I popped over to London on Saturday to check out new launch Une, at an event hosted by the brand which lots of UK bloggers also attended - I got to meet the gals behind blogs like Beauty Junkie in London, Mizz Worthy, Oxford Jasmine, Lipglossiping, Make-up by Katy, Perfectly Polished - and phew, loads more.
Une comes to us from the peeps behind Bourjois, while the line won't land on Irish shores - and into Boots stores - until August, a sneaky peek never hurt anyone, did it?
A significant proportion of products are Ecocert-certified (and those guys won't slap their stamp on just any old product), but what's most interesting is that Une manages to bridge the gap between natural cosmetics that are, well, a bit frumpy (Dr Hauschka) or wildly pricey (Organic Glam), stamping out ground for itself as a stylish naturals-based colour line with lots of product choice and little prices.
This really is what this sector has been crying out for - beauty buys that are genuinely adhering to standards and which ordinary mortals can afford. In the UK, prices range from £4.99 to £13.99 - so fingers firmly crossed we get a fair price equivalent when the stuff arrives here.
In terms of what's going to be available, it's actually quite a lot: 25 products in total, with 148 shades across those products. Because the line is natural, you're not going to get artificial brights or siliconey textures - both things are firmly out here, in favour of shades that are from nature and formulations that are paraben-, artifical fragrance-, colouring- and GMO-free. The Ecocert stamp ensures that each product bearing it contains no less than 95% ingredients of natural origin - but many of the products actually contain a higher percentage.
Given all that, it's pretty remarkable what Une has managed to achieve: while there is a ubiquitous mineral powder foundation which I'll be giving a firm miss as I dislike them, the other formulations are really nice, based on my swatching and sampling. Designed to deliver a natural glow, finishes tend towards the sheer side and can be layered up - but the ethos here is firmly on natural beauty, so don't expect va va voom night time glamour or Mac-alike colour choices.
I'll be writing more about some of the products I got to take home nearer the launch date, but for your delight and viewing edification now, here are some more shots of the products.
Another batch of products - the line has four foundation types, three lip products, mascara, eye pencils, two types of concealer, including a clever Laura Mercier-alike concealer pencil, and brow pencils.
Farrow and Ball-esque shade chart.
Advertised
The line also includes some kabuku brushes, made from goat hair. Little socks are available for the shadows and the powder mineral foundation. Aww!
Packaging, too, brings this line up and above yer regular 'worthy' natural beauty buys. White plastic - recyclable - and mirror makes these look like nothing so much as sleek, minimalistic iPods.
Some of the seven Healthy-Glow Enhancers, a tinted-moisturiser style product.
Some of the shadow shades.
And some more shadows.
This is one of the Glimmer eye shadow shades, and it delivers a pearlised, creamy finish. Very pretty.
Two of the eight blushers, which are a cream-to-powder formulation.
Advertised
While the products won't land here for a while yet, they are on-counter now in the UK at Boots - so if you happen to be over in the next while, will you check Une out?
