There is a dominant trend in beauty at the moment, and that is ultra-dewy skin.
I mean, really dewy. Shiny. One might even say greasy if one is being not very nice.
Where once it was “it” bags, it is now “it” skincare products, from Augustinus Bader or Drunk Elephant or vegan whatever and, of course, costly monthly treatments by celebrity facialists.
All the influencers and models and reality stars appear to want “glass skin”, a Korean beauty trend that promotes a clear, dewy complexion, akin to crystal and achieved with various skin-polishing acids, brightening vitamin C creams and retinol products, plus a bunch of glow-boosting botanicals.
This is especially popular with the young people who already have perfect skin, bless them and their bank balances. There is nothing I like better than a new jar of skin cream or 20, but the glassy, over-moisturised look is a challenging look for the over 50s.
Legendary supermodel, 77-year-old Lauren Hutton summed it up perfectly recently when asked about her beauty routine.
“I put on a matte moisturizer that’s not shiny because if it’s shiny on old skin, you are basically putting runway lights in your lines” she said matter-of-factly. “You don’t want to do that. You do not want shiny skin at all”.
Whoa! She’s right. That sent me into a deep dive on the internet for beauty tips from other women I admire — stylish women such as Jane Birkin (74) and Isabella Rossellini (68) — and I have specifics to share:
Jane recommends anything from Sisley. Lauren likes a retinol product, like StriVectin. I like (checks today’s favourite … anything from La Prairie). Richer creams are great for night, but opt for matte textures for day.
- A very, very light foundation. My tip, bareMinerals Complexion Rescue Tinted Hydrating Gel Cream. Jane (I feel like we’re friends now) recommends a foundation stick from Westman Atelier. They also wear concealer, in a stripe down their nose, so I’m going to do that too, obviously.
- They agreed that your lip colour needs to look healthy and rosy and resemble the lips of a four-year-old child, which is slightly weird, but anyhow, that apparently can be created by using a M.A.C. lip pencil in Soar, and a Clinique Almost Lipstick in Black Honey. Isabella likes a red lip and uses Lancôme Merlot 188.
- Black eye pencil. We all agree that heavy eye makeup is not helpful on older women, but a black kohl pencil used on the very edge of the eyelid, between the lashes, opens the eyes without getting too Joan Crawford.
- Eyebrow pencil, not to go all sculpted and creative, just to fill in any missing hairs. You can’t go wrong with Revlon.
That was basically it. Nobody wanted a facelift, Isabella gets bored during facials, and no one discussed contouring powders. I’ve joined the right beauty club.
