2007: the year of getting gorgeous

As we hurtle toward a new year, Bh looks back tenderly at the trends, buzz buys and breakthroughs that rocked our beauty bags in 2007…

Mineral make-up

Crushed minerals have been around since Nefertiti was a girl and brands likeID Bare Escentuals and Jane Iredalehave been the dermatologists’ choice for years, but 2007 will be remembered as the year the mineral buzz went boom. As magazine column inches hyped the benefits for troubled and sensitive types, boutique brands

like Vani-T, Musq, Mineralogie, Glominerals, Minerelle and Inikabecame cult and a flourish of new mineral colours flooded shelves. In a matter of months, cute cosmetics label Bloom blossomed with Pure Mineralproducts, the arrival of luxurious ELES Mineral Makeup turned the trend sexy and the megabrands cemented it with the launch of L’Oreal Bare Naturale ($33.95) and MAC Mineralize Satinfinish SPF 15 Foundation ($48).

Eco-chic

The tide has been turning toward natural beauty for a while now, but this year we also asked cosmetics to have a conscience – on both a social and an environmental scale. As consumers clued up about fair trade ingredients, trailblazers like The Body Shop, Lush and African Pacific were been caught up by New Zealand’s Trilogy, which introduced Everything Balm ($34.95) made from African marula oil in April. In a further commitment to community trade, Trilogy also partnered with not-for-profit organisation PhytoTrade Africa to help preserve natural resources for rural producers.

Organically-farmed ingredients also officially hit the hot list, crossing the line from hippie to lust-have. Billed as the first 100 per cent organic luxury line, Care by Stella McCartney launched in the US and Europe this year, trading on an irresistible blend of designer cred, certification from regulatory body Ecocert and the cache of backer Yves Saint Laurent. Australian fashionsitas await its arrival in January 08. Until then, natural beauties can luxuriate with fresh concoctions from The Organic Pharmacy, new, carbon-neutral Italian import Comfort Zone and the deluxe Hungarian spa brand Ilcsi, which made delicious recipes like the Sour Cherry Gel Mask ($90) and Grape Moisturiser ($90) available in take-home sizes this year.

The non-cutting edge

The lab coats have also had their test tubes trained on more ingredient-savvy skincare shoppers. And, as more of the population marched toward ‘mature’, the biggest buzz of the year surrounded new tactics in the fight against time. Pitched at women in their 30s and 40s, Elizabeth Arden’s Intervene Pause and Effect line uses biodormin, an extract of the dormant narcissus tazetta bulb, to put skin ageing in slow motion rather than reverse, as is the claim of many anti-agers. Also finding a new way to wrangle wrinkles, Nivea Visage hooked into the double helix itself with DNAge. Though DNAge doesn’t claim to alter DNA, Dr Maria Langhals from product development at Beiersdorf, Nivea’s parent company, explains: “It utilises two key ingredients, folic acid, which helps skin cells in repairing DNA, and creatine, which provides the energy for repair activities… DNAge simply helps cells do what they naturally do, only better and faster.” The range is set to expand with a

DNAge hand cream due in February 08.

Another strategy has been to outfox Botox with topical treatments that mimic line-freezing injectibles. SNAP-8 is a line relaxant that has been shown 30 per cent more potent than famed ‘faux-tox’ Argireline. This is the star ingredient in the Line Smoothing S8 Complex range released by Dr LeWinn’s in September. Another Botox alternative, Myoxinol, is a complex extracted from the hibiscus esculentus seed that was developed by Laboratoires Serobiologiques in 2005 but became available in a Heritage Healers Divine Goddess salon facial this year. Famously youthful faces like Sandra Sully and Peter Morrissey are said to be among the devotees.

Famous fragrances

This phenomenon didn’t begin in 2007, but it certainly reached a heady climax as half of celebritydom released perfumes. Just a snapshot: our own Kylie launched Sweet Darling (from $50), the sequel to 2006’s bestselling Darling(from $50), SJP released Covet (from $85), brand Beckham made even more money with Intimately Night for Him and Her(from $55 each) and Britney asked us to Believe (from $70) in her one more time as Gwen Stefani’s L (from $80), Mariah’s M (from $79) and Kate by Kate Moss (from $50) made their debut. Even unlikely personalities like writer Danielle Steel (from $90) bottled a perfume this year.

Are we simply celebrity obsessed? Not according to Bh readers who answered a recent poll – 52 percent said they don’t even need to like the celebrity to love their scent.

The chop

“The two biggest hair trends of the year have to be the Posh Spice-inspired bob and the fringe, from the straight and blunt-edged to the side swept and wispy,” says celebrity hairstylist Brad Ngata.

But what made ‘pob’ part of common parlance and tempted so many to revisit schoolgirl eye-skimmers? “Part of the appeal was celebrity-driven, but what really made these looks hot was that both can be tailored to work with almost any face shape or personal style,” Ngata explains.

Will these super trends translate to 2008? “The newly-fringed Kate Moss always shows us the next big thing, so, yes, the fringe will still be around,” predicts Ngata. “However, the collarbone-length, layered shag cut will be the look of 2008. Teamed with a palette of honey blondes, expect to see this trend bump Posh off her perch!”