One of the most important beauty trends of 2014 is not a product or a procedure – it’s the rise and rise of women of “un certain age“, as the French would say, who’ve been hogging the spotlight. Not an easy thing to do in a tabloid media circus (read: joke) obsessed with post-baby bulges and fake boobs, but there’s light on the horizon and it’s getting brighter…
American Apparel’s 62 year old underwear model Jacky O’Shaughnessy and Charlotte Rampling as the new face of NARS (at age 68) are just two examples of current media campaigns where “age” and the often rather heavy beauty burden that can go with it, is ‘lightening up’.
Watch this space. I hope we’ll look back on this year next year as the one that really kicked off this new “beauty is ageless” campaign. Because let’s ‘face’ it, beauty is not youth. Youthful may be beautiful, but it’s not the be all and end all. There will always be someone (millions!) who are younger, conventionally more beautiful…whatever…than you/me/her, so we’re frankly wasting our time by emulating someone else’s beauty. Better to cultivate your own, no? Like a priceless work of art, we are all “an original”.
I’m more of a “be yourself, but a bit better” person. No amount of £110 30ml eye serum (ouch!!) patted on to those crows’ feet can turn back time – yes, products make a difference (at The Beauty Shortlist we’ve tried thousands since 2009, not least during our annual Awards) but there are tricks that help us look a little less tired, more radiant – OK, yes, then,, younger – and intelligently-targeted makeup is one of them.
Grace Fodor, creator of Studio 10’s solution-orientated range
Enter STUDIO 10, the new brainchild of Grace Fodor who knows her cosmetics better than most of us.
When she sent me STUDIO 10’s double-ended eye crayons, Visible Lift I-Definer (clever palette) and colour-adjusting, light-reflecting Age Reverse Perfect Canvas SPF30 there was a lot to play with and I had a lot of fun playing WITH them all.
The Brow Lift Perfecting Liner…double ended = no dead ends
India Knight just reviewed Studio 10 in the ST, so if you caught that you’ll already know a bit about the range.
Here’s what I’ve been liking about it – and why, if you’re the “other side of 40” (not the “wrong” side, just the other side), you might want to have a closer look at this collection. A lot of thought has gone into this age-enhancing tool kit.
“A lot of thought has gone into this
age-enhancing tool kit”
The AGE REVERSE PERFECT CANVAS SPF30
HOW Starting with less than you think you’ll need, apply on top of your moisturiser and/or primer, blending outwards (a foundation brush will give an even better effect).
Age Reverse Perfect Canvas SPF30, available in three palette “duos” – Light, Medium or Dark
WHY Its light-diffusing properties help masque fine lines and add the glow which often seems to go as we age. Comes in a dual LIGHT, MEDIUM or DARK option.
WHAT’S IN IT Buildable without masking and ultra lightweight, you get two shades for perfect colour match all year round and broad spectrum SPF 30 (nice). Enriched with anti-aging Suberlift™ *, Vitamin complex and anti-oxidant Nyamplung Oil™. PARABEN FREE.
* Suberlift™ is a clinically proven botanical instant tensor that provides lift and firms the skin. It is a natural extract of the cork oak (Quercus Suber), which contains the active ingredient Suberin. (Greek brand Korres uses Quercus in its skincare).
STUDIO 10 has landed at Cult Beauty
Next up – the Eye & Brow Crayons.
I call Grace “the Queen of double-ended eye crayons” – no dead ends!
THE BROW LIFT PERFECTING LINER
Super easy to use, this creamy, long-lasting formula calls for a soft touch – you don’t need to press hard. Highlight under the brows with the nude toned end of the crayon along (under) the brow bone for added “lift”.
And…
An instant highlighter/brightener, it’s available in some gorgeous mauve-and-marine shades plus your classic pewter and mocha.
The I-Lift Longwear Liners
What else?
The rest of the range includes a lip liner, a “glow perfector” and an AGE DEFY SKIN PERFECTOR (aka corrector!) with mini-palettes including a primer to help hide fine lines and/or large pores, and a little pale green palette, to offset redness, uneven patches, and my personal “bete noire” – those darned dark circles.
The Skin Perfector (corrector) helps camouflage redness, dark circles, you name it…
The AGE DEFY SKIN PERFECTOR MULTI-PALETTE comes in Light/Fair or Medium/Dark.
Discover STUDIO 10 at Studio10beauty.com and we’re not surprised CULT BEAUTY already stocks it!