Beauty: the best of Victoria Beckham’s Estée Lauder makeup line

#VBxEsteeLauder. Victoria Beckham is launching her limited edition makeup collection made in collaboration with beauty giant Estée Lauder.

This article titled “Beauty: the best of Victoria Beckham’s Estée Lauder makeup line” was written by Sali Hughes, for The Guardian on Saturday 3rd September 2016 07.00 UTC

Few beauty launches have been as carefully and strictly orchestrated as Victoria Beckham’s limited-edition makeup line for Estée Lauder. Before the unveiling, I had to sign two legally binding agreements not to share with a soul what lay behind the specially blacked-out windows at Beckham’s Mayfair boutique. My cynical heart was steeled for anticlimax; I didn’t expect to be then sitting on my hands for three months, desperate to rave about the collection.

Not that everything is a 10. The Java Sun bronzer (£48) is too dark and a tad too red for many, while the Lip Gloss in Moroccan Heat, a generic nude (£28), brings little more to the party than any other at a fraction of the price. But what is good here is exceptional.

Beckham has wisely skipped foundation (if you can’t do a proper shade range, as Estée Lauder already does, then some looks worse than none) in favour of a universal illuminator called Morning Aura (£68), a gold-flecked 2-in-1 moisturiser and primer that goes on beautifully and looks glorious on the skin. The reintroduction of Lauder’s much-missed Modern Mercury powder highlighter (£48), loved by Beckham, who’d taken to scoring hers on eBay, is another nice touch. But, overall, the eyes have it. Eye Metals (£36) are dense, metallic shadows in cool brown and dark green with superlative colour payoff to give grownup, sophisticated sparkle to lids. They’re especially good worn over Eye Ink (£36), a highly pigmented black gel-powder that adds a deep, smoky undercoat. If shadow isn’t your poison, bypass the faff with the excellent Eye Foils (£28), two translucent, idiot-proof liquid eyeliners with high-shine metallic flecks that give an instantly eye-widening party look to otherwise bare lids.

The weighty compacts in gold and ribbed black leather are sleek, stylish, expensive – and not a million miles from Tom Ford Beauty’s packaging. And I wonder if Ford is a fitting example of where this might go. I asked Beckham if this was a one-off passion project, or the start of a career in beauty. “I hope it’s just the beginning,” she replied, making me wonder if we’re not far away from a full product line and a fleet of department store counters. Based on the quality so far, I say, bring it.

• Exclusive to Selfridges (selfridges.com) from 13 September, nationwide from October.