Clothes lines/beauty

Compiled by DEIRDRE McQUILLANand PHYL CLARKE

Eyes right

The fine skin around the eye area is seven times finer than the rest of the face, so it ages first and deserves special treatment. This is the place to spend the bucks, if you have them. Dior’s Capture range includes Total Eyes Essential (€64) which contains a skin-boosting serum which stimulates cell regeneration in a cooling gel formula. Sharon Stone is a Dior fan and isn’t she looking well on it.

Skincare guru Eve Lom believes in simple but effective formulas – a philosophy encapsulated in her cult cleansing balm which Vogue magazine reckons is "probably the best cleanser in the world". It's seldom a new product is added to her paired down range, but the latest is an eye cream which feels really fresh and gives a smoothing lift to the eye area and locks in moisture. It costs €70 from Revive, tel: 01- 2604781, revive.ie

Protect the eye area from dehydration and sun exposure with Elizabeth Arden’s Prevage eye cream which has SPF15 which is hard to get in an eye cream. At €100, it’s not cheap – you’re paying for key ingredient Idebenone. This was singled out in a BBC Horizon programme as one of only two proven “anti-agers”. I knew you’d ask, so the other top scorer was Boots No 7 Protect and Perfect.

With Estée Lauder Idealist eye illuminator (€57), the ceramic applicator is kept permanently chilled courtesy of NASA-inspired technology and the feather-light gel relaxes puffiness into skin-tightened smoothness. A morning saviour.

Institut Esthederm Repair System Eye Contour Lift Patches (€56). These patches work brilliantly to immediately reduce shadows and bags and instantly lift skin. They're recommended for under-eye use, but I've also used them to great effect on the upper eyes (placed beneath eyebrows and over eyelids). Great before a big event. Order online from feel unique.com

Hynes heads east

Joanne Hynes heads to Eastern Europe in March to show her spring summer collection as one of 16 designers selected to represent their countries at the 30th Ukrainian Fashion Week in the capital, Kiev. These designers, chosen from the 16 nations qualified for the Uefa European football championships, will be the highlight of ProjectEuroFashion, which aims to link sport with fashion, according to Iryna Danylevska, chief of international development in the city. Hynes will show her spring/summer collection of 35 looks, including these zany embellished silver leather tunics and gold bomber jackets.

I can't live without . . . EOIN LYONS Interior designer

I believe in the old adage that says never trust a man with too many clothes . . .and the same goes for beauty products. I have just a few things and spend a bit more because they're long lasting and work. A friend told me about Trilogy face wash which is made in New Zealand and is very gentle but affective – important if your face is grimy after being on a building site all day. It costs €25.30 at health shops and inhealth.ie.

Something to protect my face from the elementsis what I need when running around from client to client and Seavite is an Irish company that makes a great moisturiser called Organic Seaweed face cream. It's made using seaweed harvested off our Atlantic coast and has anti-aging properties.

Denblan is the best toothpasteever. I buy it in Paris, where it costs about €10 in pharmacies. It has a whitening affect, which is good, considering the buckets of coffee I drink.

I love Cloon Keen’s Linden blossom liquid soap. It softens hands, smells lovely and has no synthetic ingredients.

The black and white bottle looks very smart in a bathroom – small luxuries like this make a difference in a home, so it’s worth the €17.85. From Arnotts and cloonkeen.com

I've always liked HermèsTerre because it's fresh, citrusy and peppery. I use a tiny amount, so a bottle lasts years. There's nothing worse than overpowering scent.

Cerebral creations

Tonia Bastyan worked with Karen Millen before setting up her own label, Bastyan, three years ago. Since then it has become known for its well cut, Italian-made jeans. As a working mother of a five-year-old, she says motherhood has changed her attitude to fashion in that she wants to make clothes with lasting value that one day can be passed on. A recent collaboration with young print artisans in a range called Bastyn Collaborare, comprising five garments and two scarves with prints that look like flowers but are actually from brain X-rays, has been launched in Brown Thomas and BT2 in Dublin.

Hungarian treat

Some of the best beauty therapists come from Budapest but you don’t have to jump on a plane to get the stellar treatment as Dominka Dracz-Le Grange will be visiting Harvey Nichols in Dundrum on February 13th to 17th with one of her country’s top skincare ranges, Omorovicza. She will be performing one-hour treatments which include a unique Hungarian facial massage. The booking fee is €30, which is redeemable with any Omorovicza purchase. To book an appointment, contact Michelle on 01-2910488.