May beauty essentials: This month’s best buys

Custom masks

The latest in skin-saving cloth masks? Specialized “parts” treatments that let you target problem areas between full-face applications. Your Friday night wine and Facebook routine just got extra-productive.

1. Don’t let your oft-neglected neck area be a tattle-tale of age. Treat it regularly with a boost of hydrating and firming ingredients, such as amino acids and wheat proteins. Rodial Glamtox Neck Mask, $65 (Pack of 8)

2. The hyaluronic acid and collagen in this unique, gel-based lip mask nourishes even the driest of pouts, leaving them smooth, soft and primed for your favourite matte lip colour. The Face Shop Lovely Me: Ex Bebe Lip Mask, $2.

3. These handy patches leave undereye areas feeling refreshed and looking smoother and tighter thanks to photo-collagen and ginkgo and cucumber extracts. Look Beauty Eye Puffiness Minimizing Patches, $10, for 5.

Boost your mascara

You don’t have to trade in your favourite tried-and-true mascara to get a new look. Instead, try layering it with a new formula. Prepping with a lash primer helps lashes look thicker and longer while also ensuring less breakage and hair loss, says pro makeup artist Jodi Urichuk. “Primer creates a larger surface area for your mascara to adhere to, which helps to create fuller, more fluttery lashes,” she says. For a fat false-lash effect, try priming lashes with a body-building formula that contains mini-fibres, which will help boost the density of each hair. If you’re after a flirty curl, start by using a lash curler, then applying a curling mascara, focusing on the very roots of your lashes.

Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes Double-Ended Mascara and Lash Fibres, $23.

Hair mists

We’re loving these beautifully bottled hair mists, which look like your standard scent but actually work double duty, serving up a subtle, sophisticated fragrance, along with a smooth and glossy finish. Now that’s what we call a dynamic duo.

Fekkai Hair Fragrance Mist in Créme Vanillée, Citron et Menthe and Rose Fraîshe, $28 each.

Lightweight lip glosses

As the weather finally starts to warm up, trade in your standard gloss for a lightweight lippy. These plush formulas use oil to deliver a slight sheen and slippery texture without the stickiness (or a greasy residue). Plus, they contain a blend of essential oils, including jojoba seed, hazelnut and coriander fruit oils, to help hydrate and nourish still-dry-from-the-winter lips. A luxe gloss and comfortable balm rolled into one neat little package? Yes, please!

Clarins Instant Light Lip Comfort Oil in Honey. $23; YSL Volupté Tint in Oil in Peach Me Love, $35.

Sweet shadows

While one-palette-fits-all makeup offerings are popping up everywhere these days, we’ve finally found one that makes us want to bust it open like a solid bar of Swiss chocolate. Infused with antioxidant-rich cocoa powder, this 16-pan palette has all the neutral shades you need to create a flattering look for every day (and night) of the week. To get a wear-anywhere look, skip the eyeliner pencil and use a medium-sized eyeshadow brush dusted with one of the truffle-hued shadows, such as hazelnut or haute chocolate, and softly buff the colour along both your top and bottom lash lines.

Too Faced Chocolate Bar, $59.