The ultimate goop-look shortcut—along with a puff-sleeve, of course—is dewy, nourished, glowing skin and a quick dash of sheer color on the lips. This time of year, we’re all suddenly needing a little extra moisture, so the entire beauty department is leaning heavily on the foolproof combination of Glow Lotion plus one of the new tinted lip balms. It’s a look that you never need a mirror for, it always looks fresh (and is easily refreshed), and it makes us feel our glowy, moisturized best. Along with that infallible formula, here are some of our favorite new discoveries this month.
The foolproof look for fall
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goop Beauty
GOOPGLOW Glow Lotion
goop, $58/$52 with subscriptionSHOP NOW
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goop Beauty
GOOPGENES Clean Nourishing Lip Balm Trio
goop, $42SHOP NOW
JEAN GODFREY-JUNE
executive beauty director
“I step into the shower and see a chic black bottle labeled ‘Garden of Earthly Delights’ and already I’m in a good mood. I smell the lavender, bergamot, cedar, calendula, and sandalwood scent as it lathers and melds with the steam from the hot water and things improve from there. The wash leaves your skin cleansed (obvs), soft, and smooth, and now, best of all, you can get big black refill bags (nothing is better-looking on a bathroom shelf), so you put less plastic out there into our actual garden of earthly delights.”
“This pale-pink cream does actually and enchantingly bounce back against your finger. It also instantly moisturizes your skin in a way that makes it feel so good and so soft and…somehow bouncier. It delivers my favorite ingredient for skin, vitamin C (three different kinds of it, no less), to brighten and clarify any skin type, and because the texture balances somewhere between a cream and a gel, it sinks right into your skin. What’s remarkable is the way, hours later, your skin still feels supple and elastic, smooth and dewy. Magic.”
“Blue lemonade soap? Blue lemonade spirulina soap? I had to have it the minute I saw the chicly minimalist box, but the bar inside—creamy and streaked with spirulina extracts—is so fantastic that I’d love it even without the alluring name and the subtle, blue-lemonade-perfection scent. I can’t imagine a more foolproof gift to stock up on; tied up with a big ribbon, a single bar or a stack of three or a stack of ten would delight just about anyone under the sun.”
Megan O’Neill
senior beauty editor
“Saturdays are for staying out all day. (When not tethered to my laptop for work, I feel an almost compulsive need to be outside—soaking up the sun, gallivanting, people-watching.) Last weekend, my husband and I ambled around Central Park until the sun faded to a pale-pink glow. Before hopping on the subway down to the West Village for dinner, I did a quick refresh, right there in Sheep’s Meadow, with one of these ingenious, fully biodegradable body-cleansing cloths from Megababe. They’re big enough to smooth away the dirt, grime, oil, and underarm perspiration one might generate turning cartwheels in the grass on a glorious fall day, and they’re infused (not soaked) with hydrating hyaluronic acid, moisturizing sweet almond and coconut oils, and brightening glycolic acid. They’re as brilliant for your face—mine felt supple and moisturized and looked, according to Jesse, ‘glowy’—as they are between your toes (if you’re a Teva or Birkenstock person like me, you know). Plus, they come in adorable individual packaging. Rarely do I venture out on a Saturday without at least one tucked into my bag.”
“Two minutes with this creamy, whipped body butter is all I need to shift the entire day. Out of the shower in the morning, when my skin is still damp and ultra-absorbent, I scoop out a generous dollop of the firming, subtly toning cream—the thick texture is similar to frosting, with soft peaks and silky finger trails—and massage it over my entire body. I gently knead my calves, smooth down my arms until they gleam, and work in soft circles around my navel. The trick is to go slow; it feels fantastic. The powerful mix of shea butter, rose and mandarin oils, and plant extracts melts right in, giving my skin a healthy-looking glow. It smells like an herb garden, softens even the roughest patches on my elbows, and the way it makes me feel—soothed, nourished, comfortable in my body, ready for the day—is just unbeatable.”
“The monochromatic glass bottle drew me in first, but the way the gently exfoliating blend of volcanic ash, glacial clay, and salicylic acid made my skin look vacation-refreshed was what made me fully fall in love with this gorgeous face polish. Shake out a dime-size amount—it’s a fine powder that smells faintly of eucalyptus—and activate it with a few drops of water, smoothing the resulting fluffy cream over your face and chest. The secret to better skin—whether you’re oily and blemish-prone like me, dry, or somewhere in the middle—is exfoliating, and this stuff delivers. (The kick-ass exfoliators are tempered with soothing colloidal oatmeal and olive oil.) The result is healthy-looking, brighter skin every time (and I still can’t get over how chic that bottle makes my shower look).”
