How middle class is your make-up bag? These are the tell-tale products
There are certain social media indicators of how screamingly middle class your morning routine is – ostentatious cold water swimming, cavapoo walking and elaborate smoothie making. One’s make-up bag is also very telling.
I recently emptied out the contents of a group of friends’ make-up bags at lunch at the Hurlingham Club to get a true reveal of the products that they are using to see if I could spot any trends. Kajal pencils and balms abounded. Liquid foundation not so much.
I then quizzed the PR team at John Lewis (where beauty accounts for 15 per cent of overall sales) and the beauty PR of M&S to ask them what their staunchly middle-class customers are buying in order to discover whether you can indeed spot a middle-class make-up bag. I distilled my findings into nine key trends (see below). It turns out that I am a textbook case. If you think you might be too, here are the signs.
You have more than one Charlotte Tilbury product
With its combination of genius branding with great quality at mid-level pricing (a lipstick is £29) it’s not surprising that one Pillow Talk Lipstick is sold every 25 seconds (based on global sales from last year). Everyone from Kate Moss to Queen Camilla is reportedly a fan. The latest midlife must-have (which Moss demoed a couple of weeks ago on Tilbury’s Instagram) is the Unreal Skin Sheer Glow Tint Hydrating Foundation Stick, £35, johnlewis.com, which makes skin look exactly like it says on the box. Recently every beauty editor with glowing skin I asked what product they were wearing told me it was this. It’s marvellous stuff. The handy stick means you can easily top up throughout the day.
You’ve swapped a kohl eyeliner for a kajal pencil
Not new, but everyone started raving about kajal liner a few years ago when Victoria Beckham launched her much talked about Satin Kajal Liner, £32, victoriabeckhambeauty.com. Kajal is a heavily pigmented softer pencil than a kohl and it makes doing a smoky eye a doddle. You just draw a line on the lash line and smudge it with a brush. Victoria Beckham’s favourite colour is the matte Cocoa but she now has 22 different colours. Hildun Beauty also does a good kajal pencil, £16, hildunbeauty.com, and Rimmel London has a surprisingly good offering for £2.99, boots.com.
Satin Kajal Liner, £32, Victoria Beckham Beauty
You’re keen on a multi-balm
Great for lips, cuticles or dabbing on cheekbones as a pretty highlighter, a multi-balm is a cannot-live-without for lots of us. If you side-stepped your go-to Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Balm, £31, boots.com, when Prince Harry wrote about his more unusual use for it in his book Spare and have been trying out some alternatives, By Terry’s Baume de Rose, £42, Selfridges.com, is a safe bet. It smells gorgeous and Princess Diana was a fan so it keeps the royal connection.
By Terry’s Baume de Rose, £42, Selfridges
You’ve changed from a bronzing powder to a bronzing balm
Ever since make-up artist Mary Greenwell’s Instagram went viral in lockdown when she swirled her giant bronzing brush in a pot of Chanel Les Beiges Healthy Glow Bronzer Cream-Gel, £48, johnlewis.com, it’s been a bestseller. It leaves skin looking sun-kissed and expensive. Much more Lamu than Love Island. If it’s out of stock (which it often is) Reeson’s Bronzing Balm, £38, reesonbeauty.com, is an excellent alternative and was created for mature skins as it’s infused with moisturising hyaluronic acid.
You have at least one ‘Mini’
It’s useful now that everywhere from airports to beauty shops like Sephora or SpaceNK have a wide selection of mini products you can pop in a make-up bag or travel on a plane with. Clarins mini Crème Jeunesse, £8.54, my-origines.com, feels so luxurious. The full-size version used to be regularly delivered to Buckingham Palace for the late Queen.
Clarins mini Crème Jeunesse, £8.54, My Origines
You’re a fan of posh hand-san
Since Covid, a mini “hand-san” is still a staple for lots of us for dealing with anything from mishaps with a dog poo bag to tube travel. Penderyn Distillery’s sanitiser, £8.85, comes from the same Brecon Beacons company that makes the whisky and is a joy to use, as is Spritzy’s Organic Hand Cleanser, £18, which smells like an expensive splashy cologne.
Spritzy’s Organic Hand Cleanser, £18, Spritzy
You prefer a nude lip liner to lip filler
Collagen loss in midlife means thinner lips but lip filler is still associated with celebrities when it goes wrong. A safer bet is the make-up artist’s trick to use a nude lip liner just on the cupid’s bow and the middle of the bottom lip but not going right to the edges of the lip (as this can accentuate a sagging lower face). Charlotte Tilbury Lip Cheat pencil in Iconic Nude, £22, cultbeauty.co.uk, and Matte Revolution Modern Matt Lipstick in Supermodel, £29, spacenk.com, is an unbeatable combination for a polished everyday look.
You’ve moved on from CBD drops to functional mushroom gummies
Back in the day, Bach’s Rescue Remedy was a handbag staple for those stress-inducing moments. Then CBD drops were all the rage. Now it’s all about functional mushrooms. Friends swear by Dirtea Cordyceps Performance Gummies, £25, when you need to bolster endurance for any David and Goliath encounters.
Dirtea Cordyceps Performance Gummies, £25, Dirtea
You appreciate a comedy-named product
Just like in the “funny” birthday card aisle in Waitrose, a laugh is always welcome, even if it comes in mascara form. Too Faced’s Better Than Sex Mascara, £28, johnlewis.com, has won many awards, creating beautiful, elegant lashes. It may well live up to its name. But one thing is for sure. It’s not better than when the new Sarah Raven gardening catalogue arrives through the letterbox. That’s just too many words for a mascara tube.
Better Than Sex Mascara, £28, John Lewis
