12 Products Beauty Editors Won't Shut Up About
By Mi-Anne Chan
For beauty editors, trying out new products comes with the job description. We unscrew tube after tube of mascara and smear on bottle after bottle of foundation, constantly in search of the one. When we finally find that “life-changing” product, you can bet we recommend it to our friends, family, and just about anyone we’re ever introduced to at a cocktail party.
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So, to give you the inside scoop on a few tried-and-true beauty favorites, we asked three top beauty editors to share the products they just can’t stop talking about. Check ‘em out — and get your shopping carts ready.
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Jane Larkworthy, Beauty Director at W and Founder of The Fraudulent Chef.
“Not sure why it took me so long to give this one a try, but now I’m pretty obsessed. My lashes just seem to get their longest when I coat them with this.”
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Benefit They’re Real! Mascara, $24, available at Sephora.
“Despite the fact that I don’t use it as often as my dermatologist wants me to, I’d be lost if I didn’t have [prescription Retin-A cream] in my medicine cabinet. It’s great for preventing precancerous growths, kills acne, and the cream version I use isn’t drying. I’m also fairly sure, despite its name, that it helps calm my redness down.”
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“Being a complete spaz at eyeshadow application, I appreciate the fairly easy use of this wand. After one single swipe, I blend it in with my fingers — either a little when I want some drama, or a lot when I want it sheer. My favorite shades are Onyx, Green Iron, and Gold Copper.”
Giorgio Armani Beauty Eye Tint, $38, available at Nordstrom.
Kathleen Hou, Senior Beauty Editor at New York Magazine’s The Cut
“The frequency with which I talk about Surratt Beauty makes it seem like I’m in-pocket, but I really am just an ultra-fan. I didn’t even know Troy Surratt until I stalked him at a Barneys event, where he took 40 laborious minutes to answer all of my pestering interview questions. But his brow pencil is like the beauty world’s best art pencil, making it so easy and precise to draw on individual hairs.”
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Surratt Expressioniste Brow Pencil Rechargable Holder & Cartridge, $40, available at Sephora.
“This eyelash curler is better than the Shu Uemura (yes, for real) because the double-pronged handle curls lashes like a gentle hug, getting right at the base without pinching. It was even included in Kim Kardashian’s legendary 50-step makeup routine.”
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Surratt Relevée Lash Curler, $30, available at Barneys New York.
“I like dewy skin like Britney Spears likes Cheetos, and this cushion compact gives me the dewiest possible skin with the least amount of coverage. It goes on the skin like a whisper, and, no matter how much you pile it on, it doesn’t give you cake-face. It makes it look like you were born with great skin, has SPF 50, and has a supremely hydrating, light formula that doesn’t make your skin look patchy or gray. My friends at Glow Recipe and Peach and Lily tell me that this is the preferred brand by the Air Korea stewardesses.”
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Hera UV Mist Cushion, $45, available at Peach and Lily.
“This product is like hairspray and dry texture spray had a baby, bucked the divorce rate, and lived happily ever after. It is the Channing and Jenna Dewan-Tatum of hair products. It instantly gives life and verve to flat, nothing hair. It’s also the easiest thing to use: Flip your head and spray throughout the length of the hair, scrunching as you go. A few sprays gives you mussy French hair, and amping up the sprays simply makes your hair bigger, grittier (without actually feeling like grit), and cooler.”
Oribe Dry Texturizing Spray, $42, available at Oribe.
“This is like my Windex. I use it when I have a pimple or think I might be getting one, when I think my skin looks kinda bloated, when I get a mosquito bite, and when I get any kind of weird rash. It’s made of fancy Italian clay, which absorbs oil, and nettle, which acts as an anti-inflammatory. This is technically a mask, but I also use it as a spot treatment.”
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Fresh Umbrian Clay Mattifying Mask, $49, available at Sephora.
“Before I was a beauty editor, I bought this very expensive cleanser multiple times. I even made one of my mom’s British friends into an Eve Lom-cleanser mule after discovering it was slightly cheaper in the U.K. This cleanser taught me the importance of not rushing through washing your face — largely impossible, as each cleanser also comes with a large, fold-out pamphlet detailing specific breathing and lymphatic massage instructions. The included muslin cloth, meant for deep-cleaning your face, seems about as technologically advanced as dial-up Internet, but it works! My skin has never looked smoother than when I am on a constant Eve Lom cleanser regimen.”
Eve Lom Cleanser, $50, available at Nordstrom.
Elaine Welteroth, Beauty and Health Director at Teen Vogue
“For the last year or so, I couldn’t shut up about Chanel Les Beiges. It’s a shimmer-less bronzer/pressed powder/SPF that comes with this perfectly shaped brush — the combination basically makes awesome cheekbones possible for anyone. But my newest discovery, Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze & Glow, presents serious competition for space in my makeup bag. It’s a highlighter-and-bronzing duo that takes sculpting to the next level. Now, I use the same angled brush from my beloved Chanel Les Beiges compact to carve chiseled cheeks, and then I dab Tilbury’s peachy illuminator onto my cheeks with my fingers. It’s the secret to pseudo summer skin year-round.”
Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze & Glow in Medium/Dark, $68, available at Bergdorf Goodman.
“If I had a dollar for every time I raved about L'Oréal Paris Invisible Protect Clear Cool Lotion Sunscreen SPF 50+ this summer alone, I would be rolling in dough. But the good news is, while lying out on the beach, I no longer have to look like I actually rolled in dough thanks to this completely clear, colorless SPF that leaves no trace behind. In a world filled with sunscreens that make brown skin look purple or gray or grossly off-shade, this product is a true GAME CHANGER for brown girls everywhere.”
L'Oréal Invisible Protect Clear Cool Lotion, $10.99, available at Drugstore.com.
“Ever since moving to NYC and discovering Devachan Salon — the mecca for curly hair — I have been singing its praises to anyone who will listen. Their dry-cutting method, personalized approach, and deep knowledge of how to care for curls completely transformed the salon experience for me — and thousands of other curly girls. I know this because somehow we always manage to find each other — on the street, in public bathrooms, on the train — to trade product tips and swap pre-Deva haircut horror stories. It’s like they embed little magnets in their clients’ hair to forge an awesome community of Deva cult followers. We ALL can’t stop talking about the No Poo (especially BEFORE cleansing conditioners were a thing). Their new Decadence line is amazing, too. But, since cutting my hair off a year ago, the Frizz-Free Volumizing Foam has been my short hair JAM.”
DevaCurl Frizz-Free Volumizing Foam, $25.95, available at Ulta.
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