Forcing Beauty Editors to Pick a Favorite Product
8 experts reveal their singular favorite beauty item
For all the time I spend ranting on here about how the wellness (and beauty, for that matter) industries are the commodification of what should be deeply personal, largely intangible practices *gasps for breath*, it’s also worth noting that I do, in fact, like stuff. Sorry.
Acquiring an item is really fun. And depending on what said item is, the fun doesn’t stop there. Perhaps I’m simply just a grown-up child, but I love collecting and playing with my silly wellness toys. My vibrating foam roller and my $700 red light mask and my Futuredew stick bring me joy on the most superficial level. But not only are these products fun to play with, they’re fun to talk about. I’m striking the word fun from my vocabulary now, promise.
If you want me to, I could justify my product junkie tendencies as a means of connecting with other people coming together over a shared experience. Some of my closest friendships have started over genuine, passionate conversations about lip balms. This connection is, without a doubt, the best part of writing this newsletter.
Like I said, I could justify my love of stuff. But I also don’t need to. May I be so bold as to say that sometimes, just sometimes, beauty doesn’t need to be so deep. It can all just be fun. I know that’s the entire premise of the lipstick index, but you know, whatever.
So by this point, you’ve already gotten past my borderline irritating curiosity a la Into the Fridge, but what you may not know is that I’m somewhat of a sadist. Hence what I’ve decided to do today.
If picking a favorite beauty product is like picking a favorite child, consider the following exercise a form of cruel and unusual punishment. I asked beauty editors — people who try 100s of products on a quarterly basis — to select one. singular. favorite. product. Now this, my friends, is fun.
Freelance Writer + Creator of
Theraface Depuffing Wand
The Theraface Depuffing Wand is easily my new favorite gadget. A lot of skin tools take weeks (or months) to see any results, but it has such a simple functionality—it gets cold, it gets warm—that the payoff is instant. I've been using the cold function primarily (my eyes are extra puffy lately with seasonal allergies), but I also use the warm one to help loosen up my TMJ. The only flaw is that it looks vaguely like a sex toy, but honestly what skincare device doesn't?
Emily Dougherty
Beauty Editor at Cultured Mag
IHADA Aller Screen
I used to get so sneezy when the flowers came out in NYC! But then the geniuses at Shiseido developed technology that — when misted on face and hair — repels pollen, dust, pollution, anything smaller than PM2.5 (even viruses, according to Shiseido)! They've incorporated it into drugstore-derm brand IHADA's mist (IHADA also makes a gel you can stick inside your nose for extra protection) as well as sensitive-skin powerhouse dprogram's Allerbarrier collection — I stock up when I'm in Japan, but you can also find it at Teso and Ume Cosme.
I don't like people touching me! And I don't like the idea of small little pollen balls touching me. But I really really don't like the idea of other people's tiny skin flakes floating in the air and landing on me, so I spray this on non-stop, all year round. If you need any more convincing - look at this video of the pollen running away from this face! (And try not to imagine that it is dead skin!)
Kiana Murden
Senior Beauty Shopping Writer at Vogue
Epi.Logic Master Plan Collagen Renew Growth Factor Serum
Epi.Logic's Master Plan Serum is my holy grail! I do not know how I lived without it, and whenever I run out of a bottle, I notice a difference in my skin. I was additionally hooked to it because of its lightweight, refreshing texture, that's almost cooling as it sinks into skin. Though the more I learn about the benefits of growth factors and peptides encourages me to use it at least three times per week to keep my skin plump, firm, and hydrated.
Katie Berohn
Beauty Editor at Elle
Charlotte Tilbury Unreal Skin Sheer Glow Tint Hydrating Foundation Stick
If anyone has ever thought I have good skin, it is solely thanks to this foundation stick. It blends in undetectably, has a subtle shimmerdd that makes you look impossibly glowy, and is also idiot-proof, which is helpful when I am running late and need to look put together in under 10 minutes. Plus, it's never exploded in my travel bag, which I can't say for all of my foundations.
Iman Balagam
Freelance Writer + Creator of
Cyklar Naked Neroli Sensorial Body Wash
All of my beauty editor friends have been raving about Cyklar, but for some reason it took me forever to finally try the Naked Neroli Sensorial Body Wash. It smells like being dunked in a tub of jasmine flowers, but in the best way possible. Not overly floral or grandmother-y, just this soft, citrusy-musky garden situation that somehow makes your whole bathroom smell incredible. It’s also super hydrating, and the scent lingers in that I can still smell it on my skin three hours later way. The brand describes it as “evoking a feeling of pure bliss,” and I can confirm—that checks out.
Beauty Editor at Into the Gloss + Creator of
Retrouvé Revitalizing Eye Concentrate
I know, I know... a $215 eye cream? Trust me when I say I wouldn't recommend a product this expensive if I didn't wholly believe in it—and this is a ride-or-die for me! Since starting a certain medication, my skin is a little drier than normal, especially around my eyes. No matter what eye cream—or how much—I slathered on before going to sleep, I would still wake up with crusty eyes (ew, I'm sorry) until I found this one.
It feels more like a hybrid between a gel and a balm than a "cream." You only need a pea-sized amount to tap (with your ring finger!) on and it lasts throughout the night. On the ingredients front, it has THD ascorbate, squalane, vitamin E, peptides, and resveratrol—what more could you want? BTW, it also wears beautifully under makeup.
Ama Kwarteng
Freelance Writer
Ultra Violette Supreme Screen SPF 50
Ultra Violette, my favorite sunscreen brand, was never available in the U.S.—until now. (I used to smuggle bottles back in my luggage after trips to Paris.) While the U.S. formula differs slightly from the international version, it still delivers that same lightweight, no-white-cast finish I fell in love with. Honestly, it wears so comfortably, you'll actually want to reapply it.
Freelance Writer + Creator of
Em Cosmetics So Soft Multi Faceplay Bronze + Sculpt
I'm highly suspicious of products that claim to both bronze and sculpt in one fell swoop—bronzers should warm up the face, while contours utilize cooler tones to create a shadow-y effect. The Em Cosmetics So Soft Bronzer in Terra is the first I've found that actually delivers on both claims, thanks to a neutral milk-chocolate base color that leans ever so slightly cool. The whipped-mousse texture blends seamlessly into the skin for a natural finish that's gloriously impossible to mess up.
Given that this is my newsletter, and I am, after all, a beauty writer, it would be wrong not to share my favorite item too. The Activist Manuka Honey Mask remains, as the kids say, my holy grail product. Any sort of inflammation on my skin is no match for this mask. Call it placebo or call it efficacy, but putting honey on my face does absolute wonders for clearing and brightening my skin. It also, unsurprisingly, tastes good, but you didn’t hear that from me.
The pollen repelling mist is so COOL??
I need that theraface thing @lindysegal