February 2017 ran end to end on a single fashion-and-beauty story: Raf Simons’s debut at Calvin Klein on the tenth, which redefined the brand for the first time in a decade. The rest of the month delivered the awards-season carpets, the Spring 2017 NYFW collections, the Valentine’s Day editorial cycle, and the Oscars on the twenty-sixth — closing on the famous La La Land/Moonlight envelope mix-up that overshadowed the rest of the night. The bathroom counter held steady at eight products with the new Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Flawless Filter as the most-reached-for liquid, and our group chat spent the second half of the month dissecting the press-line beauty briefs.
Raf Simons at Calvin Klein
The February 10 show, presented at the Calvin Klein Collection headquarters with a Sterling Ruby art installation, was as discussed an American fashion debut as any in recent memory. The collection was exactly what the brand had needed and nothing the brand had been doing — a 1970s-Americana reset, marching-band uniforms, plastic overskirts, the colour palette of a Rothko painting. The store impact was felt immediately: every editor we knew booked an appointment to walk the upcoming Pre-Fall floor by mid-March. The takeaway: Calvin Klein under Simons was going to be a different company, and the working-day customer was going to wait to see what stayed and what was just a debut statement.
NYFW Spring 2017 backstage
NYFW ran February 9 to 16, and the backstage vocabulary trended quieter than the previous year. The recurring brief: dewy skin, soft brow, the centre-lid metallic from the previous Met Gala still earning its place, mascara only on the upper lash. Pat McGrath Labs pigments showed up backstage at Anna Sui and at Marc Jacobs; Glossier Boy Brow continued its third year of NYFW dominance. The takeaway: Spring 2017’s beauty story was less about the new product and more about which artist was using which classic.
Awards-season skin, the Hollywood Flawless lift
The Grammys on February 12 and the Oscars on February 26 told one story about red-carpet skin: Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Flawless Filter had become the press-line standard. The makeup-artist Instagram kit shots showed it on every actress; the dewy mandate that defined 2016 had hardened into a single-product answer. The takeaway: the right launch at the right moment can become the year’s most consequential beauty decision in two months.
Tarte Shape Tape, the consumer test
By mid-February the Shape Tape conversation had matured. The brand sold through eight times by the third week, the YouTube tutorial volume was unprecedented, and the consumer take split into two camps: the heavy-coverage devotees, and the natural-finish friends who stayed loyal to Glossier Stretch or NARS Radiant Creamy. Our group split three to one in favour of Shape Tape for the deepest under-eye day. The takeaway: the right concealer is the one that solves your specific under-eye, not the one selling out.
Valentine’s Day, the matte-bullet quiet
The Valentine’s editorial cycle was, this year, surprisingly muted. Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk continued its cult run; MAC Velvet Teddy stayed on every dresser; Tom Ford Lips & Boys made another seasonal appearance for the gift-set crowd. The takeaway: the bullet held its place against the matte-liquid for the third Valentine’s running, and the formula choice was now firmly a personal preference rather than a trend signal.
Hand cream, again
The cold snap mid-month sent us back to the hand-cream rotation we built last February. Aesop Resurrection Aromatique on the desk; Chanel La Crème Main in the bag; L’Occitane Shea Butter Hand Cream by the bedside. The lesson: the deep-winter rituals are the most satisfying because they require no decision.
Hair, awards-season memo
The awards-season hair brief settled around three reliable looks: a low chignon, a sleek centre-parted wave, and the clean-hairline blowout that Oribe Royal Blowout Heat Styling Spray supported. Bronde stayed in dominance through the talent rotation, and the second-day texture from Bumble and bumble Surf Spray powered most of our friends’ Sunday parties. The takeaway: the awards-season hair vocabulary trickles into the working-day reader’s salon visit by the second week of March.
Skin, retinol holds at four nights
The retinol commitment we made in October held through February at four nights a week. The morning Drunk Elephant C-Firma stayed the routine’s anchor. Augustinus Bader The Cream remained the night-cushion. By the third week of February the skin reorganisation we had committed to in October was visible in our Sunday morning bathroom mirror — the actives had earned their place. The takeaway: retinol is the most patient skincare commitment, and February is when patience starts paying.
What we are watching in March
March brings the Spring 2017 collections finally hitting US stores in volume, the daylight saving on March 12, the SPF reorganisation that follows, and the post-Oscar afterglow brief that will reorganise our March-into-April makeup conversation. We are watching for the Raf Simons Calvin Klein Pre-Fall delivery, the next Pat McGrath drop, and the early read on whether Hollywood Flawless Filter and Shape Tape can sustain their Q1 momentum. We will see you on the first Tuesday of March.