Okay, let’s start with this: affordable is a relative term. There is a whole psychology around pricing, and the type of price you can pay or want to pay for something you feel will do the most for you, or give you an experience that feels validating and secure.

Price doesn’t always dictate how well formulated something is, or how well it performs. And there are many effective ways to hydrate your skin for under $100. These are the 10 I recommend most frequently and have used myself, priced between $18 and $88:

What makes a moisturizer good, anyway? The main function is to hydrate your skin and prevent something called trans-epidermal water loss, or TEWL, which happens to all of us every single day because our skin exists on Earth, and over the course of the day, some of the water in our skin evaporates into the atmosphere.

If your skin is well hydrated, it can make the process of water loss slower. And sometimes the difference between your skin looking plump or dehydrated is just…the right moisturizer.

I loathe anything that leaves a film or pills when you put something else on top. None of these do that.

Most moisturizers contain a combination of things to pull water into your skin like hyaluronic acid and glycerin, and things to smooth its surface texture, like ceramides. Some contain occlusives like oils and butters to seal everything in and generally, the richer the cream, the more occlusives present.

These classic moisturizer ingredients exist at many different price and concentration levels. If what you’re looking for is moisture, and not necessarily additional functions, you really don’t need to spend an excessive sum.

I’ve heard lots of different philosophies on how much to spend on various steps of your skincare routine budget. If you’re only washing your face and putting on one thing after, you may want a moisturizer loaded with lots of different active ingredients. But if you’re using active ingredients elsewhere, it’s okay to have a moisturizer that just moisturizes. (Related: Could this be my version of Ina’s “store-bought is fine”? Maybe!)

Now you might think, what’s the difference between a moisturizer and a barrier cream? Not that much!

A barrier cream has been formulated to be that much more cosseting to your compromised complexion, which could mean more niacinamide, calming botanicals, nourishing oils and/or anti-inflammatory and strengthening compounds. Beyond moisturizer, if you will.

But there are plenty of moisturizers and barrier creams that contain overlapping ingredients, as well as things like peptides, vitamins, antioxidants, and acids.

Whatever additional benefits there are, the primary purpose of a moisturizer remains: get water in your skin and keep it there!

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Happy Weekend!

X

Jamie

Beauty people on Substack (myself included) gripe about the lack of a standalone beauty category, but we need only look to the New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal, who have never had a standalone section devoted to it, to see how long this industry, from lipstick to liposuction, has not been taken seriously.

And yet, now the plastic surgery discourse has become so mainstream that three “normal” people are sharing their facelift journeys in the Way We Live Now section in the New York Times Magazine, along with an incisive essay by Molly Jong-Fast about whether or not she can still be a feminist if she’s done that kind of work. (Her answer is yes, but just don’t lie about it.) In a video accompanying the piece, she says, “I wondered why we talk about plastic surgery the way we do, and why we don’t admit when it works, and why we only really talk about it when it doesn’t work.” Ding ding ding!

The facelift conversation and the think pieces that follow every public admission have historically been framed as conforming, as caring too much about what other people think, as a form of career advancement or societal acceptance. Are those valid points? Sure. And so are all the other many reasons someone chooses to have a facelift. One has to make sense of elective surgery.

That knee-jerk reaction used to come with assumptions that people will come out looking distorted, crazy, desperate. But…have you seen the work lately? Much of it is unbelievable, in a good way. And there isn’t always a moral handwringing from the patient perspective. In fact, less and less so.

Here’s what I hear most commonly from plastic surgeons about their patients’ reasons for why they want to get a procedure done:
They feel one way inside, and the outside doesn’t match.
They look tired.
They don’t recognize themselves in the mirror.
And more and more, they just say: they want to look better. No caveats.

Better is a subjective term, but that’s why not everyone goes to the same doctor. They see something they don’t like, they want to change it, and for the right price, they can.

If I had a dollar for every plastic surgeon who compared himself or herself to an artist, or is an actual artist with framed pieces in the waiting room to prove it, I’d have around $250. But I have to give credit where it’s due: they are artists. It’s sort of like a game of Operation, but instead of removing organs and trying not to hit the buzzer, they are playing Aphrodite, rearranging the face in millimeters while trying not to confuse the human brain, so that what an individual sees looking back at them in the mirror is balance and harmony, not unnatural distortion. Have you watched Dr.

Carl Truesdale’s videos? Seen Dr Sam Rizk’s noses, or Dr. Sean Alemi’s jawlines?

In California, it’s Dr. Ben Talei, Dr. Rami Batniji, Dr. Amir Karam, Dr. Sarmela Sunder, Dr. Babak Azizzadeh, Dr. Allen Foulad, Dr. Patrick Davis. In New York, I often recommend Dr. David Rosenberg, Dr. Andrew Timberlake, Dr. Melissa Doft, Dr. Haideh Hirmand, Dr. Stafford Broumand, and yes, Dr. Steven Levine, who is now as famous as his patients. I don’t know him, but Dr. Marc Zimbler did an amazing job on Rosie O’Donnell. Lately I keep hearing of people leaving New York because of the astronomical prices and seeing excellent surgeons elsewhere around the country: to Dr. Elizabeth Chance in Charlottesville, Virginia, Dr. Mike Nayak in St. Louis, to Dr. Kevin Cross in Philadelphia, Dr. Mark Hamilton in Indianapolis.

