By Katie Pelech
The trouble with trends isn’t that they’re hard to identify (loiter at a magazine stand for an hour and you’ll be all caught up) or difficult to find (Plaza Frontenac? It’s just off Highway 40—you can’t miss it). The trouble is that trends are expensive. Stars get their beauty schwag for free, leaving us poor saps salivating over Birkin bags worth more than BMWs and Crème de la Mer, the lotion brewed from hubris and celebrity-baby tears.
Well, no more! Some of the best-known cosmetics companies in Europe, including France’s Institut Arnaud and Germany’s ARTDECO, have teamed up with Walgreens to create the European Beauty Collection, which will bring their chi-chi potions stateside, unaltered and priced to move. By gaining access to thousands of new customers, these companies have managed to knock a few euros off the price tags. We spoke with the project’s beauty expert, Lori Bergamotto, who described some of the trends that us bargain hunters will now be able to indulge in. Dry your eyes, Suri.
- Exotic ingredients know no bounds and promise spellbinding results. Aloe is a snooze. Think caviar, liquid silk and crushed pearls.
- If it’s also in engine fuel, don’t put it on your face. Organic and natural products are good for the environmentally conscious, the health nuts and those who enjoy being able to pronounce everything on the ingredient list.
- Scrub away winter’s scaly skin—not with anything lame, like a loofah, but with salt, sea sand or crushed olive pits.
Stop dreaming about living in the lap of luxury—now you can have the lap of luxury. (If only Hermès would follow suit.)
