Doin’ the Lauder Two-Step

Following the success of the first wave of its New Dimension sculpting and contouring skincare, Estée Lauder now brings us New Dimension Firm + Fill Eye System (£62), one of three new products in the range.

Part one of this two-step eye treatment is a light gel formula which helps tighten and tone the eye area skin while helping to re-plump and refresh it thanks to its hydrating properties. Formulated with Lauder’s pro-collagen complex, the gel aims to visibly lift, firm and smooth the skin around the eyes so that contours appear more defined.

The second stage of the treatment is a crème which has light-diffusing optics to instantly the smooth the appearance of the eye area. The idea is that after using both products together over a period of time, the look of crepiness is reduced and the skin looks firmer and is strengthened.

So what did I make of the Firm + Fill two-step? Well, I loved the lovely, cooling and tightening feel of step one, and was delighted to be using it night and day, as recommended. However, I wasn’t very keen on the second step as the thickness of the crème, which has to be patted on otherwise it drags the skin, drew attention to the lines under my eyes – and looked even worse when I put my normal make-up on. Using it at night, as prescribed, seemed a little bit unnecessary as I’m not really bothered about the look of the skin around my eyes when all I’m doing is heading for bed.

Over to you! What do you think? Let me know if you’ll be trying New Dimension Firm + Fill Eye System – or which eye creams you favour.

My Week in Beauty

MONDAY

Lilac is in the air – shades of lavender, violet and purple run through many of the new spring collections. My favourite is the gorgeous Ultra Lavande range by Aaron De Mey for Lancome.

Taking its inspiration from 1970s disco glamour, it’s a beautiful – and extensive – collection and I worked my way through it last week, starting on Monday with the eye palette I’d been sent – Lancome Ombre Absolue Minerale in Ultra-Lavande Warm Harmony (£32.50; www.lancome.co.uk), which contains a pearly white, a shimmering lilac, a warm violet and a sparkling purple. It may sound like it has “evening wear” written all over it but wearing just the lilac and violet shades, with a browny shade for emphasis, it provided a lovely day look. With the eyes a subtle variation on the lilac theme, I went for the Lancome French Touch Absolu in Berry Rose (£23.50), a gorgeous, intense bright pink on the lips. My new favourite!

TUESDAY

I’ve always been a fan of Estee Lauder DayWear – I love the refreshing cucumbery fragrance, the equally refreshing feel of the eau-de-nil coloured cream and the way it leaves the skin smooth to the touch and well-moisturised.

So I was thrilled, on Tuesday, to renew my acquaintance with the range – via the new Estee Lauder DayWear Advanced Multi-Protection Anti-Oxidant Creme SPF 15 (£35; www.esteelauder.co.uk), an updated version of the original cream which was ahead of its time in terms of protecting the skin from environmental damage.

It’s everything I remember from using DayWear in its earlier incarnations, and, although it’s got sun protection, it says you should use it at night too.

WEDNESDAY

Now that the snow and ice has gone, the beauty PRs are starting to make their way up to Glasgow for meetings to fill us beauty writers in on their companies’ latest offerings.

On Wednesday, it was the turn of Creme de la Mer – but what the two Charlottes who look after this range were particularly keen to remind the media about was the original Creme de la Mer Moisturizing Cream (£94 for 30ml or  £167 for 60ml; www.cremedelamer.co.uk) which has now been on sale in the UK for a decade and which was originally created by aerospace physicist Dr Max Huber as a treatment for the chemical burns he sustained during a horrific explosion in his lab. A side effect of the soothing and moisturising qualities of the cream was its ability to smooth fine lines. It may have a hefty price tag, but it seems like it’s going to take more than a recession to shake CDLM customers off their favourite cream.

THURSDAY

I’ve gone off using pressed powder in recent years, preferring to use a really good primer and foundation, plus a little bit of loose powder if necessary. I found that pressed powder often made my make-up look cakey.

But the new Guerlain Meteorites Compact (£34) just demanded to have an outing on Thursday. It’s so pretty and elegant .. Anyway, it turns out it lives up to its claim of being both “illuminating and mattifying” – phew, just the excuses I needed to pose with it!

FRIDAY

Friday was my night out with the girls for the birthday dinner which was postponed by snow, ice and frozen pipes in December.

Lizzy and I obviously had too much time on our hands as we got ready because we were both on Facebook and as we swapped snippets of info about what we were planning to wear, we evolved a glam dress code. So, Lizzy turned up at the taxi a vision of black and red, with a flower in her hair, and I decided to do the full make-up monty with the new Lancome colours. Which meant using the darkest purple shade in the afore-mentioned Lancome Ombre Absolue Minerale in Ultra-Lavande Warm Harmony for a smoky purple eye, and adding the vibrant violet Lancome Ombre Magnetique in Ultra-Lavande (£23.50) into the equation for a dab of the disco look.

Wearing such strong eye look gave me the perfect opportunity to try out one of the other new lipsticks – the pale rose pink shade of Lancome French Touch Absolu in Daisy Rose (£23.50) – for a real 1960s effect.  I’ve got a feeling this will be my default party make-up for the next few months…