There’s a luxurious moisturizer, a gentle but very effective retinal, and everything else you need to get glowing this spring.
Longer days (thank you, Daylight Savings Time), budding flowers, and thawing temperatures are all welcome changes that signal spring is upon us. In the same way that we retire our winter wardrobe in exchange for lighter layers, it’s the right time to reassess our skin-care routine.
To help with a fresh start, Renee Rouleau has a lightweight cleanser for a deep clean and The Outset offers a selfie-worthy Purifying Blue Clay Mask. If googling “skin cycling” has been at the top of your to-do list, Dr. Whitney Bowe’s Retinal Night Advanced 0.1% Retinal Firming Treatment is sure to pique your interest as well (more on that below).
Ready to swap thick salves and rich creams for lighter, more gel-like textures? Choose from the new and improved La Mer Soft Cream, Dermalogica’s Oxygen Cream that lifts and firms, or for a moisturizer with SPF, opt for Olay Hyaluronic + Peptide 24 Moisturizer with SPF 30. While you’re at it, don’t forget to care for your skin from the neck down – Supergoop! Unseen Body SPF 40 is just as sheer as the much-beloved version for the face.
Finish things off with a few spritzes of the sparkling new Ellis Brooklyn Florist perfume, and we bet you will be feeling as fresh as a daisy.
For more details on all of these products and more, keep scrolling.
Dr. Whitney Bowe Beauty Retinal Night Advanced 0.1% Retinal Firming Treatment
You know the skin-cycling trend that went viral on TikTok? (If you aren’t one of the 300 million viewers familiar with the concept, here’s the gist: Rotate different nightly treatments starting with an exfoliant, followed by a retinoid the next evening, and finish with two recovery nights using just moisturizer. Then you start over.) Dermatologist Whitney Bowe, MD, is the expert behind this regimen, and she just rounded out her line of products (which also includes an exfoliant and moisturizer) with Dr. Whitney Bowe Beauty Retinal Night Advanced 0.1% Retinal Firming Treatment. It’s formulated with retinal — not retinol — which she says has powerful smoothing benefits but is less irritating. Plus, it’s infused with a potent blend of lipids, making it even easier to tolerate.
Lancôme Clarifique Refining Brightening Pro-Solution
When a brand goes through 70 different formulations to get a single product right, you can expect it to be great. That’s exactly what Lancôme did to perfect its new dark spot-fading, skin tone-evening, brightness-boosting serum, Clarifique Refining Brightening Pro-Solution, made with ingredients like niacinamide, PHAs, and glycerin. With consistent use, hyperpigmentation doesn’t stand a chance.
Dermalogica Phyto Nature Oxygen Cream
Bottled air would be a total gimmick, but your skin cells do, in fact, need oxygen to function and repair “damage.” Applying a pump of the Dermalogica Phyto Nature Oxygen Cream is almost like a deep breath for your skin: Its botanical-rich formula helps cells absorb oxygen more efficiently for firmer, more lifted skin over time.
Dr. Dennis Gross DRx SpectraLite EyeCare Max Pro
Step into the future with the redesigned Dr. Gross SpectraLite EyeCare Max Pro. This easy-to-wear mask treats the entire eye area with 30% more Red LED lights (to help firm and tone skin) than its predecessor. And because the charging cord is detachable, you can perk up your eyes while, say, vacuuming — or maybe something more relaxing, like sipping wine and watching Netflix.
Ellis Brooklyn Florist
You could buy yourself flowers — or consider picking up a bottle of this garden-inspired fragrance that blooms with tuberose, gardenia, and jasmine. A daily spritz of Ellis Brooklyn Florist will last a lot longer than cut flowers, and it’s just as uplifting.
SkinCeuticals A.G.E. Interrupter Advanced
If lines and sagging skin were superheroes, this corrective cream would be their kryptonite. SkinCeuticals A.G.E. Interrupter Advance is a rich balm that plumps skin with antioxidants and proxylane, a proprietary protein. Together they minimize collagen breakdown to prevent skin from sagging.
The Outset Purifying Blue Clay Mask
The next-best thing to visiting Iceland’s Blue Lagoon may be spending an evening in with The Outset Purifying Blue Clay Mask. Massage the formula on your face, turn on Daisy Jones & The Six, and allow the main characters — Riley Keough on your screen and purifying kaolin clay on your skin — to do their thing. After 10 minutes, pause the show, and then off rinse to reveal a healthy glow.
Olay Hyaluronic + Peptide 24 Moisturizer
Any product that lets us skip a step and get out the door quicker is a win in our book. All you need in the morning is Olay Hyaluronic + Peptide 24 Moisturizer, with its smoothing peptides, brightening niacinamide, hydrating hyaluronic acid, plus UV protection. You’d better believe it’s center stage in our medicine cabinet.
La Mer The Moisturizing Soft Cream
If you’re someone who doesn’t like change, hearing that your favorite moisturizer has been tweaked can be cause for concern. But in the case of La Mer The Moisturizing Soft Cream, you might not even notice it’s been upgraded until you see the glowing results. It’s still the same luxurious, lightweight texture, now with billions of moisture-filled spheres that hydrate skin even better than before.
Clarins Precious La Lotion
The three new products in the Clarins Precious Collection aren’t enriched with silver, gold, or diamonds, but rather a special French moonlight flower that blooms just one night a year. It sounds a little like a fairy tale — and it is a dreamy collection of products — but there’s actual science involved too. After harvesting the antioxidant-rich flowers by hand and promptly freezing them to preserve their youth-boosting actives, they are combined with a trio of smoothing peptides. You’ll find all of that in La Lotion, a lightweight essence that’s meant to be used ahead of the line’s cream and eye cream.
Westman Atelier Skin Activator
Makeup artist Gucci Westman is known for giving her clients glowing skin — and that starts with the perfect canvas. With this in mind, Westman has launched her first skin-care product, Westman Atelier Skin Activator. Inside the active-filled (12, to be exact) gel-serum, you’ll find familiar stars like hyaluronic acid for hydration and niacinamide for evening tone, along with more unusual ingredients such as l-arginine, an amino acid that plumps, and prickly pear extract to soothe.
Renée Rouleau Better Than Balm
Makeup artist Gucci Westman is known for giving her clients glowing skin — and that starts with the perfect canvas. With this in mind, Westman has launched her first skin-care product, Westman Atelier Skin Activator. Inside the active-filled (12, to be exact) gel-serum, you’ll find familiar stars like hyaluronic acid for hydration and niacinamide for evening tone, along with more unusual ingredients such as l-arginine, an amino acid that plumps, and prickly pear extract to soothe.
Renée Rouleau Better Than Balm
If you have ever used the completely undetectable Supergoop! Unseen Sunscreen, you will understand why it’s such a big deal that the body version just made its debut. Like the original formula for the face, Supergoop! Unseen Body SPF 40 promises invisible and fragrance-free sun protection, this time with body-specific benefits such as a smooth-glide gel texture that makes it easier to cover larger areas.
Flamingo Estate Clarity Mineral Soak
Inhale grounding scents of Douglas fir and vetiver in the Flamingo Estate Clarity Collection, then exhale the stress of your day. Choose your fighter: The Mineral Soak (a combination of California sea salts and Hawaiian green salts), Body Oil (made with huckleberry seed oil and sandalwood nut oil), or Fragrance Oil (a calming, earthy aroma with a hint of sweet basil) all relieve moments of tension.