Summer Beauty with Kathleen Baird Murray - Journalist and Brand Founder

Kathleen visited Fenwick Newcastle during Summer Beauty Week to explore our curated beauty hall, from cult favourites to cutting-edge skincare and makeup.

She discovered the best of summer beauty - timeless icons, new innovations, and effortless seasonal essentials.

Summer Beauty at Fenwick 

There's nothing like shopping for summer beauty to realise just how far we've come. 32 years ago, my first summer as a beauty editor on a glossy magazine, and it was all about CKOne, an ozonic fragrance that smelt of the ocean, fresh, sexy and unisex; it was about sending faxes off to MAC's HQ in Canada to ask if we could shoot a Ruby Woo lipstick for our shopping pages; and sweet-talking anyone flying back from Los Angeles into carrying a Hard Candy nail polish through customs - the height of cool in a pre-digital age. 

32 years on, browsing the beauty halls at Fenwick in Newcastle with an invitation to pick my best picks in celebration of their Summer Beauty Week, it’s amazing how new technology has both shifted my views on what serves us well in summer and also reinforced my love of the classics. There are flashbacks to those original brands that are still as committed to preserving our skin under the summer sun as they always were, and a sense of wonder at the new names - those giants of skincare whose AI-driven tech and biotechnology innovations deliver fast-acting actives and slow-release formulas that work overnight, or just as needed. 

Skincare Rules? What Rules? 

First stop: skincare. Routines are boring; Summer affords us all the opportunity to shake things up a bit with the odd mask here and there, or a total break from what we're usually doing. 

Guerlain - which as a rookie beauty editor I first discovered for their extraordinary fragrances, has a treatment that puts the fizz back into any routine: the Abeille Royale Bee Lab Shotᵀᴹ, a seven-day intensive course of crystallised active spheres blends in the palm of your hand with their Youth Watery Oil Serum. You then apply it to your face, and over seven days, watch as it visibly plumps, brightens and corrects. Take it away on holiday with you and use it at night to restore skin that's taken a battering from sun and travel; my favourite ritual, though, is saving it for the return - somehow it keeps the holiday feeling alive just a little longer. 

A couple of other adjustments I like to make to my normal routine. In summer I am far more vigilant with my sunscreen. Clarins is a long-trusted stalwart; their SPF 50 Youth-Protecting Sunscreen is particularly good for anyone who has just had aesthetic treatments and really needs to block out the sun (and while you're there, the Fenwick Beauty Room offers bespoke facials if you really want to give your skin some dedicated summer attention).  I'm not a huge believer in double cleansing per se - my make-up is usually light enough to warrant just one proper cleanse, plus maybe an eye make-up remover. But extra sunscreen means I will be swapping out my regular cleanser for Liz Earle's Cleanse and Polish every evening. Used with a cloth and hot water, it doubles as a light exfoliator. Fun fact: Liz Earle is an inspiration to me - she started out as a beauty editor and still writes incredible beauty, health and wellness books. This cleanser smells of eucalyptus, wonderfully refreshing, and leaves your skin feeling pepped up and super clean.

There is always an occasion - maybe just once in the summer - when either I or someone around me will need that emergency rescue cream. Enter Korean skincare giant Dr Jart, whose Cicapair Intensive Soothing Repair Cream is indispensable for those moments when skin simply isn't behaving: overheated, sore, or just in need of a time out. Turbocharged with Centella Asiatica which is long revered in Korean skincare for its calming, barrier-strengthening properties, it also has powerful peptides and instantly soothes redness and accelerates recovery. I also reach for it when skin is healing from a bite or a blister, not at the raw stage, but at that in-between point where it's dried up and needs some encouragement to get better. The peptides will take it from here, people.

And finally, no summer is complete without a classic treat: into the fridge goes Chantecaille's Pure Rose Water Mist, which legend has it is made with a thousand rose petals per bottle. It's not a make-up setting spray, but it makes your complexion feel undeniably refreshed on a hot day. It is an absolute must while flying, and if you're staying in a hotel and find the bed linen not quite to your liking, a light spritz will guarantee a better night's sleep.

