Design-tastic: Snowberry Beauty

There are a couple of really smart things you can do when you launch an indie beauty brand you hope to make a big success of in an incredibly crowded and big-brand-monopolised market. Number one is to produce products with a real point of difference, and number two is to make those products look frigging INCREDIBLE.

Well done to NZ brand Snowberry, so: they've done both.  Carbon-neutral, they're forging ahead with the Mintel-predicted Nu Natural trend: products are that high-tech hybrid of hard-working natural ingredients that blend with some synthetic ingredients like peptides, to deliver high-performance results that are also paraben, mineral oil, silicone and petrochemical-free.

Getting uber-hip illustrator of the moment, Rob Ryan, on board to design the packaging is such a breathtakingly clever move I am giving Snowberry a standing ovation as I type. That ensures the products'll get a look-see in many publications cosmetics traditionally bypass, and well, I guess the idea is, once you try, then you're hooked, eh?

A luxe range, we'll find it here at Harvey Nichols where it's on counter right now. Prices reflect the positioning - the serum above is €225, but relax, it's the most expensive one in the lineup. There's a cleanser for €50 and an exfoliator for €44; day cream costs €124. You can also get 15ml trial sizes of the products for a considerably cheaper price - cleanser is €27, for example.

Want to check out the rest of the range? There's a very pretty shot after the cut.