Super sleek, shiny beauty products

The home of hip clothing brands, vintage boutiques and Stockholm Fashion Week, the Swedish capital is a favourite destination for fashionistas, and we have discovered another reason to visit: Face Stockholm. The brand has an established retail presence in the US and Sweden as well as a couple of boutiques in Norway.

Behind the brand are mother-daughter team Gun Nowak and Martina Arfwidson, whose global travels and desire for creative, innovative cosmetics have driven the development of Face Stockholm. With a background in fashion retailing, Gun opened the first shop in Stockholm in 1980, keen to offer products that were “natural, trend-forward, simple, clean, gorgeous and fun!”

The brand’s range of colours (over 150 eye shadow shades and 200 lip colours to choose from at last count!) is certain to tempt any make-up fan and eco-conscious consumers will be impressed by the ecologically-sound approach to beauty: products are made with natural ingredients and use minimal and recycled packaging. And of course, they’re never, ever tested on cute animals.

The brand’s Picture Perfect Foundation is a cult must-have amongst make-up artists, so we were very excited to try out products from the latest Face Stockholm collection. Summer temperatures call for light, fresh make-up, and the Creme Blush is just the ticket for creating a pretty, just-pinched flush. The soft rosy-pink Stockholm shade will add a translucent blushed glow and is best smudged onto cheeks with your fingers – making it a great pop-in-your-handbag buy. The compact also has a handy mirror for touching up on the go.

If you’re attempting to travel light or carry all your essentials in a miniature clutch, multi-use products should be your best friends – and the pearlesent Creme Highlighter in Mystic is definitely our BFF. This shimmery white highlighter can be used all over – eyes, cheekbones, decolleté – anywhere that needs a sexy, luminous glow. The shimmer is glowy rather than disco-chic and adds a dewy touch to tanned skin. We also loved the Treasure Eye Dust (a golden-bronze shade) as the subtle sparkle powder is super versatile: it can be used wet or dry, layered to build intensity, or even mixed with moisturiser for all-over use.

The selection of eyeshadow finishes and colours is simply mind-boggling, but if you have to choose just one; let it be the Matte Eyeshadow in Joy, a highly-pigmented neutral deep brown which blends beautifully. An ideal shadow for everyday use, it lasts really well and should be a staple neutral colour in your make-up bag.

Face Stockholm’s Gel and Liquid Eyeliners are great for adding definition, but to create a beautifully sexy, smoky-eyed look with intense colour depth, we’re big fans of the Cake Eyeliner. Apply with a fine brush around your upper and lower lashes to make your eyes really stand out and for something a little different, change it up and try the liner in Navy or Eggplant.

The latest look from Face Stockholm

Face Stockholm’s lip colour offering is absolutely huge and there are finishes and formulations to suit every complexion (check out their Matte Lipstick collection for amazing shine-free shades). We tried the Success lipstick, a intense, long-lasting pink-red which is a romantic, flirty colour for everyday wear. The quality of the lipsticks is excellent and they really do stay on through dinner, drinks and dancing. If you’re looking for a super-flattering lipgloss, Gloss 6 offers slick, non-sticky shine in a gorgeous translucent raspberry red tone.

From the magical colour selection to the sleek, fuss-free packaging and high quality formulations, Face Stockholm’s cosmetics are typical of the fashion-forward, understated cool we have come to expect (and love) from Sweden.

Find out more about Face Stockholm online here.