Summer is underway and everyone’s travelling. This month, you’ll want to pay attention to Dior’s new Le Baume moisturiser, which is a multi-purpose product designed to nourish the skin anywhere on your body and neatly encapsulated in a stylish, portable package that’s perfect for – you’ve guessed it – travelling. More details below.
With travel back in force, you’ll want a good portable moisturiser that can be easily used on the go; the new Dior Le Baume might be a good option. Designed to be a unisex moisturiser that’s suitable for sensitive skin and which can be used to repair damaged skin barriers on the face, lips and body, Le Baume is infused with extract of centella asiatica – which is beloved in Asia for its anti-inflammatory properties. Other key ingredients include goodies like shea butter, jojoba oil, squalane, glycerin and hyaluronic acid. Beyond its protective qualities, Le Baume comes in a stylish and ergonomic pebble-shaped container (said to fit right into one’s hand) that’s emblazoned with Dior’s signature “Logomania” motif.
Le Baume ($88 for 50ml) is now available on the Dior Beauty Online Boutique and all Dior Beauty Boutiques and Counters
This month sees Gucci Beauty adding two new fragrances to its repertoire. First up, its more high-end The Alchemist’s Garden collection now includes Where My Heart Beats (pictured), a dreamy floral green eau de parfum with top notes of violet leaves; middle note of peony and base note of white musk. Beyond it’s beautiful packaging, Where My Heart Beats boasts pretty impressive credentials too; it is reportedly the first fragrance in the world to be manufactured using alcohol made from 100 per cent recycled carbon emissions, using novel technology that processes captured carbon from industrial emissions and transforms it into alcohol for use in fine fragrances.
Elsewhere, fans of Gucci Beauty’s Bloom series might want to keep an eye out for its latest sibling, the Bloom Intense; it intensifies the original’s distinctive white floral blend with added sensuality, grounded in a base of patchouli essence and crystal moss accord.
Gucci Beauty Where My Heart Beats ($570 for 100ml) and Bloom Intense ($175 for 30ml; $195 for 50ml; $280 for 100ml) is available now at all Gucci Beauty boutiques
There’s a new anti-ageing skincare line at Chanel. Titled Le Lift Pro, the ingredient at the heart of this range is an enzyme derived from honey produced by Melipona bees, which is said to be fluid and silky to the touch and extremely scarce, given that these bees produce very small quantities of it. Chanel scientists found that the Melipona enzymes eliminates 99 per cent of devitalised fibroblasts, reduces pigmentation caused by these devitalized fibroblasts by 73 per cent, and improves the quality of skin’s support by a factor of 2.2, and it’s now in all three skincare products in the Le Lift Pro range.
The first product is the Concentre Contours serum, which features a tightening formula that combines melipona enzymatic ingredient, a tensing biopolymer, and hyaluronic acid in order to redefine facial contours, reduce the appearance of skin sagging, and deliver all-day hydration. Next is the Creme Volume, a silky moisturiser that’s enriched with a natural collagen booster that plumps up the skin, as well as the aforementioned Melipona enzyme. The final product is the Masque Uniformite, a jelly-like mask (that can be washed off after 10 minutes or left on overnight) which contains the highest concentration of the signature melipona enzymatic ingredient.
P.S. there’s also a massage tool that comes with the range that was designed to boost the overall effects.
The Le Lift Pro Concentre Contours serum ($265 for 30ml; $331 for 50ml), Creme Volume ($265 for 50g) and Masque Uniformite ($292 for 50g) is available now at all Chanel Fragrance and Beauty boutiques and counters
The Ordinary is beloved for their no-nonsense, clear-cut formulations that have made skincare a lot more affordable and understandable. Expect even more options from the label – they’ve just launched The O. Lab – what they bill as “a space for what comes next in skincare”, with a whole slew of new products situated within this environment.
