With city life, haste is of the essence. But speed without stress, pace without hurry is the Holy Grail. One of the keys, surely, is not having to do things twice, or even three times. Because that gets tiring and defeating and sweaty. And can make you feel as though you’re going a bit insane.
Yves Saint Laurent has long been a pioneer in freeing women from the fashion and beauty ties that bind. ‘Le Smoking’, the designer’s radical tuxedo jacket, was bold without being brassy, subversive without being bolshie. That spirit has flooded into the remarkable new Fusion Foundation, a formula inspired by ink — resilience in make-up form.
So you dot it over your face and rub it in, vaguely alarmed by how watery it seems. Then you look in the mirror and all is well. More than well. Matte yet supple; uniform yet blooming. So off you go. Three hours later you grab your make-up kit and head for the mirror. But there’s no need for a touch-up. Most peculiar. More of the day slides by and it’s evening and still there’s no reason to fiddle with your complexion. You feel a bit thwarted. Yves Saint Laurent has erased the need to do something twice. It has shifted the minutiae of the repetitive daily ritual. It has delivered clarity. I am obsessed. But I don’t look obsessed. I look peachy.
YSL Fusion Ink Foundation, £30.50, at debenhams.com