Given how pervasive the conversation is, it’s surprising to see the numbers: only 53,223 partial and full facelifts were done by members of the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS) last year. It’s a more than 30 percent increase from the year prior, but still infinitesimal in the population. By comparison, almost 10 million neurotoxin (Botox and its competitors) treatments were administered in 2024.

But no matter the procedure, the desire to optimize is nothing new, long predating our current peptide and longevity era. The cultural prevalence of plastic surgery feels like yet another goal post shift. It may not be fair, it may not be accessible, but damn, it does look good. Just don’t call the results ageless.

Happy Weekend!

X

Jamie

It’s not new, but the Vacation Whip SPF 30 has been my body sunscreen MVP yet again. It’s the most fun to use and easy to apply on the body, full stop. And in more SPF news, the filer bemotrizinol (BEMT) is finally available for use as of this week. Ultra Violette will be one of the first to market with a formula this fall, so stay tuned on that front.

BUSHY BROWS

I’ve been waiting five months to tell you about this one: a new brow pencil designed by eyebrow queen Kristie Streicher, who is the LA go-to for brushed-up, bushy brows.

The idea for her Backcombing Texture Stick was inspired by the dry shampoo and volumizing pastes Streicher uses on her own fine hair. She created the brow stick using hair products (including this one) as inspiration, and added plant-based fibers and colors to create soft volume and texture.

You apply the stick against the direction of the brow, backcombing so the fibers in the pencil attach to your hair and skin to create what Streicher calls “soft structure.” The other side of the pencil is a spooly brush that helps set the product with a waxy texture. It is a bit counter intuitive to use, but the method works.

The finished look is not harsh or overly defined, but full and subtly stronger. I’d also highly recommend getting this pencil sharpener because you do have to use it frequently.

BUFF NAILS
Bare nails have never been quite so controversial. Are they a symbol of privilege or an acquiescence to nature? A quiet luxury or an obnoxiously loud statement? It’s been a hot topic lately. I don’t have patience or ladylike fingers, so I generally keep my nails short and simple, only going to the pros when I absolutely need to.

I’ve recently tried the most high maintenance version of the naked nail: the Japanese Manicure at Darlings Beauty Lab on 28th Street. No polish, no gel, just lots of drilling and intensive clean-up. It sort of felt like the hand version of the Medi Pedi.

After the mechanical grooming session, a clay-based paste and beeswax-based powder from the Japanese brand P.Shine were applied and buffed into my nails.

The latter half of the process felt similar to the buff manicure you can get at pretty much any nail salon, except that the glossy finish lasted for a solid two weeks.

Just as my luminous nails were coming to the end of their glory, I met with Katia Beauchamp, the co-founder of Birchbox and former CEO of Victoria Beckham Beauty, about her new brand Buff Beauty. She likened her biweekly manicures to a bad relationship, one she was stopped from doing all the things she wanted to, albeit temporarily. She gave up the regular appointments when she had kids, and felt that there might be a space to explore the ease of the naked nail.

Enter Buff Beauty, a line with all the tools and products necessary to keep things beautifully bare. I tested everything in this set, and was most impressed by Horizon, a double-sided stick for pushing back cuticles and getting rid of some dead skin on the nail bed. I’ve never actually been able to do this with the more common wood “peach stick,” so this tool made it so I could actually give myself an at-home manicure. Everything in the line is priced between $7 and $20.

Other bare-ish nail notes: I’ve written about my love of Manucurist before, particularly its take on sheer nudes to suit a range of skin tones. When I do wear actual nail polish, it tends to be DazzleDry in this sheer taupe. The brand has overtaken the impatient market, as its formula truly dries in five minutes flat. Early in the polish-free care game was Bare Hands, a white leather roll-up kit with a glass file and cuticle oil. And as bond builders that have been so popular for hair continue to grow, some of their technology has been transferred to its keratin cousin, the nail. Most notable here is ePhD, which finally healed my mom’s gel-destroyed nails after five polish-free years.

THREE MORE THINGS:

1. My legs are never quite ready for prime time: I have bruises, cuts, bug bites, all manner of injury. I never know where most of them come from. It doesn’t bother me enough to do something about it, and I don’t want to ruin my clothes. *But* I tested Tinge this week, a new body makeup line, and was impressed by the cover-up and non-transfer of it all. Would definitely use for special occasions.

   

2. Tommy Buckett gave me a bob four years ago, and I haven’t looked back. He also cuts my husband’s hair, and recommended this cooling scalp serum to bring instant relief to his often-irritated scalp and the report is that it’s a godsend.

   

3. I’ve been trying to break in a pair of Momotaro jeans from Japan, and the rule I keep hearing is not to wash them for a year, which is kind of disgusting. I don’t want to use Febreeze, but I needed to do something to freshen them up. I’ve managed six months, only because of this fabric spray to keep things fresh. Rotating between Fresh Poplin and Verbena Santal.

