Aisling's Picks of the Week: hydrating creams, cleansing brushes and pumpkin blush

Yon-Ka Hydra No1 Fluide

€49.50

It can be difficult to find a serum for oily and dehydrated skin (and yes, these conditions often exist in tandem). There is a good mix here of hydrating ingredients to draw water into the skin, while silica mops up grease. A good exfoliation before this serum is applied will get rid of dead skin and enable it to sink in properly.

Sleek Make-up Blush By 3 Palette

€12.99

The pigment in these blush palettes is incredible. There are four colourways; Pumpkin is so bright it scared the life out of me when I tested it.

So use a very, very light hand, or go for one of the other colour combinations.

La Mer Reparative Skin Tint SPF30

€90

This tinted moisturiser from the luxury line is available in five shades and provides fairly good coverage. It is a light base, which is not greasy (as so many BBs and tinted moisturisers are) and so it lasts well on the skin. It contains the signature La Mer skincare ingredients. The SPF30 is a bonus.

Clinique Sonic System Purifying Cleansing Brush

€89

I wanted to love this tiny vibrating cleansing brush as much as I do the Clarisonic but, although it is less expensive, it didn’t leave me with the deep-down clean feeling that the other delivers. On the plus side, it is soft and so is ideal for sensitive skin; the shape means that it is easy to manoeuvre around the nose, and tilting the brush to use the green bristles easily exfoliates clogged pores.

Neostrata Skin Active Line Lift

€64.95

A two-step treatment from Neostrata that aims to plump up the appearance of deep lines by intensely hydrating and stimulating collagen renewal, which slows to a crawl as we age.

The particularly hateful nasolabial folds – that horrible crease between the eyebrows that can make you look perpetually cross – and crow’s feet are areas that this duo target.

I haven’t been using this roller ball system for long enough to tell how well it works, but I am a willing guinea pig.

L’Oréal Infallible Mattifying Primer 

€11.99

Good for young skin and oily or combination visages of all ages. It grips foundation, keeps it on your face for much longer and dampens down shine.