The Beauty Products Colette Laxton Uses to the Last Drop

Photo: Courtesy of the brand

The Inkey List is a love story — one that culminated in the marriage of its two founders, Colette Laxton and Mark Curry, earlier this spring. Laxton, 38, spent ten years of her career at Boots, a U.K. health and beauty retailer, working her way up from her first gig as a receptionist to helping recruit new brands and maintaining partnerships. Along the way, she met Curry during his own stint at the company. Years later, Curry recruited Laxton via LinkedIn after deciding to start the Inkey List. The two joined forces, harnessing Curry’s science background and Laxton’s marketing expertise.

In 2018, they launched the brand, which focuses on accessibility by keeping messaging easy to understand and prices low — the entire line is under $30. One of the first products the duo launched was the salicylic-acid cleanser, which Curry developed to rescue Laxton’s acne-prone skin before they even began dating. Most recently, he formulated the brand’s new exosome-infused serum for her, too. “I know some girls get flowers,” Laxton says. “I get products. Anytime I’m mad at him, he can be like, ‘But I made this.’”

We spoke to Laxton in May (a few weeks before her wedding) to get the scoop on her skin-care staples, how her bridal skin prep is going, and the discontinued signature lipstick she just can’t forget.

When I get up in the morning, I have a glass of water, go work out, and have a protein shake with the MyVegan Impact Vegan Protein. I’m a protein girl now. As somebody who has dry and kind of aging skin, I need all the help I can get in terms of not stripping and nourishing my skin. So I use The Inkey List’s Oat Cleansing Balm every morning and every night. It’s a great double cleanse because it’s amazing at removing SPF or makeup, and in the morning, it’s a really nice, nourishing cleanse. I also use it as a face mask, because it’s got colloidal-oatmeal oat-kernel oil. It’s nourishing. Then, I apply The Inkey List’s Exosome Hydro-Glow Complex Duo and a nourishing moisturizer. Our Bio-Active Ceramide Moisturizer is really for wrinkles. But as an acne girl, I need something a bit richer now, but it’s not oily or greasy. Finding an SPF that doesn’t break me out is also really hard, and I’m a huge fan of Ultra Violette as a brand. I know the founders really well, and their Supreme Screen Sunscreen is super-hydrating and doesn’t break me out.

My biggest tip to anybody is to put the work in with your skin care, and makeup becomes a whole load easier. I’m all about a glowy skin finish. You just look younger and healthier. My absolute ride-or-die product is the Vieve Skin Nova. I have been in cosmetics and beauty for a very long time, and I made a lot of makeup products when I was working at Boots, and I’ve never found a skin primer that gives you a genuine, hydrated glow but doesn’t have any shimmer, glitter, anything. I’ve got three of them, and I keep them ready, because I cannot run out of this. I’m pretty obsessed with Jamie Genevieve and what she’s done with her brand. Then, I go in with the Danessa Myricks Yummy Skin Soothing Serum Skin Tint Foundation. There’s a theme here. Everything I use is quite skin-care-based. I use this to cover the slight redness on my cheeks, and I use it on my pores, on my nose, and any hormonal acne.

I like the Milk Makeup Cooling Water Jelly Tint Lip + Cheek Blush Stain. If I’m out on the go, and I just need pep, it’s easy. If I’m in low-key mode, that’s it. If I’m in Colette mode, it’s a bright-red lip, and I like a very orange-tinted red lip. My favorite ever lip is the Becca Cosmetics Ultimate Lipstick Love in Flame, and I’m so gutted that the brand is gone. I cannot find a match anywhere, and I keep trying, but I do use the Charlotte Tilbury Hot Lips Lipstick in Hot Emily as a replacement. One day, I will make a lipstick, and it will be this Becca shade, because I’m completely obsessed with it. Also, if I’m going out in the evening or just want a little bit more, I use my Chanel Les Beiges Healthy Glow Bronzing Cream. I’m exploring with the Refy Blur Lip Liner at the minute. It’s quite nice. It’s a really natural lip liner that blurs into your lips, so it doesn’t look like you’re wearing anything, but it gives your lips a little bit more definition.

