Skin, lips, eyelids and limbs with a glossy, iridescent, almost ethereal sheen- these are the biggest beauty launches to hit Australian stores this month.
Each year sees NARS deliver a capsule collection celebrating their cult Orgasm blush. The 2019 Orgasm Collection is comprised of the Endless Orgasm Palette, a face palette containing six multi-use cream shades for cheeks, eyes and lips, Orgasm Liquid Highlighter, Orgasm Oil Infused Lip Tint and a Jumbo Orgasm Blush in this year’s collection packaging.
While these Beauty News columns are generally limited to news rather than opinion, this year’s limited edition Orgasm offering may be the brand’s best riff on the theme thus far. While I’d read mixed reviews on the Endless Orgasm Palette, I’ve had nothing but good experiences with it. I was fortunate enough to work with Uzo, NARS’ International Artistry Director, during Meccaland and learn directly from her just how this palette should be used (in short: with the finger tips and a very light hand), so perhaps I’m at an advantage there. The other standout is the lip oil. Where 2017’s Orgasm Lipstick was too frosted for my liking, and the finish of last year’s Balm, while beautiful, didn’t feel as strongly rooted in the Orgasm colour palette, this Oil is rich in pigment and low in frost.
NARS Endless Orgasm Palette, $75
NARS Orgasm Liquid Highlighter, $46
NARS Orgasm Oil Infused Lip Tint, $40
NARS Jumbo Orgasm Blush, $61
Also delivering a glow to the skin is The Hydrating Illuminator– the newest addition to the La Mer portfolio. A fusion of skincare and colour cosmetics, this illuminator is pearl in tone, rich in the brand’s signature Miracle Broth and, from my experience, performs as beautifully beneath foundation as it does on top and mixed in.
This month also sees La Mer add six new shades to their existing Soft Fluid Foundation collection. While extortionary, I will go on the record stating that this is one of my (two) Holy Grail foundations.
La Mer The Hydrating Illuminator, $100
La Mer The Soft Fluid Foundation, $200
May saw Mecca Maxima’s signature line, Mexxa Max, add a new shade to their Liquid Light offering. Rose Quartz, as its name suggests, has more of a rose pink tone than the existing Quartz hue, and has less of a pearlescent quality than than the pink-tinged Opal. Like La Mer’s latest release it also performs equally well as a base, a highlighter and as a mixing pigment, however this is for those who wish for a more obvious glow. It’s also decidedly gentler on the hip pocket.
Mecca Max Liquid Light in Rose Quartz, $25
Somewhere between the shimmer of Mecca Max and the subtlety of La Mer lie ILIA’s new Liquid Light Serum Highlighters. Available in three shades (Atomic, a shimmering pink, Nova, a soft gold, and Astrid, a rose gold), these gel based illuminators bathe the skin in dew, rather than shimmer.
This month also sees the arrival of the brand’s True Skin Serum Concealers, another serum-based colour cosmetic, and Essential Brow Natural Volumising Brow Gel.
ILIA Liquid Light Serum Highlighter, $64
ILIA True Skin Serum Concealer, $46
ILIA Essential Brow Natural Brow Volumising Gel, $40
For those who favour a glowing skin finish delivering in powder form, By Terry’s best-selling colour correcting formula has been reimagined in a pressed powder compact. The Brightening CC Powders, available in Immaculate Light, Rose Elixir, Apricot Glow and Sunny Flash much like their Brightening CC Serum counterparts, are designed to be swept over the skin to add a hit of radiance, blur imperfections and correct colour.
By Terry’s Baume de Rose balm pot sits at the core of the brand’s identity, and this month sees that iconic formula take on two new shapes- that of the Baume de Rose Tinted Le Stick, de Levres Lip Care, a hybrid of stylo colour and rose balm hydrating, and the Baume de Rose Oil, a concentrate of the beloved rose oil formulated to impart a silk finish on skin, hair and limbs.
By Terry Brightening CC Powder, $91
By Terry Baume De Rose Tinted Stick, $49
By Terry Baume De Rose Oil, $101
Another product designed to be pressed into the skin for a lit-from-within glow, Eve Lom’s new Time Retreat Radiance Essence is a luxury treatment lotion that works to soften, brighten and improve the texture of an overworked complexion.