   

Happy Weekend!

X

Jamie

Early on in my days as a beauty editor, I attended a health symposium at Donna Karan’s cavernous space in the West Village. Low couches, seed crackers, yoga bodies, Dr. Oz. It was a moment when the phrase “nut milk” seemed new, and though it was over 15 years ago, I still remember what happened when Dr. Mark Hyman put up an image of a Diet Coke can on a giant screen. There were hisses. Hundreds of them. I didn’t know that these (mostly) women in (mostly) gauzy linen dresses felt so strongly about soda.

Fast forward, and though we are more health conscious than ever, Diet Coke has made a cultural comeback in spite of its aspartame ways: There’s been a Diet Coke deluge of branded products, a “civil war” between Diet Coke and Coke Zero drinkers, the rise of the fridge cigarette, plus healthy attempts at cola-flavored prebiotic sodas and sparkling waters and a slushy that has created yet another line in SoHo. Now that alcohol has been branded as the true health killer (so much for those red wine antioxidants), the occasional soda doesn’t seem like such a terrible vice.

If you are craving the vibe but not the beverage itself, there are options in the beauty department. First we must acknowledge the dearly departed Dr. Peppers Lip Smackers. While there are lip substitutions—most notably a Pepsi Wild Cherry balm from Vacation—the way to get your cola-beauty fix for real is through perfume.

The link is already there: Colas contain a long list of aromatic compounds that lend themselves quite easily to perfume compositions, especially in this gourmand-forward era.

Rather than pure sweetness, the new cola perfumes smell effervescent, fresh, multifaceted. Scents where you can pick out the various herbal and citrus notes that make up that elusive cola recipe.

Borntostandout Cola Addict is both mellow and fizzy. It tickles the nose a bit when you first smell it. There’s a bracing lemon and…is that gummy candy? The sticky herbal warmth might connect to the rum and vanilla notes. This is not a perfume that smells like everything else, in a good way. It’s a gourmand on skin, for sure, but the kind that keeps you coming back for another curious whiff. If this can be called cola, it’s one that is dressed up for a fancy party, with a more sophisticated bent than pure pop.

Viktor & Rolf Bonbon Cola Fizz reads as much more citrusy, gingery and light. It feels carbonated somehow, with lots of watery ice and slight floralcy. I’m feeling this one on a boardwalk, on a roller coaster, wearing short shorts.

Both of these list cola accords, which are likely various combinations of cinnamon, lemon, and vanilla, plus additional spices and sugars. The real mystery is how they actually smell fizzy or foamy, perhaps from the use of aldehydes.

Our perfumes have never been more able to ignite our taste buds. Fragrance house Firmenich uses a class of materials it calls Smell-the-Taste, which blur the senses with mouthwatering olfactory compounds of ingredients like strawberry, raspberry, whipped cream and olive.

As the gourmand market evolves out of vanilla, caramel and pistachio, it’s likely that more unexpected references will arise in the perfume aisle.

For more beverage-inspired scents, very enthused about these two alcohol-inspired takes: Escentric Molecules Cologne One, meant to be like putting your nose to a gin-and-tonic, and L’Epoque Serotonin Spritz, a Euro-citrus meets watery musk possibly evoking the Aperol Spritz, my summer drink of choice.

Cheers, and Happy Weekend!

X

Jamie

Before arriving there, I went straight from the airport to La Posta Vecchia in Lazio, John Paul Getty’s one time villa, located just 30 minutes outside of Rome. It’s such a good seaside, low-key option for a night or two (especially with jet lag), with a casual archeological museum in the basement and ruins in the garden, a castle down the road, and a piano player installed for dinner. There, the amenities were by LabSolue, a brand that I’d only just became familiar with while doing research for this trip. The food is good, not amazing, but everything else—from the diamond-bottom pool to the art collection to the subdued, elegant atmosphere—was top notch.

Next hotel was the Corinthia in Rome, a former bank building that’s been redone with a modern interior atrium, hidden cocktail lounge, and basement spa with heated slabs to lie by the indoor pool and sauna. The location is perfect, close to everything but quiet, would highly recommend. On my last day, got to see all the mega suites, and each one had a marble bathtub to write home about.

The rooms at the Corinthia are stocked solely with Santa Maria Novella Melograno. It’s a scent that my husband bought when we were first dating, so I have a soft spot for it, even though it’s confusing. Melograno is the Italian word for pomegranate, but there is nothing fruity about this scent. It’s powdery, slightly woody, enough of a curiosity to keep you coming back for more. I definitely like it more on a man than a woman, but in this city, it just made sense to wear it full throttle—shampoo, conditioner, soap, lotion, bath salts, the works.

Even though it was almost 100 degrees, the perfumes that wafted through Rome were heavy hitters. Roses, ouds, leathers, a combination of all three. This applied to both tourists and locals, though the locals were easy to spot because the men wore linen suits, and the women soft, structured tailoring. I love the formality of this city.