It’s very similar to my morning skin-care routine. I keep it super, super simple. So again, use cleansing balm to take off my makeup, then the same cleanser and moisturizer. Over the last couple of years, I’ve started taking Wild Nutrition Food-Grown Magnesium, and that’s my absolute nonnegotiable every single night. Recently, I found the most incredible product — it’s Neom’s Perfect Night’s Sleep Magnesium Body Butter. It moisturizes, but it’s got magnesium, and it has this incredible smell to it. I slather my body in that just as I get into bed, and I feel like I’m calming down and ready to try to get some sleep.

I’m going to wear a red lip on my wedding day. I was a ballet dancer, and when I was 3 or 4 years old I had my first sort of show. They did a flick eyeliner, a blue eye shadow, and a red lip. From that day forward, any time I need to perform, or be on, or be my best self? Red lip.

I love home fragrance. There’s a U.K. brand called Earl of East that makes a home mist, and I use that everywhere. I love candles. But also, personal fragrance is important to me, and I have my two signatures, but depending on what mood I’m in, I’ll use a slightly different fragrance. One of my two absolute go-to perfumes is the Byredo Blanche Eau De Parfum. Mark says, “That’s Colette.” So I annoyingly have to wear it on my wedding day. I was like, “I’m going to get a wedding scent.” He was like, “No, I want you to smell like you.” So this is obviously very well used. It’s clean and it’s just my smell. However, the Celine Parade Eau de Parfum is my equivalent of a red lip. When I’m in power mode and want to feel good, I’ll use that one. It’s neither feminine nor masculine. It’s a super-complex, interesting fragrance.

I’m on airplanes a lot, and I’ve got my acne under control, but I definitely am in maintenance mode and use a lot of products to help with that. Hydration is absolutely critical. But in the last three months, there’s been two real changes that I’ve made to my routine. First, we launched the Exosome Hydro-Glow Complex Duo about eight weeks ago. I’ve actually been using it since January, and this has had the biggest impact on my skin. My skin has smoothed out, and I’ve got a hydrated glow that I didn’t necessarily have before. So that’s No. 1, and then No. 2, I did my first-ever treatment. I went to see an incredible guy called Dr. Ahmed El Muntasar. He’s an aesthetics doctor based in London. He did an analysis of my skin, and he said, “You’re chronically tired.” So I actually had polynucleotides under my eyes. I’ve had two treatments of that, which has really helped, because no matter what I do, what I drink, what skin care I use, or how much I sleep, I was at a point where the dark circles that I’ve had over eight years of being an entrepreneur were going nowhere.

That’s never been my thing. The polynucleotides were my first foray into that world. I’m excited by the technology that’s coming through. With fillers and Botox, I was always scared to even go there, whereas I think there are such gentler ways of doing things now, and there are such more advancements. But I’m definitely up for prolonging the face.

I’ve never been a fitness girl. I’ve always naturally been quite slender. I’ve always been very lucky, but as I’m getting older, and being an entrepreneur for eight years, I’m tired, and it’s taking a real toll on my body. Over the last few months, as I get to my 40s, I want to be as strong and healthy as I can. It’s not about weight loss. It’s about really starting to fuel and look after my body. So I got a virtual personal trainer about nine months ago. Because I’m so busy, and I’m all over the world, I can’t commit to classes, and I can’t commit to workouts. He’s completely revolutionized what I fuel my body with and the output of my body. I thought running was good, whereas actually, he’s like, “We need to build your strength.” So I’m weight training now, and I’m very aware of what I’m putting in my body. I was carb girl. Every meal would be carb-based. I thought being full was the feeling of being bloated and heavy. Now, I’ve learned the power of fueling your body with fiber and protein.