Mom deserves a good Mother's Day beauty haul, which is why I'm scooping up these goodies from Supergoop, Weleda, NYX and more (Amazon)
Last month, my 68-year-old mother sent me a long, extremely "mom" email asking for recommendations to help her address some of the skin and hair issues she's started experiencing as she's getting older. She knows I test beauty products for a living, of course, and knew I'd recently reviewed dozens of products for our lists of the best dry shampoo, the best undereye concealer, the best tinted sunscreen, the best leave-in-conditioner and more. Now, usually I wouldn't think of beauty products as the best Mother's Day gifts. Skin care, hair care and even makeup can all be difficult to choose for someone else. Gifting anti-aging lotions and potions can feel especially presumptuous: Do you want a loved one buying you wrinkle cream? How should your mom respond if you wrap up that viral crepey-arm-skin miracle in a bow? But there are exceptions to this rule: If you're solving a skin-care problem the recipient has expressed a desire to solve (for example, a quality hand cream if your giftee has complained of dry hands), if the person explicitly asked (or heavily hinted) for specific items or, simply, if you know a certain product is amazing and it's something you want a loved one — like your own dear mother — to enjoy.
In the case of my mom this year, all of the above exceptions applied. And, while I know she just wanted "suggestions" and would never expect me to buy her a suite of new products, part of the joy of being an adult daughter is the ability to surprise and care for the person who once dedicated most of her life to caring for you. Below, the best-list gifts I'm buying for my mom for Mother's Day.