Got that new term feeling? Embrace the September reset with tailored blazers, hints of cashmere and a surprisingly excellent tee

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Nobody has handed me a timetable in decades, but I still love that new-term energy, and this edit leans right into it. A blazer that is properly tailored, rather than assembled from buttons and hope. Closed-toe shoes to ensure a proper soft landing after months of sandals. A T-shirt from a brand I was fully prepared to be sniffy about, until it made me eat my words. And a packing solution, because the only sane way to deal with the end of summer is to plan a holiday, obviously.

There’s also a genius lip colour for lip balm addicts like me, a bag doing a very convincing impression of something 10 times its price, and one long-sold-out cardigan that was worth every month of the wait.

Soon it will be harder for the beauty industry to aggressively market at children, hopefully spelling the end of gimmicky, ineffective kiddie makeup

This summer’s announcement that under-16s will soon be banned from some social media platforms and, more recently, that 16- and 17-year-olds will face a digital curfew, strikes me as a good and sensible decision. It also has unignorable benefits for beauty consumers who are old enough to vote, as opposed to those receiving pocket money – with whom brands are inexplicably obsessed.

A social media ban makes it harder – though not impossible – for the beauty industry to market aggressively and cynically at children, which might mean gimmicky, ineffectual kiddie makeup and skincare will stop occupying a disproportionate share of marketing spend and retail space. Will it be the end for “lip oils” in 36 shades of pink?

Are you stuck in a makeup rut? Or maybe just beginning to wear cosmetics? Here, experts reveal how to to find the right products for you

Makeup trends change over time – and so does our skin. How can you enhance what you have and refresh your look? Here, makeup artists share the fundamentals of applying cosmetics, at every age.

This nifty addition to your makeup bag will give the impression of a person with time, skill and polish – with every little effort

A liquid eyeshadow is the answer to all your eyeshadow misgivings, and I will die on this hill. One neutral, long-lasting shadow gives the impression, however false, of a person with time, skill and polish, when in fact its effort:effect ratio is a joke.

Just daub on to the middle of your lid from lash line to socket, avoiding the inner and outer corners in the first instance, then take a clean fluffy shadow-blending brush and buff in a windscreen wiper motion to spread across to the corners and soften any hard lines.

I have a bagful of brushes but if I had to pick, these are my must-haves

My girlfriends have a habit of rifling through my makeup bag when we’re together to see what’s new, and last month one complained about how much precious space was taken up by brushes. These are very boring, I do understand, and I consequently rarely write about them. And yet, whenever I post a makeup application video online, they are invariably the products I’m asked about most.

My friend made me wonder which brushes, if I were allowed only, say, five, would I regard as must-haves? It has been a game only I would find enjoyable, but here is where I have landed:

From serums to hand soap, fragrances to hair stylers, here are the beauty buys that justify the price tag and the ones you can happily get on a budget

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Walk down any beauty aisle, and you’ll be told every product is essential, transformative and worth hocking a kidney for. For every £300 miracle cream that claims to somehow change your entire facial structure, however, there’s someone – usually on social media – insisting you can buy a perfect dupe of a cult luxury fragrance. It can feel bewildering.

After more than 15 years working in the industry – and testing hundreds of products a year – I can confirm that beauty is rarely as simple as luxury v high street. But there are a few insider realities about how beauty products are made, priced and marketed that are worth knowing before you decide which are worth the spend – and which ones aren’t.

Think self-tan is too much effort – or too risky? Not any more. The latest products are so simple to use you can just go with the glow

I can’t be without a facial self-tan in spring/summer. Keen to offload heavier coverage foundations that can slip, slide and suffocate in the sunshine, I reach for a subtle tanner as a warmer, lighter and, truly, easier base layer for makeup.

People wrongly imagine self-tan to be too effortful, fiddly and risky, and understandably wonder where to slot it into their skincare routine, but a new crop of facial self-tanners simplifies both these issues.

In 2024, when she filmed a quick video in her car on a work break, she thought nothing of it. But in days she had become a meme. What followed was excitement, opportunity and a crushing pressure ...

Jools Lebron was in her car, taking a break from her job in a supermarket, when she posted the TikTok video that would change her life. “You see how I do my makeup for work?” she told her followers that day in August 2024. “Very demure, very mindful … A lot of you girls go to the interview looking like Marge Simpson and go to the job looking like Patty and Selma. Not demure.”

“At first, it was like any other video,” she says, on a video call from her home in Chicago. “A few likes, a couple of comments. But then I started noticing the numbers moving faster than usual – faster than anything I had seen before. I remember refreshing my phone and just staring at it like: ‘Wait … what is happening?’”

