We don’t want to alarm you, beauty pickers, but we’re now a third of the way through the year! Yes, we can’t believe it either. But we’ve been having lots of fun separating the spring flings of the latest launches from the ones we want to keep around for the longer term and that have made it into our top 10 beauty charts for April. Read on – while dodging any remaining April showers.
Straight in at Number One we have the New Zealand brand Abel fragrances and its Miami Split eau de parfum. It’s based around bananas (which is a big fragrance trend right now and we’ll bring you more on that shortly), but this is our favourite for its ability to downplay the sweetness of the banana (think more green banana leaves) and make it downright sexy thanks to a dose of white oud and a trio of labdanum. Why Miami? Because the brand thinks of it as a bit of a Pop Art fragrance (so an Art Basel Miami connection); think bright pops of colour and an unconventional approach to creativity. Secure yours here.
At Number Two we’re totally smitten with Violette_FR yet again, this time with its new Plume Eyeshadow. This cream-to-powder shadow is so lightweight it feels as though you’re touching a cloud and it’s been designed to create a sheer veil of colour for that effortless French eye make-up look. There are two finishes available – matte and shimmer – and eight shades but all give a soft-focus effect. Wear them alone or blend together, it’s the easiest, chicest and coolest eyeshadow you could hope for, all housed in individual compacts in the brand’s signature blue. Shop here.
We’re ready for a glow up at Number Three as we welcome Aussie natural tanning brand Three Warriors to the charts. Its Hydrabronze Tan Drops have just made it to the UK – and the brand itself has also been welcomed into the hallowed Selfridges beauty hall. Fans are totally dedicated to the sun-kissed healthy glow these drops deliver: simply add a couple of drops (or a little less or a little more depending on desired depth of colour) to your moisturiser and a streak-free, sun-free tan is yours. These drops also come with skincare benefits included including hydrating hyaluronic acid, hydrolysed collagen and niacinamide to help even out skin tone. Get your glow here.
Prepare to swank up your bathrooms at Number Four as we celebrate Dries Van Noten entering the luxury home care market with the launch of a hand and body line. Featuring liquid soap, body lotion (both housed in gradient coloured, refillable, glass containers) and hand cream (in coloured recyclable aluminium tubes) it’s a stylish and beautifully fragranced addition to your daily self-care routine. The fragrances for the collection also mirror the quirky offerings of the brand’s perfume collection: basil and hinoki (a woody note) – blended with floral geranium and cedarwood; pepper and rose – mixed with citrus and musk; soie and amber – roasted chestnut with centifolia rose to evoke the fluidity and preciousness of silk. Pump it up. Shop here.
Marking the halfway point of this month’s chart at Number Five we’re puckering up to Jones Road Beauty and its Lip Recharge Glossy Treatment Balm. This has to be one of the best balm-cum-treatment lip products we’ve ever got our smackers ’round – and it surely delivers the most glamorous finish of them all. Packed with lip care ingredients including a collagen-boosting peptide, vitamin E to strengthen the skin barrier and shea butter to nourish and hydrate, it also delivers just the right amount of shimmer finish to help lips look plumper. We love the cooling metal applicator too. It’s available in nine sheer shades but the Lilac is a great, suits-anybody option. Pucker up and pick yours here.
We’re getting perfectly tousled at Number Six with hair guru Larry King and his Ride or Die Texture Spray. It has been specially formulated to help create that perfectly tousled, just the right side of messy, look and to support the hair’s natural movement without weighing it down or making it stiff (please note: this is not a hairspray). Simply shake and spray on dry hair mid-lengths and ends for that lived-in look and scrunch hair in your fingers afterwards or turn hair upside down and spray liberally to apply. The canister also comes wrapped in a saucy leopard print.. so did we say perfect cool girl hair? We meant purrfect, of course… Get your claws on one here.
There’s definitely no hiding our blushes at Number Seven as we swoon over Fenty Beauty’s new Shake’N Play Buildable Liquid Blush). It’s a very friendly little thing as it plays well with bare skin, a foundation base and even on top of SPF. Shake the bottle – as the name suggests – and place just a dab of colour on cheeks and blend; it diffuses perfectly to deliver a naturally flushed, no make-up look. Guaranteed you’ll be reaching for this baby all summer long especially as it’s waterproof and holds up under heat. Feel free to use it on your eyes and lips too. Available in five shades, purchase yours here.
Number Eight in the charts goes to C.Atherley – the brand, for anyone who doesn’t know, that is what Cath Kidston did next. Its latest fragrance launch aka Geranium No4 is centred as usual around a type of geranium – this time it’s inspired by the pelargonium Attar of Roses variety – and has also deployed it in a delectable and lightweight face oil alongside the usual liquid soap and bath oil. Fragrance-wise think rose geranium leaf mixed with rose absolute and essential oils including cedarwood, rosemary and corn mint. And it all comes packaged in a glass bottle with a pipette and charming geranium illustrations. A touch of classic style, shop here.
Milk Makeup and its Cooling Water Jelly Shimmer sweeps in to take the Number Nine slot. This continues its already successful jelly stick franchise (for the Cooling Water Jelly Tint) and much like its predecessor this is a multi-tasking little bit of bedazzlement which can be used as a highlighter, an eyeshadow or even to add some shimmer to lips. It comes with microplastic-free shimmer and in four shades from a cool clear (Ice Pop) to pale mauve (Boba), light gold (Bubbly) and a golden tan (Frose), and is a super easy way to simply swipe on a bit of glitz or attitude. A beauty essential for a summer of festivals or beach hopping, get yours here.
And taking our final slot at Number Ten in the April chart is Augustinus Bader with the launch of its suncare body range and the Solar Shield SPF50. It follows on from the brand’s hugely successful sun protection for the face – and okay, it’s expensive, but it is excellent and on our all-time favourites list. This comes with the brand’s proprietary TFC8 complex to support cellular renewal as well as wild Rosella extract to help strengthen the skin barrier, osmanthus flower to help protect against UV damage and bisabolol to calm redness, all, of course, alongside broad spectrum SPF50. So this is all the benefits of the luxury skincare line but with an added shield to protect your skin from sun damage – and it even helps to reduce the look of sun spots. The texture is lightweight, absorbs quickly and delivers a glowy finish. This is going to be so sought after this summer you could probably use it as a barter system at your holiday resort. Shop here.
Top image: photography courtesy of Dries Van Noten.
