Skin Care
Best Makeup Remover
Aveeno Calm + Restore Nourishing
Makeup Removing Wipes
Seed to Skin The Divine Cleanse
Best Cleansing Balm
If a makeup wipe can't tackle waterproof mascara, glitter shadow, and our current FOC (foundation of choice) without irritating our skin and eyes or leaving behind that slimy postwipe residue, we don't want it. Luckily, the Aveeno Calm + Restore Nourishing Makeup Removing Wipes ($6) check all the boxes and more. The 100 percent plant-based wipes are fragrance-free and infused with soothing oat extract and feverfew (a tiny flower in the daisy family) for a gentler cleanse.
Covey First of All Cleanser
Best Face Wash
We're basically the pageant moms of the cleanser world. We expect a lot from them, but when they live up to the hype, we're their number one fans. Our reigning queen: the Covey First of All Cleanser ($29). It has a thicker gel-like consistency that feels like it's clinging to dirt and makeup, but it melts into a lightweight froth that hydrates and rinses away easily.
The Seed to Skin The Divine Cleanse ($100) has a pedigree worthy of history books. The detoxifying cleansing balm was developed at the spa hotel Borgo Santo Pietro, which also happens to be the site of a 13th-century Italian hamlet once used as a healing retreat for pilgrims. Almost more impressive than its origin story is how the mineral-rich green clay, marine plankton, and essential oils clean skin, draw out dirt and oil, and hydrate all at the same time.
Garnier SkinActive Micellar Cleansing Water With Hyaluronic Acid + Aloe
Best Micellar Water
The Garnier SkinActive Micellar Cleansing Water With Hyaluronic Acid + Aloe ($7) gently removes every trace of makeup with ease, but unlike other micellar waters, it left our skin feeling actually clean, not with that micellar water tacky feeling you sometimes get. Instead, our skin was clean and hydrated thanks to the winning combo of hyaluronic acid and aloe.
The Shani Darden Lactic Acid Exfoliating Serum ($88) brings on the brilliance. Seriously, each one of our testers noted waking up with glowier skin after just the first use. The mix of exfoliating AHAs and PHAs is behind the glowing (get it?) reviews. We also love how lightweight and easy to blend it is. One pump was more than enough to thoroughly coat our entire faces and necks and even work down onto our chests.
Shani Darden Lactic Acid
Exfoliating Serum
Best Exfoliating Serum
If you swore off toners after stripping your skin in junior high, let us introduce you to the Tatcha The Texture Tonic ($59). It's got all the benefits you wanted in the early aughts (smoother skin, clearer pores, less shine) but without the harsh aftermath. In fact, niacinamide, Japanese mugwort, and wild rose oil make it so gentle yet effective, we'd sneak a love note in its locker if we could.
Tatcha The Texture Tonic
Best Toner
Herbivore Nova 15% Vitamin C +
Turmeric Brightening Serum
Best Vitamin C Serum
Bright, glowing skin, meet your maker: the Herbivore Nova 15% Vitamin C + Turmeric Brightening Serum ($64).
This lotion-like vitamin C serum has everything you need to make a real difference in your complexion, including 15 percent THD vitamin C, a more stable version of the finicky ingredient; turmeric-root extract, an anti-inflammatory; and arbutin, a plant-extracted molecule that halts melanin production. Together, they help boost radiance and fade dark spots.
There's a reason retinol is the gold standard in skin care: it's proven to reduce fine lines, minimize breakouts, and improve overall tone and texture. The only problem is it can also be incredibly drying, which is where the
M-61 ProSmooth Retinol Night Cream ($96) comes in. This cream uses a proprietary blend of apple, watermelon rind, and lentil extracts to bind moisture to your skin to ensure it stays hydrated while you reap all the retinol benefits.
M-61 ProSmooth Retinol Night Cream
Best Retinol Treatment
Yes, the highly concentrated active ingredients packed in the Peter Thomas Roth Even Smoother Glycolic Retinol Resurfacing Peel Pads ($52) mean business (that's 20 percent glycolic and 1.5 percent retinol, thankyouverymuch), but don't worry: these pads are surprisingly gentle when used twice a week. Like other retinol products, you can slowly work your way up from there. Even used sparingly, we noticed an immediate brightness to our skin and a more clear, even-toned visage with continued use.
Peter Thomas Roth Even Smoother
Glycolic Retinol Resurfacing Peel Pads
Best Peel
Klur Unseasonal Kind Face Oil
Best Face Oil
Like a lot of face oils, the Klur Unseasonal Kind Face Oil ($90) gives
us a few moments of self-care during
our hectic days. The difference is how it gives back to our skin what the world takes out of it, like the key protective lipids that we lose from age and environmental aggressors: squalane, Co10, and vitamins E and C. This face oil replenishes those beneficial oils and then some to help repair and reinforce your barrier for your healthiest skin ever.
Forget everything you think you
know about detox masks, because the Dr Loretta Tightening Detox Mask ($55) is nothing like the thick, overly drying treatments of yore. This pink gel formula feels more like a lightweight moisturizer, but thanks to the peptides, seawater algin, and yeast extract, you still get all the pore-clearing, tightening, and glow-inducing results.