A Few Words About Your Pillow

Since we're talking hotel rooms and better sleep - can we talk pillowcases? I know you might not be thinking of a pillowcase as a beauty aid, but trust me, a Slip pillowcase will not only give you baby-smooth skin when you wake up, it won't rough up your hair either. I have long hair, with pretty knackered-looking ends that suffer even more in the dry heat of the sun, and these pillowcases don't ruffle them up the way cotton ones do. Especially if I add a drop or two of Aveda's Miraculous Oil High-Shine Hair Concentrate to the ends, smoothing it in with my fingertips. The effect is remarkably close to a fresh salon trim - or better still, book into Fenwick's Aveda Blow Dry Bar and let someone else do the hard work.

Colour, And Nothing Else

Oh summer, let me count the ways!  Summer makeup has always been about keeping it super simple. Back in the day, Benefit's BeneTint was all I needed - can you imagine? A few drops of rosebud-scented watery tint on the lips for a just-bitten raspberry-lollipop effect. Maybe a swoosh of mascara. And off we would go. But the gesture - of adding colour, nothing else - is still my desired look once the sun comes out.

I cut right back on foundation. I love Trinny London's BFF in Medium, SPF 30, a sheer, dewy cream that adapts beautifully to your skin tone, evens things out and gives that healthy, slightly polished glow I'm after in summer, without ever feeling like you're wearing a base. Trinny's counter at Fenwick offers personalised make-up appointments too, with the cost redeemable against product, something which is worth knowing. Then I go all out on bronzer (Guerlain's Terracotta Light Powder is a classic) and blush - Hourglass's Unreal Liquid Blush in Future, a warm coral, is one of my all-time favourites, but be warned, a little goes a very long way.

If I'm in the mood for a strong lip, it's MAC Powder Kiss Lip and Cheek Mousse. What I love about this soft, matte, powdery lip creme in a stick is that same spontaneity I used to love in BeneTint - a quick dab with fingers and you're done. But with a modern matte finish and wonderfully intense pigment. I'm a huge fan of Ruby Boo, which resembles the bright red Ruby Woo - her more famous, full-on matte lipstick sister - but feels lighter on the lips and a little more youthful. If I want to downplay things slightly, but still look like I've shown up with a degree of commitment and dedication, it's YSL's neutral pinks. At Fenwick I played with combining The Slim Lipstick, in Pink Palace with a touch of Loveshine Plumping Lip Oil Gloss on top. That extra drop of oil adds volume and fullness; but it's equally beautiful worn alone - condition and colour in one, perfect for beach days. While I was browsing, I added a MAC Stack Waterproof Mascara to the bag - for those days when you're swimming or exercising and simply cannot have your mascara running, this is essential. Lips and lashes, who needs more?

Full Circle

And finally - even though 32 years on I now have my own fragrance brand, La Pyae Apothecary, I've never lost my love of discovering new scents. I have always had a soft spot for Le Labo, ever since I stumbled across the original store on Elizabeth Street in New York and met the founder, Fabrice Penot. He very kindly introduced me to one of the senior perfumers Le Labo liked to work with - Frank Voelkl - the man behind the iconic Santal 33 and we went on to work on my own brand together. Passing by their counter today, I am in awe of the legacy and memories that Le Labo has created for so many customers over the years. I can’t help but be drawn to Neroli 36nerol for summer, a modern classic, created some ten years ago by master perfumer Daphne Buguey, and full of surprises: a sunny floral at first, it slowly becomes the kind of sensual scent that commands attention. And, just like the most memorable summers, it stays with you long after it should.

Loved everything you've read about here? Fenwick's Summer Beauty Bag might just be the most pleasurable reason to treat yourself this season. Spend £95 or more on two or more beauty products in-store between 2nd and 9th June — or £95 on beauty online — and you'll receive a curated beauty bag worth £120+, filled with products from some of the most covetable names in beauty, among them Charlotte Tilbury, Juliette Has a Gun, Narciso Rodriguez, Hourglass, Clarins, Augustinus Bader and Molton Brown.  

If you're not already a MyFenwick Loyalty member, now would be a very good time to sign up. Members receive 3 points for every £1 spent on beauty and 1 point for every £1 spent on non-beauty items. Sign up, collect points, redeem for exclusive rewards and experiences.