5 Products Our Beauty Director Is Currently Loving

Including the concealer that hides anything but still looks like skin

Every day, new products make their way onto my (WFH) desk and it’s my job to try them out. The good ones find their way into various roundups and stories across thekit.ca and the OMG-this-stuff-is-amazing ones go on to live right here, in my faves of the moment column. Behold, my latest loves. 

 

patrick starrr makeup
One/Size by Patrick StarrrOne/Size by Patrick Starrr Turn Up the Base Buttersilk Concealer, $33, sephora.ca

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The undetectable concealer that covers everything

Anyone else pick at their face when they’re a wee bit tipsy? It’s my version of drunk texting an ex. Sober me knows better, but give me two margaritas and I just can’t resist. Anyway, it was my friend’s birthday last week and I came home from our lovely patio dinner, washed my face (You’re doing great, sweetie)… then proceeded to pop/pick/squeeze things that probably weren’t even things (I’m not proud). Luckily, a tube of Patrick Starrr’s brand new concealer arrived in the mail a few days later and it’s been my saviour ever since. I have never encountered a full-coverage concealer with this natural a finish. It’s not exactly matte, but not really luminous either, which means you can use it under your eyes and on anything else you want to cover like pimples or dark spots (or, you know, full-on scabs you got from picking your face). I’ve met many makeup artists who insist you should always use two concealers: a dewy one under your eyes and a matte one on the other stuff, but I swear you can get away with applying this anywhere.

 

essie clambake
EssieEssie Nail Colour in Clambake, $10, amazon.ca

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The nail polish that makes you feel like you didn’t waste your summer

Every year, as August comes around, I start getting sad. It’s been that way since I was a kid, wishing the days of pool dips and Popsicles could last forever. I am a summer person, through and through. The prospect of knitwear doesn’t excite me and I believe pumpkins belong on porches, not in lattes. So I’m wringing every last delectable drop out of the season, which means more reading on beach towels and biting into sun-ripened stone fruit and, definitely, more obnoxiously bright manis. I’ll go back to beige when the leaves turn, but for now, I’m all about retina-burning hues that even make typing feel festive. My current favourite is the cult-classic Clambake from essie, an orange-y red first launched in 2017. (Designer Rebecca Minkoff loved it so much, she used it as the colour of her bridesmaids’ dresses for her wedding.) It became impossible to find for a few years and, then, earlier this year, essie made our second pandemic summer a little brighter by re-releasing it. It’s the colour of a lobster tail or an ice-cold Campari spritz, and reminds me there’s still four whole weeks left before Labour Day. 

 

patrick starrr makeup
OribeOribe Run-Through Detangling Shampoo, $49, sephora.ca

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The chicest detangling shampoo you’ve ever seen

When I think of detangling shampoo, I picture a fish-shaped bottle of L’Oréal Kids. That’s what sat on the side of the tub for most of my childhood, my mom willing the fruit-scented liquid to honour its “no tears, no knots” promise. This stuff is like the grown-up version of that. It doesn’t smell like a juice box—rather like a very elegant French woman—and looks smashing in your shower, but still gets the job done, smoothing out the cuticle to prevent tangles from forming. (Take it from someone whose hair turns into a matted mess at the slightest hint of wind.) The conditioning blend of shea butter, sunflower extract and rice seed protein leaves hair slippery and glossy. My Manta Brush (if you haven’t tried one yet, you’re missing out) slides right through—no tears, no knots.

 

patrick starrr makeup
La Roche-PosayLa Roche-Posay Anthelios Mineral One Tinted Daily Cream SPF 50, $30, well.ca

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The tinted sunscreen you’ll actually look forward to applying

Not to get all fear monger-y on you, but did you know that while broad spectrum sunscreen shields skin from UV rays, it doesn’t adequately protect it against visible light? That includes the kind emitted from the screen you’re currently reading this on. (Okay, I’ll stop with the scare tactics now.) To really safeguard skin against visible light, what you need is a tinted formula— especially if you’re prone to hyperpigmentation. Now, in the past, tinted sunscreen has gotten a bad rap. It tended to be thick with a flat (read mortuary) finish and a single shade offering—just very bad all around. But not anymore. La Roche-Posay recently launched a tinted mineral SPF 50 that’s as silky as a very expensive foundation. The finish is second-skin-level natural and the coverage sits in that perfect in-between spot: It’ll even out your complexion, but it’s sheer enough to forgive a hasty, hands-only application. (No need to bust out the BeautyBlender for this.) As the owner of a growing collection of dark spots (“This one I acquired during spring break of ’08 in the Dominican Republic.”), I’m very grateful this stuff exists.

 

ptarick starrr makeup
Dr. Dennis GrossDr. Dennis Gross Hyaluronic Marine Oil-Free Moisture Cushion, $79, sephora.ca

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The moisturizer that instantly makes you look better

This face cream is not remotely new, I’m just very late to the party. I was looking for something lightweight for summer, casually gave this a whirl and now I can’t stop raving about it. It makes my skin look more even-toned and radiant as soon as I apply it, yet there’s no pigment or shimmer or anything to account for the sorcery. The other night, I put it on before bed and my boyfriend was like, “Wait, you’re not wearing any makeup right now? Really?” (I’m choosing to take the compliment and not dive too deep into the meaning of that comment.) It’s just a really great moisturizer: weightless, oil-free and chock full of hyaluronic acid to plump skin right up. 

 

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