Innehållsförteckning för September 2019 från Allure

I always tell my husband that I don’t have an attachment to stuff. I like material things, but typically in a house purge, I freely and unemotionally toss items into the “these don’t spark joy” pile. If I haven’t worn clothing in more than a year, off it goes to Goodwill. I try to live as paper-free as possible. Souvenirs and trip mementos? I prefer longer-lasting digital photos that can be filed away and viewed regularly. Yet I’m still perpetually overrun by stuff. With two kids and a sentimental husband, our drawers and cabinets runneth over. (And as the kids get bigger—and their clothes get bigger—the laundry! My God, the laundry!) It’s not helped by the fact that I bring home shopping bags filled with beauty products to test almost…

On being “an only”: When we talk about diversity in fashion and beauty, we often don’t talk about diversity behind the scenes: stylists, photographers, makeup artists. I’m often the only black woman on set. I’ll remember doing the Pirelli calendar [shoot] with an all-black cast—RuPaul, Lupita Nyong’o—for the rest of my life. On hacking her commute: I like to put on eye patches—the ones from KNC Beauty—in the car on the way to a shoot to make sure I’m looking alive and alert. On her beauty blind spot: Putting on fake eyelashes. I love the look of individuals, but I can’t do them to save my life, so having a mascara that can do the job is really important. L’Oréal’s Unlimited mascara is great. On blowing off steam: The first…

I can’t think of many things in my life that I wish were more tense, but the skin around my eyes is one of them. Enter La Prairie’s Skin Caviar Eye Lift. The firming serum not only looks and feels fancy—the dual-chamber bottle houses amino acids, ceramides, and peptide-containing beads on one side and a silky gel-cream base on the other—it also made my under-eyes look fresher immediately. A few weeks in, they were less puffy—an oft-advertised (but seldom realized) eye cream feat.…

rainbow brights If you’ve seen one French manicure, you’ve seen them all—except when that French manicure is colorful and abstract. Then you’ve got a whole new look (and it’s a whole lot more fun). Manicurist Yukie Miyakawa used a nail-art detailing brush to outline each nail in a different rainbowinspired shade. (The brights look most striking over a neutral manicure in a shade that’s slightly lighter than your skin.) Keep a separate brush dipped in acetone on hand for easy cleanups, seal with a topcoat, and finish with stacks on stacks of vivid rings. bling, bling Diamonds are forever, but so is the first photo you share of your engagement ring. Double down on the sparkle with our favorite fall nail-color trend, which just happens to be something blue (sorry,…

GOLD RUSH Doubling down on gold is always a safe bet: Without the iridescence, it’s basically a neutral; with the iridescence, it’s a million bucks. (Or, at press time, about $1,500 an ounce.) TOUCH THE SKY Robin’s-egg eye shadow on its own calls to mind the makeup of the 1980s. With a matching coat, it calls to mind the runways of tomorrow. WELL RED It’s the easiest way to reinvent red lipstick—match to a red dress and play with texture (like a wispy fabric against glossy lips).…

“REMEMBER THAT A SMILE IS YOUR BIGGEST ASSET. ALWAYS GO IN CONFIDENT.” The first step is scoring the interview in the first place, and for that, Gabriela Thorne just sent in her (stellar) résumé. After she’d done her research and run through some sample interview questions, it was time to choose a look that inspired major confidence. One thing Gabriela didn’t have to worry about? Getting a brilliant smile — her go-to whitener is Crest’s 3D White. Here are the rest of the products the assistant to Allure’s editor in chief (yep, she landed the job!) relied on to make her look—and feel—her best.…

Is it frustrating to express yourself in a medium that dies almost immediately? “Well, that’s part of the magic of it. Flowers die, but the part you’re excited about is the ephemeral part. How they’re beautiful and enchanting.” What catches your eye at market? “An oddity. A branch-y or irregular shape rather than a highly produced crop flower that comes out looking identical.” What makes the perfect arrangement? “A wad of one spectacular flower in a great vase. I like cut glass—it’s a bit optical, so you don’t focus on the stems.” Why do people like flowers? “I was always drawn to the color and the smell as a child. It brings the outside inside. Or if you’re outside, you can glorify your outside. Also, flowers are sex organs. It’s…

HEART OF GLASS “What is that?” you ask, staring at this photo. Some kind of flattened jewel? What the ectoplasmic soul of an iPhone would look like if iPhones believed in the afterlife? You would be not only wrong but foolish—this is a beauty magazine, and that is Lancôme Idôle. The 15-millimeter-thick bottle can only lay prone, as if in a constant state of relaxation—the blush liquid-filled glass is rimmed with blush-ier gold that gives a rosy tint to anything viewed through its prism. This makes it a beautiful object and a stunning worldview, with jasmine notes so crisp, it could shatter if you’re not careful.…

