Last week, I found myself in the unenviable position of hurtling straight from a facial to a last minute concert at Wigmore Hall carrying a tiny handbag into which I’d chucked a handful of make-up products without checking what I’d grabbed. Thankfully, my day job prepared me for this very scenario, and the advice of experts ringing in my ears, I made my lip liner triple as a lipstick, liner, and blush, while my hardworking brown kohl became a touch of contour and liner, then beefed up my brows.
This nature of living in a city – the frenzy, the things cropping up, the bumping into people you know unexpectedly – means beauty acts differently in town, needing to squeeze into the pockets of time and opportunities, while still being effective.
I’ve spent years trying oodles of products and treatments to figure out what to allot time and money, the things that work magic under duress, and here’s a snapshot of what I’ve rated this week, woven into my London moments.
Masaj at Pfeffer Sal
Pfeffer Sal are reliable. I’ve never had a facial there I’ve not felt was executed well, and when they announced a residency with MASAJ for the next three months, I was keen to go in and try it. After an hour of zoning out with an entirely bespoke massage (why don’t more places do this?), I can unequivocally tell you that this is a place you want to hand over both your face and now your body to. I hear spots are filling quickly so book in soon.
pfeffersal.com, the Stables, 10B Warren Mews, W1T 6BY
Caroline O’Brien at Nicola Clarke Salons
Sometimes you don’t necessarily need highlights, or even colour put through your hair but rather a clear gloss to make things look healthy and lustrous once more. It takes a skilled – and restrained – hairdresser to know when not to add more but to par things back, and that’s precisely what Caroline did to add a glassy sheen to my hair. It lasts for approximately ten washes, just long enough to bridge the gap between getting my roots done.
nicolaclarke.com, 58-59 Margaret Street, W1W 8SN
Jones Road The Best Pencil
This, in brown, is the very pencil that saved me on the way to Wigmore Hall. The name doesn’t lie: it is indeed the very best and most versatile pencil going. Press a little harder for a proper line that’s very much about defining the lash line, or softly scribble across the eyelid for a shadow effect. And, yes, if you’re in a pinch, use it in other ways, as I did.
Buy now £24.00, Liberty London
Ultra Violette Future Fluid
The last time I felt the kiss of sunlight was in December, when I was lucky enough to hole up in Chiva Som in Thailand (more on which to follow). Needless to say, after three months under London’s grey, low skies slung overhead, this week’s sun thrilled me, and I went to the park at the start and finish of my working day to enjoy it. But: suncream. Necessary to avoid premature ageing and courting cancer. It’s not enough to apply it in the morning; you need a second lot later in the day, more if it’s very sunny. Because I get spotty with the least provocation, I choose my formulas very carefully, and this newbie by the cult Australian SPF brand was the ideal choice this week.
Buy now £38.00, Ultra Violette
Astier de Villatte Ambre Liquide
I have a friend who is uncommonly devoted to history, especially the medieval period. He once bought a medieval cookbook and threatened to make his friends eat various sorts of potages at dinner parties, but fortunately the lockdown rescued us from that fate.
When this perfume, a masterful reinterpretation by Dominique Ropion of Portrait of a Lady fame of a recipe from 1349 designed to ward off the Black Death landed on my desk, I instantly thought of him – and when he visited for dinner at Pyra (a Greek/Spanish spot, all about sharing plates), I wore it and he purred with pleasure when I told him about the Myrrh and resin and leather and cloves and frankincense all knotted together in a spicy, aromatic blend. Surprisingly, it works, and I am a fan.
Buy now, Astier de Villatte
