Jo Loves... Spring 2017
Beauty Bible co-author Jo Fairley rounds up some of her favourite 'finds' over the first few months of 2017: some sensational hand products, a brilliant on-the-go blusher, and a luxe-luxe-luxe hair mask Rodin Hand Cream
I hear what you’re saying. HOW MUCH for a hand cream? But every time I’d taken a shortcut through Liberty recently, I’d been giving myself a squirt of this rich cream from Rodin – a US line started by the incredibly stylish, grey-haired grown-up Linda Rodin (whose personal account I happen to follow on Instagram @lindaandwinks). Then Liberty (one of Rodin’s handful of UK stockists) announced their Beauty Lottery, which meant that spending £75 earned you a full-size product of some kind (mine turned out to be a Skin Laundry cleanser) – and I pounced on the hand cream. (Had to be done.) It’s almost entirely natural, incredibly nourishing without being greasy (lashings of butters and oils) and has quite simply the most sublime scent of any hand cream I’ve ever used – a mixture of jasmine and orange blossom, as lovely as any perfume. The fragrance means I’ve got into the habit of slathering regularly and it’s paying dividends: my hands are way less dry. And happily, it comes with a sardine can-style ‘key’ for squeezing out every last dab of cream – which you really want, at this price. And even without the beauty lottery, this is one I’ll be replenishing.
Rodin Hand Cream/£52 for 100 ml at net-a-porter-com
Sainsbury’s Boutique Nail Polish ('As Good as Gold')
My ever-so-soft-and-smooth hands deserved showing off – so I gave them a couple of coats of this. To be honest, without any great expectations at all: this is a really, really inexpensive supermarket polish. How wrong can you be? Five days in, the soft, glimmering showed absolutely no signs of wear or chipping, when I gave it a top-up. It is a worthy replacement for my beloved Tom Ford polish in Vapor, which is akin to having pearls on your fingertips. (And I'm nearly at the end of my stockpile of that discontinued product!) At un certain age, a bit of shimmer on the fingertips is very flattering. The price of this definitely counterbalances the hand cream – but isn’t beauty all about budgetary yin and yang...?
Sainsbury’s Boutique Nail Polish/£4 in Sainsburys
SOIGNÉ Botanique Rapid Dry Spray
Sorry if it's mostly about hands, this edition – but I've changed manicurists and have been doing more of my own hand treatments, trying to lick hands into shape before Good Friday (also spud-planting day in my calendar, marking the start of the hard-on-hands gardening season). I've discovered a great new product from the eco nail company SOIGNÉ which makes the at-home manicure that bit more professional in the form of this Rapid Dry Spray: it works really fast to dry from base to top coat for a flawless finish – just two minutes and you're completely good to go. I am quite a convert to SOIGNÉ polishes, actually – 5-free, and 85% plant-sourced ingredients which deliver a super-smooth finish despite being sourced from cotton, potato, corn, wheat and wood pulp! (Have to be experienced to be believed.)
SOIGNÉ Botanique Rapid Dry Spray/£15 at soignenails.com
Louise Young Cream Blusher
Don’t know about you but later in the week I definitely start to look drab by teatime. This now lives in my handbag to put a welcome touch of healthy colour back into cheeks. The formula’s quite dry for a cream blusher – but that’s a good thing; much as I ADORE my AERIN Cream Blusher, it definitely needs reapplying regularly because it’s so, so creamy. A judiciously-blended dab of this (shade: Peony) – from a highly respected make-up artist we’ve known for aeons – perks up my whole face no end.
Louise Young Cream Blusher/£13 at louiseyoungcosmetics.com
Léonor Greyl Masque Quintessence
I’ve raved about Léonor before, and I’ll rave about her haircare till the cows come home, probably. If I'm in Paris, I have been known to head for the Léonor Greyl salon for hair treatments – incredibly re-glossing and strength-boosting (but happily, these treatments are also available at Urban Retreat, nowadays). This new übermask is super-concentrated – packed with manketti and cupuaçu oils – and has delivered amazing shine to my almost platinum-bleached highlights (and the rest of my hair). It is almost preposterously over-packaged but I plan on upcycling the hefty jar as a super-glamorous paperclip container, after it's slathered its last. And while I acknowledge it's also really, really pricy, you don't need much of the beautifully, florally-fragranced rich cream – and it is cheaper than one of her salon treatments.
Léonor Greyl Masque Quintessence/£85 for 200ml at feelunique.com