Beauty, Without All the Fuss

Skin First. Everything Else Can Wait.

Good makeup is wonderful.

But good skin does an enormous amount of the work.

That doesn’t mean perfect skin. I’m increasingly suspicious of the word perfect when it comes to beauty anyway.

Skin has texture. It has pores. It gets tired. Sometimes it breaks out. Sometimes it looks fantastic for absolutely no reason and you immediately wish you’d taken a photograph.

That’s normal.

The goal, for me, is healthy-looking skin rather than skin that looks like it has been digitally rendered.

Hydration. A little glow. Evenness where you want it. And enough coverage to make you feel polished without covering up the fact that you’re a person.

If you want the fuller version of this — cleansing, moisturising, SPF, step by step — read Skin First, Everything Else Can Wait.

Makeup Shouldn’t Look Like Makeup

I’m not against makeup.

Quite the opposite.

I love it.

But I think the most modern approach is knowing where to put it.

A little concealer where you actually need it. Brows that still resemble brows. A touch of colour in the cheeks. Mascara. A lip that gives the face some life.

Then stop.

There’s something very appealing about makeup that leaves some of the face visible. You can still see the skin. You can still see expression. You can still tell when someone is smiling.

Revolutionary, I know.

If you want to see what that actually looks like in a real makeup bag — what earns its place and what doesn’t — that’s The Makeup Bag, Edited.

The Problem With the Twelve-Step Routine

Here’s where I may upset somebody.

You probably don’t need twelve products before 8am.

I know.

There are entire corners of the internet that will disagree with me.

They can send me the invoice.

The problem with enormous routines isn’t necessarily that every product is bad. It’s that more doesn’t automatically mean better.

A routine should make sense for your skin, your lifestyle and the amount of effort you’re actually prepared to maintain.

Because buying seven beautiful serums and using none of them consistently isn’t a skincare routine.

It’s a small collection.

There is a difference.

Pick Your Features

I think beauty becomes much easier when you stop trying to perfect everything simultaneously.

Choose what you want to emphasise.

Eyes?

Keep the skin fresh and let the eyes do the work.

Lips?

Keep everything else understated.

Glowing skin?

Let the makeup stay quiet.

You don’t need every feature competing for the lead role.

One star is usually enough. The rest of the cast can support.

Expensive Doesn’t Always Mean Better

Beauty marketing is particularly good at making ordinary things sound revolutionary.

“Advanced.” “Complex.” “High-performance.” “Next generation.” “Clinically inspired.”

Sometimes these words mean something. Sometimes they mean the packaging is very convincing.

I’m much more interested in whether something actually works for you.

There are brilliant expensive products. There are brilliant affordable products. There are also expensive products that I would happily leave on the shelf.

And occasionally there is a £12 product that makes you wonder what exactly everyone else has been doing.

Those are my favourite discoveries.

The Beauty Look I Keep Coming Back To

If I had to choose one beauty direction that always feels right, it would be:

Fresh skin. Soft definition. A little colour. Natural brows. Defined lashes. A lip that looks like your lips, only slightly more interesting.

Nothing too perfect.

Nothing too obvious.

Just enough to make you look like you had a very good night’s sleep.

Even if you absolutely did not.

And Yes, You Can Still Have Fun

Minimal doesn’t mean boring.

There are days for red lipstick. There are days for a smoky eye. There are days when you want to wear more makeup simply because it’s fun.

I’m very much in favour.

Beauty shouldn’t become another set of rules telling women what they are allowed to look like.

If you want barely-there makeup, lovely. If you want a dramatic lip at 10am on a Tuesday, also lovely.

Personally, I think a Tuesday deserves a little drama now and then.