Butter up our nails, please
It’s not just that butter London sounds so adorable, nor that its products have witty names like Prince’s Plums, Tea and Toast, and Frilly Knickers, nor even that, if you look closely, you’ll see that the crown-wearing illustrated crow on the Web site (www.butterlondon.com/) nods its head and blinks its little eye. (Well, okay, we were suckers for that.) It’s that the Britain-obsessed Seattle company not only makes, by our count, about 50 rock-and-roll-fabulous colours of nail polish—plus cool hand and nail treatments—but that all their products are brilliantly free of formaldehyde, toluene, dibutyl phthalate, and other toxic nasties usually on ingredient lists. (From 3 Free Lacquers, $14, to Melt Away Cuticle Eliminator, $22, at Beauty-Mark)

Fountain of youth
Suddenly every second makeup line has a lip-gloss that isn’t just pretty, but also promises to plump your pout to rival Angelina Jolie’s. The crazy genius of Kimiko cosmetics is that from mascara to blush, every product is designed to double as an anti-aging treatment. Our noggins got boggled by Web site (www.kimikobeauty.com/) explanations about “Marine Collagen Filling Spheres” and nano-particles, but we grasped that not only do Kimiko’s Sheer Tint and Lip Plumper’s ($40) berry and pomegranate extracts colour lips and provide antioxidant protection, but those lipophillic moisturizers seriously hydrate, firm, and reduce wrinkles with continued use. BeautyMark folks were equally keen about the Multi-Tasker Treatment Concealer ($42) designed to cover dark circles and fine lines—and banish them outright. (At BeautyMark, 103–1120 Hamilton Street)

Berry good super-shrub
You’ve heard about grape-seed extracts, green-tea serums, and coffeeberry skin potions. Right? But the latest super-shrub in the skin-care arena is sea buckthorn, a Eurasian plant that produces edible berries, which produce oil rich in essential fatty acids, beta carotene, and vitamin E. What does this mean? Sea buckthorn makes a fab free-radical fighter, UV–radiation defence, and anti-inflammatory. Okanagan-based company Seabuckthorn International (www.seabuckthorn.com/) produces a stunning array (from $13.99) of bar cleansers, creams (which left tested skin feeling hydrated and glowy), capsules, and even teas made from sea buckthorn—plus kits aimed at acne and rosacea. And from natural–skin-care pro Weleda? Sea-buckthorn hand cream, body lotion, and oil (from $14.99). (At several retailers including Capers Community Market, Whole Foods Market, and Urban Fare)

Flower palettes bloom bright
“April showers bring May flowers” is all very well, but some girls want their blossoms now, minus the rain. Spring 2008 is the season of such dazzlingly pretty floral-motif makeup palettes it’s impossible to resist gathering a few. Shu Uemura’s new Rebirth collection features whimsically flowered, yet gorgeously vivid eye shadows ($26 each), from daffodil Yellow Elation to lilac Spring Breeze. Yves Saint Laurent’s Palette Pop ($75), an ode to greeting cards Saint-Laurent himself drew in 1992, is a luminous powder mélange of blooms and words of love, literally, for face and cheeks. Delicate pastels? Skip over to Chanel for the 4 Fleurs de Chanel palette ($65) of camellia–shaped eye shadows in four shimmering, iridescent shades. (All at Holt Renfrew, 737 Dunsmuir Street)