Back to school beauty

Our youngest-ever beauty correspondent gives us news from the (beauty) playground.. Unlike our (some-time-ago) schooldays when scrubbed pimples were the only acceptable look, today’s teens are encouraged to ‘express their creativity’ – as one cosmetic junkie told her mother - on their faces.

So we asked 16-year-old Beth Hindhaugh - who is just starting her AS courses in London and is co-author of 100 Ways for Every Girl to Look and Feel Fantastic (Walker Books, £9.99), for her tips on the products that really pull their weight – and the make-up that will take you through the day.

(Beth’s mother and co-author is our friend Alice Hart-Davis, a leading beauty journalist and also founder of the teen skincare range Good Things.)  Here’s Beth’s advice:

Like most teenagers, I get through a lot of cleansing wipes and love my mum’s Good Things Total Wipe Out cleansing wipes (£3.99, Tesco) which are thick and soft but – as she’s told me often enough - wipes aren’t enough on their own for cleansing, so for that I like…

Proactiv skincare (from £39.98 for the four-piece starter kit) especially the cleanser and also the refining mask (both in the kit), which always leaves my skin feeling great.

One recent discovery which I really like is Skinetica/£9.99 at www.skinetica.co.uk:  a brilliant new kind of anti-blemish lotion that I dab on with cotton wool twice a day which keeps my skin super clean and gets rid of spots quickly. It’s really gentle on the skin and works by denaturing the bacteria that provoke acne without drying out or damaging the rest of the skin.

We are allowed to wear make-up to school (we have no uniform) but I don’t usually want to wear too much. These are my favourite things:

bareMinerals SPF15 Foundation Powder/£25 from www.bareminerals.co.uk) is great because it is really light so it covers up blemishes and absorbs oiliness without looking too obvious.

L’Oréal Color Riche Le Khol eyeliners/£4.39 from Boots and Superdrug. I have several of these - they are really soft and easy to apply, so you can use them for a gentle smudge of colour as well as for a stronger brighter line. A lot of my friends are really into black eyeliner but I find it looks too heavy on me (I have grey-blue eyes and very pale skin) so I prefer coloured eyeliner. Mum is always telling me that purple looks good with blue eyes but I prefer blues and greens.  My favourites are the Azure Blue — it's a pretty colour and doesn't overwhelm my eyes — and Rainforest Green.

17 Photo Flawless Lashes in Black/£5.99 at www.boots.com.  This is a good intense black with a curved brush applicator, which makes it easy to apply. The formula isn't too thick so it gives my lashes extra volume without making them clump together when it goes on.

Revlon Just Bitten 2-in-1 Lip Balm & Stain in Flame/£7.99 at www.revlon.co.uk. This is easy to put on neatly and it stays put. Flame is a good light bright colour but not so in-your-face as some lipsticks. It also has a balm attached so it doesn’t dry your lips out.

So:  have a gorgeous term!