All about: the Victoria Beckham X Estée Lauder collection

Victoria Beckham has been in the spotlight for an amazing 20 years or more, so it would be safe to say that she knows a thing or two about beauty, and about what works and what doesn’t. Along the way, she's also learned the tricks of the trade from some of the industry's best makeup artists like Pat McGrath, Val Garland, and Charlotte Tilbury, and I for one think her pared back glamour is a breath of fresh air in the Age of the Kardashian and its associated Sharpie-drawn brow.

A long-time makeup devotee and apparently a collector herself, the designer and mother of four has taken what's she's learned into her latest project, a limited-edition makeup collection with Estée Lauder. The collection features all the pieces a woman really needs in her makeup bag - as handpicked by Beckham – and I have to say it is one of the most perfectly curated releases I have seen in a long time. As in, WANT IT ALL.

The 14-piece make-up range is tipped to be the biggest beauty launch of the season globally, and an instant sell-out. The creative process for the collection reportedly focused on Beckham’s own lifestyle, which is most definitely jet setting but also jammed pack with everyday stuff like work and kids. The range is divided into four looks based around the key cities in her life, Paris, London, LA and New York, and in my opinion each look is both practical and wearable. There are no crazy shades or tricky products in there – it’s elegant, sexy and also guaranteed to work for all ages and skintones. The collection apparently took over 18 months to create and it wasn’t without its difficulties – you get the feeling that Queen V personally wear tested every single piece again and again, and the unabashed perfectionist goddamn nailed it.

 “I am thrilled to be launching this limited-edition makeup collection with Estée Lauder,” said Beckham in a statement. “The whole process has been both inspiring and eye opening. From going back and revisiting the Estée Lauder archives through to working on the product with the Estée team, this feels like the perfect makeup partnership for me and my brand. I had long admired Estée Lauder the woman, and the powerful brand that she created, so I am excited to offer both of our customers this makeup range and play a small part in her vision for women.”

I have had a few products to play with and have become totally obsessed. The range isn’t vast but it does include a few surprises, such as the Morning Aura cream. Beckham refers to the latter as a hero, a glow potion for skin that can be used over or under makeup and that helps with long haul-induced dullness and dehydration. “I will get on a plane from London and travel to either New York or L.A. or Asia, and when I get off at the other end, I’m paparazzi-ed,” said Beckham to the press matter-of-factly. “So I want something that moisturizes, tightens, lifts, acts as a primer, and gives me that really great glow. And it can be used on its own.

“Wherever I am, if I’m just running around and want a more natural look, I’ll put on my moisturizer and then I’ll put Morning Aura all over my face. If I’m going out, and know I’m going to be photographed, then I will put it on top of my makeup, on my eyes, down the centre of my nose, on the bow of my lip and also on the top of my cheeks, and I’ve also used it on my collar bones.”

She’s has said she even mixes Morning Aura with moisturizer and rubs it on her arms and legs. “It’s so versatile but very, very luxurious, and the kind of thing I’ve searched for and never been able to find.” I haven’t got my hands on this beauty yet but totally will once the collection lands proper in a couple of weeks, it sounds THAT good.

Another winning product is the matte bronzer, Java Sun - which Beckham also uses to contour her cheeks, on her eyes and under her chin – and the Eye Ink, a newly engineered pressed gel-cream formula that can be used dry or wet.  There are also metal-finish eye shadows and liquid eye “foils,” that deliver a vinyl-like shine with pearl pigments and metallic flecks — as well as light-reflecting shadows that come in a palette.

Lip products include a modern red called Chilean Sunset, but the shade I can’t take off is the proudly neutral Brazilian Nude (below). Apparently Beckham spent a long time trying to formulate the “perfect” nude, because the shade is famously tricky to get right. There is also a flawless nude pencil, which Lauder say is the one item that Victoria wears every single day and does not leave home without. They called it simply Victoria, because it is her must-have product.

While Estee Lauder has labelled the Victoria Beckham range as ‘limited edition’ thus far, the last two people that teamed up with the global beauty giant were a certain Mr. Tom Ford and Ms. Aerin Lauder. Both of whom now have their own ranges under the Estée Lauder Companies umbrella. Fingers are most definitely crossed!

This collection lands in store on October 1.