Trinny London

I’ve written quite a long introduction here, so please feel free to scroll down to the products reviews in bold below!

Becoming obsessed to the point of distraction was what consistently carried me through the first lockdown, and one of my best obsessions was Trinny London; I went on the site, studied all of the products, slowly put together what I wanted and then, after lockdown eased, I made a brief trip to my local Trinny London counter (Fenwicks at Brent Cross) so I feel like I have a really good overview of the brand and the products, particularly since I treated myself to a couple of their sets (referred to as “stacks” since most of the products are stackable) and I’ve used every single product I bought, which is rare for me!

The Trinny London range is fantastic: brilliantly executed, inclusive, fun, and most importantly, the products are as great as they sound – I’ve found some firm favourites and I avidly follow the brand’s social pages to see what’s new. The range is created by Trinny Woodall who you probably know, who is just a great person to front a range like this as she’s beautiful, not too far off 60, yet looks amazing – she’s the sort of person you want to look like at any age, plus she’s charmingly bonkers; do follow her IG page for some brilliant (and very sweary!) uploads.

The whole concept of the range is built around the idea that you find shades that are most flattering to your very specific look, taking into account eye colour, hair colour and skin colour. You can do this online by filling in a form, when you’ll then be presented with a selection of products that are most likely to suit you. You don’t have to only buy from the colours selected for you, but I did so to see just how accurate the selection process was. I was a bit unsure about whether I’d be the palest or second palest in the base products, which is why I popped down to my local counter to try it out.

The stacks I purchased were the Skin First, because I really wanted to try the base products and the Softly Smoky Stack, as I felt that this would be a good introduction to the eye/lip/cheek range. Since my purchase, there has been a new base product added to the range, so there are now two Skin First options: Skin First Normal/Oily (£146 here – link) and the Skin First Normal/Dry (£146 here – link) with the main difference being that the Normal/Oily set contains the new BFF Rebalance. My set is what is now the Skin First Normal/Dry set and it contains:

BFF Destress (my shade is Flora)

BFF SPF 30 Cream (my shade is Lightest)

BFF Eye (my shade is Isabelle)

Just a Touch (my shade is Lulu)

Miracle Blur

These were the palest shades available and they suit my skin tone perfectly. BFF Destress (£39 here – link) is the tinted moisturiser that blends out beautifully, adding glow, radiance and just enough coverage: I would say it definitely provides more coverage than your typical tinted moisturiser, but it’s still very light.

BFF SPF30 Cream (£35 here – link) is my favourite Trinny product by a mile as it just does so much, which is really surprising considering it’s only very lightly tinted, but it just works so well as a base, feels amazing on the skin, plays well with both skincare and makeup and it’s so versatile; I’ve actually used just this and a little concealer when I have 60 seconds to get ready and it’s one of those products that has become an absolutely essential for me.

Miracle Blur (£26 here – link) was the only product that really didn’t do much for me, but to be honest I was kind of expecting that as I’ve never got on with those smoothing, putty-style products as they always make my fragile skin appear more crinkly and dehydrated. There are many who rave about this, so if you’re a fan of these types of filler-style products, I’m sure this one will serve you well!

BFF Eye (£26 here – link) is another great find, particularly if you’re short on time. What Trinny London products do so well (intentionally so, with the short-for-time types in mind) are provide quick fixes and the BFF Eye is perfect for that – it’s a very lightweight, serum-y concealer that glides on, giving just a touch of coverage and lifting the whole area. You won’t get that perfectly blurred, completely covered look with this, but that isn’t what it’s designed for. Instead, it’ll just enhance and boost for that “my skin but better” look that I personally adore

As previously mentioned, my favourite product is the BFF SPF30 Cream, but my second is the Just a Touch £28 here – link) which is a little pot of base pigment, that’s described as a foundation/concealer which I think is to encourage the user to use it liberally, which you absolutely can do as even though it’s quite pigmented and can really cover, it’s so creamy and blendable that you’re not going to end up looking like you’re slapped on a heavy base. This with the BFF SPF30 Cream is a match made in heaven!

The set also came with additional pots so you can decant the tubed products for travel, although I haven’t used these, alas, as there is no travel in my recent past or near future!

Next up is the Softly Smoky set (£51 here – link) which contains a trio of product pots that can be stacked with other products in the range so you end up with one giant stack, if that’s something you fancy. The stack is personalised (if you’ve done the matching process) so here are three shades I picked:

Eye to Eye in shade Magician

Flush Blush in Katrin

Lip Glow in Mia

The Flush Blush was the biggest shock to me as I really expected not to like it: in the pot it looks like a muddy, muted nude but it is such a good shade on me, it really does lift my whole complexion and give my skin life again, thus proving that the shades you like are not always the ones that suit you!

I really like the Eye to Eye product and I think the Magician shade (a kind of mid-toned taupe shot through with a subtle bronze shimmer) is really pretty and very wearable; I will be adding more shades to my collection soon.

Finally, Lip Glow in Mia which is another beautiful shade, although I haven’t got as much wear out of it as I would like as it’s quite a glossy number that doesn’t play well under a mask.

As you can probably tell, I’m a total Trinny London convert. I think the whole range is brilliant and don’t be put off by the fact that it’s marketed at an older age group (another thing I actually really love about it as why should the younger ones get all the good beauty??) as this is a range for everyone. Find the whole range here – link.