I’m unlikely to turn to makeup brands for active skincare, but rarely make up without first applying one of their illuminating day creams
Something curious is happening in beauty, whereby many of the big skincare brands are seeing little growth in sales, while figures for skincare products sold by companies specialising in makeup are through the roof (Charlotte Tilbury’s Magic Cream being a case in point). One would expect women to gravitate towards expertise, clinical trials and specialism in the area of skincare, but when you consider the impatient, selfie-obsessed culture in which we live, perhaps we should have seen this coming.
Consumers want instant gratification. They’re less interested in waiting three months for retinol to take effect when they could slap on a blurring balm and see instantly smoother skin. Likewise, a brightening vitamin C serum may not seem as appealing as a radiance cream that mimics the former’s long-term effects, albeit only until one’s night-time cleanse. Greedy by nature, I choose both. I’m unlikely to turn to makeup brands for active skincare, but rarely make up without first applying one of their illuminating day creams. These are moisturisers, as comforting as regular versions, only with added light reflecting particles to give complexions glow. The most famous is, quite rightly, Mac’s Strobe Cream (£24.50), a corker of a day cream for all skin types (if you’re dry, layer over something richer). Classic Strobe has shimmery pink undertones, but my pleas have been answered with four new colour-ways. My favourite is Goldlight, a pearlescent gold.
Related: Beauty: a fantastic foundation stick (and a brilliant brow pencil) | Sali Hughes
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