While cutting-edge fashion seems ever further removed from the real world, the cosmetic industry recognises the average woman has too much to do and too little time to do it in. To this end, beauty houses are bringing out multi-purpose make-up, products to be applied with fingers and all sorts of nifty little kits that are compact enough to carry around and are easy to use on the hop.
All this certainly makes life easier but make-up gurus such as Bobbi Brown believe the right tools are as important to the look as the cosmetics themselves.
Although certain companies such as Chanel take great pains to accessorise their compacts with good quality brushes that actually work, many others skimp on this area. Eyeshadow applicators which wear out quickly and blusher brushes which are either too small, too coarse or shed their bristles easily (test for this by running a hand through the hair) are just some of the shortcomings of these diminutive devices.
If buying an entire kit seems too extravagant, unnecessary or daunting, start with the essentials. Professional make-up artist Kathy Carroll-Lea at Tony & Guy (tel: 2801 7870) recommends a good blusher brush, an eyeshadow applicator and a blending brush (to take the edge off colour).
'One of my pet hates is enormous blusher brushes because they cover the entire width of the cheek with a big dollop of colour,' says Carroll-Lea. 'Go for something that is no more than two centimetres wide at its base and no longer than a third of the way from outer eye level to jawline. Steer clear of brushes that are less than one centimetre wide because you'll end up with a thin strip of colour, which looks equally bad.'
An eyeshadow applicator should be about a centimetre wide and quite fine to avoid putting on too much product; a blending brush needs to be round or dome-shaped with coarser hair and about two millimetres thick and one centimetre long.