For the Clean Beauty-Loving Zennial
Try: InnBeauty Project Power Up Your Skin Kit, $69
Whoever said so-called "clean" beauty had to be wrapped in understated (read: boring) packaging? Instead, InnBeauty Project makes products that stand up to some of the industry's most rigorous standards of clean (like Ecocert), but are dressed in happy packaging designed to liven up our bathrooms.
This kit includes a gentle foam cleanser (in fully recyclable packaging, thanks to a pump with no metal spring), a microbiome-balancing mist and setting spray (with ginger and moringa oil to keep out bad bacteria and preserve good bacteria), a silicone-free gel cream moisturizer, a lip oil-gloss hybrid (which gets its hue from the chiconan plant's fermented red root oil and candy apple flavor from stevia) and just about the cutest eye masks you've ever seen (they're electric blue and shaped like lightning bolts!) — all stuffed inside a bright coral puffer tote.
For The Indulger Who Calls The Bathroom Her "Sanctuary"
Try: Uma Pure Calm Wellness Bath Oil, $80
Some see skin care more as a ritual of self love than a "having to get ready for work" situation — and those people are going to freak out when they get their hands on Uma, a skin care range of botanically driven face and body-oils that can turn any self care Sunday into a session befitting of Cleopatra. The brand's secret: a stash of potent and incredible smelling botanicals grown on a third-generation family farm in India. Sure, the farm has produced essential oils and skin care ingredients for some of the world's biggest beauty brands (think: L'Oreal, Lauder and such). But choice crops are reserved for the family's indie brand, formulated in the ayurvedic tradition and paired with quality carrier oils that put Uma formulations in a league of their own and worth the price. Indulgent doesn't even begin to explain it.
For the Seeker of Celebrity Skin
Try: Beis x Shani Darden Wander & Glow Kit, $138
In Hollywood, it doesn't get more insider than a facial by Shani Darden, the esthetician responsible for the marquee complexions of Jessica Alba and Chrissy Teigen (and with whom a treatment in her impossibly chic Beverly Hills skin studio is one of the hottest tickets in town). The icon teamed up with client and Beis founder Shay Mitchell to offer a taste of the Shani Darden experience in the form of four of her eponymous skin care products (including the famous Retinol Reform), housed in a custom vegan leather Beis bag that could easily be toted to brunch.
For Handwashing Sessions That Smell Like Spa Time
Try: Bathing Culture Mind and Body Wash Refillable Glass, $35
Count 2020 as the year when hand hygiene finally got its due. With handwashing happening at a stepped up rate, soap selection has become key: If the right scent can transform the increasingly frequent chore into a moment of zen, then why not splurge for a hand soap that feels like a vacation, even just for a moment? This one makes hands smell like a NorCal redwood forest right after the rain and is made with soy-derived glycerine, organic coconut, olive and sunflower oils, aloe and shea butter. (No wonder it's sold out five times since March.)
For the Skin-Positive Gen Z-er
Try: Topicals Duo, $56
Show us temperamental skin and we'll show you countless products clinically positioned to to aggressively fight it. But one look at TikTok proves that Gen Z knows another way, wherein the path to a glowy complexion is forged with natural formulations meant to nurture the symptoms of acne, rosacea, eczema and hyperpigmentation. Enter Topicals, a skin care brand started by two Gen Zers that's formulated to gently care for flare-ups without perpetuating unrealistic beauty standards along the way (we're looking at you, glass skin and so-called perfect complexions). Its first two products: a botanically-driven, whipped calming mask and brightening serum that happens to double as a moisturizer and makeup primer for oily skin types.
