A Fresh Crop of Beauty

Eyeko London’s FAT liquid eyeliner, a Smashbox under-eye brightener, Tom Ford Extreme Mascara, a Make Up For Ever gloss and a Marc Jacobs eyeliner are all new for spring.

UK brand Nails inc’s four new white-washed colors and Deborah Lippmann’s aptly named All About That Base.

Top tools: Tweezerman No-Mess Mascara Guard and Gillette Venus Swirl Razor.

SPRING MEANS ONE THING in the beauty world: new product launches. As we noted back in February during New York Fashion Week for fall 2015, the prevailing look continues to be  glowing skin; (apparently) minimal makeup, and simple, neutral, short nails.

Not that any of that’s easy to achieve. I mean, unless you’re Kristina Pimenova, up-and- coming Russian supermodel. She’s 10.

For everybody else, here are the latest new products to help you make the transition to warmer temps.

Skincare

StriVectin Radiance Refining Moisturizer (on sale at Nordstrom for $80.10; it’s normally $89) Definitely my fave new moisturizer: It’s got great glide, it’s super-silky and light and it feels heavenly. Something called NIA-114 hydrates and diffuses imperfections, and you end up looking luminous.

Lumene Bright Now Blur Line & Pore Minimizer ($19.99) “Blur” products are having a beauty moment, and this primer imparts a velvety finish that diffuses flaws beautifully.

SkinCeuticals Physical Matte UV Defense Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 50 ($34) It’s nearly impossible finding a hyper-protective facial sunscreen that doesn’t smell strange, block pores or change what happens once you put on makeup over it. This one has everything good, plus the slightest universal tint and it instantly mattifies without being chalky.

Makeup

A very popular YouTube video recently showed how to use red lipstick under concealer to hide dark undereye circles. I don’t endorse this. Not because it doesn’t work but because lipstick’s formulated for lips, not the delicate undereye area. Instead, I apply an eye treatment meant to tone down darkness, then dot on and blend in this great new product before my concealer: Smashbox Photo Op Under Eye Brightener ($20) Peptides, Vitamin E, and red wine extract – see, red wine – illuminate and boost the concealer’s concealment. Result? Zero circles.

Eyeko London FAT Liquid Eyeliner Black ($16) Sometimes fat beats skinny. This emphatically black, Sharpie-like liner is a breeze to apply and won’t smudge all day.

Marc Jacobs Beauty Highliner Gel Eye Crayon in Th(Ink) 44 Deep Navy ($25) is a pretty change for spring. It looks sort of violet in the tube, but it’s actually a periwinkle blue with a sophisticated touch of gray. Goes on like satin and stays put.

Tom Ford Beauty Extreme Mascara in Teal Intense ($44) Extreme and extremely expensive. But! Teal is subtle and so elegant for spring – softer than black, blue makes all eyes brighter and whiter – not to mention your voluminized, out-to-there eyelashes will crash right into your sunglasses.

Make Up For Ever Artist Plexi-Gloss in 302P Golden Coral ($19) Beautiful color; ultra-shimmery without looking like you just ate fried chicken; and unreal staying power, particularly for a gloss. The formula hugs your lips and feels nourishing, too.

Nails

Nail-art fatigue has set in. To cleanse that elaborate palette, white-washed and nude polishes suddenly look clean and fresh, especially with a tan.

Deborah Lippmann All About That Base CC Base Coat Correct and Conceal ($20) This genius little product made its debut backstage during New York Fashion Week in February. When Deb applied it to my sad, ridged, dry nails – it was winter out and I am a reporter who takes notes by hand and one who types all day long – they immediately resembled my best friend Eman’s new baby Serena’s: happy, ridgeless and healthy.

UK brand Nails inc nails the springtime look with four new colors ($14 each) in The New White Polish collection that you’ll wish you could paint your whole house with. Each white looks like a glass of milk with an evocative pinch of je ne sais quoi folded in: Swan Sweet, a whisper of bruised mint; White Horse Street, a crushed tiny purple grape; Lilly Road, a torn pink rose petal; and Whitehall, a baby’s first ballet slipper.

Fragrance

Tom Ford Fleur De Portofino Eau de Parfum ($215) He killed us softly last fall with his Velvet Orchid that transported us to pre-Castro 1950s Havana. This new perfume is a sensual, romantic sea dream too, only this time we’re turning brown lounging beachside with lots of pretty people reading Vogue Italia in Portofino, where the Riviera breeze is redolent of lemon and honey, jasmine and white acacia blossoms. Even the turquoise glass bottle conveys the kind of blue of the Gulf of Genoa, mouth of the Ligurian Sea.

Rouge Bunny Rouge Vapours of Captured Memories Fragrant Confections Collection ($129- $169 each) Made in France, these eight gender-neutral scents are complex, emotive, multi-layered fairytales for adults. Even the heavy, luxurious, sand-blasted frosted glass bottles with embossed flowers are works of art. If you’re not sure which to choose, buy the spray vial samples ($2.66 each). My current fave is Allegria, whose top notes smell like a leafy green garden — vegetal and almost smoky. Then it evolves into a sweet and sour citrus orchard with a field of sun-dappled sunflowers just beyond. Finally, it settles like rain falling on tin roofs – pings of metallic warmth.

Tools

Gillette Venus Swirl Razor ($12.59) Shaving our legs isn’t exactly what we’d call enjoyable, but this cool razor almost makes it so. The metal “FlexiBall” allows the head to move in multiple directions and adjust — great for tricky places like ankles and knees. And the five “MicroFine” blades with water-activated serum strips give great glide and a super-close, comfortable shave.

Tweezerman No-Mess Mascara Guard ($10) Remember how I said that the Tom Ford mascara makes your lashes so long they’ll crash into your sunglasses? Well, here’s how to keep that fancy designer mascara on your lashes as you apply it. This brilliant little gadget is flexible and its material is like Good Grips. Use it behind your upper lashes and underneath your lower ones to protect your eye makeup. Why didn’t we think of this?

 –Gigi Anders
Follow Gigi Anders, a frequent MyLittleBird contributor, on Facebook and @gigianders.