Now for the shopping. Most every store I loved was concentrated on two streets, Via di Monserrato and Via della Penna, plus a few outliers near the Spanish Steps.

Via di Monserrato: Among the winding cobblestones sits Labsolue Perfume Laboratory. Tables of scents are organized by family: aromatic/herbal, flowers, resins, woods. Each perfume is named by its primary ingredient which removes a bit of mystery but does guide the nose. Each one had an upside-down funnel to sniff so you could really get in there. We were there for a LONG time. Got a hand-filled bottle of its 9 Vetiver by Fabrice Pellegrin, so dry, earthy, calm yet intense. I’m in such a vetiver moment right now.

Elsewhere on the street, got to visit Chez Dédé in person after years of stalking the IG, try on reimagined Turkish caftans at Soledad Twombly’s shop L’Archivio di Monserrato and velvet jackets with frog closures at Tre Sartre, plus heaps of gelato at Neve di Latte. A perfectly casual lunch at Caffè Perù. Fancy fish at Pierluigi. Just one street over, on Via del Pellegrino, is the cute coffee shop Barnum and several vintage stores.

Via della Penna: Was lured here by drinks in the garden at Hotel Locarno, but this tiny street near the Caravaggios in Santa Maria del Popolo holds a trove of boutique treasures: Hats at Patrizia Fabri, Thin separates and bathing suits at Laura Urbinati, and corset dresses at Atelier Bomba.

Near the Spanish Steps: Schostsal is on every Rome list for its piped pajamas, silk scarves, and the lively chatter with its proprietess , who is newly on Substack. After viewing my husband’s socks with horror, she threw a fresh pair into our bag. Much appreciated. Bought a taffeta top/jacket at Forte Forte that I basically haven’t taken off since we landed. Gelato at Fatamorgana. Coffee granita with cream at Vitti. Lunch at Settimio all’Arancio, where we had thr best pasta of the trip: spaghetti with datterino cream, a silky yellow tomato sauce made with date tomatoes and not much else: basil, salt, olive oil. I’ve since tried to recreate using sungold tomatoes and this recipe.

The other fragrance brand I was excited to dive into further was Laboratorio Olfattivo. I had seen a few of the scents at Nose Shop in Japan, but wanted to get into all of them. Every scent is displayed with closed fans you dramatically flip open to flutter in front of your face and inhale. My top three: the truly juicy and fresh blood orange Arcania Rosso, the lemony skin scent Need U, and the honeyed incense Nektar.

Happy Weekend!

X

Jamie

It’s easy to see why: Borgo Santo Pietro looks like Tuscany: The Movie. Rolling vineyards. Lavender plants popping up out of nowhere. Rows of manicured trees with just the right amount of wild landscape beneath them. An earthy-glamour-meets-English-farmhouse aesthetic. The scent of a herbal vanilla in the air. But it didn’t start out that way.

As the tale goes, Danish couple Jeanette and Claus Thottrup purchased the property 25 years ago, when deciding whether they should settle in Ibiza or Italy.

They began with a small hotel, in a village dating back to the year 1129. Eventually they started growing their own vegetables, making wine, cheese, honey, olive oil. Growing to 22 rooms. Eight years ago, they launched Seed to Skin, a skincare brand powered by regenerative farming and Jeanette’s background as a herbalist.

Every conversation I had with Jeanette and Claus revealed another venture. Cows who are done producing milk to make parmigiano reggiano retire nearby for a few years, until they wind up on the plate at the Michelin-starred restaurant on property. A yacht that sails around the Mediterranean all summer, picking up different passengers each week in Italy, France and Greece. A yearlong herbalism course. A partnership with a local professor to find professional musicians to play during dinner. A massive spa being built from the ground up.

This is a couple that knows how to LIVE. But they also know how to make sh*t happen.

You’ve likely heard the farm-to-face story before. But it is something else to see it in practice. Here’s the abbreviated version of the skincare process to give you an idea of what’s really happening in these here hills.

The roots of the brand are based on Jeanette’s background as an herbalist. “People divide the body,” she says. “But I wanted to use things that were great internally as natural medicine on the skin.” She first studied herbalism at Neal’s Yard in London after working as a fashion designer. Her interest deepened when trying to get pregnant with her now 20-year-old son, Vincent. Eventually, she started formulating products to calm the skin using calendula and hypericum (St. John’s wort), which came in handy for soothing baby rash.

Today, there are over 50 herbs grown at Borgo Santo Pietro. They go straight from the field to the Herb House, a two-story structure where ingredients like lemon balm, rosemary, lavender, echinacea, and calendula are dried, macerated, and distilled on site. The goal is to use everything that’s harvested within a year. Below, Jeanette shares more about why melissa, or lemon balm, holds a special place in her tool kit:

All of the herbs get turned into essential oils and hydrosols using steam distillation. Then, they are infused into base oils and plant waters that create the base of every Seed to Skin product. “I do believe that the beginning of efficacy for any skincare should start with the base and not what you drizzle in at the end,” she says. “To be able to grow the herbs and know the soil health and the provenance is so important.”

