Multi faceted health and beauty journalist Emine Ali Rushton, currently Beauty Director at Psychologies, has gained extensive experience across world renowned titles including ELLE, i-D, GLASS, NYLON and ZEST to Weekend Magazine, Metro and The London Lite – the latter was home to her health and beauty column ‘SPA SECRETS’ which ran daily for 2 years.

Emine is also a keen blogger – and founded Miss Malcontent Seeks Truth in Beauty all the way back in 2007 with one aim – to be utterly honest about the very best, and worst, beauty products on the market. She is also the author of we make up as we go along, a blog that provides a light-hearted insight to the ins and outs of the beauty editor’s day-to-day, from press trips and launches to peeks into colleagues’ make-up bags – recently featured in the December 2010 issue of Marie Claire as one of the ‘bloggers you have to read right now‘.

I rarely fall for the allure of the brand new product, devoted instead to those cosmetics that have never let me down during my ten years in the beauty industry. If something has been in my bag since day one, it means it really, truly works (better than any new-fangled alternative). Of course, sometimes the new kids kick the old girls off the beauty block – and when this happens, it’s also cause for celebration. So, herein, find somethings old and new – but all equally brilliant.

I often try other foundations and tinted moisturizers, but always end up going back to bareMinerals Original SPF15 Foundation with Locking Sifter, £18.77. It’s great at diffusing light – when I wear it, I am often told that I look ‘well’ (even when I’m knackered) – and also works brilliantly as a finishing powder. So, after applying my tinted moisturizer, I’ll buff a wee bit of this over my shine-prone bits, and it keeps everything in place, and oil-free, for the length of the working day.

Trilogy Everything Balm, from £10.45 for 45ml
I bought my first pot of this two years ago and it’s still going strong (I give it a sniff every now and then, just to check it’s not gone off!). I use it on lips, dry elbows and heels, cuticles, on my baby’s bottom and chin (when teething rash kicks in)… sometimes I scoop out a swathe of it, rub it all over my hands, and then pop them in a pair of moisturising mitts. I’ve even used to it to take rings off fingers that swelled up when I was pregnant. It’s my all-natural alternative to Vaseline… a household essential.

La Roche Posay Anthelios SPF 50+ Tinted Cream SPF50, £15
I’ve never been a fan of chemical sunscreens – preferring the all-natural mineral zinc-oxide bases of the ‘green’ brands – UNTIL I tried this. I’ve never had a reaction to it (and my skin is very sensitive to sunscreen); I’ve never burnt while wearing it (even while hiking up a mountain in Israel); it feels wonderfully light, without being too thin or oily, and this new tinted version forgoes the need for any additional make-up (so, ideal for winter sun-escapes). Best of all, this affordable SPF comes in at a whopping 50 – which is extremely rare when dealing with a product that also has cosmetic benefits.

Daniel Sandler Crème Rouge Blusher in Soft Peach, £15.50
Though I love a bright pink on cheeks (like Pro Plus for tired skin), this natural-looking shade is bang on the peachy buck. Blend it into the apples of the cheeks with fingers, and then swipe once over each eyelid crease (a top tip picked up from Mister Sandler himself) – the result is a very quick and easy ‘healthy’ look… oh, and it looks great rubbed into lips too.

Dior Backstage Skinflash Radiance Booster Pen, £23.75
My baby girl was (very) young when I went back to work, and so I came to rely on this wand as desperately as I clung to the hope of ever again getting more than four hours sleep a night. I’ve tried under-eye concealers from every single brand out there – from the creamy ones in pots to the liquid ones in tubes – but nothing does what this does. I flick it on and pat it down with my ring finger and it never cakes, flakes or looks fake. When it runs out it’s just about the only cosmetic I panic about, because I know from experience that nothing else can do what this does.

TIGI Catwalk Session Series Transforming Dry Shampoo, £10.35
As a brunette (bordering on black), I cannot get on with those dry shampoos that spray white dust all over the hair – it’s the shortest cut to a Head and Shoulders moment for me! This, therefore, is great – it adds modern, matte workability to limp locks – I’ve used it on hair that REALLY needed a wash, and it miraculously brought it back from the brink – without any snow storms. It’s fast becoming a backstage favourite, and yes, I can see why.