Brianna Peters
associate beauty editor
“This set is everything. I first fell in love with the biphase face oil because of its velvety texture and sweet magnolia-leaf scent, but I keep coming back for the incredible results I’ve seen on my skin. Now I do gua sha in conjunction with it: I smooth on the oil right after a shower or washing my face, then massage my face with the pure black obsidian gua sha tool. The ancient Chinese therapy involves smoothing a sculpted massage tool over your face to support lymphatic drainage, ease tension and puffiness, and boost radiance; it’s especially amazing used in conjunction with the oil. My skin feels calmer, smoother, sculpted, and flooded with nourishing botanicals and moisture—something I need lots more of as the weather turns colder.”
“It’s almost unbelievable how good this sheer, barely there mineral sunscreen is. I brought a tube of it with me on a beach weekend trip and everyone who tried it—even my chemical-sunscreen-only friends—was obsessed. (So much so that when I got on the plane to come home, there wasn’t a drop left.) The whipped, buttery texture feels amazing on skin and it blends in so effortlessly that you don’t even feel like you’re wearing it. Because the finish is so smooth and natural, I also use it as a primer before I put on concealer or tinted moisturizer, and I swear my makeup looks so much better.”
“Paintbox in New York City does the chicest, coolest manicures—and its polish lasts practically forever. (My nails are always in amazing shape even weeks after a manicure there.) And now I can use the long-lasting, chip-free polish (it’s also clean, cruelty-free, vegan, gluten-free, and paraben-free) at home, too. The brush bristles are firm and wide, so it’s incredibly easy to paint even difficult corners, and you need only two coats for full coverage. My favorite color in this goop-exclusive trio is Like Mystery—a mauvy light-pink sand shade that’s the most gorgeous neutral—but all three are so flattering. Like Canyon is a warm baked-clay shade and Like Rain is a greyish slate blue.”
Erica Ndlovu
junior associate beauty editor
“Even with oily, acne-prone skin, I used to play it safe when it came time to exfoliate–a little too safe, my dermatologist recently informed me. Exfoliating oily skin helps decrease oil production and get rid of excess dirt and dead skin cells that clog pores, causing more breakouts. So I tried the new refillable (bonus!) exfoliator from Humanrace, the new skin-care line from Pharrell Williams. It’s made with glycolic acid (an ingredient he says is a superstar for its ability to rejuvenate and smooth skin), fine rice particles, and pumpkin, papaya, and pomegranate enzymes to help sweep away dead skin cells and even skin texture. My skin looks smoother, brighter, and more radiant instantly after using it, and the regular exfoliating (I use it three times a week) is helping keep my skin clear. The vibrant, sleek green packaging is the icing on the cake.”
“I never considered myself a bath person, but I had to try this bath milk because I’m always looking for a reason to slow down. Plus, I can’t resist the tall brown Tammy Fender jars. I still enjoy a scalding-hot shower, but this deeply cleansing and ultranourishing milk has quickly turned me into an at-least-once-a-week bath person. I love how it emulsifies into a milky froth in warm water; the relaxing, gorgeous scent (thyme and birch bark); and way the moringa and sunflower-seed oils in it leave my skin feeling super moisturized.”
“I like to keep my eye makeup simple and quick, but I still love a bold, luminous look—so I love this set from Kosas. You get the brand’s Air Brow lifting treatment to shape and condition (I like to brush my brows up with it, so they look thick and luscious); a limited-edition, fast-drying, easy-to-apply liquid eye shadow in a light-catching shade called Strobe; and the beloved Big Clean Mascara, which I was a fan of even before joining goop. When I’m ready to go out, I do the full monty, and for, say, a Zoom, the brow lift and the mascara are all I need.”
Camila Michaels
assistant beauty editor
“I’m not historically the type of person to go around buying opulent bottles of eye cream, but if you’re looking to pamper yourself—saunas and massages aside—I promise this is the way to do it. I never really noticed my dark circles, but the new noticeable lessening of them is remarkable. I’ve been waking up elated to see less-puffy, wider-awake eyes looking back at me in the mirror. Even the ritual of opening the tiny glass jar and smoothing on the lightweight cream with your fingertips is luxurious—you can practically feel the opulence soaking into your skin.”
“If I style my hair at home, it never lasts all day. I’m often disinclined to pick up a straightener because I know my thin, wavy hair won’t stay straight in any weather—hot, cold, humid, dry—for more than an hour, tops. But then I took this GHD styler with me for a day, and I haven’t gone without it since. Truly. It’s lightweight and small enough to put in my bag, it heats easily, and best of all, it takes just minutes to touch up my hair. Even if I’m not on the go, I prefer a cordless styler—it’s so much easier to use. It’s something you don’t realize you need until you have it in your hands.”
“My dermatologist father never let my skin go dry when I was young—it was the aspect of his life he bragged about the most. His daughter had prized, glowy skin, but—this seems to happen to practically everyone over their teenage years—my natural glow retreated. Add five years in New York City to the equation, and I definitely needed something. This renewing oil leaves my skin feeling moisturized and more elastic overnight. Rose hip and primrose oils leave behind a sweet, earthy scent on my skin as I smooth it on, and despite being so hydrating, it sinks in quickly. The few-drops-before-bed routine has dealt with the dryness and notably softened my appearance back to the glow my father used to brag about.”
