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We’re well and truly into the cold snap and hot off couture week at ELLE, which means our skincare routines have taken a turn for the emollient and luxurious, and we’re suddenly feeling the urgent need for a wardrobe refresh. While you’ll mainly find skincare products aimed at making my naturally dry skin a little less reptilian (including a very luxurious eye cream) on my love list this month, the real winner of recent weeks has been online vintage shopping.
Call it the influence of writing one too many show reports about Matthieu Blazy’s Chanel, but I’ve been yearning for more joy and whimsy from my clothes. I’ve been infinitely scrolling Etsy and Depop for hours at a time (better than doomscrolling) after realising my wardrobe had become insufferably corporate and critically low on je ne sais quoi. I love Etsy (no this is not a sponsorship) because you can still find genuine vintage. As opposed to the ratty Dangerfield t-shirts from 2018, marked up and masquerading as vintage at trendy resellers dotted around Australia, or treasure troves where retired fashion girls are selling off decades’ worth of sample sale bargains.
I picked up a pair of Saint Laurent Jeane pumps for $400 from one such retiree over the weekend along with a gorgeous seventies sheer top with velvet paisley detail and fringing and a striped Versace dress from a seller in Canada. And some cute accessories, including a faux ostrich-feather bag from Depop. I am about three international shipping fees away from being a new woman. Meanwhile, Ange and I have both been slathering on the body oils, and she’s fallen in love with the perfect new winter fragrance (chic updates on this once-dismissed “old lady” note are popping up everywhere right now) and an absolutely bomb cream cleanser.
Find our loves and lusts below.
Angela, Digital Editor
D.S. & Durga Rose Pacific
Rose fragrances seem to be having a moment right now, but what makes the D.S. & Durga Rose Pacific scent extra special is the extra funky and fruity notes that steer it clear from being a cloying rose. With notes of ‘Pacific spray’, Persian lime, and apricot, it also includes vanilla musk, peach, and ‘fine sand’, making a beachy fragrance that’s undeniably fresh.
Beetle, Everything Oil
Though this is a body oil designed for babies and mothers, it’s really for anyone who loves to slather themselves in a luxurious oil after the shower. I am currently quite pregnant, so my skin has been feeling a little bit drier than usual this winter, and this quick-absorbing oil is on my body all day and night. It also has Lavandula Hybrida Abrial Herb Oil on the ingredient list, which gives it a comforting lavender scent. I will be repurchasing.
Emma Lewisham Supernatural Crème Cleanser
When done right, I am a big fan of a cream cleanser. And while there are many on the market that run the risk of breaking me out, this one from Emma Lewisham is, frankly, perfect. The brand’s oil cleanser is my favourite (I’ve been through at least five bottles), so I shouldn’t have been surprised to love this one so dearly. It’s hydrating but not heavy, nourishing, and leaves my skin feeling cleansed but never squeaky clean.
Henne Marcella Petite Coat
The last coat I bought was back in 2019 and I’ve been wearing it into the ground ever since. This year, I decided to pick up a new one, and though my beloved oversized, ultra-comfortable and warm wool coat will still be getting a run regularly, it was time for me to pick up a more tailored maxi coat. This one from Henne is a newer release, now in a petite size that hits at the ankle on me, making it perfect for freezing days. (For reference, I’m 5’1”.)
Ruby, Senior Fashion & Beauty Writer
Augustinus Bader, The Rich Eye Cream
The dermatological jury is out on the necessity of eye creams. I know the skin under your eye is significantly thinner than the skin on the rest of your face, so it makes sense to me that an eye-specific product could yield better results. Do I remember to use it when I have one handy? That’s a whole other question. I love Augustinus Bader’s The Rich Cream, so I jumped at the chance to try the eye cream. Sadly for my wallet, it’s delightful.
In a trial run by the brand, the eye cream was shown to reduce puffiness by 70%, fine lines and wrinkles by 45%, skin firmness by 42%, and dark circles by 68%, and presumably it will change your car tyre and descale your coffee machine too. I can’t speak to the percentages, but my under-eyes are noticeably fresher and don’t feel dry and crepey by end of day. The pot comes with a luxurious cooling steel massage wand. Usually I lose these applicators the minute I open the jar, but this one is so deliciously soothing and fresh on my puffy eyes early in the morning that the pleasure of using it actually reminds me to… actually use an eye cream. Win-win.
Mukti, Red Velvet Body Oil
I love a body oil in winter. Body oils are more hydrating than a cream, and there’s something about the post-shower ritual that makes me feel like a kind of witchy and ritualistic, complimentary). I tend to gravitate towards heavier oils; oils marketed as “super absorbent” can feel like I’m spreading grease over my skin. So I save my body oiling for night, when I’m less fussed about residue on my sheets, and reach for the richest, most luxurious concoction I can find. But Mukti’s Red Velvet Body Oil offers the best of both worlds. It’s luxuriously dense, going on gliding over skin easily, but absorbs fast enough that I can rub some on my forearms where I have pesky cat scratches (witchy, derogatory) without getting oil all over my work clothes. The ingredients list is short, sweet, filler-free: lycopene (a carotenoid pigment that gives red fruits like tomatoes their colour and a potent antioxidant), rosehip (rich in vitamin C), prickly pear, and hemp, an oil I love on the body for its thick, lush emollience. I’ve actually been applying it a few times a day to a cat-scratch scar, and it’s helped it fade more quickly.
Medik8, Exo-PDRN Prismatic+ Serum
This serum came highly recommended by several beauty friends, so I had to try it. Medik8 are much loved for its retinol and peptide serums, and this newfangled one includes the buzzy ingredients exosomes and PDRN (derived from salmon sperm DNA). If you haven’t heard of it, PDRN is what’s injected into the skin during the famous “salmon sperm” Rejuran treatment you’ve probably seen on TikTok. I’m not ready to incorporate sperm of any kind into my anti-ageing routine, so I opted for a bottle of this instead. There’s conjecture about whether applying PDRN topically is effective: many cosmetic chemists and dermatologists argue the molecule is too large to penetrate the skin in any meaningful way, though Medik8 say they’ve figured out a way to make it work. All I know is my skin looks plump, smooth, bouncy, and filtered when I use it, to the point that I’ll be handing over my own cash to replace it when I’m out. It has the consistency and hydration of a hyaluronic acid serum, plus, alongside the sciencey ingredients, familiar friends like niacinamide, centella asiatica, ferments, panthenol, and glycerin to soothe skin.
Unreal Fur, Courage Jacket
I’m bored of all my clothes currently, and particularly bored of my outerwear. Unreal Fur specialises in faux furs that range from natural through to colourful seventies pastel pink and teal styles. If you find yourself lusting over Charlotte Simone and Maison Essential, these are a nice alternative, but I actually have my eye on the cropped Courage Jacket. The faux fur finish is a little bit foxy and feels very nineties Kate Moss.
Oré Mineral Powder Foundation
I have mild melasma, and one of the recommendations for sufferers of this stubborn skin condition is wearing mineral sunscreens or makeup. Melasma is affected by all visible light, including the light from our screens, which is blocked by the iron oxides in mineral makeup. The only issue? Most mineral powders and sunscreens I’ve tried translate to a vibrant peachy colour on my fair skin and have a chalky consistency. This powder is super fine and beautifully blurs the skin and provides buildable coverage. Alabaster is a good match for my fair-neutral skin tone: it’s definitely the best mineral powder I’ve found.
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