Eve Lom Time Retreat Radiance Essence, $148
Bathing the lips in a similar dew is the new Lanolips Lip Water, a lanolin based gloss (lanolin being my very favourite ingredient for the lips) inflused with hyaluronic acid (my favourite ingredient for hydration of any kind) and peppered with light reflecting pigments to leave the lips with a celestial, wet-look finish.
Lanolips Lip Water, $23
Also washing the lips in moisture are the Hourglass Unreal High Shine Volumising Lip Glosses which may have just secured their place atop my Favourite Lip Glosses list (again, I am sorry for editorialising this month’s news column). The pigments are rich, the formulas are hydrating beyond belief, and the combination of colours and shimmering pigments are inspired. While they wear almost like a liquid lipstick, they feel closer in texture to a moisturising lip treatment.
Hourglass Unreal High Shine Volumising Lip Gloss, $44
Not a favourite of mine but worth making note of (as what works for me may not work for you, and vice versa) are the Charlotte Tilbury Latex Love Lip Glosses. While they’re beautifully rich in pigment and the shine is truly unlike anything I have ever seen (Latex is an apt name), the scent and taste are not to my liking- while the scent dissipates, the taste does not.
The Icon Eyeshadow Palette, however, is one of my favourite Charlotte Tilbury releases to date. The formula feels the same as that of the Luxury Quads (rich and creamy, where the longer 12 pan palettes required a little bit more time to build up a deep colour), the colour-by-numbers design is, again, flawless, and the value for money compared to the existing Quads is almost obscene.
I have shared longer form reviews of these products on my Instagram.
Charlotte Tilbury Latex Love Lip Gloss, $49
Charlotte Tilbury Icon Palette, $105
Similarly rich in pigment is the new Stila Happy Hour Eyeshadow Palette. Containing four matte and eight shimmering pigments, each pan is vibrant and creamy with colours ranging from wearable neutrals through to mermaid-esque violets and aquamarines.
Stila Happy Hour Eyeshadow Palette, $80
A palette for the cheeks arrives this month in the form of Josie Maran’s Argan Fresh Face Paint Palette, a cream, Argan oil infused curation of two highlighters, one bronze and one blush shade. Maran’s entire collection spotlights Argan oil, and this month sees the launch of the brand’s Whipped Argan Oil Vanilla Body Butter, a body moisturiser with a Pure Argan Oil base and whipped with Shea, Avocado, White Tea and Vanilla.
Josie Maran Argan Fresh Face Paint Palette, $64
Josie Maran Whipped Argan Oil Vanilla Body Butter, $55
For face and body, the Mecca Cosmetica signature line Self-Tan Drops have arrived to turn any face or body moisturiser into a gradual false tanner, ensuring your skin receives the benefits of skincare while your tan develops. The brand’s Soft Focus Finishing Powder also lands this month, designed to diffuse the light for an almost filtered skin finish.
Mecca Cosmetica Self Tan Drops, $32
Mecca Cosmetica Soft Focus Finishing Powder, $40
For inner beauty, The Beauty Chef has launched Well Spray– a herbal, ingestible mouth spray formulated to support digestive health, beauty, immunity and wellbeing. Read our interview with The Beauty Chef’s Carla Oates here.
The Beauty Chef Well Spray, $29
Rounding out this month’s skin offering are Korres’ new arrivals for the body- the Neroli Iris Shower Gel, Neroli Iris Body Milk, Cucumber Bamboo Shower Gel and Cucumber Bamboo Body Milk.
Korres Neroli Iris Shower Gel, $19
Korres Neroli Iris Body Milk, $24
Korres Cucumber Bamboo Shower Gel, $19
Korres Cucumber Bamboo Body Milk, $24
For the home, May heralded the launch of two new home scents by Australian fragrance house Lumira. The Halcyon House Candle, like its namesake, take its cues from the beach and is rich in bright citrus notes, warm spices and sheer neroli petals. The Arabian Oud Room Spray captures the opulence of the Middle East with notes of smoke citrus and a floral core embedded in sandalwood and patchouli.
Lumira x Halcyon House Candle, $79
Lumira Arabian Oud Room Spray, $69
All products have been supplied to media without any obligation to review and all opinions are, as always, my own.
