It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Yearly roundups are some of my FAVORITE things to watch and read from others. I’m obsessed with getting to know what products and brands people are loving and what they’d recommend to pick up. Working at Sephora, especially in Merchandising, I’m blessed because of my job getting to constantly test and try out products. Because I have SO many favorites I want to share with you all, I’ll be breaking them down into a few different categories.
Today I wanted to share my yearly Sephora skincare favorites!
MAKEUP REMOVER | CLEANSER | TONER
Farmacy Green Clean Makeup Removing Cleansing Balm || Everyone should be double cleansing. Whether you’re wearing minimal makeup or a full glam face, it is crucial for your skin health to properly remove all of your makeup. This one from Farmacy is hands down the best cleansing balm I’ve ever used. It completely melts my makeup off, doesn’t leave a weird residue on my skin afterwards AND doesn’t break me out like other balms I’ve tried. I still go in with my proper cleanser afterwards but this is a necessary step for me in my skincare routine and wouldn’t be able to go a day without it!
Lancôme Bi-Facil Double-Action Eye Makeup Remover || Even though I double cleanse with both a balm and a gel cleanser, my eyes are rather sensitive so I do go in with a separate eye makeup remover. This helps to remove all of my waterproof liner, mascara and any extra lash glue that is hanging around. With this remover, any stubborn spots are gone so easily and I never have to tough at or around my eye.
Indie Lee Brightening Cleanser || I’m normally one that’s super picky when it comes to my face cleansers but this Indie Lee one is so good! The formula, texture and lather works really well for my normal/oily skin. It it’s not stripping, rather hydrating and it’s clean which I love!
Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare Alpha Beta® Pore Perfecting Cleansing Gel || This is another fantastic cleanser. If you’re on the oiler side and deal with larger pores, acne, blackheads, etc. I would recommend this one! It gently exfoliates with the willow bark extract + salicylic acid and also helps balance your oil production. I love that it’s a gel so it’s perfectly hydrating and also helps prevent future skin breakouts, sounds dreamy right?!
Youth To The People Kombucha + 11% AHA Exfoliation Toner with Lactic Acid || I am OBSESSED with this toner. I’ve used a bunch in the past and nothing has ever been as effective as this one. You’ll sense a theme as you read through this that I’m a huge fan of chemical exfoliants and acids to help remove dead skin cells and regenerate the texture of my skin. If you struggle with large pores and acne, this is such a fantastic toner to help prevent future breakouts, minimize the appearance of your pores and support your skins microbiome. I’ve repurchased this a few times already this year, I love it that much.
MOISTURIZER | FACE OIL | EYE CREAM | SUNSCREEN
Drunk Elephant Protini™ Polypeptide Moisturizer || My skin LOVES this moisturizer. It’s rich and full of proteins that combine signal peptides, growth factors, amino acids, and pygmy waterlily to visibly help improve your skin’s tone, texture, and firmness. I also love that it has a pH of 4.0 which is super important for healthily balanced skin. I have noticed a difference with my texture and increased firming since using this!
Glow Recipe Watermelon Pink Juice Oil-Free Moisturizer || If you’re looking for a hydrating but lightweight moisturizer for oily skin, Watermelon Pink Juice is amazing. It’s brightening and of course formulated with watermelon extract, hyaluronic acid, and botanicals to really help boost radiance and your skin’s glow. It’s a gel consistency which feels cooling on the skin and soaks in quickly.
Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream Moisturizer || I wanted to bucket this product in my skin post since it technically is a moisturizing cream and can be used in your skincare routine but I actually love it under my makeup. It layers so beautifully with my base makeup products that it actually helps prolong the wear of my makeup throughout the day. I used to think because I was such an oily person, adding a moisturizer under my makeup was a no-no. Well I was quite wrong because it’s actually helped me SO much. I also know so many bridal makeup artists who use this as prep for their clients, it’s so good!
Biossance Squalane + Vitamin C Rose Oil || Biossance is known for their vegan squalene that is such an amazing ingredient to help lock in essential moisture in the skin. I adore this rose oil as it’s incredibly hydrating, soaks into my skin super quickly and doesn’t break me out (which I have had issues with other oils from).
