However, as with any drug, there are side effects. Retin-A causes your skin to thin (don’t even THINK about getting an eyebrow wax—goodbye, skin), as well as render it more susceptible to the damaging UV rays of the sun (don’t even THINK about getting a tan—goodbye, unburnt skin). The treatment can also cause severe dryness, flaking, and redness, which you might agree isn’t great.

Enter Origins “Plantscription” serum, a powerful natural alternative to this mixed bag. Formulated with Anogeissus, a wound-healing, antimicrobial West African plant, “Plantscription” promises to fade wrinkles and restore “bounce” to sagging skin—without the dryness, the flakes, the photosensitivity. The company says that it takes about 4 weeks to see a change, but I’ve been using it at night and in the morning for one week and already I can see some old acne scars fading and some of that elusive “radiance” restored. The serum goes on smoothly, sinks in almost immediately, and has only the slightest hint of a lovely, grassy scent. And thank the heavens, no flakes or inflammation in sight.

When science and nature come together, it’s a beautiful thing.

Origins "Plantscription" Anti-Aging Serum

That’s where Mariage à la mode comes in. Founders Zoe and her husband Mat will make a six-minute, 8mm silent film of your wedding scored to music of your choice. They’ll capture all those tear-jerking moments, and 6 weeks later send you a Gatsby-inflected DVD that you and your friends will actually want to watch.

You’ll laugh, you’ll cry and you won’t regret not hiring uncle Larry who has a penchant for capturing people’s feet.

“Fluidline” by M.A.C. is a gel formula liner that comes in a small glass pot that you then apply with a makeup brush. In fact, it’s as easy—if not easier—to apply than a regular liquid liner. It’s smooth and silky, not wet and uneven as liquid liners often are. Since with the long makeup brush you have good control, you can flick to your heart’s content: thick, thin, long, short, wings, v-shapes…if you want it, you can draw it. In no time you’ll feel like a professional makeup artist or simply an artist: the world (OK, maybe just your face) is your canvas.

The pots cost £14 each and a brush will run you about £16—it’s not an insignificant investment, but if liner is part of your daily routine it’s definitely worth it, as this product will last and you’ll love the way it looks.

M.A.C. eyeliner brush

Fluidline in Blacktrack by M.A.C.

Rachel, who founded the eponymous company and leads all the classes and workshops, has the all-too-rare gift of making you feel incredibly comfortable and relaxed right off the bat. I had met her once before the course and instantly took to her. At the course, which I attended with three friends and colleagues, she proved the perfect (and most patient) of instructors and also a divine companion with whom to sip champagne and giggle. A fascinating woman, Rachel first started making candles over 16 years ago on a Caribbean beach and now has her own Belgravia store, a venue with the kind of character and charm that separates a house from a home. Each of her self-created, self-mixed scents are gorgeous and rich without being overpowering. And her products are simple, elegant and sophisticated.

According to her website, “Private clients have included US Presidents, actors, models and socialites as well as collaborations with brands such as Laurent Perrier, Conde Nast and the Orange Prize For Fiction Awards.” This girl knows her candles!

Rachel Vosper Candle

Rachel Vosper Fragrances

I used to always have problems with “raccoon eyes”. By the end of the day, half of my mascara had migrated to below my eye and I needed some serious Q-tip and concealer action to sort out the wreckage. For years I’d vilified the mascara, but the real perpetrator was…dun dun DUUUN…my eyeliner.

About three years ago I walked into John Lewis’s makeup hall looking for a fail-safe black liquid liner. One of the girls working at a designer brand kiosk (I won’t say which) whispered to me that honestly, I was better off saving my £35 and instead should buy a drugstore brand, like Rimmel or Max Factor. So I did. And for years I thought I was happy.

But then I found “Urban Decay 24/7 Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner”. I’d not used a lot of Urban Decay products before, but after falling for this one, I’m certainly willing to give others a try. I was looking for a liquid liner with a seriously thin brush—think ’90s Calista Flockhart—and after some Googling I came across this product. I headed to Oxford Street and the rest is history. After a few days of far fewer touchups, I realised that all these years it’s been my cheap eyeliner running, not my mascara.

Who needs Sherlock Holmes? Thank you, Urban Decay: mystery solved.

I’ve only tried the black but it comes in lots of fun-looking colours—it’s only £14, so go on, try a few.

Urban Decay 24/7 Waterproof Liquid Liner

That’s where Arbonne comes in. From vitamins to shampoos, if you want it, they sell it. Don’t let the prices hold you back; it is a bit more expensive than your basic drugstore product, but that’s because this isn’t Boots. Quality does come with a price, but it also means a little goes a long way. As with most quality investments, you’re better off in the long run.

