Fast track beauty: 8 new products to try

CHEAP AND CHEERFUL: As of November 15, you no longer have to shlep to a Target store in the U.S. to get Soap & Glory, the pun-fest-labelled bath, body and makeup line from Marcia Kilgore (the Canadian-born beauty titan, now ensconced in the UK, who first made mogul status with her Bliss spas and products). The Calm One Calm All bubble bath shown here is $10 for 480 mL—find it at Shoppers and PharmaPrix.

TRAY CHIC: Aquafresh White Trays (about $45) is a new home tooth-whitening kit of prefilled trays containing enamel-safe hydrogen peroxide whitening gel. According to the company, Aquafresh is the first to offer this prefilled tray convenience. Lucky you if the trays fit your teeth, because in seven days you’re promised brighter chiclets.

BETWEEN APPOINTMENTS: Also thinking about time-strapped beauty mavens is Canadian hairstylist Marc Anthony. His cute little Pro Root Touch-Up kit, in 11 shades, is $12 at drugstores; as the box says, “just twist, shake and apply!”

MATCH POINT: CoverGirl has devised a way to get your perfect foundation match with a new shade selector tool for its TruBlend foundation (which costs about $13). At the drugstore on the CoverGirl product wall, look for a shade selector to place against your your hand. To really nail it, in-store beauty advisers will have a fan-like selector that they can use to assist shoppers in finding their perfect TruBlend shade by holding it up to the jawline in front of a mirror.

DAILY SPF: On the healthy beauty front, I’ve been a bit slow to the must-wear-high-SPF-year-round dictum, but Ombrelle now offers an “ultra-light texture” SPF 30 face cream, with its patented filter Mexoryl XL, that is a dream under makeup; Ombrelle Face is about $17.

OUT, DARN SPOT: According to the folks at Johnson and Johnson, 50 percent of women between the ages of 20 and 50 still experience breakouts. Purif-AC Fast Action Gel is an acne spot treatment in a transparent formula that you can apply over makeup when you’re on the go. RoC Purif-AC products are $16 to $20.

SUPERLUXE LIPS: Warning: this extremely elegant product comes with an extreme price tag. Clé de Peau Beauté Extra Silky Lipstick is a super-hydrating lipstick-gloss hybrid in a slim, elegant case. You take the cap off, put it on the end of the lipstick and double-click to get the exact amount of lipstick to apply each time. (Confession: I had to read the instruction insert to figure this one out.) The precision-application of the slim stick format eliminates the need for a lip pencil if you wear one. $60 at select Holt Renfrew, The Bay Oakridge in Vancouver and Ogilvy in Montreal.

NO PAIN, SOME GAIN? Consult your doctor for this one. On the derm-filler front, Elevess, distributed by Canderm, and Juvéderm, by Allergan, have announced the advent of hyaluronic wrinkle fillers with the anaesthetic lidocaine built right into the product. This eliminates the step of getting an anaesthetic before a filler injection.

More time for that bubble bath….

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