In-between weather calls for an in-between wardrobe. Knee-length skirts with a fun trim feel grown-up, chic and a little bit summery

There’s more to this classic look than simply wearing your nightwear as daywear. Try it with a T-shirt or a silky bomber – and always with a slick of lipstick

Not sure where to begin or want to simplify your current regimen? Our expert demystifies the marketing with her step-by-step skincare guide

• The best anti-ageing creams and serums

Skincare has never been so overwhelming, as we’re bombarded with ads for complicated-sounding products and TikTok routines that promise dramatic results in just days. I get it. Despite having been a beauty journalist for more than 15 years, even I haven’t been able to escape the noise; I’ve stood in front of a bathroom cabinet full of half-used serums, wondering why my skin was left feeling worse, not better.

Somewhere along the way, we were sold the idea that more steps, more products and more intensity equals better skin. But it rarely does, and what works best, ultimately, is consistency – which is boring (sorry) but effective.

It’s good news for those of us who aspire to a brisk, windswept British aesthetic over the bronze California beach babe

Allow me to be the first and possibly last person to tell you that mauve is fashionable.

Yes, the purply-pink hue of a 1990s mother-of-the-groom’s duster coat is now the height of chic on cheeks, lips and even eyes. It’s just euphemistically called “cool toned”, which in practice translates as traditional nude makeup tones such as dark brown, caramel, taupe, pink and beige, customised with a mild mauvey tinge to reduce their respective temperatures.

After five marriages and countless magazine covers, the former Baywatch star makes being makeup-free and unattached look the best of all worlds

Pamela Anderson has been married five times. She has made the kind of romantic decisions – impulsive, reckless, incorrigible – that suggest someone who struggles to be alone. She had known her first husband only a few days; her second marriage lasted four months; she described her most recent, in 2020, as “a disaster”. Now, at 58, she is finally single.

“There’s that great Osho quote – ‘The capacity to be alone is the capacity to love.’ That’s where I’m at right now,” she told AnOther magazine. “I just want to unleash the dragon. I don’t need anybody in my way. I want to get it out. It happens at different times in everybody’s life, and this is my time.”

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Instead of being obvious like a dark foundation, these tints will make you look as if you’ve had a touch of summer sun

Having one’s foundation match one’s skin tone exactly is a classic case of beauty industry dogma v popular opinion. The truth is that many people seek a little more warmth in their complexion – not only but especially come winter – and are disinclined to use another method such as tanning drops or bronzer to achieve it. And I’m always for whatever someone wants to do with their own face. All that concerns me is recommending the right product for the job.

A full coverage foundation in too dark a colour stands out like a sore thumb. The key to subtly deepening, or “warming up”, any skin tone is in choosing a sheerer base with clear pigment better able to “stretch” across any disparity in tone between skin and makeup.

Applying cosmetics for concerts and competitions is part of dance culture but many now question the tradition

I recognised the signs straight away: the twirling, the mirror glances, the obsession with her music box. I didn’t need my daughter to ask if I wanted to see her “magic dance show” to confirm it – she was a dance kid.

Despite efforts to offer trucks and tutus, sports with sparkles, I was quietly thrilled. I’d been a dedicated dance kid (and later an unhinged ballet teen) and was excited to see her join the tribe. But when I mentioned ballet lessons to my partner, he was horrified. He spiralled about the pressure, the body image, the gender stereotypes and, most of all, the makeup.

Leather, lace and an unexpected accessory or two will perfectly complement bold trousers

Searching for a concealer that can do it all? From creamy to crease-resistant, brightening to hydrating, these are the formulas that impressed us most

• The best mascaras for longer, fuller and fluttery lashes

When life gets stressful, your face is often the first place to show telltale signs. Eye bags get darker after sleepless nights and pimples appear in protest at the first signs of stress. Whatever the cause, the best concealers can help to even out imperfections, so you look flawless regardless of what is going on behind the scenes.

It might seem obvious, but not all concealers are the same. Some leave a cakey finish on the skin, while others settle quickly into fine lines or blend out and leave barely any coverage at all. Many modern concealers also include active skincare ingredients to combine the benefits of both products.

Best concealer overall:
Nars Radiant Creamy concealer

Best budget concealer:
Collection Lasting Perfection concealer

Sweet PJs, soft sweatpants and cosy accessories will make a sofa day feel even more indulgent

Mismatched or holey socks won’t cut it if your host asks you to leave your footwear at the door this party season