Biossance Squalane + Marine Algae Eye Cream || Another favorite from Biossance is their eye cream. It’s such an incredible cream with great ingredients, provides incredible hydration and helps to lift + firm the eye area. I love the texture of this eye cream because it’s so rich and luxurious feeling under the eyes.
Supergoop! Unseen Sunscreen SPF 40 || EVERYONE and I mean everyone needs to be wearing a sunscreen. Whether you’re wearing makeup or not, it’s so important to the longterm health of your skin. I love this one from Supergoop! because I’m able to use it under my makeup as a primer + on it’s own which provides a little blurring for my no-makeup days.
SERUM | FACE MASK | CHEMICAL PEEL
Shani Darden Retinol Reform || Shani Darden launched at Sephora earlier this year and thank GOD it did! Her skincare is next level and my favorite that I’ve tried so far has been her Retinol Serum. When I first started using, my skin needed to get used to it before I could use it every night. I wake up with clear, glowy skin that looked refreshed and rejuvenated. Retinol is such a powerhouse ingredient that I recommend everyone incorporate into their routine. It helps reduce fine lines, wrinkles, dark spots, blemishes and gives the skin a visibly glowy and youthful appearance.
Drunk Elephant T.L.C. Framboos™ Glycolic Resurfacing Night Serum || This DE serum is one I’ve been using for many years now. Packed with both AHAs and BHAs, this serum helps resurface the skin by lifting away dead skin cells to improve one’s texture, skin tone, fine lines + wrinkles and pores. To be honest, this one stings a little when you apply BUT don’t worry, it goes away after a couple of seconds. I have pretty sensitive skin and still love this serum!
Peace Out Salicylic Acid Acne Treatment Serum || OKKK so this product is life changing. I was lucky to try this product when our skincare team had lab samples to try out. I was breaking out pretty bad at the time and was asked to try this out for a few weeks. I kid you not, my skin cleared up in just a few days after starting to use this serum in my routine. I’ve never had clearer skin than when I did using this product. I had to wait months for this to launch and I’ve repurchased a few times since. If you struggle with acne (hormonal is my issue), I HIGHLY recommend picking this up to try + it’s a great price point and won’t break the bank. It will definitely be in my skin rotation for the wedding.
Summer Fridays CC Me Vitamin C Serum || Another new product to me this year but such a good find! In addition to retinol, many dermatologists also recommend incorporating a Vitamin C serum into your morning routine. I love this one as it’s lightweight, not sticky like some others I’ve tried and has noticeably helped with evening out my hyperpigmentation and uneven texture from scarring.
Summer Fridays Jet Lag Mask || I really haven’t been masking a whole lot these days but I do love this one for it’s versatility and multi-usage. I typically like to use this as a sleeping mask or night time moisturizer if I’m in need of some extra hydration. It’s lightweight, isn’t greasy and my skin just drinks it up.
Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare Alpha Beta® Extra Strength Daily Peel || If you had to buy ANYTHING from this list, this would be the #1 product I’d recommend. I cannot tell you how freaking amazing these little peel pads are. It’s a 2 step regimen that takes about 4 minutes, 2 minutes for step 1 & another 2 minutes for step 2. After just once use, you’ll see instant results and even the next morning when you wake up, you’ll have glowy, clear and smooth skin. I love the Extra Strength ones but if you’re new to chemical peels, I’d recommend these.
goop GOOPGLOW 15% Glycolic Acid Overnight Glow Peel || Oh goop. Trust me, when I saw the price tag on these peels I was a little skeptical, until I tried them and fell in love. A little different than the Dr. Dennis Gross pads, these are mainly an AHA chemical peel. I love that these also have Australian Kakadu Plum for antioxidant support as well as hyaluronic acid for optimum hydration. If you’re hesitant and new to chemical peels, I’d recommend trying out the goop ones for your skin to get acclimated as the DDG are a little more for the sophisticated skincare connoisseur!
