Flush of health: welcome to the new beauty minimalism | Beauty

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Minimalist fashion is huge, so it was only a matter of time before a crop of Scandi-styled brands appeared, to capitalise on to its devotees. The new beauty minimalism is about a sheer wash of complexion-enhancing skin tint, a flush of good health to the cheeks, lightly fluffed brows (no hard, sharp algorithm-baiting arches here) and a semi-matte neutral lip color that could feasibly be one’s own.

Tasteful, chic and effortless in application, these cool-girl brands, such as Jones Road, 19/99, Westman Atelier and Rituel de Fille, are to beauty what labels like Totême, Raey, The Row and Acne Studios are to fashion. Model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley is famous for her minimalist aesthetic, so it stands to reason that her beauty line, Rose Inc, takes her lead from her wardrobe.

It’s about a flush of good health to the cheeks, lightly fluffed brows

But there’s a lot more to love than the pared-back packaging and limited color palette. The Softlight Luminous Hydrating Concealer (£23) – surprisingly opaque, creamy and blendable – is expansive in shade range and very good overall (and owes a lot to Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer, in my view). Blush Divine Radiant Lip & Cheek, £23, is a smudgy, effortless multitasking tint that sticks around all day and comes in a refillable palette.

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Authored is social media star Tanya Burr’s new brand of minimalist beauty essentials, and frankly, the determined haters would be wise to stand down. This, perhaps against expectations, is a solid lineup of intelligently formulated and useful products that do as promised. The brand describes itself as “carbon neutral” (it’s a hotly debated issue as to whether this term can apply to any consumer goods), and it certainly has a good stab at sustainability, with recyclable lids and aluminum tubes (including, very unusually , a fully aluminum mascara chamber and divisible wand). It’s not perfect – the Tinted Moisturizer, £28, gorgeous though it is on already-clear skin, is too runny to live in a tube without making a little mess.

The lip balm is nice but brings little that’s new to the party (except looking great – and why not?), but the brow gel – perfectly glue-like for lasting, non-flaky lift of each hair – is glorious, and the mascara is among the best to launch in a very long time. Unlike most natural-skewed mascaras, it’s proper, sooty-black, gives noticeable volume and is outstanding in its smudge-free staying power. I’m waiting for a restock so that I can buy a spare.

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