Beauty Clinic: Talking Talc

Q. I love body powder and lotion that matches my perfume. I know Chanel and Estée Lauder do a couple but could you recommend something not quite so pricey. I used to like Simple talc but can’t find it any longer do you know if it has been discontinued? A. So far as we can make out, Simple talc has been discontinued. Talc ebbs and flows in popularity, not least because of health concerns that have been raised in the US over the use of asbestos-free talcum powder in the genital area, and the possible increased risks of ovarian cancer, which you can read and make up your mind about here.

As a result, products based on corn starch are rising in popularity as an alternative to talc.  However, as yet those ‘luxury’ brands haven’t embraced this really very acceptable ingredient in their products. So we’re not honestly sure that you’ll find a talc-free body powder that exactly ‘matches’ your fragrance. Instead, you might want to try these sense-pleasing options...

We particularly like the jasmine-scented Lush Silky Underwear Dusting Powder, £4.95 for 60 g, which also offers cocoa butter to keep skin soft. This would work well with any floral fragrance. Crabtree & Evelyn Summer Hill Talc-Free Dusting Powder, £10 for 75g, offers notes of mown grass and flowers – again, a good ‘echo’ of many florals, and is made from a blend of corn, rice and oat flowers. (You can also find it in their more fruitily floral Nantucket Briar fragrance.) We also like the relatively unscented Dr.Hauschka Silky Body Powder, £21 for 50 g.

There are other scented steps in the ‘layering’ routine you can enjoy without spending a fortune – Yardley, for instance, offer some wonderful options with a wide range of different scents (everything from body lotion and deodorant through to eau de toilette), with scents including Lily of the Valley, Rose, April Violets and more, which you can find at www.yardleylondon.com. (They do also offer a talc-based powder.)