Top Three: Australian beauty writer Gemma Dimond’s all-time favourite products
Image via @gemdimond/Instagram
Words by Lucy Andrews
“Let the record show that the one product I truly cannot live without is sunscreen.”
I’m a notoriously nosy person when it comes to products. I want to know whether you double cleanse at night, and if so which cleansers you use. I want to know if there’s some special hair contraption or pair of tweezers that have (hyperbole warranted) changed your life. I want to know what curl definer you use and which lip balm you swear by.
Want to snoop inside the beauty regimes of other creatives? Head here.
But my interest in products doesn’t just pertain to the world of beauty – I’m always eager to hear about an air fryer that someone loves so much they’ve convinced their entire extended family to get one, or a laptop stand that’s corrected their posture and improved their quality of life by at least 25 per cent.
In short, I adore products. This is why I’ve asked some of our favourite Australian creatives for their top three products, AKA the products they simply cannot live without. The scope is broad – it can genuinely be any three products, as long as they’re the three they value the most.
Joining us this week is Gemma Dimond, Australian beauty expert, podcast host and creator of the online editorial platform, Glow Journal. Gemma knows more than most about the beauty landscape, making her foray into the industry back in 2016. Her picks live up to the ‘glow’ name with products that focus on skincare, shine and of course, the all-important sun protection. If like me, you want to know what she has on rotation, you’ll be pleased to know I’ve asked her for her top three favourite beauty products of all time.
“Let the record show that the one product I truly cannot live without is sunscreen,” Gemma explains. “SPF50+, broad-spectrum sunscreen. I won’t include sunscreen in my top three because everyone who knows me already knows me to be an SPF bully (which is such a beautiful compliment, thank you), and I would hate to take up more space than I already have telling people what they already know. Onwards!”
Product one: Crème de la Mer
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How did you first discover this product?
This feels like a wonderful place to start as it lets you, dear reader, know from the outset that I have well and truly lost touch with the common man. This is an expensive product – this nobody can deny. I was first introduced to the iconic Crème de la Mer when a makeup artist used it to prep my skin ahead of a photoshoot back in 2016.
I spent the ensuing year or two trying to find a ‘dupe’ for it, as I had just started running my own business and unfortunately, a $600 pot of moisturiser wasn’t in the budget. Contrary to popular belief, no true dupe for this product exists.
What is it and why do you love it?
Fortunately, not long after realising my dupe quest was futile, I struck up a working relationship with the brand. Being a beauty writer has many perks – this is one of them.
Crème de la Mer is a moisturiser that was developed by an aerospace engineer named Dr Max Huber, who had suffered serious burns in a lab accident. He created what La Mer refers to as ‘miracle broth’ using a giant sea kelp extract, and the broth was able to heal his burns.
That broth is infused into Crème de la Mer – hence there is no real dupe and as every new batch of miracle broth is made, it contains a drop of the one that came before it. I love the history! It’s a bit like a sourdough starter, but sexier.
I love it because I have really and truly never felt anything like it. It makes my makeup look better, lifts my complexion if I’m looking and feeling a little dry and dull, and helps my skin bounce back from the many, many laser treatments I subject myself to like nothing else.
Where can you find it/who would you recommend it to?
You can find the entire La Mer range at Mecca or on the counter at David Jones. As much as I love my Crème, I’ll never call it a ‘must have’ as it’s such an investment. With that in mind, I would only recommend it to you if it were within your means and if you are really and truly a lover of luxury beauty.
There’s no denying that a large part of what you’re paying for with luxury beauty is the experience of use and not just the product itself, so if that’s something you see value in (like I do!) then I really do believe you will love this.
Product two: Charlotte Tilbury Lip Cheat Lip Liner in ‘Pillow Talk’
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How did you first discover this product?
I first came across this product on YouTube when I was researching UK beauty brands ahead of a trip in 2015. I’d long followed Charlotte Tilbury’s work as a makeup artist, and I’d had a close eye on her brand since it launched in late 2013, but we couldn’t buy it here in Australia.
The Pillow Talk liner was one of the four Charlotte Tilbury products I bought at her original Selfridges counter, touted by Charlotte herself as the perfect nude for every lip colour (but in much more flowery language – if you’ve watched a Charlotte video, you’ll understand).
What is it and why do you love it?
This lip liner is everything to me. I can’t say it’ll work for every lip colour, but it is undoubtedly my perfect nude. I love it so much that I took it to my lip blush tattoo appointment, and now have it permanently tattooed on my lips (although I still use the liner when I want to overline, which is… pretty often).
You know how we talk about foundation giving the skin a ‘your skin but better’ finish? This colour and formula is ‘your lips but better’. I was very excited when the brand released the Pillow Talk lipstick in 2020, but it is not the same colour. Not even close. The lipstick is mauve. I don’t like to talk about it.
Where can you find it/who would you recommend it to?
You can buy Charlotte Tilbury products via Mecca or the Charlotte Tilbury website. I would recommend the Pillow Talk liner to anyone with a fair complexion and rosy lips like myself (I can’t speak for other complexions) who favours a nude lip over something bold.
Product three: Westman Atelier Face Trace Contour Stick
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How did you first discover this product?
I saw Gucci Westman speak at an event in Melbourne in early 2019 and just became completely enamoured by her. I was familiar with her work with Gwyneth Paltrow and Jennifer Aniston, but I watched her apply the products to a model’s skin live and I had to get my hands on the range. I bought the Contour Stick on the spot. Her approach to beauty is everything I love – simultaneously polished and undone, which seems like an oxymoron but it just works.
What is it and why do you love it?
Although it’s called a contour stick, I consider this to be more of a cream bronzer (although you can use it in multiple ways). I don’t wear foundation every day, but I am in fake tan 80 per cent of the time so I like to have a product handy to make the contrast between my face and the rest of my body a little less stark. This is precisely that.
You can apply it directly from the stick, and it’s so beautiful and creamy that you can just smudge it out with your fingers if you like. I apply it to my temples, cheeks and jawline and even smudge it onto my eyelids often too. It doesn’t have any shimmer in it, being a ‘contour’ – so it looks a bit more natural on the skin than a shimmering bronzer.
Where can you find it/who would you recommend it to?
Once again, the brand is available at Mecca (I promise they are not paying me, although they do have my details). I’d recommend this one to just about anyone, as it comes in a number of shades and can be used for everything from a ‘no makeup’ day right up to full glam, depending on how you apply and blend it.
You can follow Gemma here.
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