The original Industrial Strength Boi-ing cream concealer has been around since 1995. It was one of the first products from Benefit that people actually talked about. Before, concealers were a dirty little secret. That little Boi-ing pot was different. It felt like a second skin: not too wet, not too creamy. It was gentle enough to use under eyes or over redness after a brow wax, but heavy-duty enough to cover zits. It was easy to apply, and it didn’t move. We spent two years working on the new liquid version of Boi-ing, called Cakeless, because the bar was high. Cakeless can be used all over, but the intense pigments give full coverage without thickness, so it’s ideal for the under-eyes. Since it’s the full coverage to the original’s medium,…

The original soothing, skin-softening petroleum jelly has been around since the 1800s, but Vaseline wants you to know that it can still let loose and have a good time. The limited-edition Gold Dust tin, which is about the size of a sand dollar, is filled with a peach-colored balm dotted with a constellation of tiny gold flecks. Just like you’d expect, it leaves lips silky, moisturized, and (if you look really, really closely) faintly sparkling. Tapped across the cheekbones, it also makes a thoroughly modern highlighter. Who says a centenarian can’t get down?…

I’ve had Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer in my makeup bag—and my travel makeup bag, and occasionally my desk drawer—for longer than I’ve known my husband. (Impressive, considering our courtship lasted a full decade.) It’s my most trusted beauty product: It makes my cheekbones look dewy but not obviously highlighted, and evens out my redness and sun spots without seeming makeup-y. So I was totally unprepared for the news that it would be discontinued and replaced by a new formula in stores this month. My first thought was, How many tubes should I stockpile to keep me covered until 2080? (I’m planning a long life.) My second: Maybe I could give the new one a chance? Changing a branddefining product is a high-stakes game—Laura Mercier herself rejected the first 67 iterations…

50: Approximate number of years cosmetics magnates Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein were professional rivals. (The two likely never met in person.) 1: Rumored instance of Coco Chanel guiding Elsa Schiaparelli into a chandelier of candles at a party. Guests kindly spritzed her with soda water to quash the flames. 1,000,000: YouTube subscribers beauty vlogger James Charles lost in one night after a video from his former mentor, Tati Westbrook, went viral. The core of their argument: He promoted her competitor’s gummy vitamin line. 50,000,000+: Number of views of Westbrook’s video before it was taken down. (Almost three times the audience of the Game of Thrones season 8 premiere.) 1,140: Light-years from Earth that researchers discovered a pair of feuding stars. The fight probably began when one of the stars…

THE DEAL SEEKER Jody Pinson, Walmart As beauty buyer for this megastore, Pinson says she’s on the hunt “for life’s little luxuries at the best prices.” And right now that means: “Bath bombs. Everyone should just take a bath and relax. Hallu Magical Bath Bomb is one of our most popular.” Her newest finds: “Sky Organics is a wonderful skin-care brand made with natural and organic ingredients, and Evolution 18 is [makeup artist] Bobbi Brown’s line of supplements.” On trend scouting: “I scour the globe for niche products. Three years ago, one item kept coming up in my travels to Japan and Korea, and then I saw it again at Cosmoprof [beauty expo] in Italy: sheet masks. They were small and could be sold at a great price point, so…

I recently joined much of Instagram in Holland during the six weeks each year that the country becomes a rainbow checkerboard of tulip fields. Here are things I now know about these highly photographable flowers. (I will impart my new understanding of bikes and canals at a later date.) 1. They are one of the only flowers that keeps growing—up to an inch or more—after you cut them. 2. They can hold their entire weight in water. 3. They have up to seven times more DNA than humans. My tutor was Kim Jensen, an unlikely candidate to be the world’s foremost authority on tulips in beauty. She was born and raised in Australia. Her parents met in a refugee camp in Thailand. She has spent much of her adult life…

At eye level, Sephora is an onslaught of retina-searing marketing, beautiful models with faces the texture of dinner plates, punctuated by still lifes for Sephora’s Favorites, on top of every single beauty product you have ever seen, plus a million more you haven’t but have heard of, plus about 1,000 more, the existence of which has never crossed your mind. And below it all, inches above the floor, are squat, unmarked drawers with hidden handles that contain even more products. These drawers do not invite perusal. And yet June Diane Raphael is not afraid to peruse them. This is how she finds a tube of Make Up For Ever lipstick in Candy Pink, an aggressively bright shade like the one her character wears on Netflix’s Grace and Frankie. (Not infrequently,…

