Hannah Betts’s Better…not younger: Blusher’s back at last. Post Covid it’s all about a healthy glow…
- Hannah Betts shares the best glow products to help you past Covid dullness
- The UK-based beauty columnist picks out her ultimate springtime lip colours
- Her cosmetic craving of the week is Suqqu’s The Cream Foundation for £68
A child’s template for what is beautiful will often be her mother: the face that becomes the paradigm for all faces.
Mine possessed alabaster skin and cheeks flushed permanently pink. Later, as a fledgling academic, I learnt that a ‘roses and lilies’ complexion signified beauty from the ancient world via the medieval period and beyond. When I came to do research, I chose a form of poetry that celebrated it.
In terms of my own face, it took a while to work this balance out. At 18, I had such a ghostly pallor that my Victorian literature tutor used to ask: ‘Are you sure you’re alright?’, imagining I must be suffering from consumption.
Hannah Betts says she possessed alabaster skin and cheeks flushed permanently pink all her lif: Later, as a fledgling academic, I learnt that a ‘roses and lilies’ complexion signified beauty from the ancient world via the medieval period and beyond. When I came to do research, I chose a form of poetry that celebrated it
When I finally discovered blusher, I went in hard. Still do, in fact. But, then, we all have a beauty ‘thing’, and mine is being a bit too faux-flushed.
The fact is, blusher makes us look younger, prettier, more alive — active, happy, but also fertile, flirtatious, aroused. Valentine’s beauty often focuses on scarlet lips.
However, the true look of love is more pinkly suggestive than danger-signal red.
This blush-led look suggests a post-coital glow that can be used as a form of pre-coital allurement and — make no mistake — it does the job. Where the Kardashian nude contouring that ruled in the 2010s turned women into inaccessible glamazons, peachily pretty cheeks look fresh and inviting.
Think of Dangerous Liaisons, Francois Boucher’s portraits, and, of course, the belles of the Netflix hit Bridgerton, who inspired last year’s rouge revival.
Covid doubtless played its part, with gaunt, chiselled taupe giving way to a blooming flush of health that cries: ‘I’ve not got it — not me! I’m terribly well and snoggable.’
Twentysomething zillennials lapped up the trend, with TikTok producing a motto to be chanted while daubing your dimples: ‘Gorgeous, gorgeous girls always over-blush. Gorgeous, gorgeous girls are always in a rush.’
Sometimes I like to wield a wispy, pastel petal colour for cheekbone-sculpting purposes. My beloved Kevyn Aucoin Neo Limelight Highlighter Ibiza (£23, lookfantastic.com) is currently sold out, annoyingly.
Dior Forever Couture Luminizer in Pink Glow (£40, dior.com) will create a similar effect. However, the new flirtatious flush is about recreating the colour you go after a bracing stroll in the cold.
This will be pink if you’re cool-toned, peach if you’re warmer. I like to use two shades.
UK-based beauty columnist Hannah Betts picks out her ultimate springtime lip colours as well as glowy blushers to help you get your mojo back post Covid
I start with a blue-pink on the apples of my cheeks (smile and there they are): Clinique’s Blushing Blush Powder Blush in Iced Lotus, say (£24, clinique.co.uk), or Bobbi Brown’s bright Pale Pink (£21, bobbi brown.co.uk).
Then, after blending, I may add a touch of a hotter, tropical berry shade for extra oomph, depending on the weather, my mood, and how much of a sexpot I want to look.
Lancome’s Blush Subtil in Pink Intensely (£33, lancome.co.uk) is not far off my discontinued favourite Rose Indien (still available for £24 at amazon.co.uk, while stocks last).
Or try Pat McGrath’s Skin Fetish Divine Blush in Lovestruck (£30, patmcgrath.com), a demi- matte berry.
If you have tawnier skin, aim for apricot via coral to tangerine and terracotta shades — a spectrum of oranges in place of my pinks.
If you can’t be bothered toying with more than one powder, may I recommend Chanel’s reliably gorgeous Joues Contraste blushes (£37, chanel.com), which boast a subtle, multi-dimensional aspect, or MAC’s Mineralise Blush (£24, maccosmetics.co.uk), baked for pearlescent shimmer. I’m wild about the Hubba Bubba hue Bubbles, Please.
I’ve always been a powder obsessive. Despite what people claim about the flattering nature of cream blush, on me it would vanish in seconds, having first wrecked my foundation.
Well, no more. I’ve finally cracked cream by means of make-up artist Bobbi Brown’s fabulously flattering Jones Road Lip And Cheek Sticks (£30.50, jonesroad beauty.com), applied with the brand’s Blush Brush (£32.50).
This wonder tool allows rouge to work for all of us, and blends beautifully. It also makes deploying lipstick as a final, exquisite accent on cheeks a cinch.
Then blot down the shade on your mouth for a lovely, sexily sheer effect. You’ll look young and in love, whatever your age.
RACE YOU TO IT
Natural skincare brand Willowberry has a new liquid exfoliant, PHALiquid Exfoliator (£28.99, willowberry.co.uk), which is gentle enough for even the most neurotic skins
Natural skincare brand Willowberry has a new liquid exfoliant, PHALiquid Exfoliator (£28.99, willowberry.co.uk), which is gentle enough for even the most neurotic skins.
Its polyhydroxy acids are good for older skin, as they help support the collagen matrix.
It has a plumping and brightening effect, instead of stripping and scouring skin.
MY ICON OF THE WEEK
BROOKE SHIELDS
Actress Brooke Shields, 56, pictured, uses True Botanicals Renew Nourishing Cleanser (£78, ninthavenue.uk) and a topical collagen supplement applied with the Droplette device (£309, modesens.com)
The actress, 56, uses True Botanicals Renew Nourishing Cleanser (£78, ninthavenue.uk) and a topical collagen supplement applied with the Droplette device (£309, modesens.com).
She is also a fan of the 111Skin Sub Zero De-Puffing Eye Mask (£12, spacenk.com), Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask (£19, cultbeauty.co.uk) and a tinted SPF by Supergoop (£60, amazon.co.uk).
She also loves airbrushing her foundation with a Mineral Air tool (£196.80, ninthavenue.uk).
MY ULTIMATE KISSING KIT
This sugar-based scrub comes in three shades and buffs away dry skin.
maccosmetics.co.uk
A translucent, salicylic acid spot-eraser. You never know when you might need to zap stubble rash acne
glossier.com
A luxe-looking tawny, peachy nude that’s richly pigmented and surprisingly cheap and cheerful.
boots.com
Treat yourself to this shiny, succulent cherry red lipstick. Handily, it’s refillable.
sisley-paris.com
The classic healing hydrator in the prettiest pink.
boots.com
COSMETIC CRAVING
If £70 seems a lot for a base, the dense texture of Suqqu’s The Cream Foundation (£68, cult beauty.co.uk) means a pot lasts an extremely long time.
And this really is a perfect February formula: creamy, yet light, seamlessly blending to create an effect that is dewy but flawless; soothing on skin that may be feeling parched and sore.
Japanese women are famed for their perfectionism regarding their complexions and this imparts Suqqu’s ‘signature glow’, a three-stage affair that sounds like PR puffery until one experiences its exquisite, long-lasting, luminosity. I sported this after a week in bed with faux-vid and no one could believe that I’d been ill. Take that, winter!
cultbeauty.co.uk
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