8 Must-Have Spring Beauty Products

It’s time to shed that dull, dry winter scale with some bright new spring faves.

Lush’s Robson store launches interactive stations this spring, like a hairstyling chair to test-run products, as well as fridges for self-serve face masks. These solid mouthwash tabs—also new in-store—are inspired by the Japanese custom of gargling to maintain health and vitality; packed with antibacterial tea tree oil, green tea powder and sea salt, they’re a breath of fresh air.  $10, lush.ca

Handcrafted on Vancouver Island, these small-batch, cold-pressed Cedarwood and Clary Sage shaving bars from Jody’s Naturals feature essential oils, shea butter and local craft beer (for better lather). When borrowed from the boys, they make short work of ingrown hairs and razor rash for girls, too. $12, etsy.com

Marc Jacobs O!Mega Lash Volumizing mascara sports a double-brush design (two different mascara brushes stitched together) for easy lash separation, mega-volume (in smudge-proof ’80s shades) and curl with just a few strokes. $33, sephora.com

Made with hyaluronic acid (see “Regime Change,” right) and dragon’s blood extract (a.k.a. red plant resin), the Dragon’s Blood lip mask from U.K.-based Rodial adds moisture to plump, smooth and shape lips for the perfect pucker. $45/8 sachets, murale.ca

Designed to amp up hair’s natural structure, the latest in local AG Hair’s Texture arsenal, Tousled Texture Body and Shine finishing spray, is an airy-yet-strong styling spray that adds instant volume and natural shine. $24, chatters.ca

Hermès fragrance could just be the world’s best-kept secret, considering most anything made by the French atelier carries a princely sum—and yet its classic men’s scent, Terre d’Hermès, clocks in at half the price of Tom Ford’s Jasmin Rouge. A new “H Bottle” evokes skyscrapers that dominate a cityscape; inside, layered notes of grapefruit and orange. $124/100 ml, hermes.com

Clarins introduces its limited-edition 4-Colour all-in-one make-up pen, a reboot of that fave elementary school staple. With four coloured pencils in one push-pen, it’s an easy switch from three eyeliners (black, blue, brown) to lipliner—the natural colours are also great for filling in the brows. $42, nordstrom.ca

On TrendRegime Change

When it comes to cosmeceuticals, hyaluronic acid (HA) is a bit of an overachiever. You’ve spotted it in face creams, but it’s also been used to plump lips, treat burns and lubricate the joints of osteoporosis sufferers. Used topically, it binds water and draws hydration to the skin’s surface—smoothing, moisturizing, and improving skin’s radiance (and your odds of getting ID’ed at happy hour).

According to Carruthers and Humphrey Medical Director and dermatologist Shannon Humphrey, there are two new reasons hyaluronic acid is the ingredient to watch in 2017. HA is a big molecule, so it does most of its work on skin’s outer layer, but SkinMedica and SkinCeuticals, respectively, have now formulated ways to break it up into tinier fragments to penetrate the skin—making results more dramatic and long-lasting. (SkinMedica’s HA5 Rejuvenating Hydrator is already on the market, with SkinCeuticals’ entry coming later in 2017.)

More exciting still is a new type of HA filler formulated for the face, launching in Canada this year. “It’s not really a filler, it’s a texture improver for the skin,” says Humphrey of the new treatment, wherein minute droplets of HA are injected under the skin’s top layer. This puts tension on the cells and, in turn, produces new collagen naturally for clinically proven baby-faced radiance. Humphrey says this points to an exciting shift in the aesthetic medicine industry that’s moving away from Kylie Jenner duck lips etc., and toward treatments targeting skin and “natural-looking outcomes.” Ditto that. —Julia Dilworth

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