I’m not a huge fan of looking overly glowy in winter, but at this
time of year there’s nothing I like more. Judicious amounts ofcolour plus faint sheeniness, when done well, can make you look
sunlit and healthy, even when the sun is elusive. Add bronzer andyou look like you’ve been on holiday. Also, youthening. There’s
nothing more ageing that a flat, matte face with two little eyesforlornly peering out.
It’s tricky, though, if glowifying yourself isn’t second natureand if you aren’t the dabbest of hands with luminising powders
(like the utterly brilliant Hourglass Ambient Lighting palettes).I wrote about Jones Road Miracle Balm a few months ago —
Jones Road being the new brand of Bobbi Brown the person (Bobbi Brown the person no longerhas any involvement with Bobbi Brown the brand). It’s a fantastic product that you pat on to
your face — either on top of make-up or instead of it — to make it look rosy, glowy and healthy.Basically, if your face looks flat, slightly two-dimensional and insufficiently hydrated, this is the
cheat to use. Now Brown has come up with another brilliant, slightly hard to describe product,called Jones Road Shimmer Face Oil (£29), which doesn’t do quite the same thing as the balm
but is definitely related (the racier sibling, perhaps). It’s all about luminosity, which it imparts inspades, and it is ridiculously easy to use.
It’s a make-up/skincare hybrid made up of nine different oils, none of them dodgy for yourskin, and light-reflecting shimmer. There are four shades, which come in little pump bottles, and
you may look at these bottles and think: “That’s a lot of shimmer, perhaps too much shimmerfor me.” But this is not the case. The oil-to-shimmer ratio is beautifully calibrated and they work
perfectly at making you look well, while being a cinch to use. Do note that you need a light handand very little product — I use one teeny pump for one whole face, after make-up, where I want a
discreet, wholesome glow with a boost of colour.These oils cleverly make you look like you have better skin than you do, with the caveat that you
shouldn’t apply them on areas where you have blemishes, because obviously it will highlightthem. But if you stick to the best bits of your face, those bits look so bursting with health and well-
ness that the lesser bits sort of recede and don’t draw the eye. I use the darkest shade, Bronze,which has teeny bits of gold and silver shimmer. On the page this sounds terrifying. In practice it
looks fantastic. All that is discernible is added colour and glow, not the actual metallic particlesthemselves. Equally, Cool Rose gives a lovely flushed-cheek effect, if flushed cheeks could be lit
from within, and is the one to go for as a “one size fits all” safe bet. There’s also a gold-gold calledMidas and a paler, icier pink called Pink Opal if you are very fair (I say that, but the effect is actually
quite interesting on darker skin). If for some reason you find a shade too punchy — I don’t thinkyou will, but say you did — then you can mix the oil in with a bit of moisturiser to dilute it.
Needless to say, you can use this product anywhere you like as well as your face — on yourcollarbones or arms or legs. ■ @indiaknight
India Knight
INDIA LOVES
READ I don’t know if I do love, because I haven’t read it yet, but being a passionate fan of
Georgette Heyer’s Regency romances, I love the sound of A Lady’s Guide to Fortune-Huntingby Sophie Irwin (HarperCollins £14.99), this being the story of genteel but impoverished
Kitty Talbot, who has just been dumped by her fiancé. It is 1818, her parents are dead, she hasfour younger sisters to take care of and three months before the bailiffs come knocking. She
must marry well and pronto, without the relevant poshos twigging that she’s on the make.Don’t fear the shimmer – summer make-up calls for a healthy
glow and this face oil delivers just the right amount
They work
perfectly at
making you
look well,
while being a
Victoria Adamson cinch to use
The Sunday Times Style • 41