BEAUTY
As more intimate procedures are being performed than ever before, it's high time we began talking about our private parts, Beatrice Aidin shares
Once upon a time, it was common for LA surgeons to offer a 'tweakment' named, of all things, the 'designer vagina, created largely for the male gaze so that women's intimate anatomy adhered to the pornographic ideal.
“Toxic avengers” are the beauty industry’s new buzzwords. Beatrice Aidin reports on skincare products tackling air pollution.
The 5.000-vear-old SECRET TO LOOKING YOUR BEST. From resolving breakouts to glossing up lacklustre hair, the ancient Indian healing practice of Ayurveda is revolutionising today's beauty industry.
Game-changing research has unleashed the power of vitamin C in a wave of new skincare products. Beatrice Aidin reports.
The 8 Point Lift is being hailed as the new non-surgical filler treatment that can turn back the clock safely – and subtly. But does it REALLY work? Beauty journalist (and filler sceptic).
Could an oil be the missing piece in your haircare puzzle? Meet your new (old) best friend: natural oils from nuts and seeds - such as almond, coconut and sesame - have been used in Avurvedic haircare for thousands of years as a conditioner and to promote growth and scalp health.
The latest beauty products are working double time to deliver a multitude of clever functions. Here's our pick of the best one-stop wonders.
Want to look as peachy as an A-lister? Now you can sample the expertise of their go-to cosmetic gurus in the comfort of your own bathroom. Beatrice Aidin meets the doctors whose state-of-the-art skincare ranges are revolutionising anti-ageing.
The return of the perm! What happened when I got the modern version of a hair style last seen in 1986.
Throughout her thirties, beauty writer Beatrice Aidin happily went under the needle in her quest to look younger. So what happened when she got on the Botox wagon and tried to embrace ageing naturally?
HTSI BEAUTY
The special-edition Lily of the Valley & Ivy candle will raise funds for UK-based charities.
Mintd Box puts together pleasing packages of cult skincare products – and all in decent sizes
The zero-waste beauty products from New Zealand brand Ethique are impressively effective – and a smart liquid-free travel option
A limited edition make-up bag supports the UK enterprise in its work empowering women with career training
Join a panel of cosmetic experts for an evening of fine food, wine and conversation for one night only
The brands unite to create a fashion-forward cosmetics collection of multifunctional and highly pigmented limited edition essentials
Kate Evans of Angela Flanders perfumery and Vicci Bentley collaborate on Lawn, a poetic new fragrance
Cosmetic interventions are big business in the UK, worth an estimated £3.6 billion, up from £2.3 billion in 2010.
But among all the procedures on offer, one thing is missing – the government scarcely has any provision to police non-surgical cosmetic practice.
Faces change with fashion. And hallelujah, subtlety is back. “We have moved away from the pillow face or trout pout that was in vogue ten years ago,” says Dr Tapan Patel, founder and medical director of Harley Street’s PHI Clinic. “New research shows people do not want to freeze their face in time, they simply want a better version of themselves.”
When executives from Walgreens Boots Alliance rang the Nasdaq stock market opening bell in January, the occasion marked the newly merged conglomerate’s first week trading. But it also set the tone for 2015, with mergers and acquisitions (M&A) gripping the $473-billion global beauty industry.
The global brand president of Estée Lauder wants to cause a commotion. At the launch of the Estée Lauder New Dimension skincare range, Jane Hertzmark Hudis says: “We are breaking new ground and I believe by virtue of what we are creating here, we are creating a new disruption in the industry.”
Beware the toxic avengers. A gang of Marvel anti-heroes? No, but in terms of skin ageing, just as threatening. The expression refers to environmental aggressors and Mintel, who coined the catchy headline, say in a recent report: “The cosmetics industry has been awakening consumers to the immediate, visible and personal effects of pollution that threaten our skin.”
The UK beauty industry is in the pink. Employing more than one million people and worth £17 billion, it is forecast to grow 16 per cent by 2016. Despite the recession, retail sales in the UK beauty market grew 15.5 per cent from £6.1 billion in 2008 to an estimated £7.1 billion in 2013.
Marcia Kilgore knows a thing or two about being a successful female entrepreneur in the beauty industry. Founder of Bliss Spas, Soap & Glory and Fit Flop, she believes in the power of personality.Speaking at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit in London earlier this summer, she said: “If you’re an entrepreneur, find something that you really love and are passionate about, and use yourself. It’s so easy to sell that.”
Speculation may run wild about her personal life, but one thing is certain – actress Jennifer Aniston has great hair. Yet she has been mindful to not simply endorse a haircare line for the past decade, but to invest financially and become the co-owner of Living Proof, an MIT-formulated haircare range.
In an increasingly crowded jobs market, it is not just in Tokyo that ink on skin is becoming taboo
New products that provide a shortcut to striking looks with nothing more invasive than a bronzer brush. At this year’s Vogue Festival in London – a weekend of fashion interviews and discussions that took place in March, “Everyone”, says Terry Barber of MAC. “talked about ‘contouring’. I call it the [Kim] Kardashian effect.”
It’s more than 25 years since Botox burst on to the scene as a way of combating wrinkles and men are signing up for the treatment in growing numbers. “From 2011 to 2013, men having Botox rose over 200 per cent in my clinics and the number continues to rise,” says Patrick Bowler, medical director of Courthouse Clinics in the UK. “Now 20 per cent of my clients are male.”
Companies are changing tack - its no longer about miracle results but raising self-esteem
My forehead is furrowed, my upper lip slightly resembles a bar code, and there are wrinkles around my eyes. I am thrilled. It’s six months since I gave up Botox – seven years after I first became a human pin cushion. And here’s the weird thing: I swear my skin has never looked better.
On-screen hair can make a star’s performance. Meet the stylists behind the toupees and tresses
On-screen hair can make a star’s performance. Meet the stylists behind the toupees and tresses.
Autumn is the season not only of new looks on the catwalk but also of new looks on the small and silver screens as the television companies and Hollywood unveil their latest programmes and Oscar hopefuls. For what happens on TV and in cinemas can be at least as influential as what is shown on the runway. And as screen stylists strive to create believable characters, perhaps their most important craft or skill is hairstyling – and wigs.
As Valentine’s day – with its traditional extravaganza of chocolate buying – looms, it appears the beauty industry has also been embracing the sweet stuff. Vivienne Rudd of market researcher Mintel says the company recorded more than 370 “cacao-containing bodycare products” in 2013, adding to the 1,350 launched between 2004 and 2012. “The number of facial skincare products featuring cacao rose 10 per cent to 180 in 2013,” says Rudd. And the difference between these products and, say, Green & Black’s confectionery? Most do not smell of chocolate.
The industry is stepping out of the shadows of London Fashion Week with a new initiative,