All Kate’s beauty secrets

All the steps in the Duchess of Cambridge’s beauty regime...

PERFECT NAILS

These days, Kate’s nails aren’t under quite so much scrutiny as they were when she first got engaged and we were inspecting the rock on her ring finger.

Back then, she had the simplest of manicures: her nails were cut in a rounded-off square, or squoval as it’s known, with an almost translucently pale pink varnish.

For the big day, Camilla once again stepped in with one of her beauty therapists, Marina Sandoval, of the Jo Hansford salon in Mayfair.

Camilla organised for the manicurist to come to Clarence House where she gave the bride-to-be a £36 “signature manicure”.

As well as having fingers filed, buffed and polished, Kate was also treated to a luxury soak and exfoliation of the hands, and a deep tissue hand massage.

Marina said: “Catherine wanted something very natural looking.”

To create the perfect colour she blended Bourjois No 28 Rose Lounge and Essie 423 Allure.

Kate’s stuck to neutral shades on her fingernails, moving from a soft pink to a subtle peach. But for her toes, she’s favoured dark red, which is likely to be a professional job (from £47 at Jo Hansford).

Cost: £3 094 (R40 480)

(Based on a weekly manicure and fortnightly pedicure.)

LUSCIOUS LOCKS

The glossy, perfectly blow-dried barnet comes courtesy of the Richard Ward salon, just off King’s Road in London, where Kate has been a regular for years.

They’re tight-lipped about their star client, but in the past Richard has talked about how to get and maintain the “Kate”, which he says only needs to be cut every eight to 12 weeks (at £200 a time, with the man himself).

It’s also rumoured that having started to find the odd grey hair, Kate now has organic vegetable-based dye and subtle low-lights applied at the salon (£280, every couple of months).

Then, of course, there are those blow-dries – we reckon she must be getting them at least three times a week, at a cool £70 a pop.

Cost: £13 800

(Based on six cuts and colours a year, and thrice-weekly blow-dries.)

FLAWLESS MAKE-UP

Given that this is the girl who, by all accounts, did her own wedding make-up, and is frequently spotted in the beauty hall at Peter Jones department store on Sloane Square (a stone’s throw from the Richard Ward salon), it’s safe to assume that when it comes to cosmetics, Kate knows what she wants.

Pre-wedding, she was seen stocking up on Laura Mercier Oil Free Tinted Moisturiser (£33) – the base of choice for anyone who wants a subtle, sheer look.

And when it comes to colour cosmetics, she is a fan of the Bobbi Brown make-up line – the company even released a statement after the royal wedding, saying one of their make-up artists “provided make-up artistry assistance to members of the bridal party”.

Bobbi Brown also released a list of products you could use to recreate Kate’s look. It included Eye Shadows in Ivory, Rock Star and Slate (£16.50 each), Pale Pink Blusher (£18) and Pink Quartz Shimmer Brick (£32), and on the lips Sandwash Pink Lipstick (£18) and Crystal Gloss (£14).

It’s widely believed that these are the products she used on the day.

More recently, Kate’s perfectly defined brows have come under scrutiny and, once again, it seems Bobbi Brown cosmetics can take the credit.

It’s been reported that on another of her visits to the cosmetics counter in Peter Jones, she took a step-by-step lesson from one of the Bobbi Brown make-up artists, who showed her how to use a slanted make-up brush with dark brown eye shadow in a shade called Saddle (£16.50) to fill in her brows.

On the same occasion, she invested in a few products to keep her eye area looking youthful, including the company’s Hydrating Eye Cream (£29), a Corrector (£18) for blitzing under-eye darkness and a Tinted Eye Brightener (£23.50), as well as a lip liner in Brownie Pink (£15) and a lipstick in Sandwash Tulle (£18).

Her signature black eyeliner and mascara is more likely to be courtesy of Lancome. Days before her wedding she was spotted buying its Hypnose mascara (£21) and Artliner (£20), a foam-tipped liquid liner that gives perfect, precise application.

Cost: £976.50

(Based on buying three a year of everything.)

GLOWING SKIN

According to Julie Cichocki, of the Karin Herzog brand, it’s the company’s oxygen-infused skincare products that keep the Duchess of Cambridge’s skin glowing after they were recommended to her by a friend when she was at university.

“Kate has good skin and wants to keep it that way,” Julie says. “Before her 30th birthday she used the Oxygen Face Cream (£36), but now uses Vit-A-Kombi 2 moisturiser (£54.50). As we get older, the skin needs the additional nutrients and vitamins that it contains.

“The Mild Scrub exfoliator (£31), Professional Cleansing cleanser (£33) and the Vit-A-Kombi 3 Spot Zapper (£21.50) are also part of her routine.”

But alongside this hi-tech Swiss regimen, Kate embraces a rather more earthy approach, courtesy of facialist Deborah Mitchell.

Deborah treats Kate’s stepmother-in-law Camilla, and soon after Kate and William got engaged, Camilla gave Kate a pot of the Heaven Bee Venom Face Mask (£25.30) she swears by, and was later encouraged to try a £165 facial with the woman herself.

Other skincare Kate is thought to favour includes Lancome’s Hydra Zen Moisturising Cream (£38) and the bargain Nivea Visage Pure and Natural Moisturising Day Cream (£5.10).

Estimated annual cost: £2 641.20

(Based on buying Herzog products and bee face mask every three months, plus a monthly facial.)

FINISHING TOUCHES

No woman feels perfectly finished when walking out the door without a final spritz of perfume. On her wedding day, Kate chose to wear White Gardenia Petals (£100) from a little-known English fragrance house, Illuminum. However, she’s also reputed to be a fan of the Jo Malone range of fragrances (£76 a bottle) and apparently requested that Westminster Abbey had the aroma of her three favourite scented candles (£38 each), which included Orange Blossom, Grapefruit & Lime and Basil & Mandarin.

And while not quite as devoted to a fake golden glow as her sister Pippa, Kate still favours a subtle tan to give her a sun-kissed radiance.

“She takes incredibly good care of her skin, so a light, sheer self-tan on top is all she needs for a polished glow,” says tanning expert James Harknett.

However, opinion is divided on exactly which brand of tan she favours, with both Xen-Tan’s Spray Tan (£40) and Urban Retreat’s Airbrush Tan (£40) bandied about as being royal favourites.

Cost: £1 392

(Based on a tan a fortnight, and two bottles of Illuminum and two of Jo Malone perfume in a year.) – Daily Mail