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Cities are dirty, business is dirty, politics is dirty but you can still start small with a New Year's Resolution to keep your face clean. There's something pure and innocent about pledging to, at the very least, scrub your face going into 2020. Here's the WIRED edit (women's edition) of the products and devices to upgrade your skincare and beauty routine.
Don’t do it for the selfies, do it to feel spick and span to the point of smugness. This nifty Bluetooth-connected beauty product boosts your cleansing routine with refreshing face vibes that soon get addictive. Apply your cleanser, choose from 12 intensities - we rarely went past five - and a time limit, and move the softly buzzing bristles around your face in circular motions to put paid to oil, dirt and gym sweat. Or go for the intense, 30-second "glow mode". Portable and refreshing, its fresh-face credentials are apparent within days of use.
Foreo warns against clay-based cleansers to avoid clumping up the non-porous, silicone bristles; we’d recommend Caudalie’s light, gentle Instant Foaming Cleanser instead.
Price: £15 | Caudalie | John Lewis | Selfridges
If we all must venture out in the cold in search of parties, skip the lipstick and double up on perfume and body art with Amkiri’s two-in-one inks. Paint patterns with the unisex fragrance, which combines ginger oil, juniper berry, spearmint, musk and cedarwood notes, on to your neck, décolletage and wrists with the intricate stencils. Available in charcoal and white, the hypoallergenic inks are sweat-proof and last 12 hours.
Price: from £46 (10ml) | Feel Unique
New York-based beauty unicorn Glossier, valued at $1.2 billion earlier this year, now ships to the UK with a brick-and-mortar pop-up in London until January. While we’re tempted by its shiny Futuredew oil serum hybrid (£23), the bestselling instant classic Boy Brow is our pick for winter. The brow "pomade" comes in four shades - clear, blonde, brown and black - and is just gooey enough to whip things into shape without looking overdone. Even better when paired with the new Brow Flick microfine detailing pen (£15). For fluffy, fuss-free brows.
Price: £14 | Glossier
For those less interested in a quick perk-me-up, and more concerned with throwing experimental tech at problem skin areas, the Déesse Pro light therapy LED face mask - of Instagram fame - is out on its own. The mask employs 770 surface-mounted LEDs, with two intensity settings and six modes for 10-minute ‘treatments’ aimed at brightening, calming, acne-reducing and anti-ageing via red, green, blue and near-infrared wavelengths. Oddly relaxing – and Kardashian-approved, for what it's worth.
Price: £600, from £25 as treatment at spas/clinics | Deesse Pro
CBD oil is the new darling of the beauty industry; it’s everywhere, and regulators haven’t quite caught up yet. If you’re looking to dip into the trend to see for yourself, Apothem is an accessible new line of skincare products, exclusive to Harvey Nichols at launch, which blends CBD isolate and botanicals. Its soothing Multi balm contains green tea extract and mango butter - plus it’s vegan.
Price: From £15 (15ml) | Harvey Nichols
So long make-up counters, hello on-demand beauty
Beautystack is half social network, half treatment-booking system which sounds like it shouldn’t work, but it very much does. Founder Sharmadean Reid has built an app where you can just as easily land on a "learn to braid" masterclass as pick out home skin treatments and roving make-up and nail artists, all with Instagram-style feeds so you can see exactly what you’re signing up for. Beauty is painless?
With close to 2,000 beauty brands on its books, Cosmetify lets you search hair, skin and make-up products by finish, format, ingredients, "free from" credentials, skin type and, of course, price. It’s particularly handy for ethically minded shoppers looking to discover new and cult brands that fit specific criteria, whether that’s vegan, organic or microbead-free.
For beauty routines that have gone slightly stale, Birchbox’s seasonally themed subscription boxes are a mix of mascaras, moisturisers and eye masks. Each box contains five products, while a beauty profile drives a degree of personalisation. Competition is stiff in beauty boxes these days, but Birchbox’s headstart shows with the calibre of its partners. Did someone say "gift to self"?
Price: From £38.85 for three months | Birchbox
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This article was originally published by WIRED UK
