Look-Tested, Look-Approved

A dusty shade of weathered red that veers toward orange, this is far from the usual saccharine, predictable nail color for spring. It’s slightly askew and retro in a good Anne-Hathaway-in-Brokeback-Mountain way.

After finding success as a makeup artist for fashion shows, Homidi now has a line of tempting lip products. Her refillable lip compact holds rich, whipped color, which dries to a matte powder that’s unexpectedly moist. Apply it with a lip brush and then dab the edges with your finger to make it appealingly blurry.

Nothing about the name of this lip gloss would make you believe it’s sophisticated, other than the letters YSL. Trust us. The Candy Glaze gloss offers just enough pigment, plenty of shine, and a mix of hyaluronic acid, vitamin E and mango oils for maximum moisture.

Can a lip pencil be a substitute for lip-filling injections? Not a chance. But can it give your lips a boost without making you look like you’re auditioning for Selling Sunset? Yes, indeed! This tingly pencil works as a liner and can also fill in the lips with long-wearing color.

Dior’s new blotting papers wick away oil to keep makeup looking fresh. But the killer is the way they’re stamped with the Dior logo, making them enticing enough to pull out in public, if you must.

Nars married two of his best-selling products–Orgasm blush and the Multiple sticks–into one high functioning, versatile creation. It’s the same pinky peach shade that looks stunning on almost everyone in a creamy form that works on cheeks, lips, and even, unexpectedly, on eyes.

Pat McGrath is the master of flamboyant makeup palettes, but this one is remarkably subdued, holding six neutrals in warm and cool tones that work for even the most quotidian looks. She’s not wrong about the name: We love it.

Gucci Westman’s makeup is centered on translucent, untroubled, glowing skin. It only makes sense that she’s now introducing a skin-care product to add to the collection. Her new Skin Activator contains a long list of superb ingredients that moisturize, brighten, and calm skin. It’s a keeper.

We know, we know: We’re supposed to be double cleansing every night. But we’re just so tired. Thank you, Vintner’s Daughter, for understanding our flawed selves and giving us a gently foaming cream cleanser that delivers the results of two washes in a single step. It also contains the botanical oils that have made Vintner’s formulas so beloved.

A cleanser that is actually up to the task of removing even your Better Than Sex waterproof mascara. Fortuna’s cleaning balm melts both oil- and water-soluble makeup and leaves skin feeling as coddled as a trophy wife.

La Mer’s Soft Cream has long been revered for its ability to moisturize skin to the hilt. Now, this new formulation contains lime tea to give it extra hydrating power, making fine lines look even finer. It claims to moisturize skin from within, perhaps aiming to be the Profhilo of topical products.

Retinol is a beast. Dermatologists love its ability to speed cell turnover and collagen production but aren’t crazy about the way it can irritate skin. Tacha has an attractive alternative with a mix of fermented rice, algae, and green tea as antioxidants along with cranberry extract and sea fennel to pump up collagen and elastin without the red, peely side effects.

Dr. Macrene Alexiades is a revered, board-certified dermatologist with an impressive list of patients, including Sienna Miller, Khaite’s Cate Holstein, and actress Rebecca Dayan. Now, she has a skincare line that’s loaded with active ingredients backed by legitimate science. We recommend starting with her High Performance Face Serum. Clinical tests show it reduces fine lines over eight weeks.

This gets the prize for the longest name and the speediest cleanser. The name pretty much says it all. A tiny dab works up a major lather and rinses away as quickly as a memory.

Darlings, Charlotte Tilbury has a new body cream to keep her beloved Magic Face Cream company. A quick look at the breathless reviews make it clear that there’s something exceptional, if not magical, in that tube. Chocked full of hyaluronic acid and caffeine to help smooth and firm, it’s become our new secret weapon.

Water peels, the latest trend to come out of Korea, the skin capital of the world, combine acids with hydrators to both exfoliate and moisturize skin gently. Lancôme adds to the adventure with Clarifique Pro-Solution Brightening Serum. It combines polyhydroxy acid (PHA) with niacinamide and beech bud extract to brighten and strengthen skin. Refreshing!

For the first time since the birth of Terracotta powder in 1984, Guerlain has a companion foundation. It’s as lightweight as the best-selling original but delivers medium coverage, a matte finish, and 24-hour wear, not that we’re going to stay up all night to put it to the test.

If we can’t sing like Rihanna or dance like Rihanna or serve up maternity style like Rihanna, then we will happily settle for having hands as soft as Rihanna’s. It’s not nothing.

We like our sunscreen served with a dose of nostalgia, and by that we mean the scent of piña colada goodness mixed with chlorine. This sunscreen takes that idea and spiffs it up for 2023 with clean ingredients and an unfussy moisturizing formula. It isn’t expensive, and it does the job without drawing undue attention to itself.

Don’t you love perfumers? They’re so lyrical. Benoist Lapouza’s latest candle smells like “crystal clear water cascading over mountainous rocks.” We don’t know exactly what that means, but we do know it’s irresistible. So is the handsome pistachio and gold vessel it comes in. The scent was created in collaboration with Maître Tseng, a Chinese tea master.

What do jade vines smell like? Absolutely nothing. But that didn’t stop perfumer and founder of Régime des Fleurs Alia Raza from imagining what they could smell like, which is an impressive feat in itself. Her vision combines yuzu, ginger, gardenia, and tuberose in a vivid, evocative blend.

Want to smell like the ancient Egyptians? Maybe yes. Dominique Ropion, the master perfumer behind Portrait of a Lady, has recreated the oldest perfume in the world. It’s a complex blend of honeyed broom, myrrh, and a variety of other aromatic resins. Make like Cleopatra and spray it on the sails of your boat, which, Shakespeare wrote, were “so perfumed that the winds were lovesick with them.”