Time to vote for your best beauty buys of the year

We all love those little luxuries that get us through tough times and put the colour in our cheeks (literally). So. . .

WHen they discover I write Inspire’s beauty column, some people — largely men — delight in informing me that ‘ no one needs beauty products’. naturally, I respond with my best tinkling Marie Antoinette laugh and the exhortation: ‘Let them eat eyeliner!’

But, actually, I beg to differ. I need make-up and creams, just as I need hair heroes, bath oil and scent. I need them to feel engaged with the world and ready to take it on, armoured and optimistic, to feel pleasure and some small joy when there doesn’t seem much about.

A spot of self-ornamentation bolsters my will to stagger on. As Covid has given way to a cost- of-living crisis, I, for one, have required this in 2022. And, from reading your letters and emails, so have you.

So let’s celebrate the best of what we Brits love in beauty with this, our annual awards. of course, you cannot begin to consider the above without acknowledging the economic fix we’re in, set only to exacerbate in 2023. Filling our mouths is always going to take priority over painting them, just as keeping warm will be more vital than keeping fragrant.

However, as in wartime, when Churchill kept supplies of lipstick coming to maintain morale, little luxuries become even more precious. Many of us will already be stalwartly saving, indulging sparingly — a high-low balancing act built on a foundation of budget wares. Last year, we added the category ‘daily joy’ to champion a product that had sustained us through lockdown. this year, we’ve swapped it for a beloved ‘bargain buy’.

So what in your make- up bag or bathroom cabinet has filled you with joie de vivre during 2022? For inspiration, we asked four women at the very top of the industry: veteran beauty expert Ruby Hammer, perfume queen Jo Malone; royal make- up artist Hannah Martin and cosmetic dermatologist dr Sam Bunting.

I’ve listed mine, too. So allow yourself the pleasure of an imaginary browse though the experts’ must-have beauty buys — and vote now to be entered into our rather glorious prize draw!