hobby. I buy bronzers like other people buy lipsticks. Not because I am obsessed with bronzers (though it may appear to the unskilled observer that I am), but because I am so pale I keep getting it wrong, shoving it into a drawer, then gamely trying again. Recently I had a brilliant idea and bought the Mac Mineralize Skinfinish natural powder in medium dark — spoiler alert, this is not a bronzer. It is rather meant to be a mineralised face powder for the woman who has a bit of natural colour in her face, but because I am so pale, it acts as a bronzer for me. Yes, that was clever.
Wrath: The product that I have the greatest love/hate relationship with is bright lipsticks. It is the strangest thing, sometimes I put on my YSL number 19 (a really hot pink) and it feels so fresh and right, and other times I put the exact same lipstick on and I feel like Betty Davis in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. It is a complete mystery.
Sloth: Nail varnish immediately springs to mind. When I don’t wear it I feel like a girl who just could not be bothered pulling herself together, a girl who has given up on life. My current favourites are Estée Lauder’s purple passion and YSL’s orange.
Envy: The beauty look I most envy and for myself, and fervently wish that ship hadn't sailed for me, is that smudgy black kohl eyeliner look. I just love it, and every time I see a young woman wearing it I wonder why I wasted my youth on brown eyeliners. It looks so sexy and effortless (try Mac or Chanel black kohl, they are truly carbon blacks) in any old haphazard fashion all around your whole eye and blink furiously. Voila!
Gluttony: I have two products that I know myself to be a glutton about, the first (and I have been told, repeatedly, by experts) is Bobbi Brown’s shimmer brick. No one human being needs them all, but I have them. I lash them on all over, all the time. And Lancôme lipsticks. They taste ands smell so delicious I re-apply even when not strictly necessary. I know it is gluttony because I cannot help myself. I even go over the natural border of my mouth; they are that satisfying to apply.
Pride: Compacts. Being able to whip out a luxurious compact is God’s compensation for the older girl (see envy above); one item that is a non-negotiable for me is a gorgeous face compact for touch-ups. For this, nothing beats Christian Dior or Chanel.
For any queries on the above or to submit your own seven deadly beauty sins, contact llane@brownthomas.ie or find Brown Thomas on Facebook.
