Fashion Brief
The thing about being a single mum is that when your children are little, there’s no one around to engineer the pantomime of Mother’s Day by buying a present or helping them make a card. I feel this is ample justification for a spot of self-gifting. I often choose hand cream, since most of the year is spent grabbing some generic supermarket moisturiser that lives next to the J-cloths and Fairy Liquid.
Jointly sharing the top of this year’s list are Roger Gallet Bois D’Orange (£6), for my handbag, and Aromatherapy Associates Renewing Rose (£23), for next to my bed. Both smell delicious, cosset dry skin and even out ruddiness. Also containing rose are Aerin’s easy-peasy, good-on-every-woman Rose Balm Lipsticks (£25). Somewhere between balm and classic lipstick, they’re rich in moisture, subtle in colour and the packaging is impressive.
If your children are older and pooling resources, this very special Fleur set (£60) of three floral (but sophisticated) fragrances from Miller Harris may be within reach. It includes Rose en Noir, a gorgeous tuberose, and La Pluie, a personal favourite that smells of rain-drenched flowers. Happy Mother’s Day.
Sali loves… new discoveries
MyChelle Fruit Enzyme Mist, £12, mychelleuk.com
I don’t recommend you use this as a daily facial mist; twice a week is ideal. It exfoliates and brightens, and I was told by a recent house guest that mine made her oily skin “feel better than it had in years”. She stole it.
Invisibobble, £3.75, Boots nationwide
If you wear your hair up at home, but aren’t keen on the deep ridges the elastics leave, this is the genius solution. Wind in as normal to hold hair firmly. Remove, and it’s as if it never happened.
Clarins Instant Concealer, £16, escentual.com
Fantastic on under-eye circles. It’s wonderfully moist, concealing darkness without leaving a dry, cakey finish. No grease either. Darker shades now, please.
• Join Sali on Mondays at theguardian.com/fashion.
