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.
For the Lipstick Connoisseur
Try: Lisa Eldridge True Velvet Lip Colour in Velvet Ribbon, $34
If even from under a mask your bestie still wears lipstick, why not hook her up with one of the hardest-to-get hues from makeup artist Lisa Eldridge? Her lip colors are flocked with a velvet texture and are somehow both hydrating and ultra pigmented — a unique combination that renders them incredibly hard to make. The result is bullets that deliver such depth of color and in the most refined of shades, they've quickly moved to the most-used section of our makeup drawer despite dozens of other colors in our coffers (we have a problem, we know). If you can get your hands on the latest holiday drop, do so stat (and order one for yourself while you're at it). Our tip? Add Velvet Ribbon shade to the cart, the most perfect red that looks good on everyone.
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.
