Fab Find of the Week: REESON Beauty

If we may be so bold, us beauty editors, we know our stuff. And we’re seeing a trend for our colleagues to parlay that wisdom and experience into their own ranges. Like us, they’ve spent years a bit like Goldilocks, muttering: ‘This one’s too sticky/that one’s too shiny/don’t like the texture of this…’ – while also, finally, identifying real gems among the cascade of products that lands on our doorsteps.

Known as ‘Really Ree’, one of the pioneering beauty bloggers (2010!) and Instagrammers (follow her here), Ree is one of the nicest editors we could ever wish to sit next to at a launch. We’ve yawned together. Smiled together. Probably squealed with delight, as we find a product that pushes all our buttons. So, we were delighted finally to get our hands on the small, slowly-expanding range that Ree has developed, by the name of REESON Beauty.

Let’s start with Ree’s philosophy, which rings very loud bells with us – and will do the same with many of you, we reckon. Ree says: ‘Glow is not just for twentysomethings; midlife shouldn’t mean becoming invisible. REESON is about refusing to disappear when you reach “a certain age”. Now is the time to give yourself permission to be seen - but more than that, to stand out.’

Hurrah to all that – but at the same time, don’t fret that her make-up’s going to scare any horses. The textures are super-blendable and the staying power impressive, and we look forward to seeing this range grow further. (The reason beauty editors – like Ree, and Ateh Jewel, and most recently Kathleen Baird-Murray whose fab La Pyae Apothecary fragrance Jo reviewed last week here – don’t launch with a mahoosive range is that it takes time and money to bring each new product to market. A) They’re still generally working as full-time beauty editors, to bring home the bacon – and B) you’d be absolutely staggered by how much it costs to bring even a blusher to market.

Anyway, our thoughts on the debut REESON…

REESON Blush – Ree gave us both shades of this and we’re hard-pressed to choose between Fresh Rose (a suits-all-skintones true pink), and the warmer, deeper-toned Burnt Peach. Creamy, it melts into skin, but stays put when it’s there in a way that cream blushers don’t, always. As Ree has observed, women tend to ‘fade away’ after a certain age, and we agree that a jolt of well-blended blusher is honestly the instant antidote to that.

REESON Highlighter Duo – disclaimer: we’re not really highlighter people, but a dot of the powder definitely opens eyes when touched to lids, and gives a lift when applied to brow-bone. Play with the powder and the cream sections to try out different effects; if you ARE a highlighter person, we’d bet you’ll adore this.

REESON Bronzing Balm – the Bronze shade (as opposed to MUCH darker Bronze Intense) is perfect for us, so easy to blend with fingers or Ree’s own vegan double-ended blender brush (more info here). It’s that healthy glow that you long for when you’re looking washed out at this time of year, just to perk everything up. (Great also to blend around the hairline for a sort of halo glow, we’ve found.)

REESON Lid Elixir – the first product we’ve seen like this: a serum-tint that you smooth over eyelids to deliver a wash of colour. Great for make-up ‘down days’, or for people who don’t generally wear much make-up, to perfect and even out; we need to do a bit more experimentation to see how it interacts with powder or cream eye make-up.

To conclude, Ree says: ‘Makeup is a source of strength, something to reach for when I feel vulnerable. It’s part of me, my constant companion. I feel incredibly lucky to do what I do; I love helping to solve your beauty dilemmas – and hopefully giving you that little extra boost. My philosophy is simple: makeup may not make you a Hollywood star, but if you feel like one, it’s done its job.’

Colour us REE-lly impressed.

Bronzing Balm/£38 - buy here

Blush - Fresh Rose or Burnt Peach/£25 - buy here

Highlighter Duo/£38 - buy here

Lid Elixir/£28 - buy here