Lotions and potions to make you grin including a beauty enhancing gin, and something, ’em, down below, for the men. Triona McCarthy has us all in a beauty spin.
Most wanted
Can we take a moment to appreciate the beautifully packaged Urban Decay Naked Skin Shapeshifter palette, €47.50. It has everything you need to contour, colour-correct and highlight, with different tones and textures in either Light Medium or Medium Dark, and it works beautifully on eyes as well, so it’s a great one for travelling, and when you need to cut down on clutter. Top Tip: To really make highlighter pop, use cream, then powder on top.
All brow down to Michelle
We need to talk about Phi Brows – Michelle Keegan is a fan. It’s the most natural-looking type of microblading – a form of tattooing – and it’s oh-so popular at the mo.
Now, there are only a few Phi Brow-trained artists in Ireland, and according to my sources, the person peeps rave about is Aisling Powell, twice winner of Brow Artist of the Year.
Aisling uses the slimmest blade on the market to create tiny, precise hair strokes, mimicking the natural direction and length of the brow hairs, and the effect lasts between 12 and 18 months. See empowerbyaisling.com
CollaGin has us in a loop
Oooh! Let the fun beGIN!
There’s a new gin in town, or maybe out on the town. Distilled with pure collagen, it’s called CollaGin – and no, I’m not drunk and telling lies! The ‘beauty drink du jour’ is distilled using botanicals, including star anise, pink grapefruit, orris, vanilla, pink peppercorn, and collagen, of course.
If you’re going to drink gin, why not drink one with added benefits? It’s the dream sitch, really!
CollaGin, €60, available at theloop.ie
Triona’s trick
A simple way to change your look is to switch your hair parting. I recently swapped mine to the opposite side and the result is fantastic.
The hair looks much fresher at my new parting and I’ve more volume. G’wan, give it a go!
Cult product
Forty-five years after launching Herbal Essences, the naturally inspired hair-care brand, new Herbal Essences bio:renew combines nature with science, as well as being budget friendly and beautifully scented.
There are seven shampoos and conditioners, all €7.49 each, designed to address every hair type. The range, which is free from colourants and parabens, utilises the antioxidant histidine, which protects hair from the inside out by neutralizing and removing the build-up of free radicals that wreck your hair.
Triona’s top trends
My name should be Betty, I’m so sweaty! Like, full-body sweaty. Not, eh, cool. I’m really bad in nervy situations. Apologies again if you’re reading this, Gigi Hadid, for sweating so much when I met you at NYC Fashion Week.
I like Mitchum Advanced Women Powder Fresh Roll-On Anti-Perspirant/Deodorant, above, from €2.75, which works for 48 hours.
• Top tips
1. To stop excessive sweat on problem areas, like your face – or maybe it’s behind your knees, or wherever -then apply antiperspirant deodorant to those areas. Obvs, use a separate stick of deodorant for your face.
2. Apply antiperspirant right before you go to bed, as antiperspirant works by blocking sweat ducts, preventing the moisture from escaping.
Applying it in the morning just means your body is more likely to sweat before the antiperspirant has had time to block those ducts. Leave it to ‘set’, as such, and it should last 24 hours, even after a shower.
Finally, for the boys! Oh, the fun I had when someone sent me this Below the Belt Grooming Fresh & Dry Balls, €7.99. My tester, who refuses to be named here, told me it goes on as a gel and is quickly absorbed, leaving a fine dusting of a talc-like powder. Nuts, I know!
*This piece first appeared in the Sunday Independent Life Magazine on July 2nd 2017*