Each week I share a mix of beauty launches, explainers and articles that stick in my head. It’s a slower, calmer way to keep up with beauty – and a bit of a diary of what’s going on behind the scenes at mamabella.
🌸 How to build your own Dr. Melaxin K-beauty skincare routine
🧴 Would you use powder shampoo? Selkie brings waterless haircare to the mainstream on Dragons’ Den
🔢 mdlondon’s Numbers styling range doubles to fix more hair concerns
🎄 Advent calendars: No7 confirmed, my Lush unboxing, KIKO launches
🛍️ This week’s new beauty launches from Sol de Janeiro and Revolution
🧼 What I’m loving this week: A collagen cleanser doing double duty
📖 If you only read one thing: Three skincare ingredients you shouldn’t buy online
Dr. Melaxin is everywhere on social at the mo but a lot of the products have very similar names and uses. To help you get started with the cult K-beauty brand, I’ve mapped the range across five skincare concerns in my 👉 Dr. Melaxin skincare routine builder – from dark spots to eye bags, dark circles, sagging skin and laughter lines.
👉 Build your full Dr. Melaxin routine here →
If you watched Dragons’ Den this week you would have seen Selkie founder Cicely Coops raise £40k for her 👉 powder-to-liquid shampoo. Waterless beauty has been building for a while, from cleansing powders to shampoo bars, and now you can get haircare ranges that ship as a powder and turn into liquid once you add your own water at home.
Around 4 billion people, close to two-thirds of the world’s population, already face severe water scarcity for at least one month a year and beauty brands are trying to cut back before that gets worse. As most shampoos are 70–90% water, cutting it out helps reduce packaging weight, emissions and the amount of preservative needed to keep a bottle stable on a shelf for months.
Selkie’s Starter Kit costs £35, or £17.50 if you just want to try the shampoo, with refills from £15. Another brand, called Small Wonder similarly sells refillable aluminium bottles with powder formulas for £60 a set.
👉 Read my full explainer on the new powder haircare trend →
If you’ve been a mamabella reader for some time, you’ll know how highly I rate mdlondon products. The hair tools are super smart and I can’t live without The 1 Hair Primer. Now, Michael Douglas – the celeb hair stylist behind the brand – has 👉 added six new products to his numbered styling system taking the total to 12.
Each number still solves a specific problem rather than asking you to follow all twelve in sequence, so you pick the ones that match your hair.
The six new launches, all £15, cover humidity protection, dry-hair heat protection, curl definition, shine, between-wash refreshing and textured styling. You can buy them individually at £15 each, as The 7–12 bundle for £75 (a £15 saving), or go all in with the complete 12-piece collection for £150, down from £180 when bought separately.
👉 Shop the full mdlondon Numbers range →
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Milk Makeup Line + Fill Lip Liner and Lip Color (£17.85): A creamy, long-wearing lip liner and colour hybrid with hydrating ingredients, in 10 shades. Available now at 👉 Sephora UK →
Revolution Superfix Blur Longwear Foundation (£9.99): A soft matte, hybrid makeup-skincare formula with hyaluronic acid that blurs the look of pores without feeling heavy. Available now at 👉 Boots →
Silk’n Exclusive Facial LED Mask (£160): This 4-in-1 LED mask has 100 lights across four colours. Available now at 👉 Lookfantastic →
Sol de Janeiro Limited Edition Leite Nectar & Leite Café Perfume Mists (£25 each): There are new gourmand scents, one smells like peach and coconut milk, the other like a latte accord and lychee sorbet. There are also some new Intense mists but they’re US only for now. Available now at 👉 Sephora UK →
No7’s 2026 calendars are confirmed and live. The 👉 25 Days of Beauty Advent Calendar is £65 for £248.93 worth of Future Renew skincare and Pro Artist makeup, eight of them full-size. The No7 👉 Ultimate Advent Calendar is £180 and every product is full-size. Use code ADVENTSAVE10 for £10 off.
I’ve done my Lush unboxing this year if you want a proper look before committing. The 👉 main Lush calendar is £210 for 25 products across bath bombs, shower gels, body lotions, a candle and a perfume, with 10 gift exclusives. For less, the 👉 29½ High Street calendar is £135 and sticks purely to bath bombs and bubble bars.
The Body Shop’s calendars are on sale now. The 👉 Ultimate Advent Calendar is £139 for £250 worth of bath, body and skincare across Shea, British Rose, Almond Milk and more. The 👉 Classic version is £65 for a travel-size edit.
A few more new advent calendars worth flagging:
Fortnum & Mason: £275 for 25 products worth £1,225, 24 full-size
KIKO Milano: £149 for £266.76 worth of makeup, 24 products
L’Occitane Classic Edition: £99 for £192 worth of skincare and fragrance
Liz Earle: £79 for the 12-day edition or £175 for 24 days, both available now
Want more? See the full best beauty advent calendars guide, or jump straight to skincare-only calendars, luxury picks, or the best cheap advent calendars if you’re on a budget.
I’m loving the 👉 Biodance Collagen Mask To Foam Cleanser at the moment. It’s a 2-in-1 that works as either a foam cleanser or a mask, built around Biodance’s ultra-low molecular collagen. It’s hard to get out of the tube, but it foams lovely and leaves my skin glowing.
👉 Shop the Biodance Collagen Mask To Foam Cleanser →
The Conversation has a good piece on 👉 the skincare ingredients you shouldn’t buy online. Terms like “clinical-grade” and “science-backed” aren’t regulated and the piece walks through three ingredients worth treating with care when bought without medical guidance.
👉 Read the full piece on The Conversation →
Until next time,
Vicky xx
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