Some of the best anti-aging skin care I tried this month comes from GoPure, Embryolisse and Grace & Stella. (Amazon)
The other day, I was sitting at my desk at home, surrounded by a dozen or so skin-care products, applying different serums to my forearm. I was testing the length of time it took each one to absorb (and how sticky they felt afterward), when my 14-year-old walked in and said, "Is this what you do all day?" in that scathing tone perfected by teens for what I imagine to be centuries.
"Yes," I said. "That's my job." It's not the first time I recognized that, as a beauty editor, what I do for a living is silly. But it also happens to be work I'm obsessed with and absolutely love. There's so much misinformation about anti-aging skin care. Most of what we're sold is hope in a bottle, if not absolute junk. At 52, I find it deeply satisfying to study the beauty industry, debunk anti-aging myths and separate what actually works for wizened older skin from what doesn't. I spent around $400 on various lotions, devices and potions in the past month, and the following six products were the best I tried.
March marked the month I was finally influenced enough to try facial massage, and this smooth stone could not have worked better, especially for the price. Face massage enthusiasts say the practice can do everything from abolish wrinkles to eradicate jowls, but I found it worked best to improve blood flow and circulation in my forehead and cheeks, reduce puffiness and relieve tension in my neck and jaw.
The tool makes the whole process easy: You just apply a little moisturizer or face oil (you want a slippery surface) and glide upwards along your face, neck and chin. I can't really speak to any dramatic anti-aging benefits, but after two weeks of consistent use, my skin did look noticeably healthier, there was more color to my complexion and I appeared more relaxed — a boon when you're a stressed-out, middle-aged mom.
In lieu of face wash, I like to travel with face wipes, and these compostable micellar and rose water towelettes from Burt's Bees are some of the best I've tried. They're gentle and soothing on the skin, and they easily remove makeup without stripping your face of essential moisture.
Travel can honestly get kind of gross, so wet wipes of any stripe are good to have around — I've also used these to clean schmutz off my hands, phone, glasses and shoes.
I'm a long-time fan of the Jessica Alba-approved beauty brand Grace & Stella, which puts out reliably good, vegan, cruelty-free skin care at an affordable price. But I was unexpectedly next-level impressed by these potent eye masks, packed with retinol, hyaluronic acid and sea moss to nourish the delicate under-eye skin and brighten the area overall.
After 10 minutes, these pretty little patches worked wonders on my eye bags, de-puffing to a degree that I looked like I got some of the better sleep of my life.
I was skeptical of this award-winning, social-media-famous neck cream (with more than a million jars sold, according to the brand), but after testing it all month, even this cranky old beauty editor has to admit: This stuff is good.
No, it will not magically lift your neck (only surgery can do that), but it will help condition the skin, making the area look plumper, younger and less crepey and wrinkled than it did before. With its gentle, clinically tested formula that's good for most skin types and an all-star ingredient list, this is one of my favorite recent skin-care discoveries. While not exactly a bargain, it's a fraction of the price of luxury creams I've tried that don't work nearly as well.
It's the Swiss (French?) Army Knife of skin care: Use it as a moisturizer, makeup base, cleansing milk, shave lotion, soothing balm and more.
This Jennifer Aniston-fave serum stick is the ideal delivery system for softening fine lines, prepping skin for makeup and targeting dry patches. Made of 80% squalane — a known skin fortifier — it's fragrance-free, cruelty-free and dermatologist-tested. We've tried this ultra-silky balm and it leaves behind a dewy finish plus it's beyond-amazing for smoothing the undereye area before applying concealer, to avoid makeup settling into fine lines.
The reviews quoted above reflect the most recent versions at the time of publication.
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