Clarins Autumn 2016 Make Up

Instead of a nude toned palette, this year, Clarins are giving us four quads of nudes – each designated to a particular eye colour. I think this is really helpful – not all nudes are the same and not all nudes are a good tone match for either complexion or eye, so the fact that it’s all been sorted out first is very handy. I also think that the shadow formula has been given an upgrade. I seem to remember last year’s Clarins palette being a bit dry and dusty, where as these formulas are anything but. They’re beautifully velvety and blend to perfection. The first palette, above, is 03, Brown.

This palette is 02, Rosewood, for green eyes with some soft mauve to really accentuate the green accents in your eyes.

Blue eyed ladies step this way! This is 01, Nude, with a peach accent that enhances blue tones. Ruth Crilly (A Model Recommends) rocks this look and I thought of her as soon as I saw this palette!

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04, Oud, is for hazel or brown eyes and has more of a dark smokey effect.

I love it when the mystery is taken out of make up – I live in a world where most people know what to do straightaway with even a challenging palette, but that’s a small and rarified world! If you make it easy, you take the worry out what’s ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ and although I believe you should be experimental and do whatever you want, it’s still the case that people just want safe – the Clarins Autumn 2016 Make Up quads are safe AND pretty. Win. They’re £34 each.

I think it’s a bit unusual to go BB for autumn which is when traditionally we pick up the heavier bases. But, the Clarins BB Skin Detox Fluid SPF25 is a skin care/colour hybrid and might be the very thing to perk up post-summer skin. What hasn’t it got it in it is a better question because the formula is laden with skin loving ingredients. Acerola Seed, meadowsweet extract, hyaluronic (my fave), white tea extracts and aloe vera to name a few. The point being to give skin a fresher feel and look. There are only two shades which seems a shame – forget it if you’re very dark skinned or very light skinned.

My colour for now is ‘dark’ which is the bottom swatch – the top is, er, unimaginatively called ‘light’. I have it on my skin right now and while it’s beautifully creamy and fluid, it doesn’t feel ‘dewy’ on the skin as I was expecting. This might be down to the mineral sunscreen (UVA/UVB) but it does give a natural looking, perfected finish on my complexion. It’s £30. As you can see in the picture, there is also a new mascara in both brown and black. I haven’t tried this one yet, but it’s a volume formulation with a booster complex to increase lash volume and thicken lashes, with repeated use.

The Clarins Autumn 2016 Make Up collection is out in August.