Shake down any beauty editor’s makeup bag and there’s one product guaranteed to fall out: Victoria Beckham Satin Kajal Liner Eyeliner. Universally loved for its buttery pigment and ultra-flattering smokey finish, it’s become an icon for all ages, with just one drawback: the £32 price tag. Now, though, celebrity makeup artist Hannah Martin has launched a version that’s every bit as plush – and it comes in at exactly half the price.
Hannah is one of Britain’s most beloved MUAs, and the go-to face painter for leading royals. Her signature glowing-from-within aesthetic has led to her becoming the ultimate bridal makeup artist, with her exquisite skills famously employed by both Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie for their big days. She’s even shared her royal duty days with their mother, Sarah Ferguson, painting all three ladies for the King’s Coronation.
She was also widely rumoured to have provided beauty lessons to the Princess of Wales, ahead of her DIY wedding day makeup (although it’s something Hannah would never dream of discussing.)
Today, the UK’s common folk can get their hands on Hannah’s stardust, via her new collaboration with Hildun Beauty. If you’ve not heard of Hildun yet, it’s a rising star that’s quickly become a beauty insider’s favourite, thanks to its premium formulas at not-so-Posh prices. While the brand is far from a Victoria Beckham Beauty dupe, it’s hard to deny that Hildun is a more accessible alternative for anyone who loves that style of grown-up glamour.
There are three products in the Hildun Beauty x Hannah Martin Summer Nights collection, including a £20 Sheer Glow Face Gel and £17 Soul Shimmer Shadows, but the jewel in the crown has to be Hannah’s beautiful, bronzy take on the brand’s best-selling Silk to Set Kajal Liner, £16.
Hannah’s Spiced Pecan iteration was actually briefly available last year, but sold out in the blink of a smokey eye. It’s heading up the second coming of her Hildun collaboration, which is welcome news for beauty fans. As Hannah tells me: ‘The famous kajal pencils at the moment are the Victoria Beckham ones, which are also beautiful, but they’re double the price. This one is just as good. Many loyal fans have been desperate for the Spiced Pecan kajal liner to come back.’
For good reason: a kajal eye pencil is THE ultimate product to recreate the look that’s led to Hannah being dubbed ‘the queen of the smokey eye’. She says: ‘The reason I love kajals is that they’re so soft. If you’ve ever struggled with eyeliner, usually the biggest challenge is when you apply pressure at the lash line to try to lay down the product.’
‘If it's a pencil that's either quite hard or the nib has oxidised, you can just push and push but get absolutely no color pay off. Whereas kajals are so soft that they’re effortless to apply and there’s no dragging of the skin.’
Better still, that soft texture doesn’t then slide off. ‘The joy of a kajal is that they go on very soft, but then they dry and really set in place,’ says Hannah. ‘While the formula is fresh on and not yet set, I like to use a small smudging brush to blend, which creates a much more diffused and subtle finish. It’s so quick and easy to do.’
Having road-tested the pencil myself, I can attest to both the ease of application and the longevity. It took me under two minutes to add soft, smokey definition to my eyes, smudging the liner around upper and lower lash line and blending a bit into the crease, and it lasted all day. Boom. And yes, I am a VB kajal fan and yes, this is every bit as glorious.
The rest of the Summer Nights collection builds upon this ‘max glow, minimum effort’ ethos. There are two sparkly eyeshadows in a similar tonal palette to Spiced Pecan, which ‘look beautiful layered over the kajal or on their own’. Hannah adds: ‘I know that some people love the idea of a smoky eye, but too much intense color all over there can be a bit intimidating. But I think anyone can wear a champagne gold on their eyelids, whether that's on its own, an accent in the inner corner or tapped over a deeper colour.’
The Sheer Glow Face Gel, meanwhile, is a love letter in bottle to wearable radiance. Hannah says: ‘There's been a massive departure from the thick, silvery metallic highlighters of yesteryear. This gel has such a beautiful texture. It's so light. You might look at the bronze tone and think, “Gosh, that's really dark”, but it blends out so sheer, it just leaves the skin with a very gentle luminosity.’
Don’t be surprised to see any of the collection at a royal summer garden party soon…