LIP MASK | LIP BALM
LANEIGE Lip Sleeping Mask [scent ‘Original – Berry’] || I don’t think I need to explain much for this product as I’m sure you’ve seen it everywhere. It is truly one of the best lip products I’ve ever tried (Nolan is just as obsessed as I am). I have a tub of this stuff EVERYWHERE; on our nightstand, in my purse, on my desk at work, in my travel toiletry bag, you name it I have one in there. Of course I use this at night to properly hydrate but I’m not ashamed to use this 24/7 throughout the day. There are so many flavors/scents to choose from, Original/Berry, Vanilla and Sweet Candy are my favorites!
LANEIGE Lip Glowy Balm [scent ‘Grapefruit’] || I’m so glad that LANIEGE came out with these Lip Glowy Balms. Similar to their lip sleeping mask, these are great for on the go easy application + are a little more balmy than their traditional lip mask. These also come in a bunch of flavors/scents but Grapefruit and Peach are my two favorites!
BODY LOTION | SCRUB | TANNING
Nécessaire The Body Lotion || If you were to tell me a few years ago I would be buying a body lotion from Sephora I’d laugh at you. I never used to use body lotion and if I did, it was either from Target or Bath and Body Works. As I’m getting older and understanding our skin is our largest organ, it’s important for me to apply something that isn’t irritating with a ton of fragrance on my skin. This body lotion is AMAZING. It soaks into the skin so easily + I love that it’s unscented. My skin looks more radiant and healthy since it’s happy it’s properly hydrated!
First Aid Beauty KP Bump Eraser Body Scrub with 10% AHA || One of my biggest insecurities has been my KP/chicken skin on my arms. I’ve never been able to find a product that helps reduce those little bumps so I feel comfortable wearing a short sleeve shirt to show off my arms. I’ve tried creams and lotions before but nothing has worked like this Body Scrub from FAB. Since using, I’ve noticed a huge difference in the texture of my skin on both my arms and my legs and the reduction of the redness and bumps is tremendous!
OUAI Scalp & Body Scrub || It is crucial for me to always have a body scrub on hand. You can totally use this for your scalp if you want but I solely love and use this on my body to prep my skin for the tanner I’ll be talking about below! The scent of this is delicious and made out of sugar, it does such a good job exfoliating, removing dead skin cells & old fake tan + it lathers quite nicely too so you can feel squeaky clean at the same time!
Isle of Paradise Self Tanning Drops [shade ‘Dark’] || Isle of Paradise blew up this year with the help of TikTok and their innovative and easily understandable approach to tanning. I’ve used tanning lotions and mousses in the past and although sometimes I’ve had good experiences, I still do find them hard to apply and inconsistent end results. OBSESSED that IOP makes tanning simple with these Self Tanning Drops that you can mix into any lotion you already have on hand. Makes it SO easy to apply + you can control how light or deep you want your gradual tan to be by how many drops you mix in. I also love adding this to my face moisturizer so I have an even tan from head to toe!
WELLNESS | TOOL
8Greens 8G Dietary Supplement || Ever since the founder of 8Greens came into the office and shared her story and why she started her brand, I’ve been hooked ever since. They’re little tablets that dissolve into your water and you get SO many great benefits drinking your ‘greens’. Each tablet has 8 essential and powerful greens: spinach, wheatgrass, kale, blue-green algae, spirulina, chlorella, barley grass, and aloe vera. It tastes like citrus [lemon/lime] and is slightly fizzy which makes it so refreshing!
BeautyBio GloPRO® Microneedling Facial Regeneration Tool || I was never into skincare tools and thought they were quite gimmicky until I was given the chance to try this one! It’s a patented and award-winning microneedling tool that helps amplify skincare product absorption by 200x and creates both firmer and smoother looking skin. All you need is 30-60 seconds every day and I’ve noticed DRAMATIC improvement in the texture and smoothness of my skin. My serums, oils and moisturizers soak into my skin so much quicker and I feel like are more effective because of using this tool.
I’m always on the hunt and shopping for new beauty products to test out and try for you all so leave me a comment below and let me know what some of your yearly skincare favorites are!
