We recently got a look at some of Space NK's new and forthcoming releases, and met some of the people who made them. People like, oh, Lipstick Queen Poppy King...
...who has cooked up an achingly collectible Lipstick Library called Liptropolis, containing 3 shades of lipstick named after districts of Manhattan.
L-R Soho, Central Park, Upper East. (Poppy's nail polish is by Rococo.)
This is volume 1 - there will be at least 2 more, Poppy says, and they won't be more cities. Intriguing. Liptropolis will be priced at around £40 - so about £13 per lipstick. Expect it in May.
We also met Carisa Janes (above), founder of Hourglass cosmetics. This brand is new to Space NK but already well known to us for its heavenly bronze packaging and beautiful quality, via existing stockists Zuneta and Liberty.
She showed us the new Serum 28, an oil/serum/primer multi-tasker that smells like a spa in a bottle - deliciously indulgent. But my attention was quickly diverted by the new Opaque Rogue liquid lipsticks...
They're super long-wearing, but Carisa assures us that they're not plasticky or drying on the lips. These aren't out yet, but the orange and coral shades above are going straight in my shopping cart as soon as they go on sale.
Carisa also mentioned that she's working on a new eyeliner formulation at the moment. Something that will be as water-tight as a polymer liner without the flaking or the cracking, and as soft and workable as a pencil but minus the smudging and fading.
Rococo's Jubilee tribute: Rock & Royal. The blue looks amazing.
Here are two new Ombre Blackstar Melting Eyeshadows from By Terry. The green is Fizzy Jade, the blue is Paradise Island. These mean business - the swatches were still on my hand after a bath (and my baths are pretty long-drawn-out affairs). These are £27.50, out in May.
We (along with most of the beauty blogging community) are already in love with the Aqualip Jellytint in Dancefloor Flirt (£22), also out in May. This is a one-off limited edition, but Terry would be nuts not to include it (and more shades) in the permanent line. It's a water-light stain that despite looking orange in the tube, gives a petal-pink tint to the lips. This really deserves a post to itself, so stay tuned...
This is Serum Terrybly Sunbooster. It's not so much a fake tan as an auto-tan - it actually influences melanin production in the skin so you tan as naturally as you would in the sunshine. No biscuit aromas or orange ankles in sight. The press release for this stuff is full of graphs and diagrams of cells, and even with a Biology degree I'm no wiser as to how it works. But it smells nice, and the concept is pretty exciting. We have some of this to try out, so will do some further investigation. It's also out in May, costing £58 for 35ml. (We'll be sticking to using it on our faces, then.)
Ahh. This zen-like white creation is In Peace eau de parfum, a charity collaboration from Space NK. £12 of the £60 retail price will go to womenforwomen.org, which supports female survivors of war. It's a creamy mix of white suede and fresh flowers with an undercurrent of warm, cosy iris. There's also a kick of sandalwood and musk in the base. I really recommend sniffing this one. It's at Space NK now.
Here's perfumer Azzi Glasser gamely posing with the bottle. Sadly my shot is too overexposed to show the beautiful filigree-effect detailing on the box.
Finally, this is the Brighton collection, new to the Space NK Beautannia range. This is just gorgeous. It's got a minty note that reminds me of one of my favourite smells, Lush's "Dirty". The mint is a nod to the sticks of Brighton Rock you can buy at the seafront. The fragrance also folds in scents of the sea and coast itself, using sea moss and orris for an earthy, vegetative note, and grapefruit and neroli to capture the "bracing" nature of Brighton's breezy beach. There's a base of amber, vetiver and musk reflecting the scent of sun-warmed skin.
Needless to say I'm absolutely loving this. I have a sample of the bodycream (£42/190ml) which has me obsessively sniffing my arm, and I'll inevitably be springing for the candle (£35/185g), too.
Disclosure - we received samples of some of the products above