A friend of mine texted me to ask my opinion on a foundation the other day. It was a good one, and I said as much. “What about on redness though?” she asked. “It’s good,” our other pal replied before I got there, and what followed was a lengthy chat about rosacea and redness. These are skin issues thousands of Irish people deal with, as they are most common in fair, sun-sensitive skin.
Basically, those of us with Celtic skin are fragile little flowers, who are too delicate for this world. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with red skin, per se, but there are lots of makeup wearers like my friend, who want to cancel it out. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to do that.
I’m not always a fan of primers, but when it comes to cancelling redness, a good foundation under your, eh, foundation can go a long way. You’ll find that lots of these products are green, as it sits directly opposite red on the colour wheel. A light layer of green can help to neutralise your canvas before applying other products.
Dr. Jart+ Cicapair Tiger Grass Colour Correcting Treatment
Dr. Jart+ Cicapair Tiger Grass Colour Correcting Treatment (from €18 via cultbeauty.com) is excellent. This cream is green in the pot, then changes to a light beige upon application. It soothes irritation and leaves the skin smooth and hydrated as well as evening out the skin tone. Cicapair works well on its own or under makeup, and is best patted into the complexion. The people who love this are almost evangelical about its impact on their lives, some say they don’t even bother with foundation anymore, such is its effectiveness.
Clinique’s Redness Solutions Daily Protective Base
Clinique’s Redness Solutions Daily Protective Base (€29 via brownthomas.com) is another good option. It’s oil-free and excellent for sensitive skin as it’s allergy tested and contains anti-inflammatory ingredients.
IT Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC+ Cream SPF 50
When it comes to makeup for redness and rosacea, I always think of IT Cosmetics. Its founder Jamie Kern Lima started the company as a response to her struggle to find effective products to cover her rosacea.
As a result, the brand’s Your Skin But Better CC+ Cream SPF 50 (€31.92 via boots.ie) is the perfect product for skin prone to redness. It offers excellent coverage and acts as a colour corrector for redness as well as skincare ingredients which will improve the skin’s health over time. I have recommended this to countless people over the years and it always gets rave reviews.
Sculpted by Aimee’s Second Skin foundation (€27 via sculptedbyaimee.com) is also a great option. It’s a mineral formula which means it will work well on sensitive skin, and also contains skin-calming ingredients like aloe vera oil and lavender oil extracts. Both Second Skin and Your Skin But Better come in multiple formulas, so lots of skin types are catered for.
A good setting spray will keep whatever products you choose in place so your redness doesn’t peek through over the course of the day. I don’t think they all work wonders, but I have found the
Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Setting Spray (€32 via charlottetilbury.com) to be genuinely effective. It’s oil-free, lightweight (once it’s dried, I can’t feel it at all), and formulated with soothing and hydrating ingredients like Japanese green tea and aloe vera, so won’t irritate your sensitive skin. Spray the face relatively liberally after applying your makeup, and once it dries, your products staying power will be significantly boosted.
You know when you meet someone and they smell so good that they immediately become elevated in your mind? You suddenly feel, with certainty, that they’ve got it all together, and function on a higher plane than a mere mortal like you? Maybe it’s just me. If so, let me tell you I had this experience when I met someone I was about to interview. I kept it together for the professional part of the interaction, but I had to know what fragrance they were wearing. It was Eau des Sens, by Diptyque (€130 via brownthomas.com).
The fragrance centres around orange blossom, juniper berry, angelica and patchouli, and you better believe I made a beeline for it when I next had a chance (in Dublin Airport). Initially when I tried it, I thought ‘Oh no, it’s only magical on her’. It smelled green and spicey, but once it settled it became softer and almost powdery.
I had the opportunity to spend some time with experts from Kilian Paris, a luxury fragrance brand with an intensely loyal following. This brand centres entirely around its founder, Kilian Hennessy (of the cognac Hennessy). Each fragrance is formulated by him, from the packaging to the ingredients.
The latest release is Can’t Stop Loving You. North African orange blossom is the centrepiece of the fragrance, along with honey from Provence, vanilla absolute from Madagascar and incense extract from Somalia. Available from Brown Thomas and bykilian.co.uk from January 30, it costs €213.
Cream contour is all the rage these days, with every brand worth its salt having a product on offer. Many Irish people were ahead of the game though, and have been using a cream contour stick for years, thanks to the excellent offering from Suzanne Jackson’s SoSu.
The brand’s Cream Stick Contour (€12.95 via sosubysj.com) comes in just two shades, Cool and Warm, so it won’t necessarily work on every skin tone, but the formula is super. It blends beautifully and works well with other cream, liquid and powder products.
