Whilst the beauty world is never short of a new launch, it seems that a handful of brands, despite having already created close-to-perfect skincare formulations and secured loyal long-standing customers, have turned their focus toward improving, upgrading and re-working their current cult products rather than starting from scratch in creating new ones (although they appear to be doing that too).

This summer, 45 years after it was originally launched, and without a single update until now, a new version of the instantly-recognisable little yellow bottle that is Clinique’s Dramatically Different Moisturising Lotion, aka DDML (all the best products take on an acronym), hits counters nationwide.
Quite simply, and aptly, named DDML+, the refreshed formula incorporates a blend of two skin hydrators and added ingredients to further strengthen the skin’s natural barrier. Ultra-moisturising agents Hyaluronic Acid and Glycerin work by drawing moisture to the skin improving hydration and suppleness, whilst a cocktail of sunflower seed cake, barley and cucumber extract combine to lock that added moisture onto the skin for longer. And all without disrupting DDML’s original feather-light liquid texture.
Meaning, somehow, your can’t-be-without cult-classic just got even better.
Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturising Lotion+, £28 Clinique.co.uk

And then there’s Lancôme who, despite having only launched the best-selling Génifique Youth Activating Concentrate serum a handful of years ago has, thanks to leaps and bounds in its genomic technologies, updated the formula for 2013. Now boasting added hi-tech anti-ageing boosters including a delivery system that enables the skin to absorb wonder ingredient Vitamin C for over 24 hours, the silky-smooth brightening and plumping serum now works that little bit harder.
Lancôme Advanced Génifique Youth Activating Concentrate, £58 Selfridges.com

The beauty ed’s daily (yes, even in the depths of winter) SPF of choice, Skinceuticals’ Sheer Mineral UV Defense SPF 50, has had a long-awaited colour update for 2013. The new formulation has been infused with a skin-supplementing tint that offers all of the same high broad-spectrum UV protection and lightweight quick-absorbing texture as the original, but with an added super-sheer hint of tone-adaptive colour that gives skin a radiance boost. Skin-enhancing sun protection at its best.
Skinceuticals Mineral Radiance UV Defense SPF 50, £35 www.skinceuticals.com