TBG Interview: Legology founder, Kate Shapland
Legs for days, that was all Kate wanted.
All posts tagged: net-a-porter
Net-a-Porter celebrates five years of beauty
Last evening, luxury e-tailer Net-a-Porter marked its fifth anniversary in beauty. Its global beauty director Newby Hands was in Singapore to meet tastemakers, brand owners and beauty junkies to share the e-tailer’s latest offerings and market insights. Local celebrity makeup artist Clarence Lee; and Nicolas Travis, founder of homegrown skincare label Allies of Skin shared their beauty tips at the cosy session in the swanky attic of a members’-only club. When Net-a-Porter was launched five years ago, its offerings were meant to complement the shopping habits of its fashion consumers. Sophisticated, cosmopolitan, and discerning, these women have deep pockets but demanded mainly classic colours and effective skincare that would fit their jet setting and professional lifestyles, says Hands. The latest beauty trends and shades were not necessarily their priorities. “They may buy their bags and shoes in the latest pastel spring shades, but not the makeup in those colours,” she lets on. Starting out with just 10 cult beauty labels that were not well-known internationally but offered quality formulas, #NetaBeauty did not aim to be Sephora. …
Pat McGrath Labs Dark Star 006 UltraViolet Blue Review
“WARNING: UltraViolet Blue pigment can cause a temporary staining of the skin.” We have not come across any eyeshadows with a warning label, until the legendary makeup artist Pat McGrath‘s Dark Star 006 UltraViolet Blue. Then again, so many things about this set of eyeshadows are different. 1) The packaging: With the holographic bag and sequins as stuffing, it is a visual feast from the get-go. Perhaps this is eyeshadow the aliens would wear? 2) The pigment: The star of this set is obviously the UltraViolet Blue shadow. This is pure metallic sparkling blue pigment. Full-on colour in one swipe with finger or brush. Use with eye makeup primer to prevent staining of the skin, says the instructions. The others; Astral White, Mercury and Dark Matter pigments, do not disappoint. These sparkly metallic colours come through easily. We have never seen a darker black eyeshadow 👌🏻. Buildable and blendable. The lighter colours are beautiful as highlights or all over the lids. And all with minimal fallout, so it does not get messy during application. The …
Dr Barbara Sturm skincare review
Popular with Hollywood celebrities, Dr Barbara Sturm is a German doctor who turned her expertise in orthopaedics into innovative solutions for an aesthetic practice and skincare line. She is known for her MC1 “blood cream”, for which a trip to her clinic is necessary. Fortunately, Dr Sturm also has a superb skincare line that is now available on Net-A-Porter. When we met over lunch last week for a tete a tete, she urged me to try only her products for a week, just to see what a difference it would make to my skin. And I’m glad I did. The made-in-Germany line is relatively simple, with all the basics to keep the skin healthy. The Eye Cream is a lightweight creme containing macadamia seed oil, antioxidant-rich purslane ferment extract, glycerin, radish root ferment. It is absorbed easily and immediately plumps up the skin; and leaving it so the entire day. The skin on my undereye area gets crepe-y and dry extremely easily, so I am pretty impressed with this eye cream. The Hyaluronic Serum is …
Dr Barbara Sturm and her skincare line: 6 things to know
“I’m the Mother of customised skincare,” declares Dr Barbara Sturm, the German orthopaedic surgeon-turned anti-ageing skin expert. Instead of sounding arrogant, she is actually just matter-of-fact. The doctor is after all, the word-of-mouth go-to for some of the most beautiful and ageless in Hollywood, young and older: from Cher and Jennifer Aniston to Rosie Huntington-Whitley, Irina Shayk and Hailey Baldwin. In 2003, she pioneered a method that uses one’s blood for a customised anti-ageing face cream, the MC1 or “Blood Cream”. In a nutshell, here’s how it works: she puts a vial of your blood through a “mechanical stimulation” process to trick the cells into thinking that it needs to produce wound-healing proteins. “The resulting concentration of anti interleukin-1 and transforming growth factor (TGF) beta is 140 times higher than what you would have in the body,” says Dr Sturm. She adds the concentration into a tub of moisturiser, and there is the customised face cream. (Primarily, the use of your own blood is for hygiene purposes.) The doctor created the MC1 when she was …
Marie-Stella-Maris on Net-A-Porter
While quenching your skin this summer, quench the thirst of the underprivilged as well with Amsterdam-based lifestyle label Marie-Stella-Maris. Since 2014, it has been donating a portion of its profits to provide clean drinking water to the underprivileged. So far, more than 18,000 have benefited. For every litre of Marie-Stella-Maris Mineral Water sold, 5 cents is donated; while for every lifestyle product sold, 1 euro is donated. Their raison d’être is to work towards UN Resolution 64/292 – The Human Right to Water and Sanitation. Manufactured in Sweden, the skincare products are made with organic ingredients such as shea butter, cocoa butter, jojoba, sweet almond oil, as well as coconut oil. We tried the No.2 Handcream (lightweight but moisturising with shea butter, sweet almond oil, rosemary leaf oil, lavender oil); No.97 Pillow Spray Eau de Lavande (lavender with hints of eucalyptus and musk, refreshing); and No.73 Liquid Soap (with aloe vera juice, black pepper, lavender, geranium flower oil, gentle and lightly foamy). Good options if you like the concept of “clean beauty” with a social cause, plant-based, with …
Pat McGrath Labs now available on Net-a-Porter
The magical coveted makeup potions by the queen of editorial and backstage makeup Pat McGrath are now available on luxury e-tailer Net-a-Porter. In 2015, McGrath announced the launch of her first product, a pot of liquid gold pigment Gold 001 through Instagram where she has more than a million followers. She has since gone on to launch at least three other product ranges from seductive molten metallic eyeshadow to sparkly glittering lip kits in limited releases. These come with mixing spatulas and solutions that turn the makeup weather-proof; all with that exquisite high-fashion finish seen in McGrath’s work in the Vogue pages and on runways. In a recent FT article, she declared: “My goal is to create make-up that’s so addictive, once someone lays eyes on it they get so panicked it might sell out they run out of their house in just a trench coat to get their hands on it. “And for me, it’s about glitter, sparkle and something completely new”. And indeed, beauty junkies mesmerised by images of the makeup products on McGrath’s …
NYDG Skincare
A new label headed by American dermatologist David Colbert, the NYDG Skincare range is a fuss-free line is designed by a team of dermatologists, physicians, chemists, and aestheticians. Formulated to heal and repair the skin, the products are made with antioxidants to protect from pollution and harsh environments. We tried three products and came away impressed. Formula 119 Cream: A soothing and rich cream that does not feel heavy, it contains sodium hyaluronate, shea butter, algae extract, chamomile, Vitamin E, peptides, ginseng, grape seed, green tea, and ginkgo leaf extracts. Easily absorbed by the skin, this cream moisturises well without leaving behind a sticky feeling. With its chamomile scent, the cream is a lovely addition to morning and evening routines. Chem-Free Active Defense SPF30: Made to be water-resistant for 80 minutes, and provide broad spectrum pretection. With zinc oxide as its main ingredient, it reflects the sun’s damaging rays (instead of absorbing it) so is less likely to irritate the skin. This formula is not lightweight and leaves a white cast if not blended properly; therefore …
The Beauty Gazette 