The following statement is perhaps unacceptable for a beauty writer, but here it is nevertheless: I find the idea of trends rather tedious. Each season, I wait to see what bizarre and completely impractical displays will teeter their way down the catwalk. Knee boots made of transparent Perspex so that your legs steam up the inside and look like a bag of supermarket carrots on the turn? Grand so. Oh, those sports trousers with the popper buttons are back, are they? Ah, and we’re wearing them will heels now, you say? Jog on.
Beauty trends can be equally unwearable. I appreciate them as art, but the moment anyone suggests that ordinary people might want to wear a neon plastic accessory that you glue on to your eyelid, you’ve lost me. The current spring summer ’18 season, however, is different, and consequently delightful. Fun, simplicity, and practicality are back. Lucky for most of us, “undone” technique is à la mode – eyeliner looks a bit squiffy; lipstick doesn’t feature a perfectly razor-sharp edge line.
The only cap-doff to perfection has been the dominance of a rather deliciously glowy, just-wandered-out-of-the-spa skin, which can be constructed artificially with determination and good products. Try Charlotte Tilbury Brightening Youth Glow (€49 from Brown Thomas) – a sort of highlighter-cum-primer that smooths skin and makes it beautifully sheeny.
Over the top, sweep a few lazy streaks of Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation Stick (€38 from Brown Thomas). I fell back in love with this recently. Provided skin isn't patchily dry or very oily, you can draw this on where you need it and buff it out with a clean, fluffy brush. The resulting effect is that of perfect skin on any skin tone, for women or men.
Thankfully, though bold, riotous colour is everywhere this season (which is delightful), soft hues and glowing textures are too. Chanel Rouge Coco Lip Blush (€31 from March 9th) is the only dual lip and cheek product I've tried that doesn't desiccate the lips. It sweeps onto cheeks with the most sumptuous, easy glow, and is buildable. Wearing it on both lips and cheeks creates a deliciously 'pulled-together' tonal look, or you can go all-out and apply it to lips, cheeks and eyes for a really fresh and easy spring makeup.
Liner never goes out of fashion, and if it did, we would wear it anyway. Trish McEvoy Intense Gel Eyeliner in Black (€33 from Harvey Nichols Dundrum) is the most perfect pencil gel liner on the market. Draw clean lines, and it will dry down immovably. Don't worry about minor errors – this is the season of imperfection. If you really feck up, nothing blends as wonderfully as this liner – you'll have smoky eyes in a moment, but blend before it sets.
The super-brights trend can be tough to wear, but we can all get away with it on lips. Chanel Poudre a Levres (€36 from Arnotts) is a limited edition lip powder that comes in three striking shades. Apply as much or as little as you want. The resulting look appears softly blended around the edges and is easier to wear than lipstick, especially for those with smaller lips.
