WHAT A BEAUTY EDITOR SPENDS HER MONEY ON

The job of a beauty editor has always felt to me like a dream I should make the most of, lest it burst any minute. I was a late arrival to worship at the beauty altar, discovering the power first of makeup and then of good skincare in my late teens, when a girl in my class arrived at school wearing an electric green metallic eye that thrilled something primal in me. She had bought the product responsible from M.A.C. at Brown Thomas Limerick, and I visited Brown Thomas every Saturday after that, fawning over the products, planning and choosing what I would save for and how I could find new versions of myself in the makeup. I loitered at that counter so much that a decade later, when I met a M.A.C. artist who had worked there, she remembered me. I wasn’t sure whether I was embarrassed or delighted.

MAKEUP MAGIC

My relationship with beauty has always had Brown Thomas at its heart. There is something thrilling about sharing some of my favourite products here all these years later. It has the satisfying feeling of a circle closing. When I touched down in Dublin before Christmas after two years away from home, Brown Thomas was among my first visits. More specifically, the NARS counter, where I always pick up NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer, €31.50, in shade Chantilly. I have bought more of these than any other beauty product, and still find it the very best all-round concealer catering to every skin tone. Charlotte Tilbury Charlotte’s Beautiful Skin Foundation, €40 is a recent launch and a new addition to my makeup bag, but I will buy it again and again for its skin-true shade range and ideal blend of glow, lasting power and buildability.

SPF STAR

I was delighted to find Irish brand Skingredients on my recent browsing mission. Skingredients Skin Shield, €57 is an impeccably sophisticated SPF that I consistently return to. Having tried almost every SPF launch for years now, I am unabashedly fussy. SPF must not look or feel slick, chalky, or limit itself to one range of skin tones. It must look good under makeup. This fits that description.

HAIR HERO

While Augustinus Bader is famed for its skincare, I have been very taken with Augustinus Bader The Hair Oil, €42, which seems to seal the hair glossily against humidity and counteract Irish hair’s flaithulach tendency to expand in damp weather. It does this without weight or exacerbating my hair’s inclination toward oiliness at the root. It’s working for me, and at base, it is utility and a promise kept which will successfully woo a beauty editor into a repurchase.

HIGH NOTES

While we are notoriously promiscuous with fragrance, and I have several favourites and always return to Byredo Slow Dance, €195 as the landscape thaws and we can enjoy more of that rich light of late winter and early spring. It has a smoky, creamy sparkle that is suitable even for daytime, with a frisson of violets at the heart that feels flirtatious and optimistic.

MORE TO READ

From one beauty expert to another, we speak to one of Ireland’s most prolific makeup artists, Christine Lucignano in Bridal Beauty: The Best Beauty Products For Your Big Day