During the trip, our group, which included beauty legends and Kelly Atterton and members of the Florence-based Seed to Skin team, watched as rosemary essential oil was made while sipping hot water infused with rosemary. Jeanette shared that it’s the most underrated herb for its ability to cool and energize the body.

Just a few steps away in the local village is the lab. Here, Jeannette collaborates with cosmetic scientist Dr. Anna Buonocore to build formulas using the bases made on site and active ingredients that cannot be sourced on property, from peptides, probiotics, manuka honey and marine ferments. Soon, these bases might take a detour to the fermentation lab, also in town, where Jeanette is experimenting with fermenting the activated oils to shrink the molecules and make them more bioavailable to the skin.

A note on the formulas: It has become so common to see the same gold standard ingredients in every single product and line: retinol, vitamin C, peptides, hyaluronic acid, you know the list. And for good reason! They’re wonderful, they’re proven, yay. But not every product has to function with the standard bearers. These are a good example of that.

Notably, Seed to Skin does not use consumer perception studies, because having 98 percent of users tell you they feel hydrated after using a moisturizer doesn’t hit the way it used to. But when production is finished, they do perform clinical tests on entire day or night routines as opposed to one finished product or ingredient. For example, to study heavy-duty moisturizers The Light Source and The Night Force, they did a 28-day study on women ages 50-65, who were also using its cleansers and toners as part of the prescribed routine. This is highly unusual, and perhaps works especially well here because the brand is largely available via spas, where such routines are put into practice and recommended as a whole.

Jeanette and Klaus have been slowly buying the buildings in the local village and refurbishing them. They opened an alimentari, or market, that sells produce from the farm and prepared foods. A pizza restaurant opened this week. A local hotel is coming. Many of the staff live there.

I kept finding myself muttering about how impressive it all was, and not just because it’s on the grounds of a stunning hotel. In fact, Jeanette shared that the hotel makes a lot of the business make sense. Everything flows through it, and now it’s fruits are reaching a much greater audience because of the skin care.

My takeaway is that it’s not just about the plants. It’s the whole system around them. The people, the practices, the community. That’s what you’re buying into. This is skincare for people who want to use something that works in harmony with your skin. And while I highly recommend going to Borgo Santo Pietro if you can, you do not have to set foot on the soil to use its spoils.

Here’s what I’m loving from the line:

Next week, I’ll share more about my Roman holiday, including scent discoveries, my two favorite shopping streets, and the most revelatory pasta dish of the trip.

Happy Weekend!

X

Jamie

Every brand and retailer has their own rules and wavy lines.
It’s up to the companies to set their own standards, and it’s up to the consumer to choose between them, often with a great deal of confusion.

The win of the clean beauty conversation is that there is more transparency across the board. Percentages are spelled out, clinicals are touted, sourcing is explained. It’s never been easier to find out if something is fragrance-free, gluten-free, cruelty-free, bad-energy free (kidding on the last one, sort of). Most modern formulas are made without harmful classes of ingredients like endocrine disruptors. There are better alternatives for sulfates. Preservation systems have gotten more sophisticated.

But clean beauty isn’t a raison d’être anymore in part because…

Read more

But the specific bags that are suitable for various beauty categories and outings deserve their own examination, so I’m breaking down the 10 types of travel beauty bags to consider. Most importantly:

SHAPE, SIZE + FIRMNESS MATTER
Even though I have A LOT of bag options for beauty products, I go back to the same ones again and again. In addition to what can properly fit your belongings, the shape of the bag itself matters. I want things that are sturdy enough to safely hold precious serums and creams but with enough give to be squeezed into a suitcase, because hard leather is hard to pack.

THE 10 TRAVEL BEAUTY BAG TYPES:

1. In-Flight Skincare: Compact + Chubby This is when I use my one-use sample packets, individually-wrapped wipes, the cutest set of minis ever, plus a generous-yet-micro-size of micellar water. A tiny bag with clown car energy is what works here. This set comes with a puffy white pouch that is my current flight bag, but I’ve also used these neoprene bottle protectors to pack a lot into a little space.

   

2. In-Flight Wellness: Clear + Flat Eye patches, individually wrapped packets of magnesium and vitamins, supplements, toothbrush & toothpaste. If it’s an overnight flight, I’ll take out just the AM/PM days I need from this pill case as well.

   

3. Supplements + Medication: Small + Organized I’ve tried so many pill cases, and there are very few that can fit more than six large pills. This one has a very slim profile, and it fits all of the many, many, many things I am taking. Also a huge fan of Cadence, which makes SUCH smart systems for travel.

   

   The company just came out with a pill insert for its capsules, which fits perfectly into its clear parcels.

   

4. Skincare: Vertical + Structured I want my tiny travel skincare to be standing at attention, all the better if I can line up the steps in order. This case has a stay-cold lining and is quite firm but not too deep, so it holds everything in place. There are pockets on either side so I can put things like sample pouches, tweezers, etc.

