What’s Going Into Our Beauty Bags This September

September has always felt like a reset, whether or not there is actually a classroom involved. New notebooks become new routines, summer skin needs a little recalibrating, and suddenly we want to reorganise our beauty shelves, our bags and, ideally, our entire lives.

This year, our back-to-school beauty edit is less about starting over and more about finding the products that make getting ready easier, and a little more fun. Think one-swipe eyeshadow, a primer that actually keeps everything where it should be, summer skin that survives well beyond summer, deliciously scented body creams and a new fragrance that might just become our autumn signature.

Here’s what is currently making the cut.

e.l.f. Power Grip Primer Niacinamide +4%

We'll start with the practical one, because September mornings aren't exactly known for giving us unlimited getting-ready time.

The e.l.f. Power Grip Primer Niacinamide +4% takes the brand's cult sticky gel primer and adds 4% niacinamide into the mix. It still gives makeup that grippy base designed to keep everything in place, but now works on the appearance of uneven skin tone and dullness at the same time.

The translucent formula smooths and preps the complexion while leaving behind the kind of dewy finish we generally spend several products trying to achieve. Basically: skincare benefits, glow and makeup that hopefully still looks good by the end of the day.

Why we love it: Because if we're going back to long days, we'd rather not bring midday makeup touch-ups with us.

Available at Sephora Middle East

Saie SuperSuede™ Baked Eyeshadow

Remember when doing your eyes involved a palette of 15 colours, three brushes and a YouTube tutorial? We're not going back there.

Saie's SuperSuede™ Baked Eyeshadow is essentially the opposite. Inspired by effortless '90s beauty (and Helena Christensen as the star of the campaign), the collection consists of 11 neutral singles spanning demi-mattes and low-lit shimmers, designed to work alone or layered without requiring much expertise. Saie says they wear for up to 16 hours without a primer and are formulated with jojoba esters, ceramides and squalane for a lightweight, comfortable finish.

The shades are exactly the sort of colours we want heading into autumn: Cannoli, Biscotti, Amaretto and Dolce on the matte side, with Gelato, Granita, Affogato and Tartufo bringing the shimmer.

Why we love it: One shade, a finger, a quick swipe and you're basically done. We're particularly into Affogato, a warm bronze shimmer that feels made for the post-summer transition.

More on SaieBeauty.com

Maison Margiela Scentsorium Collection

Maison Margiela is taking fragrance into haute parfumerie with The Scentsorium Collection, six genderless scents inspired by the house’s Artisanal approach to deconstruction and reconstruction.

The names alone have us intrigued: Blaze of Stillness mixes neroli, fig and suede, while Silent Fury goes darker with leather, spices and tobacco. Elsewhere, expect black rose, liquorice, incense, saffron, patchouli and mineral musk.  

Why we love it: The unexpected combinations and the idea of choosing fragrance according to emotion rather than simply a scent family. Very Margiela, and definitely one we want to smell in person.

More on Maisonmargiela-fragrances.us

Dr. Barbara Sturm Everything Bronzing Drops

Just because the holiday is over doesn't mean the holiday face has to be. Dr. Barbara Sturm's Everything Bronzing Drops sit somewhere between skincare and makeup, adding warmth and luminosity while also tackling hydration and the appearance of pores. Hydrolyzed yeast extract and avocado oil support hydration, red clover extract targets the appearance of enlarged pores, while optical pigments create that soft-focus, sun-kissed finish.

You can wear one or two drops directly on the skin, mix them into moisturiser or foundation, or even add them to body lotion.

Why we love it: We are absolutely not emotionally prepared to give up our summer glow just because September says so, and these will come super handy.

More on DrSturm.com

KAYALI Yum Lip & Body Collection

KAYALI has spent years convincing us that one fragrance is never enough. Now Mona Kattan is taking layering beyond perfume altogether.

Launching globally on August 28, the brand's first Yum Lip & Body Collection translates two of its much-loved gourmands—Yum Boujee Marshmallow | 81 and Yum Pistachio Gelato | 33—into Silk Soufflé Body Creams and Cashmere Kiss Lip Balms.

And these sound dangerously edible. The whipped body creams contain hyaluronic acid alongside KAYALI's Dream Elixir, a blend including date seed, sesame, moringa, almond and olive oils, and are designed to provide up to 24 hours of hydration without a greasy finish.

The lip balms, meanwhile, offer up to eight hours of hydration with a soft shine. Boujee Marshmallow comes with pink marshmallow, strawberry and whipped cream notes, while Pistachio Gelato goes into full dessert territory with pistachio, hazelnut, whipped cream and cotton candy.

Why we love it: Because smelling like pistachio gelato from lips to fragrance sounds like our idea of fun—and exactly like something we'd enjoy.

More on Kayali.com

Wardufil Organic Oils

Not everything we're loving comes from a global beauty counter.

Tucked inside a restored Beirut heritage house in Mar Mikhael, Wardufil is the kind of place that immediately makes you slow down. Away from the rhythm of the city outside, its approach is built around calm, restoration and thoughtful rituals of wellbeing.

At the heart of many of those rituals are Wardufil's locally made organic oils, used throughout its massages and body treatments. They add another layer of nourishment to treatments already designed around unwinding, resetting and reconnecting with the body.

And while we love the full Wardufil experience, this time it's the oils we're bringing home with us.

Why we love it: It's local, organic and feels distinctly Beirut. More importantly, it brings a little bit of that post-massage feeling home—which might be exactly what September calls for.

More on Instagram, here

Max Mara Le Parfum

And now for something considerably more grown-up.

For its first fragrance, Max Mara has looked to perhaps the most recognisable object in its universe: the coat. More specifically, the house's iconic 101801. The idea behind Le Parfum is essentially an invisible version of it—a fragrance intended to envelop the body with the same warmth and understated confidence as Max Mara cashmere.

Even the bottle borrows from the coat: an architectural glass silhouette is wrapped with a camel-coloured lacquered belt, complete with stitching details and gold accents.

The fragrance itself, created by perfumers Marie Salamagne and Fabrice Pellegrin, combines sandalwood and cedarwood with creamy tuberose, before vanilla and benzoin bring warmth to the base.

Why we love it: September always makes us want a new fragrance, and this one feels like the olfactory equivalent of putting your favourite coat back on after summer.

More on MaxMara.com