Exfoliating New Cell Scrub

What sets Arbonne apart from other online retailers (and many other retailers in general), is the quality of the products. All Arbonne’s products are entirely natural and botanical-based. Arbonne’s researchers and scientists in Switzerland (where the company is based) are also constantly innovating and developing new, safe, and effective skin care.

I have tried quite a range of what Arbonne has to offer. My personal favourites are their cleansers, particularly the exfoliants with their small sand-like grains that clean to the core, and the moisturisers.

You can also get involved with the company itself and sell the products to friends and family. We’ll understand if you end up investing the cash you’ve earned right back into the company. It’s hard to resist.

Arbonne Deep Cleansing Mask

Seriously.

Yes, this is a pretty hefty claim, but believe me, Philosophy’s “Turbo Booster C Powder” is a pretty remarkable product (and with a name like that, what’s not to love?). I picked this up without much thought at a beauty sale at work, and now I can’t imagine my beauty regime without it. According to Philosophy’s website, “Turbo Booster” “helps protect skin against environmental attack and brightens skin tone.” I can’t even begin to count the number of products on the market that boast these claims, but I can only think of one that truly delivers.

Each morning I mix 1/2 to 1 spoonful of this magic powder with my moisturiser (Clinique; more on that another time) and my skin instantly feels fresher and looks healthier. I don’t want to gloat, but I can no longer keep track of the number of people who have asked me what I’ve been doing differently, or who have commented that my makeup looks great and/or how refreshed I’m looking. It ain’t me, people—it’s the turbo talc. My only complaint (no, it’s not all rainbows and puppy dogs) is that the small spoon can be difficult to maneuver and often the powder gets stuck in the spoon. Basically, the process can be a tad messy: a bathroom counter dusted with a fine white powder doesn’t look great.

Although it’s not exactly cheap at $35 per vial, it’s worth every glowing penny.

Turbo Booster C Powder

Granted, this sounds more Halloween-y than Christmas-y. But it was beginning to look like I’d be in “costume” until New Year’s.

Until…I stumbled upon a pre-Christmas/Hanukkah miracle (you knew that was coming)! Soap & Glory’s “No Clogs Allowed” Deep Pore Detox Mask (£11) will indeed make you look like the living dead for about 4 minutes, but after you frighten everyone in the house and wash the stuff off, your skin will look as soft, smooth, and glowing as a…a…celestial angel (?). Seriously, though, it’s excellent: the white paste contains little bits of blue which, when you wet your fingers and scrub gently, heat up, melt, and turn your face a lovely shade of hypothermic. The heat is the key here—instead of just passively doing its thing, this mask opens pores to get at the gunk, and then gradually buffs it away with its scrubby action. This gets rid of those flakes of dead skin, which are only welcome on the 31^st of October (unless you’re dressing up as a sexy nurse, in which case, well, good luck to ya).

Stay Don't Stray

“Stay Don’t Stray” by Benefit Cosmetics has a fairly weighty name with a fairly weighty claim behind it. And honey, it just don’t measure up.

Benefit claims that this product is an eye primer that stops makeup, particularly eye shadow, from moving and creasing and promises that once you use it, you’ll wonder how you survived without it. I’m going to start with what I like about this product because it’s not all doom and gloom. It’s nice to work with, and the thick cream can double as a concealer. It also works well as an undereye illuminator/brightener.

As for what I don’t like: it doesn’t really work. And at £19.50, well, that’s just not OK. I always struggle with midday mascara shadows and I hoped that this would prove the solution, but alas, no. And to make matters worse, I find that the product itself creates the very eyelid creases it’s meant to be fighting! Also, they’ve got it all wrong with the dispenser. Benefit definitely seems to pride itself on quirky and innovative packaging, but I think this one missed the market research phase. The pump always dispenses way too much product and it ends up in a goopy mess on your finger, the container, and in my case (someh0w) the bedroom wall.

Benefit makes a lot of great products, but you can’t win em’ all.

Benefit's Stay Don't Stray

The Times quotes Dr. Sarah Vickery, a Ph.D. in chemistry, who notes that cosmetics “can significantly change how people see you, how smart people think you are on first impression, or how warm and approachable, and that look is completely within a woman’s control, when there are so many things you cannot control.”

Apparently using the right colors and textures to enhance your natural beauty makes you appear “trustworthy,” while garish colors or obviously “sexy” makeup tips observers’ opinions the other way.

University of Texas at Austin Professor Daniel Hamermesh, who has also written a book on the economy of beauty entitled Beauty Pays, adds, “Like any other thing that society rewards, people will take advantage of it,” he said of makeup’s benefits. “I’m an economist, so I say, why not? But I wish society didn’t reward this. I think we’d be a fairer world if beauty were not rewarded, but it is.”

Here’s the kicker: makeup doesn’t actually make you more competent. Who knew?!

Photo Credit: The New York Times