The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 5 letter word FACE CREAM
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
F
A
C
E
C
R
E
A
M
More clues leading to the result FACE CREAM
- Cosmetic making girl yell audibly
- Prophetic fearful cry we hear is cosmetic
- Five notes on paper this soothing?
- Take on elite — it may make you look better!
- … to confront elite, gets personal application
- Models love this fellow's professionalcamera shot
- Cosmetic farce came undone
- Cosmetic, best applied under cheek
- Whimsical, hilarious person said this may smooth over some cracks!
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Cosmetic" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case cosmetic = face cream.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.