5. Makeup: Loose + Light Because I’m always maximizing for space, I gravitate to low profile here. I want them to be as small as possible yet able to fit what I want to bring. The Prada bags are light, light, light but this, this and this achieve the same effect.

   Loose + light makeup bags: Prada, cherries, double decker, and polka dots.

6. During the Day: Pencil Case A long, slim case is my preferred way to carry day-to-day essentials. Lately, it’s Lash Dry Shampoo, brow pencil, eyeliner, concealer, a multi-use color for lips, cheeks and eyes, plus rubber bands, perfume samples, and a tiny pill case to stack headache medicine. The one pictured above is no longer available, but I also rotate in this olive green leather case and this white patent one.

7. Hair & Body: Soft + Roomy No matter what, I always travel with hair oil and a mini flat iron (mine is discontinued, but this seems similar). If a trip is over a week, I’m bringing shampoo, conditioner, a body plane for ad-hoc lymphatic drainage, and an all-purpose oil that I can use on hair and body in a generously-sized bag in shearling or terry cloth that I can squish into my suitcase.

   

8. SPF: Casual + Colorful I just can’t be too precious about these as they will inevitably get stains. Colorful nylon in a flexible shape allows for large sprays and standup bottles.

   

9. Overall MVP Okay, I’ll admit, this is on the harder side. But it’s so well-designed and utilitarian, and its shape somehow slots nicely in a suitcase. This two-piece set made with sleek vegan leather works so well because it’s not too deep. There is a taller outer case and a smaller, clear, flexible case that nests inside. I can stand up all my travel skincare in the larger case, which has elastic bands at the top that perfectly fit a toothbrush, nail clippers, and a razor, the types of things I otherwise would be searching for in a bottomless bag. I use the clear case for makeup or sometimes take it on its own.

   

10. Doubles as a Clutch These are so cute it’s hard to believe they are made for skincare. This tiny black handle bag has gone to many an evening dinner, and has such solid travel-size skincare inside.
    

    Lendava The Mini Set
    

    And this vegan leather pouch in such a fun summery blue is filled with multifunctional serums I also happen to love.

Happy Weekend!

X

Jamie

Before we get there, a moment for the basics: There is no hygiene habit that is more reinforced than brushing twice a day.

When a beauty brand is trying to form (force?) a new routine, everything from using an eye serum to an at-home laser, the tooth comparison is invoked again and again.

It goes something like this: If you just spend X minutes a week doing X NEW THING, with the same consistency as you brush your teeth, then X (insert dream solution here). I’ve heard it for facial sculpting devices, electrolyte powders, dry brushing, the list goes on…

But with teeth, the habit has already been formed. So it’s surprising that it’s taken this long to overhaul the product category. It’s getting harder and harder to identify true whitespaces in beauty. Could this be the final frontier?

The drugstore has long been the go-to for all things oral health (Arm & Hammer Baking Soda Toothpaste forevah), but like every other category, it has been lux-ified and clean-ified, from products that could easily be confused for skincare, and formulas that have been stripped of artificial colors, flavors, and overly foamy textures.

I’m interested in testing the drops but as for what I actually use day in and day out:

The dentist’s office has also gotten a makeover. Maybe you would like to know if your gums are receding or what your saliva has to share? If so, Smile House by Dr. Jonathan B. Levine in TriBeCa has something to meet the moment: Mouth Mapping.

I got my mouth “mapped” a few months ago, an experience that initially felt more like entering a hotel lounge than a dental office. That is, until I stood for a 360 degree head scan and got to see a picture of my skull for the first time.

In addition to medical and aesthetic dental care (minus root canals), Smile House patients can choose to receive a detailed picture of what’s really going on behind the lips. “The goal is to help people understand how their mouth and smile impact their long term overall health,” says Cody Levine, who is Dr. Levine’s son. (The entire family, plus star patient Lenny Kravitz, started the non-profit Glo Good Foundation. Cody, his brother Julian, and Kravitz are also behind the dental brand Twice.)

The marquee Mouth Mapping appointment includes the following diagnostic pillars:

1. Aesthetic - An evaluation of tooth position and symmetry

2. Structure - 3-D imaging to examine bone health, alignment and size of the airway

3. Function - A heat map of your mouth shows your bite, plus potential grinding patterns and clenching pressure

4. Biology - Oral cancer screening and a saliva test to determine risk profiles for several heart and brain conditions

The diagnostics determined that I have been living in a dental desert, due to low salivary pH and glucose, and poor nitric oxide levels. The fix: Twice daily swishes of the Twice Immunity Rinse meant to help increase saliva production.

In addition to that, and learning I need to raise my tongue posture to the roof of my mouth to keep airways open and avoid muscle stress, the most valuable piece of information I got came not from the data but the practicalities:

I’m embarrassed to say I didn’t know how to properly use an electric toothbrush. Apparently it’s all about the slide (electric slide!). I was instructed to glide the electric toothbrush slowly at a 45 degree angle along the gum line instead of brushing in circles, which can aggravate the gums and lead to recession, something I was definitely guilty of doing to excess.