Dr Loretta Tightening Detox Mask
Best Face Mask
Battling breakouts can feel like a game of Whac-A-Mole. As soon as you've got one pimple under control, another pops up in its place. The CeraVe Acne Control Gel ($22) feels like cheating the game. The potent combo of salicylic, glycolic, and lactic acids clears up existing zits while also preventing new ones. Unlike other spot treatments, this lightweight, fast-absorbing gel uses moisturizing hyaluronic acid and niacinamide to counteract any drying side effects.
CeraVe Acne Control Gel
Best Acne Product
Then I Met You Renewing
Rich Beauty Cream
Best Moisturizer
It takes a lot for a face moisturizer to stand out in the crowd, but at first swipe, we knew the Then I Met You Renewing Rich Beauty Cream ($58) was in a league of its own. The baobab-, squalane-, and hyaluronic-acid-packed hydrator absorbed quickly yet left our skin with a rich and silky barrier that not only looked plump and healthy but felt like it, too.
Attention all eye-cream skeptics: the Summer Fridays Light Aura Vitamin C + Peptide Eye Cream ($42) is about to make you a believer. The intensely moisturizing formula has a peachy pigment that brightens the eye area in an instant, but it's the product's vitamin C, peptides, and allantoin that work in tandem to fade shadows and depuff over time.
Summer Fridays Light Aura
Vitamin C + Peptide Eye Cream
Best Eye Cream
If we had to choose between splurging on the La Prairie Skin Caviar Essence-in-Lotion ($300) and actual caviar, we'd pick this essence every single time (it'll last you longer than a roe-stacked blini, we can guarantee you that). This preserum treatment uses 100 percent caviar water to hydrate your skin on contact, but that's not what keeps us coming back. Over time, the highly concentrated formula helps lift and firm, minimize the appearance of pores, and even boost the benefits of every product that follows.
La Prairie Skin Caviar Essence-in-Lotion
Best Face Essence
Supergoop! Every. Single. Face.
Watery Lotion SPF 50
Best Chemical SPF
White cast, who? We don't know
her thanks to the Colorescience Sunforgettable Total Protection Face Shield Flex SPF 50 ($34). It comes in four color-adapting shades that magically matched each of our testers across a range of skin tones, and it left behind a light coverage that evened things out without looking makeup-y. Even better: it's completely reef-safe.
Colorescience Sunforgettable Total Protection Face Shield Flex SPF 50
Best Physical SPF
For the days when you just can't even, the RéVive Moisturizing Renewal Day Cream SPF 30 ($195) can. It acts as your antioxidant serum, moisturizer, and SPF all in one — but just because it does many jobs doesn't mean that it lacks in any way. In fact, it features all the same key ingredients we look for in our serums (vitamins C and E), creams (good-for-barrier hydrators), and sunscreens (ocean- and reef-friendly protection).
RéVive Moisturizing Renewal
Day Cream SPF 30
Best Moisturizer With SPF
Dr. Barbara Sturm The Better
B Niacinamide Serum
Best Niacinamide Serum
Don't let the milky Elmer's Glue
color fool you — the Dr. Barbara
Sturm The Better B Niacinamide
Serum ($145) means business.
It packs a punch of vitamin B3
(aka niacinamide). It is anti-inflammatory, reduces the
appearance of pores, and hydrates,
so your overall complexion will
be more even and bright.
Some hyaluronic-acid serums leave behind a tacky residue and pill under other products, but that's not the case with the Dr. Lara Devgan Scientific Beauty Hyaluronic Serum ($245). Not only is the application so seamless, but the mixed molecular weights of HA also bring the plumping, hydrating benefits to each layer of your skin, resulting in a filtered-looking face IRL.
Dr. Lara Devgan Scientific Beauty Hyaluronic Serum
Best Hyaluronic-Acid Serum
Eadem Milk Marvel Dark Spot Serum
Best Hyperpigmentation Serum
Meet the Rolls-Royce of ice rollers: The Skinny Confidential The Hot Mess Ice Roller ($69). This jumbo tool feels so refreshing and noticeably depuffs and soothes the skin (especially in the mornings), and despite the large handle, it's still comfortable to hold. Plus, unlike other rollers we've tried, the cooling applicator stays cool on its own, no fridge time needed.
The Skinny Confidential The
Hot Mess Ice Roller
Best Skin-Care Tool
One of Chanel's most eco-conscious launches, the Chanel N°1 de Chanel Revitalizing Serum ($160) is housed in packaging made in part from recycled bio-sourced materials, and the camellia flower (its active ingredient and antiaging powerhouse) is also sustainably farmed. Combined with caffeine and a proprietary peptide blend to boost collagen production, you've got a serum you can feel good about.
Chanel N°1 de Chanel Revitalizing Serum
Best Antiaging Serum
The Eadem Milk Marvel Dark Spot Serum ($68) was formulated with skin of color in mind, meaning the proven blend of brightening ingredients — vitamin C, fruit enzymes, and licorice-root extract — goes to work just where you need it without messing with your skin's natural tone.
The sign of a good sunscreen is when you forget it's even on, which is exactly how we feel about the Supergoop! Every. Single. Face. Watery Lotion SPF 50 ($34). The weightless formula blends in like a dream, feels like nothing on skin, and has zero sunscreen smell. We also love that the compact packaging makes it easy to stash in our bag for quick on-the-go reapplication.
