I’m finding it difficult to drum up any enthusiasm for writing about Springtime Beauty at this particular moment. Mostly because I’m still in bed (yes, still) with this hideous flu-with-a-touch-of-possible-pneumonia and my face looks like an old piece of tree bark that has washed up on a riverbank. I can’t imagine looking normal, with eyes that aren’t surrounded by puffy pink rings of flesh and skin that isn’t a shade of pale, deathly grey. I’m propped up on pillows tinkering around with all of the Spring collections and their pretty pastel shadows and sheer, balmy lip treats and I can tell you this: they don’t do a hell of a lot for pallid, sickly complexions. You need a solid and perfect healthy-glow base to get started with these shimsy, whimsical shades.

Add a wash of pale blue shadow to a tired, veined, un-primed eyelid and you’ve got something bordering on a joke – it’s like frosting a mouldy cake. Try a wash of pale pink and things only get worse. Think you want to add a “pop” of colour to your cheeks? Not without foundation you don’t! I’ll say it again; you need a perfect base to carry off these springtime tones. Ironic, really, when you consider that springtime should be the “new start” season with fresh textures and a more minimal approach to skin enhancing…I’m literally limping into spring dragging a full-to-the-brim box of concealers and foundations behind me. Thoughts? How are the rest of you getting on with the pastel-tastic Spring Looks?

I’ll tell you one thing that I can handle, though, and that’s pretty nail colours. OK, I say pretty, I mean nude. I just can’t get bored of nude nail shades and therefore must say a big thank-you to Estee Lauder for launching the French Nudes Collection. Five chic new shades designed to act as “foundation for the fingernails”. The shade Nudité is my best match, but I also love the Ballerina Pink for a barely-there nude sheen. You can see all five shades at Estee Lauder