There is more to say about the absolute onslaught of information we are being given with all of these diagnostic tools, but I do appreciate that the treatment creates a plan that can be enacted in the same space.

We spend so much time focused on what we can see—skin, teeth, etc. But I predict aesthetic treatments of the future, dental and otherwise, will seek to manipulate or build up the bone. Until then…

Happy Weekend!

X

Jamie

1. What’s one makeup product for someone who doesn’t wear makeup?
   
   I have a lot of women in my life who don’t wear makeup. It’s just not their thing. They’re not interested. But several of them have, over the last few years, found their way to asking something along the lines of this:

If you read these volumes regularly, the next items will not be a surprise to you, as I’ve mentioned them when talking about 5pm makeup, weekday makeup, and faking a facial glow.

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The Fragrance Foundation Awards are the Oscars of the perfume industry or, as put it: fragrance prom. Last night, presenters included Dwayne Wade, , and Kelsea Ballerini, and one of our own, beauty editor Julee Wilson! Every year there are more attendees (this year it was over 1,000). Dwayne Wade even stayed through the whole ceremony. The sentiments shared on stage were similar—the importance of fragrance as identity, the way it can communicate without saying a word—but the stories all have their own flavor. The Indie Fragrance of the Year was awarded to one of my favorite new scents Zephirine, and I was proud to be nominated for this piece on gardenia perfumes.

Miu Miu Miutine was a big winner last night (the Emma Corrin campaign, referencing the brand’s book club, was SO good), as was its perfumer Dominique Ropion. His famed Frederic Malle creation Portrait of a Lady was inducted into the Fragrance Hall of Fame, and he also worked on another Fragrance of the Year winner, Tom Ford Oud Voyager.

Honorine Blanc received the Lifetime Achievement award, and seeing the avalanche of blockbusters she has created—from Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium to Valentino Donna Born in Roma to Aerin Lauder Mediterranean Honeysuckle—was overwhelming and so impressive in its entirety.

Michelle Pfeiffer honored Giorgio Armani, and Iman honored Valentino, echoing his quote that “I love beauty. It’s not my fault.” Same, same.

Earlier this week, Allergan Aesthetics convened editors to discuss its trend report What Consumers Really Want. (surely you subscribe to her Substack How Not to F*ck Up Your Face?) moderated a panel with Dr. Evan Rieder, Shawna Chrisman, NP, Dr. Steven Dayan, Dr. Jeannette Black and Dr. Anthony Rossi. Few things that stood out:

• The biggest shift, Val noted, was the notion that patients have moved from hesitation about doing aesthetic treatments to intention. This may not seem surprising but it was not so long ago that there was a lot of judgement and trepidation around the idea of “getting work done.”

• Almost 20 percent of disposable income is spent on beauty and aesthetic treatments!!!

• Dr. Black moved her practice from Beverly Hills to New York City, and is often asked about the difference between the two patient populations. She said it’s a common question, but with social media, the regional differences among East Coast, West Coast, Texas, Europe, etc. are becoming narrower and narrower.

• Dr. Dayan said that he is now getting patients recommended to him via AI, and they are coming to his office in Chicago with printouts of what a nose job from him would look like (and it’s not far off, he admitted!). Rather than being disturbed, he was encouraged that some AI models are prioritizing published work from journals over TikTok views. Dr. Haideh Hirmand posted this week about the exact same thing.

  

Speaking of energy, Trinny Woodall has it in spades. On the day I saw her, she spent the morning telling Today show anchors to select a lip liner that’s one shade darker than your nipples, then she washed my face in the bathroom of the Crosby Street Hotel while chatting about the desire to be “full of f*cking energy” over chasing youth:

We also touched on azelaic acid, which I happen to love because I am sensitive to vitamin C and it carries some of the same brightening properties but works differently. Azelaic acid is available by prescription, but I’m seeing it more and more in over-the-counter products, including Trinny London Naked Ambition serum.

Happy Weekend!

X

Jamie

Let’s start with an easy one: You’re going to wear sunscreen this summer, and you’re going to like it. Especially if you go with one of these formulas. The goal is: easy to rub in, easy to take with you, and at least SPF 30 or higher.

How cute are these minis? One is in my bag or my pocket at all times. The Ultra Violette Mini Mate Future Screen SPF 50 is the tiniest of the bunch and easy to refill.

The Sulwhasoo UV Wise On-The-Go Sun Cushion is a cushion compact that’s just sunscreen, no tint at all. So smart! And it has a mirrored interior and exterior. It’s been sold out, but set to come back very shortly.

The Nature Republic California Aloe Fresh Powdery Sun Stick has the best curve out there, hugging to facial contours for complete coverage. It’s waterproof, it’s so easy to apply. It’s from Korea, but you can get it here (recommend the three-pack).

Korres Mineral Milk SPF 50 has been my go-to post-yoga, and the Tatcha The Milky Sunscreen…

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Summer used to be a quiet time in the fragrance industry. The big tentpole perfumes got fall launches to coincide with back-to-school shopping, cashmere sweaters, and investment winter coats. But we are no longer centered on signature scents or the calendar. Our noses take us somewhere new every day.

