For the Fragrance Lover Who Wants To Smell Like Royalty (Or No One Else)
Try: Krigler Abrakaadabra 221 Perfume, $395 for 1.7fl.oz./50ml.
Since its founding in the early 1900s, Krigler has become world famous for making fragrances beloved by European royalty — and de facto American royalty, too (think F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Marlene Dietrich, and Audrey Hepburn). To this day, the brand remains a thing for those in the know. That's because it isn't sold in department stores or Sephora, but has intimate shops tucked inside lavish hotels in Beverly Hills, San Francisco, Palm Beach, Chicago and New York. There, you can get heritage scents worn by artistic legends... or Abrakaadabra 221, the latest fragrance from the house, which opens with bergamot and pepper before introducing lily of the valley and relaxing to notes of tonka bean, and white musk.
Both warming and bright, the scent was serendipitously imagined pre-pandemic to conjure feelings of healing, coziness and peace. Of course, if your brand of peace comes with knowing no one else in the world wears your signature fragrance, the house is happy to create a bespoke fragrance at one of its labs.
For the CBD Aficionado
Try: Muri Lelu Mauvaise Herbe Indica Oil, $135
For the connoisseur who knows her CBD from her terpenes, this lightweight indica oil more than passes the sniff test. Inside the gift-worthy box and bottle is 100 mg full-spectrum cannabis extract, which contains plant cannabinoids (interacts with our bodies' own endocannabinoid system and receptors), chlorophyll, fatty acids and terpenes, the compounds responsible for a plant's scent and flavor and known to carry their own therapeutic properties. (The terpene linalool, for example, is found in cannabis and lavender and carries anti-inflammatory properties.) Factor marula, baobab, prickly pear, pomegranate and cranberry oils into the mix and you have a sophisticated blend that showcases the scent of a live plant while wielding the power to hydrate and nourish skin.
For the Skin Care Fanatic Who Thinks She's Tried It All
Try: Retrouvé Nutrient Face Serum, $395
We weren't supposed to know about Retrouvé. As legend has it, Kiehl's heiress Jami Heddinger tasked some of the industry's best cosmetic chemists to develop a personal stash of the most potent, filler-free skin care around — and she spared no expense doing so. But after friends caught wind of what she had made (and wouldn't quit bugging her for a stash of their own), the brand was officially born.
While you don't have to travel in a heiress's circle to get your hands on the brand, it remains so under the radar that only those in the know (or paying attention to background details when people like Tracee Ellis Ross post Instagram Stories from their bathrooms) are keyed in to the spendy, but hyper-concentrated skin care line that includes a cleanser that Zoë Kravitz swears by and serum so nourishing, it doubles as a moisturizer.
For The Manicure Obsessed
Try: Peacci Pinks Starter Set, $67.50
Some of the coolest fingertips in the UK are consistently covered in Peacci, a vegan nail care line that not only kicks out more than 100 of the most beautiful, soon-to-be trending nail polish shades, but manages to do so with a formula that deposits streak-free color in one swipe. What's more, it delivers such a long wear, you'd think it was born with a gel complex. Now that the brand is available in the US, be the first to turn on that friend who's never-without-a-mani to the brand that counts Vivienne Westwood and Victoria Beckham as loyal fans.
For the Conscientious Minimalist
Try: Symbiome The One Restorative Cream, $125
There's a lot of buzz about the microbiome in the skin care world — and rightfully so: a flourishing flora goes a long way to help keep skin balanced and its barrier strong. Launched in part by a microbiome researcher with decades experience under his belt, this newly-launched skin care brand focuses on a minimal number of plant-based ingredients (10 or less, all traceable and sustainable) that are made more bioavailable via a proprietary cold-emulsion fermentation process. All that science can be a lot to swallow, but those who love botanically-driven skin care that smells like nature will flip for the brand's elegant and sustainable blends, like its moisturizer which comprises just three ingredients: water, Amazonian croton cajucara leaf oil, and probiotic-rich lactobacillus ferment.
