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.”

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.