Sarah Loves... Autumn 2026
Beauty Bible’s joint editor, Sarah Stacey, shares her seasonal picks – starting with the most beautiful fragrant eye mask, to help waft her sleep-wards…
Holistic Silk Classic Silk Lavender Eye Mask, in five colours (see main pic)
I never go anywhere without an eye mask, including staying at home. (Jo’s the same.) So that’s 365 nights, which makes the price of this just a few pennies per wear. After much experimenting with lots of different masks, I think the reason this one is my top choice is the size which blocks out every gleam of light, and also the deliciously smooth 100% mulberry silk – but not forgetting the dried lavender, which I massage before bed to release the scent. And while a stretchy band might be marginally easier than the velvet ribbon ties, I have a collection of masks with elastic ties that have lost all their stretch… So velvet ribbons it is.
£65 – buy here
I have a collection of mascaras on my dressing table (a.k.a. windowsill, to take advantage of the daylight), but I always come back to this past Beauty Bible award winner. It’s natural, free of synthetic chemicals, cruelty free and it’s just brilliant. No clumping, no panda eyes, and a nifty angled brush for getting at the side lashes. Nowadays – as a country dweller - I prefer the brown version to black, for a softer look even for the evenings. It also comes in a mini version, £11, in black, brown and blue.
£22.50 – buy here
Chantecaille Rose de Mai Eye Lift
Yep, I know! This is a real splurge price for a product. But I did buy it myself – and I promise, the results would make me save up to do that again. For unknown reasons, I started waking up with tired baggy eyes, even after a good night’s sleep with an eye mask (see above). Every morning the same, so it was on with the ice cubes and in with the eye drops.
Then I popped in to browse round John Bell & Croyden in London’s Wigmore Street (see below!) and found myself at the Chantecaille counter. The knowledgeable consultant suggested trying Eye Lift so…. I shut my eyes and waved my flexible friend. I use it at night before night cream and in the morning, Abracadabra! bright eyes and only a hint of age-related eye bags – not the previous supermarket shoppers. You need a teeny drop stroked on from the specially cooling and soothing metal applicator (called ‘Zamac’ – an alloy of zinc, aluminium, magnesium and copper). I use it under-eye only but you can use for puffiness above. And the other wonderful thing: Chantecaille is cruelty-free which I mind about more and more.
£134 - buy here
Little story: I was in Oxford Street, London, in need of an SPF50 moisturiser. Popped into a major high street pharmacy (no names … but you could guess) and emerged 20 minutes later with nothing... Basically no assistants, virtually no signage – or in one case, an SPF50 sign under a night cream by a wellknown brand, no guidance at all. Exhausting and frustrating. So I took five – and trotted up to John Bell & Croyden in Wigmore Street where real people who know the products actually offer to help you.
There’s a sensible number of SPF50 options to choose from: say purse-friendly Cerave Facial Moisturising Lotion (at £17), via Ultrasun Professional Protection, £27, or This Works In Transit Skin Defence, £38, to uber-luxe MZ Skin Expert UV Protector SPF-50 at £110. If you need expert advice on healthcare, there’s a counter staffed by pharmacists, lots of make-up brands, including Chantecaille, Perricone, Rodial, Korres, top ranges of supplements, and much more. Please – just go and browse! And BIG NEWS! John Bell & Croyden are opening a second store in Knightsbridge in January 2027. I’ll be one of the first in there….
Biorepair Plus Total Protection Fluoride-Free toothpaste
I spent years investigating fluoride and it put me off for life. Then I read a piece by a dentist saying that’s fine, but how important it is to get a toothpaste with hydroxyapatite to strengthen tooth enamel. This toothpaste, developed with the University of Bologna, qualifies as a medical device and ticks every box: as well as being fluoride free, it’s free from SLS (very important as that can cause mouth ulcers), parabens and titanium dioxide. And it promises to provide ‘advanced defence against acid erosion and the bacteria that cause plaque, tartar and cavities. Seems to work as my dentist tells me how nice it is to have a patient he can sign off every time for another year….
£6.99 - buy here
