RUBY REVEALS | LIGHTEN THE LOAD SPRING TRENDS 2024

Make friends with your features this Spring, celebrate the return of radiant glowing skin. Embrace light as air luminous bases, cream cheek colours and featherweight mascaras for a complexion that exudes vitality and freshness. 

PREP | CLEANSE, EXFOLIATE, HYDRATE AND PROTECT

In the realm of skincare, achieving luminous, radiant skin often feels like a mystical pursuit. With a plethora of potions and elixirs promising transformative results, it's essential to tailor our approach to suit our individual needs while adhering to fundamental skincare steps.

• Cleanse: Gentle on the skin, micellar water  is formulated with micelles - tiny cleansing molecules suspended in soft water - that act as magnets for dirt, oil and impurities. Using a clean cotton pad, or reusable cloth sweep away makeup residue and grime without the need for harsh scrubbing or rinsing.
• Exfoliate: Buff away old skin cells with a gentle exfoliating acid. Working over the skin, focusing on dry areas. The New Gentle Acid by Skin Rocks is a blend of AHAs and PHA for a comfortable experience without damaging the skin barrier.
• Hydrate: Serums have a thinner consistency than moisturiser and are great at delivering active ingredients, whereas moisturisers are thicker and create a barrier to lock in hydration. I love to use a combination of both, leaving a beat in between to allow time for them to sink in. Bobbi Brown's Vitamin Enriched Range is an artist approved regimen with niacinamide, vitamin c, hyaluronci acid and shea butter to keep skin looking its best. I also love Kiehls, Curel, Augustinus Bader... depending on what my skin needs at the time. You will know when you are finished - when you are glowing, but not greasy. Don't forget to add eye drops into your routine for brighter eyes. My two favourites are Imidazyl and Lumify, but both are from abroad. In the UK I buy Murine eye brightening drops from Boots.
• Protect: If you are doing your skincare for the day ahead, don't forget to add in sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or above. 

BASE | CORRECT, FOUNDATION and CONCEAL

This Spring lighten the load, reducing the coverage of your base products for lightweight, fresh formulas. Switch out the heavy matte foundations for skin tints, serum foundations and tinted moisturisers for a more natural finish.

Work from the centre of the face outwards using a small brush, suitable for blending and buffing the formula in. Armani Luminous Silk, Shiseido Revitalessence Skin Glow and Lumene CC Colour Correcting Cream SPF20 are all great examples of buildable formulas, with coverage that looks like your skin at its best.

Work in thin light layers, layering rather than applying as one thicker base. To remove excess base, use a dampened Beauty Blender to pick up product sitting on the surface.

After applying foundation, take a good look in a mirror... are there blemishes that require extra coverage? Using a small fluffy blending brush work in concealer only where required. If you feel short on time you can use your fingers to work the concealer into the base, pressing or tapping in rather than rubbing. My favourite concealers are: Makeup by Mario SurrealSkin Awakening Concealer, Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer, Kosas Revealer Concealer

If you require colour correction, this step needs to be prior to any other base product. It disguises discolouration where concealer doesn't cut it. The rules are simple you want to neutralise the colour on the skin, before applying concealer in the same tone as your skin over the top.

• To correct pink: Use yellow
• To correct red: Use green
• To correct dark spots (blue / brown/ purple): Use Peach or orange

BLUSH

EYES | COLOUR, CURL AND DEFINE

This season, embrace either soft neutrals or playful pastels to adorn your eyes. The new generation of cream shadow sticks provide long-lasting coverage that can work on it's own or as a base to a more playful shade. 

Vieve Eye Wand in Sand and Victoria Beckham Eye Wear in trench are great examples of gorgeous taupey colours that will suit everyone. Blend in with your fingertips for a soft finish that will last all day. For playful pastels The Charlotte Tilbury Beautyverse Palette has 9 eyeshadows in pinks, lilacs and soft metallics wear alone, or apply over a taupe to make it pop.

Add in definition with one of the new wave of eyeliners in soft cinnamon reddy browns or nuder tones, just along the waterline for a better than bare finish that keeps lashes looking lush.

Lashes are set to be featherweight this season, fluttery and defined. Using a micro brush, sweep through the lashes from the top first before coating the underside wiggling through each lash to coat them without leaving them clumpy. For a softer finish Sweed Lash Lift in brown provides lighter definition without the dramatic impact of black.

LIPS | LINE & DEFINE

Embrace the spirit of spring with blossom inspired hues, pinks, corals, fuchsia's in glossy finishes or berries that command attention. Summer Friday Lip Oil in pink cloud delivers a cherry blossom high-shine finish with deep hydration.

Milan Fashion Week changed the tone, opting for lived in berry shades as a contrast to the soft pastels usually associated with spring. Apply Ruby Hammer Lip Serum Balm in Berry to the centre of the lips and work outwards for a just been kissed look.

In the world of beauty, there are no rules - only endless possibilities waiting to be explored!