Tag: com

Fabulous but quite serious: YSL's new gloss.

Do you know what, I'm thinking about getting back into lip gloss. I know! Sure, it can make your mouth look like an overripe melon, and sure, I know it's hard to walk down the street without getting flies and hair stuck to your glistening lips, but something in me says it's time. Lip-gloss time. I'm working up to YSL's new glosses (Rouge pur Couture Vernis Lvres, 22.50, yslbeauty.co.uk), which are fabulous but quite serious. In the meantime Clinique's Chubby Sticks (16, 0870 034 2566) are a lovely interim gloss, somewhere between a lip balm and your goddaughter's best crayons.

Alternatively...

Stila 15, asos.com
Givenchy 22.50, 01932 233 824
Tom Ford 32, selfridges.com
Clinique 16, 0870 034 2566

Heaven scent: L'Eau de Chloe

You know it's spring because everything smells different. Winter perfumes smell of patchouli and bonfires; spring perfumes smell of blossom and hope, and sometimes laundry detergent and babies. The new Chlo fragrance, L'Eau de Chlo (36.50, 0800 083 6312), smells the way "pretty" looks. It's like grass and camping holidays, and rosewater and homemade lemonade. Also fabulous is White Lotus by Illuminum (175, illuminumfragrancelounge.com), the niche British perfumer whose scent Kate Middleton wore on her wedding day. It smells fresher than the newest thing you can imagine, fresher than a glossy magazine page.

Alternatively...

Chanel Allure Homme Sport 48, 020 7493 3836
Illuminum Haute Perfume 175, as above
Tom Ford Lavender Palm 120, 0870 034 2566
Jo Malone London Blooms Collection 72, jomalone.com
Byredo Parfums Seven Veils 88, liberty.co.uk

Turning back the years: Origins Youthtopia.

While it's not a treat in the sense that a whole chocolate mousse cake to oneself is a treat, or a day watching old 30 Rocks while pretending to your boss that you've got a dicky tummy after eating a whole gone-off chocolate mousse cake is a treat, rich day moisturisers are certainly on the treat spectrum. Origins's Youthtopia range (Ultra-rich Firming Cream, 45, johnlewis.com) is perfect daily for dry skin and excellent twice a week for normal skin – or, if you've got the cash, Perricone MD's Nourishing Moisturiser (60, perriconemd.co.uk). It's like chucking a glass of water straight on to your face, but less drippy.

Alternatively

Simple 3.89, boots.com
Chanel 50 (020 7493 3836)
Rodial 75, rodial.co.uk
Clinique 30, clinique.co.uk
SK-II 265, harrods.com

Once a day, to keep the wrinkles away: tips for a daily moisturiser. Photograph: Observer

A daily moisturiser needs to do these things: feel light on the skin, so you barely remember it's there; make you not feel all dry and tight-skinned after a day sat under the air conditioning; make your cheeks feel smooth, not sticky; give a lovely base for your make-up, so it doesn't cluster in your forehead wrinkles; have some sun protection, so you don't look older than you need to. Also: hydrate. While Dr Hauschka's Moisturizing Day Cream (17.95, drhauschka.co.uk) doesn't have any sun protection, it does feel silky and smoothing, as does Shiseido's new Super Revitalizing Cream (75, 020 7313 4774), which is recommended for over-30s. Add your own SPF, or use Este Lauder's DayWear (37, johnlewis.com), which has an SPF of 15 and makes you feel like you've drunk your eight glasses of water.

Alternatively

Givenchy Hydra Sparkling Fluid 39, 01932 233 824
Omorovicza 74, liberty.co.uk
Clarins Extra Firming Day Cream 46, 0800 036 3558
Philosophy 34, boots.com
Nivea Anti-wrinkle Day Cream 11.08, boots.com
Shiseido 75, 020 7313 4774

The nail, once a simple neutral flesh cover, a keratin tarp pulled over our tender finger meat, is now a feature wall, ripe for decoration. It is, though, isn't it? After years of nail-colour trends, a varnishless hand looks naked. This year, nail art is more accessible than ever, with high-street brands offering stickers and pens for you to experiment with at home. I like Models Own's Nail Art Pens (5, boots.com), perfect for writing H.A.T.E from first finger to thumb, or blobbing curious eyes on to nails so it looks like your hands are confused.

Alternatively

Barry M Croc Effects 3.99, barrym.com
LCN Nail Art Biro 5.75, bcidirect.com
Sally Hansen Glitz Blitz 9.29, amazon.co.uk
Laqa & Co Polish Pen 9.50, selfridges.com

Treatment of the week: Pay as you go

They say that 20 minutes on Spa InterContinental's dry flotation therapy bed is equivalent to four hours' sleep. Mix and match a session with treatments, like the excellent facial and manicure, from 22.50 for 15 minutes (spaintercontinental.com)

Black magic: tap into your inner goth with black-cherry lips. Photograph: Observer

If you're going to wear make-up, then you might as well really, really wear it. Catwalk make-up at the mo' is either "natural" (bit of Vaseline, a pinch of the cheek and the winsome eyes of someone far more virginal than you've ever been) or full-on looks, for which the statement lip is key. I say statement lip, but in the late 90s we just called it Rimmel black cherry and slopped it on on the bus. Now, we fill in the whole lip with pencil, topped off with Tom Ford's Black Orchid (36, harveynichols.com), which, despite costing more than a Michelin meal, is so rich with pigment you only need a single slick. It's like the black-cherry lipstick of our youth, but grown up and married to a millionaire.

Alternatively

Benefit Oh Currant 14, benefitcosmetics.co.uk
Chanel La Fascinante 23.50, 020 7493 3836
Illamasqua Kontrol Kontrol 15.50,illamasqua.com
Lord & Berry Black Red Vogue 11, asos.com
Diego Dalla Palma Dark Mauve Pencil 13, tesco.com