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.
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.
