Seven deadly sins of beauty
Lust: The product I’m lusting after at the minute is by Chanel, and has the world’s largest title. It is the Chanel Soleil Tan de Chanel bronze universel bronzing make-up. I have seen it in so many YouTube tutorials, and I have tried it at the Chanel counter in Brown Thomas, so I know it is only a matter of time before it is mine. The only thing that is stopping me from rushing down to Edwina on counter this very minute is the fact that I currently have no fewer than four bronzers, which leads me quite nicely to the next deadly sin.
Greed: The beauty product that I end up being the most greedy about has become almost a hobby. I buy bronzers like other people buy lipsticks. Not because I am obsessed with bronzers (though it may appear to the unskilled observer that I am ), but because I am so pale I keep getting it wrong, shoving it into a drawer, then gamely trying again. Recently I had a brilliant idea and bought the Mac Mineralize Skinfinish natural powder in medium dark — spoiler alert, this is not a bronzer. It is rather meant to be a mineralised face powder for the woman who has a bit of natural colour in her face, but because I am so pale, it acts as a bronzer for me. Yes, that was clever.
Wrath: The product that I have the greatest love/hate relationship with is bright lipsticks. It is the strangest thing, sometimes I put on my YSL number 19 (a really hot pink ) and it feels so fresh and right, and other times I put the exact same lipstick on and I feel like Betty Davis in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. It is a complete mystery.
Sloth: Nail varnish immediately springs to mind. When I don’t wear it I feel like a girl who just could not be bothered pulling herself together, a girl who has given up on life. My current favourites are Estée Lauder’s purple passion and YSL’s orange.
Envy: The beauty look I most envy and for myself, and fervently wish that ship hadn't sailed for me, is that smudgy black kohl eyeliner look. I just love it, and every time I see a young woman wearing it I wonder why I wasted my youth on brown eyeliners. It looks so sexy and effortless (try Mac or Chanel black kohl, they are truly carbon blacks ) in any old haphazard fashion all around your whole eye and blink furiously. Voila!
Gluttony: I have two products that I know myself to be a glutton about, the first (and I have been told, repeatedly, by experts ) is Bobbi Brown’s shimmer brick. No one human being needs them all, but I have them. I lash them on all over, all the time. And Lancôme lipsticks. They taste ands smell so delicious I re-apply even when not strictly necessary. I know it is gluttony because I cannot help myself. I even go over the natural border of my mouth; they are that satisfying to apply.
Pride: Compacts. Being able to whip out a luxurious compact is God’s compensation for the older girl (see envy above ); one item that is a non-negotiable for me is a gorgeous face compact for touch-ups. For this, nothing beats Christian Dior or Chanel.
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