Dua Lipa is no stranger to the feel-good power of a good skin day – when an army of beauty experts gives her face an otherworldly glow on the red carpet; or when she's posting candid shots of her bare, sun-flushed skin on holiday to the clear delight of her 88 million Instagram followers. But Dua also knows the pitfalls of gruelling late nights on tour and wearing makeup on stage while dancing (and sweating) under a blaze of hot lights.
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So now that she's entering the final leg of her Radical Optimism Tour, she's decided to add ‘skincare founder’ to her resume by launching DUA in collaboration with world-renowned skincare scientist and expert in stem cell research Professor Augustinus Bader (who Victoria Beckham has also incidentally worked with).
“Over the years, I've learnt what works for me and what doesn't…”
Over a group Zoom last night, Dua Lipa looked every inch the dewy-skinned face of the brand. But, when asked why she decided to launch DUA, the Houdini singer said: “My life moves so fast. I feel like I'm constantly travelling, I'm touring, I'm performing, and I feel like my skin always reflects that. And so I wanted products that could really keep up with the crazy pace and that crazy lifestyle."
How she approaches skincare has changed now that she's turned 30, too: “I think the level of importance I place on my skincare now, versus when I was growing up, has vastly increased," she said. “It’s evolved from something that was occasional to now being essential. It's kind of how I reset. Even if it's for a few minutes every day, I feel like it's something that grounds me and I know that I'm taking care of myself. Sometimes when everything moves so fast, those little moments make a big difference.”
“I struggled with my skin so much trying so many different things, especially on my last tour in 2022…”
Dua Lipa's new beauty power move has also been inspired by her own personal skincare journey. “I felt like every day there was just a new blemish or I had a new kind of skin issue and I couldn't really get to the root of it,” Dua revealed. “I've realised now that by condensing everything and doing less to your skin, it is actually more. For me, I know that when my skin feels good and I feel healthy and I know I've taken care of myself, the way that I operate out in the world also reflects that.”
“Skincare doesn't have to be overly complicated in a million steps..."
The DUA routine is indeed the epitome of a modern skincare line. It marries high-tech ingredients with clean, fragrance-free formulas and an effortless approach, which is guaranteed to make both science geeks and cool girls purr with delight.
It features three products: the Balancing Cream Cleanser, Renewal Cream and Supercharged Glow Complex. Each product is powered by a new technology Augustinus Bader created specifically for this line: TFC5, a less punchy version of the TFC8 technology found in the regular Bader line.
Put simply, TFC5 includes biomimetic peptides, moisture-enhancing proteins and protective antioxidants to nourish the skin barrier, improve elasticity and kickstart renewal but at levels designed for a younger 18 to 35-year-old audience.
To test drive the formulas, Dua took the lab samples on tour. “I was like, this is the perfect test if my skin can keep up with all the travelling and the dancing and the sweating and the makeup. When it [Dua's skin] was showing up for me, even on the hardest days, I was like, OK, we're onto a winner.” She added that she noticed her skin was calmer and felt stronger, too. “Sometimes I tend to get a little bit of redness. And it really kind of took a lot of that away.”
In a very un-celeb move, she's more excited about letting her skin “reset and recharge" rather than jump on a new, trending makeup look for the upcoming party season. “With my tour wrapping up towards the end of the year, I’m really just looking forward to giving my skin a bit of a break from makeup and leaning into more of a natural, less-is-more look," she said.
As for Dua's top tip for reinvigorating dull, winter skin? Instead of highlighter, "I always use the Supercharged Glow Complex to help give my skin that glowy look and keep it hydrated at the same time. It’s like magic in a bottle and goes to work immediately after you put it on.” See you in the queue.
My verdict on every product in the DUA collection:
I was one of the first beauty editors to receive top-secret lab samples from the DUA skincare range. Here are my honest thoughts:
One of my favourite types of cleanser is a cream-to-foam formula because it does the job of lifting away makeup and daily grime but is still gentle on the skin. I like how the DUA Balancing Cream Cleanser left my pores feeling squeaky clean without stripping my skin and that there's even the hero TFC5 complex in this step, alongside prebiotics to help balance the skin, tsubaki oil to melt away makeup and lipids to hydrate.
I'm actually obsessed with this product. For the past few weeks, the Glamour team has been asking what I'm using on my skin as it's defying winter's grey, dull, withered legacy. Well, team, here it is – a vitamin-packed serum designed to firm the skin and give it a mega-watt glow with TFC5, niacinamide and a non-irritating marine ingredient that mimics retinol.
This gel-cream moisturiser is the dream consistency for me. It strikes the perfect balance between being deeply hydrating and not being heavy or pore-clogging. I love how it leaves my skin feeling bouncy, but it is also powered by some scientifically heavyweight ingredients, including TFC5 and a peptide to keep the skin barrier strong. Better still, I like how Dua has made this a very inclusive product. It plays nicely with sensitive and spot-prone skin, too, thanks to a blend of amino acids and pre- and postbiotics to calm any redness and balance the skin.
For more from Fiona Embleton, GLAMOUR's Associate Beauty Director, follow her on @fiembleton.