It appears to be an expansion of current bestsellers in their range – for example, there are now two additional cleansers (Glycolipid Cream Cleanser and Glucoside Foaming Cleanser, $25 for 150ml each) that are seemingly targeted at dry and oilier skin-types. The new Natural Moisturizing Factors + Beta Glucan moisturiser ($27 for 100ml) too, appears to be a more lightweight version of the existing version, though a highlight to look out for is the Multi-Peptide Eye Serum ($49 for 15ml), which has been making the rounds on social media and is described to be a serum “powered by a range of advanced peptide technologies that work together to reduce the appearance of crow’s feet, under-eye wrinkles, puffiness, and dark circles.”
The products are now available at selected Sephora stores and on sephora.sg
The French maison promises some bold nails this summer with the latest edition of its Le Vernis range, which introduces 17 new nail polish shades, ranging from fiery reds and light pinks to delicate mallow blue and sage green. Alongside the eye-catching range, there’s also a limited edition Set Le Vernis, which comes with two shades, a gel coat and two sheets of 45 iconic nail sticker designs.
The Le Vernis 2023 collection ($46 per colour) is now available at all Chanel Fragrance and Beauty boutiques and counters, and online store
Dior’s popular rosy glow blush was first launched more than a decade ago with two colours (001 Pink and 004 Coral) and has remained a mainstay at the brand since. Under the leadership of Dior Makeup creative director Peter Phillips, the rangehas been expanded to feature two new colours (012 Rosewood, a delicate pink; 015 Cherry, a classic red). The formula of the blush too has been updated: it now includes eosin (a type of dye), which reacts to the wearer’s skin and pH level to create a customised hue.
The new Dior rosy glow blushes ($69 each) are now available at al rosy glow blush at all Dior Beauty Boutiques, Counters, and online store
Fans of Gucci Beauty’s vintage-inflected makeup collection, rejoice. The brand has just launched a new multi-use cream and powder palette titled Palette De Beaute Quatuor. Available in three colourways, the palette comes in satin and matte finishes and can be used as both eyeshadow and blush to warm up one’s eyes, lips, and cheeks.
The new Gucci Palette De Beaute Quatuor palettes ($120 each) are now available at all Gucci Beauty stores
The Japanese cosmetics giant has partnered another local icon for a limited-edition drop: its new Spring Summer 2023 collection sports Peko Chan, the adorable Japanese cartoon character that’s recognisable for her big grin and chubby cheeks. For this collaboration, Peko has been given a futuristic makeover, with her silvery likeness splashed across Shu Uemura’s signature products, like the famous cleansing oil, as well as face brushes, lipsticks and eyeshadow palettes.
The Shu Uemura x Peko limited-edition collection ($40-$175) is now available at all Shu Uemura stores, counters and Sephora
At the heart of Precious (Clarins’ new three-piece skincare collection) is a rare plant known as the Moonlight Flower that grows in Central America, which can sometimes take up to 20 years for its first bloom in the night. As soon as they are picked, the flower immediately undergoes an ultra–cold natural cryoextraction process to obtain its extract. This flower’s extract reportedly helps to increases collagen–1 production by 279 per cent, according to Clarins.
The extract is now featured as the hero ingredient in the Clarins Precious range, which contains the La Creme (a lightweight moisturiser; $495 for 50ml), La Creme Yeux (an eye cream; $210 for 15ml) and La Lotion (a toner; $175 for 150ml).
The Clarins Precious collection is available now at all Clarins stores
K-beauty took over the scene several years ago for their focus on hydrating and babying the skin in general, and Illiyoon, another major K-Beauty stalwart, has just launched in Singapore. The brand is probably best known in skincare circles for its Ceramide Ato collection, and as the name suggests, the sensitive-skin-friendly range emphasises one of the best ingredients for repairing and protecting your skin – ceramides. Other key ingredients include Yoon Complex, which includes Ginseng water and Bupleurum Falcatum Root, which is said to have the effect of soothing and moisturising sensitive skin in pursuit of skin recovery.
The Illiyoon Ceramide Ato range ($19.90-$27.50) is now available at selected Guardian outlets and online store