The body serum I can’t stop using, serious skincare worth knowing about, an eye cream my husband stole and the hand wash I’d put beside the sink instead of Aesop.
I try enough beauty products to know that liking something on first use and actually making room for it in your routine are two very different things. I’m not interested in collecting ten versions of the same serum or turning skincare into a 12-step nightly project. I want products that feel good, make sense and, ideally, make me look forward to using them.
These are the nine that have made the cut for September.
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Uni 24-Hour Body Serum
I am obsessed with this serum. Body care can sometimes feel like the obligatory final step after a shower, but this is something I actually want to put on. It has the lightness of a serum rather than a traditional body cream, sinks in beautifully and, most importantly for me, smells so good. The Sunset scent combines cedar, juniper and sandalwood, so it has that clean, woody quality without smelling like generic “spa” body care. The formula also contains Australian caviar lime and Kakadu plum, which is why it feels much closer to facial skincare for the body than an ordinary lotion.
Elm Biosciences A3O Elemental Night Cream
There are so many retinol and retinoid products now that the category has become difficult to shop. What caught my attention here is that Elm takes a slightly different route. The A3O Elemental Night Cream uses trifarotenyl caprylate, a retinoid derivative, alongside the brand’s A3O antioxidant complex, ectoin and carnosine. It is designed to work on texture, fine lines, firmness and hydration while being gentle enough for regular nighttime use. The texture is also exactly what I want from a night cream: substantial and cushiony, but not greasy.
SHOP ELM BIOSCIENCES A3O ELEMENTAL NIGHT CREAM
Elm Biosciences Inner Dose Daily Skin Supplement
I’m increasingly interested in the idea that skincare doesn’t necessarily begin and end with what we put on our faces. Elm’s Inner Dose approaches skin from the inside with a combination of polypodium leucotomos, turmeric, vitamin D3, astaxanthin and holy basil.
I would never treat a beauty supplement as a replacement for good topical skincare, proper nutrition or sunscreen, and neither should anyone else. Elm itself recommends using Inner Dose alongside daily SPF. But I find the broader approach to skin health interesting, particularly as beauty becomes less about chasing one miracle ingredient and more about looking at the entire picture.
SHOP ELM BIOSCIENCES INNER DOSE DAILY SKIN SUPPLEMENT
Revision Skincare Nectifirm Advanced
The neck and décolletage deserve more attention than most of us give them, and this is one of those products with a very specific job. Nectifirm Advanced is formulated specifically for the visible signs of aging on the neck rather than being another face cream repackaged for a different part of the body.
Revision uses peptide and microbiome-supporting technology to target firmness, texture and crepey skin. I like skincare that has a clear job, and this one does. Considering the amount of drying alcohol I spray on my neck in the name of fragrance, Nectifirm has become one of those products that comes with me everywhere.
SHOP REVISION SKINCARE NECTIFIRM ADVANCED
Revision Skincare C+ Correcting Complex 30%
Vitamin C is probably one of the most crowded categories in skincare, which means the formula matters far more than simply seeing “Vitamin C” on the label. Revision uses 30% THD ascorbate here, a lipid-soluble and highly stable form of vitamin C, in a treatment aimed at brightness, uneven tone and antioxidant support.
SHOP REVISION SKINCARE C+ CORRECTING COMPLEX 30%
Revision Skincare D·E·J Eye Cream
This eye cream is excellent. I tried it on my husband once and he promptly claimed it for himself, which tells you quite a lot.
What makes D·E·J Eye Cream particularly interesting is that it is designed for the whole eye area, including the upper eyelid, rather than just being dabbed underneath the eyes. Revision formulated it to address the appearance of hooding, crepiness, fine lines and loss of firmness, with ingredients including peptides, THD ascorbate, hyaluronic acid and cucumber water. I suppose I now need to order another one if I ever want mine back.
SHOP REVISION SKINCARE D·E·J EYE CREAM
Ranger Station Speak Easy Candle
Fragrance is fragrance whether I’m wearing it or burning it in my house, so candles absolutely count in my beauty edit. Speak Easy also happens to have a fragrance profile that feels perfect for this point in September, when I’m ready for something warmer but not remotely ready for pumpkin-spice-everything.
Ranger Station originally created Speak Easy as a perfume, and the candle carries the same idea with cedar, vanilla bitters, demerara, sandalwood and musk. There is sweetness, but the woods and bitters keep it interesting. It smells like a room I would actually want to spend time in.
SHOP RANGER STATION SPEAK EASY CANDLE
Ranger Station Santalum Hand Wash
For years, the amber bottle of Aesop hand wash sitting beside the sink became a little status symbol. It quietly told you something about the person whose bathroom you were standing in.
So why not let your hand wash say that you have really good taste instead?
Ranger Station’s Santalum is what I’d put beside the sink now. It smells of sandalwood, amber resin, iris and leather, which already makes it considerably more interesting than most hand soap, and the formula contains niacinamide, peptides, vitamins C and E and oat extract. It is functional, looks good and smells like someone actually thought about it.
SHOP RANGER STATION SANTALUM HAND WASH
Freck Beauty Cactus Water
Freck’s Cactus Water is a lactic-acid toner with cactus flower and kelp extracts. The lactic acid provides gentle exfoliation while the formula is designed to help with uneven-looking skin without giving you that aggressively stripped feeling I associate with old-school toners. It feels fresh and uncomplicated, and I keep reaching for it. That is usually the best test of whether a beauty product belongs on this list.
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