L’Oréal Infallible Brow Lamination is the Lift We Need

I will not list all the physical indignities that menopause wreaks on your body. Suffice it to say, they are numerous and unwelcome.

Even though downward-pointing brows do not rank up there with, say, bladder issues, it’s still a shock to unexpectedly catch your reflection in a shop window and see sad, old Eeyore staring back at you. Brows that used to be obedient, if rather thin (thank you, 1990s tweezing) are now skimpier and coarser as they wing off in any direction but most often south.

To combat this, there is L’Oréal Paris 24H Brow Lamination, $18.49, Shoppers Drug Mart.) Made for Gen Zs, for whom ‘brow lamination’ is shorthand for a brow perm that lays brow hairs flat against your skin while pointing straight up, L’Oréal’s take home version is an industrial strength brow glue that turns curly, menopausal brows into obedient little soldiers and keeps them lifted which makes you look more awake and un-Eeyore-ish.

Brush it on, first downwards to get as much product on the brows as possible, and then brush them up and they will stay put for hours. Anything that makes one look more rested and just better without looking like ‘makeup’ is a total win, right?

A Fall (Faux) Tan With Tanologist & Caudalie

Dear beauty industry: why is self-tanner easy to buy in the summer, only to vanish from store shelves in the fall? Now that it’s chilly (hello sweaters, my old friends) my skin has dried out and paled out overnight, and I could really use some moisture and colour.

The same November week that I assess the contents of my tea cupboard in preparation for winter, I also pull out my Tanologist Daily Glow Hydrating Gradual Self Tan Lotion, $38.01, Walmart.ca, the moisturizer-slash-self-tanner that will be my staple during these ‘dark by four thirty p.m.’ days. It does double duty, resuscitating desiccated skin with ingredients like squalane, hyaluronic acid and fatty acids, and providing natural-looking, buildable colour so I look healthier than I probably am.

Now comes the clever bit. Once I establish my ‘I do sunrise yoga on the beach’ (faux) colour, I apply my favourite Caudalie Smooth & Glow Oil Elixir, $70, Caudalie.ca. I evangelized it at length here. Its name in French “Huile de soin” means ‘care oil’, and I find that much more accurate and less of a mouthful. The fig in question is figue de barbarie, aka anti-oxidant rich prickly pear, which along with argan and shea oil gives your skin a light-reflecting gleam and a really elegant, definitely transporting fig scent. It’s some much-needed happy frivolity for these times.

Rush Hour: Maybelline Lifter Plump Lip Gloss

Maybelline New York Lifter Plump in Blush Blaze.

Maybelline New York’s Lifter Plump lip gloss in ‘Blush Blaze’, ($12.99, drugstores) is the perfect fix when you’re in a makeup as afterthought state of mind. This hefty tube lives by my front door, so I can swipe on some colour before hurtling myself out the door, invariably late for something.

I love this shade because it’s both sheer and just bright pink enough, so it enlivens my whole face even though it only goes on the lips, which is a neat trick. There’s also added chile pepper to make your blood vessels swell up for a brief lip plumping effect. And best of all, because it’s gloss, not lipstick, you don’t have to be too precise about application. Which is why mine lives at the front door, waiting patiently, ready to serve.