Hourglass Cosmetics from LA
I first heard about Hourglass a few years ago, but at that time, the LA based cosmetics brand wasn’t available in Scotland. That, however, has changed in recent years. You can get the brand in Space NK stores in this country and the latest counter is in the Space NK in Edinburgh’s Harvey Nichols.
Hourglass, founded in LA by Carisa Jane, is a cruelty-free brand with the focus on the ingredients – which give the makeup skincare benefits. It has a lot of celebrity fans, including Jessica Alba, Emily Blunt, Zoe Saldana, and Madonna, no less. It’s a high-end, premium, brand, so you pay for what you get, but what you get is really, really good.
I had a lovely hour there recently, where I got a makeover, from Mel, who used no less than 16 of their beautiful products to create a really lovely look! I’m not going to begin to try and list or go through them all here, but there are a few key products I’ll tell you about!
The hero products include the No28 Primer Serum (£62) which was used on my skin as a base, and is an ultra-hydrating, nutrient-rich primer and serum infused with 28 beneficial ingredients to nurture your skin. It’s lightweight, and glides on, and really does make your skin feel amazingly soft. The Veil Mineral Primer (£52) is also an excellent makeup base, eliminating redness, reducing pore size appearance and softening fine lines and imperfections.
I was also treated to the new Ambient Lighting Powder (£38), which launched in the spring this year. They work to create a ‘good lighting’ effect on your face. There are six of them, and you choose your powder according to your most flattering light. Mel used three powders on me – Diffused Light to reduce the redness I suffer from on my cheeks at times, Dim Light to highlight a radiant complexion, and Radiant Light on my cheekbones to add a litlte bit of a faded summer glow!
I rarely use powder, but these were superb, and so easy to use. In terms of colour, the award-winning Film Noir Mascara (£25) is thickening, lengthening, and really gives that brilliant bright shine to the lashes. The Opaque Rouge Liquid Lipstick (£23) stayed on ALL day – and in the brand’s iconic red, Icon, of course. Before this was applied, my lips were treated with the No28 Lip Treatment (£32) which combines botanicals, vitamins and three powerful active ingredients in a really luxurious oil blend – this stuff made my lips feel great, and I can still feel the benefits a week later.
The Arch Brow Sculpting Pencil (£26) in Blonde is probably the best I have used in a long time – a combination of wax and pencil, with a brush on one end. And the best bit about the makeover was trying their Calligraphy Liquid Eye Liner in Cognac (£23), which is a brown shade, instead of black, which really added a different dimension to my eye makeup. I loved it.
The latest product Hourglass have launched is their Notorious Nudes collection of Femme Nude Lip Stylos (£22). This is a collection of six nudes, for every occasion, skintone, and whim – they are parabens, phthalates, fragrance and suflate free, and are so easy to use. If you love nudes, have a look at these.
The Hourglass brushes are all animal-friendly as well; made from PETA-approved, high-grade Taklon bristles, Mel used a No2 Foundation/Blusher brush on me for pretty much everything, and it felt soft to the skin.
If you want to find out more, visit hourglass.com, or pop into Space NK in Harvey Nichols, Edinburgh, or Space NK in Glasgow
