The Fresher Miss Dior

Some 70 years ago, French couturier Christian Dior launched the house’s ﬁrst perfume, Miss Dior, in honour of his younger sister Catherine.

Some 70 years ago, French couturier Christian Dior launched the house’s ﬁrst perfume, Miss Dior, in honour of his younger sister Catherine. He wanted to create a perfume that smelled of love. For him, that meant fond memories of the beautiful summers the Diors spent in their garden, surrounded by gardenia, bergamot, rose, and jasmine ﬂowers. These same ﬂowers form the base of the ﬂoral chypre character of Miss Dior.

The scent has undergone several reinter pretations since, with the last one in 2012. Now, Francois Demachy, the brand’s perfume creator since 2006, has reimagined the fragrance so that it is simpler and less heavy. He enhanced the essential Grasse rose, giving it a hint of freshness with lily of the valley and mandarin.

The result: a sweet and slightly ﬂoral scent that dries down to something a little smokier to off set the sweetness. It costs from $137 for a 50ml EDT. – LS

Basics, But Better

When Urban Decay discontinued its original 12-shade Naked eyeshadow palette in August 2018, the beauty world mourned. After all, it was a classic, everyday palette that worked for both noobs and pros, and its departure took pieces of our heart with it.

Seven months on, the brand is giving us an upgraded Naked: the Naked Reloaded, which has more on-trend shades like a matte peach and iridescent cool brown. What hasn’t changed: the neutral and wearable colour scheme and the palette’s versatility for various looks, from everyday to girls’ night out.

If you’re nostalgic for the original hues, Urban Decay has kept four fan favourites from the OG: Bribe (a matte ivory), Barely Baked (a metallic soft gold), Boundaries (a shimmery terracotta), and Blur (a matte beige). It costs $71. – CT

The Detoxifying Pre-serum

If you’re looking to start using a preserum, pick one that has detoxifying beneﬁts. Detoxing your skin this early in your skincare routine is ideal because when skin is rid of toxins, it is able to absorb subsequent products better.

La Prairie’s new Platinum Rare Cellular Life-lotion ($1,000) is a preserum that has cress and peony root extracts to boost the skin’s ability to remove toxins, purge pollutants, and protect from free radical damage. It also has platinum, said to boost the anti-ageing effect of the peptides in the formula for more youthful-looking skin.

The result? Skin cells function better and have a faster turnover, which means the skin heals faster and the complexion looks fresher and more youthful. – LZY