My mind immediately goes to beachy, warm, coconut-y solar fragrances this time of year. They’re comforting, pretty, a little sexy.

Four fantastic solars: Chambre 52 Soleil Tonka, Creed Virgin Island Water, LoveShackFancy Love on the Beach, Tom Ford Soleil Blanc.

I love a breezy oceanic scent like Glossier You Soie or the seaweed breeze of L’Artisan Parfumeur Un Air de Bretagne as well.

Glossier You Soie, L’Artisan Parfumeur Un Air de Bretagne

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But what’s notable about right now is that there are also several seasonal perfumes highlighting more obscure references, from mango to olive to gin an…

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ANOTHER NEW HABIT: It’s not often that the beauty industry and religion intersect in a news story, but we have one here: Once upon a time, Scott Vincent Borba had an eponymous line of “drinkable skincare” that included vitamin-infused gummy bears that were way ahead of their time (and very delicious). He sold over a million bottles of supposedly-skin-firming “Borba Water,” and went on to co…

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Why aren’t head spas more popular in the US? Is it because we associate getting our heads checked with a therapist and our hair at salons only?

In the past few years, growth-focused clinics like Harklinikken and a seemingly endless parade of scalp scrubs and tonics have entered the market. Dermatologists offer PRP and prescriptions, supplements abound, and light devices for the scalp are giving new meaning to the term redhead. Below, trichologist Shab Caspara shares her protocol and at-home musts, including two such lasers.

There are a lot of proactive programs to explore here, but we are missing out on the brain-massaging joy of the head spa!

I recently returned to Japan for the second time, and going to a head spa was at the top of my list (See Top Beauty Musts in Japan, Part 1 and Part 2, plus this story on incense from my last trip.)

The one place that came up again and again in my research was Head Spa Kuu. The aesthetic is more monochrome cocoon than blowdry bar, and the minimum time for an appointment is 90 minutes, with most treatments going for two hours. Here’s what made it so special:

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When people claim to only bring one skincare product when they travel, I’m skeptical. But keep hearing that Bonjout Le Balm holds such powers. Finally met founder and pharmacist Natacha Bonjout this week, and can understand why her hero has built such a devoted following: It’s meant to be like “a bandage for the skin,” a waterless salve that works on the skin barrier with lipids, ceramides, and amino acids. And love that her follow-up product La Cream has an entirely different ingredient deck built with grape water and peptides. Ready to dive in to both.

Also so happy to see Francisco Costa on a visit to his gorgeous new Costa Brazil gallery at Hudson Yards. Walk by and it could easily be mistaken for a furniture gallery, as it contains several low, neutral pieces from his apartment designed with Alexander May. Luckily it houses the entire collection, which utilizes Amazonian botanicals.

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First, Birkenstock announced a nail polish line, part of its Care Essentials line for feet and body. Weirdly this makes sense. Recent 1774 Birkenstock collaborators include Etro and Danielle Frankel, and previous collections have been done with Manolo Blahnik and Dior. This is not a bare-nails-only crowd.

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You’ve heard the phrase “the French face,” the term for the elongated zone from forehead to décolletage? It conjures an image of a woman, likely in Paris, diligently applying facial serum from her hairline all the way down to her bra line. And, well, she may have a point. Our necks and chest receive much of the same UV damage as our face, so why not treat them with antioxidants and peptides and SPF accordingly?

But what about injectables? The topic came up this week at a panel discussion with aesthetic physician Dr. Kate Goldie and bestselling author, birthFUND founder, and once-upon-a-time beauty editor Elaine Welteroth.

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If line culture makes you shudder, you may still concede a few minutes of your time waiting in a big dumb line for someone you love. That’s exactly how I found myself last month, on a quest to see a well-beyond life-size animatronic dog, complete with soft breathing and a full metal vest.

The 43-foot dachsund is laying on the ground floor of Tamburins in Japan. It is the South Korean brand’s 14th store, in Tokyo’s Daikanyama neighborhood. When I added it to our itinerary, I had no clue what the store sold, so it was curious to learn that this canine was connected to a fragrance brand. For humans.

Tamburins is owned by the same parent company as Gentle Monster. The eyeglass brand’s boutiques have become global destinations (have you seen those giant blinking robot heads in your friend’s recent Japan highlights carousel? That’s theirs). It’s futuris…

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First, so excited Fat Mascara is back. Host Jessica Matlin spoke with Andrea Lavinthal on a recent episode about the definition of a Greenwich Mom™️, Cindy Crawford’s morning routine and the science-loving beauty editors they lovingly call the Nerd Herd (proud member over here!). During their conversation, the plastic surgery procedure combo known as the “mommy makeover” came up, as it often has with friends of mine.

Those who have had a mommy makeover, usually a breast lift and /or augmentation plus a tummy tuck, often report how easy it was to recover from the former, and how intense it was to recover from the latter. It makes sense, because lifting the breast and/or inserting an implant does not impact other parts of the body the same way a stomach-related procedure does. When operating in an …

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