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September 30, 2021 at 08:00AM My friend Shayna Kossove is 42. She is also my colleague at Who What Wear, meaning I see her a lot and have plenty of opportunities to gaze upon her surprisingly, confusingly youthful visage. As two of the company’s veteran employees, we’ve worked together for almost eight years, and I promise I am not exaggerating when I say she looks exactly the same as when I started at the company. It is confounding. There’s a general consensus among the editors that Shayna looks 10-plus years younger than she is. Naturally, I needed to know what beauty witchcraft was going on, so I decided to get her exact anti-ageing skincare routine and copy it—and copy it and copy it—until I, too, would begin to age in reverse. I stuck with it for five months, and it worked. Here’s an in-depth look at her fountain-of-youth routine,…

September 30, 2021 at 08:00AM Confession: I have a bit of an ambivalent relationship with beauty. Having worked in magazine journalism for around 8 years, I’ve been exposed to the inner workings of this lucrative industry, and even now, as I watch it from the safety of my fashion bubble, it can feel somewhat intimidating. The sheer number of products is overwhelming, the price points so wildly varying and the advice so often conflicting. Do I need to double cleanse? What’s the right SPF to wear? What’s the deal with toners? It’s a lot to take in.Personally, I’ve always been quite lazy when it comes to makeup (which, I appreciate, is a luxury) and for about a decade now under-eye concealer, mascara and eyebrow pencil have been my go-tos. This has, however, meant that I’ve ended up becoming more invested in skincare, specifically creating a routine which allows me to spend as little time as…

September 30, 2021 at 08:00AM Social media has changed the rapidity of trends. Traditionally, new trends would start and end with each passing season. Now, however, with the world at our fingertips, trends can be born quite literally overnight. All it takes is for a celebrity to upload a snap of their latest outfit or an influencer their new purchase, and you’ve got the fashion equivalent of a domino effect. As such, it takes something pretty special to withstand the turnover, which makes what we’re going to discuss today all the more impressive indeed.The bouclé trend has lasted not just a year, not just a decade, but over 60 years. The fabrication, woven from a specific type of looped wool yarn and derived from the French term for “ringed” or “curled,” has become synonymous with high-end style. And though it has been used to create clothes and…

September 30, 2021 at 06:25AM It seems as though handbags have been getting progressively smaller over the course of the last decade, so much so that we eventually ended up at Jacquemus’s (in)famous Le Chiquito bag, which measures at just 3.5 inches high. Probably big enough for a 50p coin and packet of chewing gum. For those who have despaired at the trend’s lack of practicality, you’ll be happy to learn that XXL bags are back for A/W 21. I mean, they never really went away, but we’re just happy that fashion brands have finally realised that bigger is definitely better in the bag department. Just give the people what they want.From oversized crossbodies to roomy structured styles, there’s so much to choose from in the XXL-handbag stakes. On the high street, we would recommend checking out COS for big bags, particularly shopper silhouettes in both leather and smocked fabrics. On the upper end of…

September 30, 2021 at 06:07AM When your job is to find emerging trends and show your fellow fashion enthusiasts each brand’s seasonal must-haves, you need to be an open-minded shopper. Very rarely will I disregard a trend before trying it for myself. But admittedly, I tend to shop in certain stores for certain items. Take & Other Stories, for example. As soon as I cross its threshold (both in real life or online), I know I’ll come away with one of two things: a blouse or a pair of jeans. Similarly, Mango is my one-stop shop for shoes, while Zara serves as my go-to for blazers. Lingerie? Marks and Spencer. Wardrobe staples? Arket. And so on.The downside is that I’ll sometimes enter a store with blinders on, seeking out the pieces I usually buy instead of taking in what else is on offer. But I’ve recently learned the error…

September 30, 2021 at 06:04AM At the start of every new season, there are always certain non-negotiable basics I know I’ll be wearing in the coming months regardless of what the trends are. In winter, the list includes a warm coat and lug-sole boots. Spring might involve some new dresses and sandals, summer always requires a trove of white tops and basic linen, and autumn, of course, comes with its own set of essentials—all of which you’re about to read about below.While the 2021 trend agenda has plenty of fun and directional looks to play with, I think the key to having a successful autumn wardrobe is being able to balance out the more of-the-moment pieces with an edit of never-date basics. This will ensure every outfit you wear feels timeless and not too trend-specific. I like to keep on top of my basics, only replacing them when required.…

September 30, 2021 at 06:00AM Whether you’re an autumn person or not, I think we can all agree that any new season is an exciting time to mix things up when it comes to things like your wardrobe and beauty routine. And I’m not saying you have to get completely new clothes and swap out all your makeup products for new ones—the cool thing about seasonal transitions is that tiny changes can make an impact, too.That might mean buying a few new items of clothing or accessories to mix in with your tried-and-true basics. Or trying out a new lipstick, eye shadow look, or even a new nail polish color. The latter is one of my favourite ways to change things up because it’s pretty low-lift in terms of effort and it can be a subtle change. Opting for an autumn-inspired nail colosr…

September 30, 2021 at 06:00AM It’s nearly impossible to be anonymous in our hyper-connected world. While millennials have been flouted as early adopters of technology to a detrimental degree, Gen Zers were born into the age of digital media. They know that what gets published on the internet stays on the internet. That’s a fact of the 21st century that many young people have embraced, including actress, singer, and activist Amandla Stenberg. Stenberg is many things, but she’s certainly not your average starlet. The 22-year-old began her career with Disney at age 4 and burst onto the young Hollywood scene as Rue, the beloved tribute from District 11 in the first Hunger Games movie. More recently, Stenberg played Starr Carter in the fantastic 2018 adaptation of The Hate U Give, which garnered even more visibility for her as a voice of Gen Z and…

September 30, 2021 at 06:00AM I’m incredibly lucky that I get sent some of the most premium beauty products on the market to try out as part of my job. From £205 moisturisers to £109 facial steamers, I’ve had the chance to test some of the most luxurious formulations and beauty tools in the UK to find out what’s worth the hype. So does expensive always equal best? In a word, no. Despite having access to extravagant products and high-end beauty brands, there are tons of affordable options that rival their more expensive counterparts. In fact, there are plenty even the most experienced of beauty editors would struggle to differentiate between once applied to the skin.So whether you’re trying to stick to a budget or you just don’t want to spend excessively on a pricier counterpart when you don’t have to, here are 15 high-end products…

September 30, 2021 at 06:00AM Two words I have heard being used a lot this autumn by fashion buyers is “quiet luxury." This aesthetic is certainly nothing new, as it is a phrase that perfectly describes the Phoebe Philo era at Celine and the ethos behind Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen’s 14-year-old brand The Row. However this move towards classic, elevated pieces, that are beautiful and special, but not too shouty or flashy, is particularly resonating in 2021.Last autumn there was a shift towards more classic pieces and this customer’s mindset is invest now and wear forever. "Although dressing up means something different now, there are still excuses to wear something a bit more glamourous, there are plenty of evening options that are comfortable, elegant and ideally suited for a more relaxed occasion such as entertaining at home,"Cassie Smart, Head of Womenswear Buying, at…