Almost every foodie buzzword—organic, gluten-free, vegan—eventually migrates from the frozen-goods section to the beauty aisle. The latest to make the leap: cold-pressed. Once the hallmark of truly expensive juices everywhere, the term is now proudly printed on face oils and creams. Saying something is cold-pressed means it was processed or extracted without involving high heat levels, which can destroy good-for-your-skin things like proteins and the fats in oils, says cosmetic chemist Ginger King. But that’s not to suggest you have to worry about all the skin-care products that aren’t cold-pressed: Cosmetic chemists know to keep formulas below 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) so that ingredients aren’t compromised during the formulation. Still, seeing “cold-pressed” can be an indicator of the quality of ingredients in a formula, particularly for oils: “Cold-pressing…

That sleek, midnight blue tube? It’s Secret’s latest antiperspirant and deodorant, and it’s ready to hold its own in your next #shelfie. It’s cooler on the inside too. Instead of relying on typical deo aromas (powder fresh! spring blossom!), the new Secret With Essential Oils line taps (you guessed it) essential oils to scent the traditional Secret formula. The result is four deodorants—Lavender + Eucalyptus, Coconut Oil + Mandarin, Rose + Charcoal, and Cedarwood + Citrus—that smell like their namesakes, and not like a synthetic cloud. We tried Rose + Charcoal, which smelled not so much like charcoal but very much like sticking your nose in a real rose bloom. One caveat: Essential oils can cause irritation, says New York City dermatologist Marnie Nussbaum. The levels in these sticks were…

DUPIXENT, the first eczema treatment of its kind, is not a steroid. It is a biologic treatment that helps manage the inflammation deep beneath the surface that causes the flare-ups you see and feel on your skin- and keeps working, even when your skin looks clear. In Two Clinical Trials with Adults Taking DUPIXENT* • Nearly half of patients saw 75%skin improvement and some even saw 90%improvement • Almost 4 times more patients taking DUPIXENT saw clear or almost clear skin as compared with those not taking DUPIXENT – 37% taking DUPIXENT as compared with 10% not taking DUPIXENT • Patients experienced significant itch reduction, some patients as early as 2 weeks *16-week trials compared to placebo. Learn more. Talk to your eczema specialist. Visit DUPIXENT.com, or call 1-844-DUPIXENT (1-844-387-4936).…

GET YOUR FIRST BOX FOR $10 ($82 VALUE) allure.com/box Plus, all new members will receive a Viktor&Rolf Flowerbomb mini replica. The September box includes Laura Mercier Translucent Setting Powder or Nars Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Dolce Vita.…

CANNABIDIOL noun, kan-eh-buh-die-el This compound, known as CBD, is derived from the cannabis plant. CBD has been shown to help shield the body from oxidative stress (which can cause cell damage and disease). Anecdotally, some claim it’s anti-inflammatory and can help relieve anxiety and pain. But CBD is not regulated by the FDA, except for one prescription medication to treat severe childhood epilepsy, says Dustin Lee, an assistant professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University. “Most of the research is preclinical. We need controlled studies before we can advise the public on how CBD can be used efficaciously.” PSYCHOACTIVE adj, sigh-ko-ak-tiv When a CBD product contains more than .3 percent of THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), it is considered mind-altering. Seeing “psychoactive” (or “THC”) on a label means you might…

“Did you see the viral [post] where that woman was in a car crash? She posted a picture of herself in the hospital, full neck brace on and everything. But her liner? Perfect cat eye. And it was this one.” “It’s too thick, but I love that feeling. I find it so meditative. And it pulls out your natural lashes in a way that I don’t think the others do.” Kat Von D Tattoo Liner $ 20.00 Kat Von D Shade + Light Eye Contour Palette $ 48.00 Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette $ 64.00 Fresh Sugar Face Polish $ 62.00 Dr. Jart + Cicapair Tiger Grass Color Correcting Treatment $ 52.00 Make Up For Ever Artist Rouge Light Luminous Hydrating Lipstick in Candy Pink $ 22.00 Kate Somerville ExfoliKate Intensive…

Does something about Anne Hathaway’s hat look familiar? In July 2001, the world was introduced to Mia Thermopolis, the teenage heir to a fictional European kingdom in The Princess Diaries, the film that sent Hathaway’s star heavenward. Mia wore braces and was prone to fashion blunders like bucket hats. Nearly two decades later the bucket hat is back, on 2019’s runways and on Hathaway—only this time it’s a fashion statement by Albertus Swanepoel and almost fit for the cover of Allure. (This was an alternate shot.)…