Fab Find of the Week: delilah make-up
As beauty editors, we often suffer from what we call ‘Beauty Drift’. In other words, because we get (and need) to try so many different products, we sometimes forget about some favourites.
But now that we have delilah back in our lives – and our make-up bags – we’ll aim for it to stay put. A fabulous, all-British brand founded by make-up pro Rupert Kingston (and a nicer man you couldn’t wish to meet), it should be on EVERYONE’s radar but is, we find, especially good for more mature faces, being all about the ‘glow’. (And gosh, we all need a bit of that, right now.) Vegan, PETA-approved, dermatologically-tested… that’s a lot of boxes ticked.
If you are in Central London, we suggest you consider encountering the range ‘face-to-face’ at delilah’s counter in Fortnum & Mason, where it is now the only make-up brand in residence, actually. As it happens, Jo had a presentation to do upstairs to some retail world bigwigs, and so arranged to meet Rupert there for a bit of a zhoosh. She says: ‘I had completely forgotten, over the course of the pandemic, about the power of fabulous make-up to boost confidence. I mean: I know this stuff. It’s what I’ve written about for decades. But experiencing it after such a long break was a truly mind-blowing reminder of the impact of great make-up on confidence.’
Since then, several of the products used by Rupert have made their way into Jo’s make-up bag. When you need to get your make-up mojo back, we wholeheartedly endorse any and all of them!
delilah Under Wear Future Resist Foundation Primer/£34 for 48ml. This is apparently delilah’s No.1 selling product, and we’re not surprised: it’s a super-silky, peptide-powered serum-style primer which plumps up skin, features optical pigments to blur lines and definitely keeps make-up looking fresher.
delilah Take Cover Radiant Cream Concealer/£22 for 3.5ml. A little bottle of magic, this: one of the best under-eye concealers Jo’s ever used, which also doubles as a great base for eyeshadow, infused with vitamin E which goes some way to explaining the smooth application and finish, as do the subtle, light-reflective pigments. Can easily be touched up later in the day, if required, without looking cake-y.
delilah Alibi The Perfect Cover Fluid Foundation/£34 for 30ml. This is a really powerhouse of a foundation, offering really serious coverage yet very, very lightweight in texture – and stays put really impressively (when you take your make-up off at night, there’s LOTS on that cloth!) It’s quite amazing for taking down redness without needing to be built up, and has a lovely, weightless finish whether you apply with a brush or fingers. The shade range is really inclusive, too (as with all brands, delilah are moving everything in that direction.)
delilah Pure Light Illuminating Powder/£36. So, technically, this multi-award-winning product is for all over the face, delivering a radiant glow – but Jo layers the Lustre shade over her own favourite cream blusher (delilah, we need you to do one of those!), for the most amazingly healthy finish. Gorgeous, luxe brushed bronze compact – all of delilah’s creations do feel very swanky, BTW.
Delilah Pure Light Liquid Radiance/£32 for 30ml. Like we’re really going to use highlighter… ONLY NOW WE ARE! A tiny dab between the brows and on the cheekbones just makes the face come alive, or if you want a more radiant finish for your foundation, add a couple of pumps and blend in the palm of the hand. Miraculous stuff.
delilah Intense Day-to-Night Buildable Volumising Mascara/£24. With an elegantly slim brush that makes it easy to access even teeny inner and bottom lashes, this delivers clump-free definition, but really does deliver on its promise that you can add further coats later, to revive or build on it. (So many mascaras promise that, but instead go all scrunchy when you attempt to reapply.)
delilah Brow Shape Defining Brow Gel/£18 for 4ml. With its neat, stubbly little wand, this gives Jo instant brows with a fab, defined arch, massively improving on the baby blonde brows that literally don’t show up at all, without serious help. Very natural-looking indeed, yet very long-lasting. (Very good on Jo’s ‘gappy’ brows, for faking what’s not there.)
We seem to have written quite a paean of praise for this rather wonderful make-up brand. But frankly, if we could hoist a flag/bunting and enrol some trumpeters, we’d do that, too, as a welcome back to delilah in our lives.
£18-38 – buy here
PS Do check out delilah’s fab sets, which are great intros to the range.
PPS There are some great how-to videos on the website, too – here
