My 8 Most Repurchased Products As A 40-Year-Old Who Didn’t Know SQUAT About Makeup And Skincare
by Carolyn Firestone
Remember being 19 and getting frozen in a CVS shampoo aisle not knowing what in the name of Garnier to throw into your cart?
Eventually, you were so flustered, you’d wind up walking away with some sad combo of lemon verbena wash and coco-vanilla conditioner that had you smelling like the entrance of a Yankee Candle store.
Well, that’s been me, facing every, single beauty decision in all my 40 years of life.
There were just too many products. Too many promises. And knowing which ones might actually solve the myriad problems that my skin and hair presented felt like it was gonna be one of life’s elusive mysteries.
And then I discovered The Candidly. True story. First as a reader, then much later as a writer. And reading articles like THIS and THIS, where real women my own age were talking about products that genuinely tackle OUR issues, felt like an answer to my prayers.
Ever since then, I have been a hound for trying new products that finally came from a trusted source. And what I can tell you is that these 8 specific things have changed my life. My skin. My hair. My feelings about the dysphoric journey that is aging.
Each of these 7 products has ended my search in their respective categories.
And I’m not being hyperbolic when I say that I’ll be buying all of them until the end of my days, because without them, I pretty much look like I’ve already met that end. Ok, maybe a little hyperbolic. But you get the point.
Without further ado, these 7 products are my ride or die.
1. True botanicals Phyto-Retinol Sleep Serum
Starting off with a more recent discovery, because it’s only more recently in life have I been desperate for something that will add firmness and lift back into my skin. And this formula from True Botanicals has been the most powerful (and natural!) alternative to retinol, which always leaves me stripped and peeling. It smooths fine lines like the daily use of a flat iron and simultaneously adds the softest glow. Imagine if the sun itself rewound time instead of aging you. That’s what this serum feels like.
True Botanicals actually gave us a code for this one, too: use THECANDIDLY18 to get 18% off.
Price: $90
2. Embryolisse Lait-Crème Fluide
Leave it to this famous “French pharmacy” brand to nail the most gorgeous smelling, deeply quenching body lotion I’ve ever swept into my skin. I say “swept” because that’s really all it takes for it to beautifully absorb and restore my skin’s desert-like surface into supple dewiness. And it does so without an ounce of stickiness which I absolutely cannot stand.
Price: $35
3. Paula's Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant
I remember being warned amidst all my young adult breakouts that my pores were going to be left large and looming, but it wasn’t until my skin started to age that I experienced the gutting magnitude of some seriously sagging pores. This product has been nothing short of life-changing in minimizing the appearance of those pores and quite frankly, sloughing off the dead skin and debris that exacerbate them.
And I know people sleep on toners, because they seem “extra” and like they might not really do anything. But I’m not sure there’s an item in my bathroom that doesn’t give me more visible results than this exfoliant. Use it just a few times a week, and it keeps things squeaky clean, clear, and smooth.
And we also happen to have a Dermstore code that gets you 15% off: Use CANDIDLY.
Price: $35
4. Ilia Skin Rewind Complexion Stick
Listen, if you are someone who’s blessed with a clear, relatively taut complexion, you can probably go for the dewy, glowy, water-thin foundations that illuminate your already great skin. But if you have porous, oily, or more mature skin, many of those products can be like shining a big wet spotlight on all those very issues. And no, powder is NOT the answer. Powder ages us 17 years.
But THIS brand new discovery from Ilia is something else. Something special. It’s so astonishingly life-changing, precisely because it doesn’t have either that powdery dry or glaringly shiny finish, and it does things to lift the skin and blur lines and pores that I’ve never seen before. Brands tend to call way too many things these days “instant filler” and “Botox in a tube,” but I’ve actually had to bite my tongue not to use these very terms when describing this foundation. It’s also so easy to apply, which I do with several upward swipes, followed by blending with THIS brush. The results are so seamless, I honestly couldn’t wait to write about it.
Price: $48
5. Vegamour GRO+ Advanced Hair Serum
I actually wrote an entire article about hair loss after noticing an insane amount of my own hair rapidly shedding in the shower, in my brush, on my pillowcase. In desperation, I got the most “harmless” form of hair extensions and when they were removed, my hair was so thin and wispy I couldn’t grip it into a pony tail. I bought Vegamour’s clean, holistic hair serum, feeling past hope, and within a month noticed my hair was staying put during washes. My pillowcases were clear. Everything started to grow. I was never without it except once when traveling. I stopped using it for a month, and by the time I got home, my hair was back to shedding. In short, this is one I do not plan to live without.
Price: Starting at $59
6. Merit Flush Balm
Almost all powder blush has the same issue of looking cakey and grandmotherly, but a lot of cream formulas finish sort of streaky and do that thing of highlighting imperfections (of which there are many) on my cheeks. This one is creamy and gives you that healthful, lit from within glow, but without any glitter. I was inspired to get it in Rouge after reading THIS article about how French ladies do their makeup, but I also use Stockholm for the softest, natural pink flush.
Price: $30
7. Furtuna Skin Replenishing Balm
You’ve heard me rattle on about “oily this” and “big pores that,” but I’m actually very easily dried out and have struggled to find any moisturizer alone that hydrates my skin on a truly vivid level. This almost inexplicable face balm has changed all of that. I use it after any serums and creams, and it genuinely feels like it’s sealing everything in. My skin is replenished. Dewy. Lovely. I will say straight out, the price is not easy. But like its mermaid blue color, the balm is sort of magical. And it lasts longer than anything else on my shelf … by leaps! I need only a pea-size daily, and the difference it makes has been massive enough to be well worth it. That said, we did ask Furtuna for a code to soften the blow, and they came through big time.
Use the code CANDIDLY20 to get 20% off.
Price: $105 - $225
8. Finding Ferdinand Lip Gloss
There are so many lip pencils and stains and oils and butters and balms and 4-step routines out there. But all I really want is one single thing I can swipe on that gives me that gorgeous, glossy, my-lips-but-better look. I’d never even heard of Finding Ferdinand. Their packaging didn’t wow me. But the finish I saw in photos of their lip products and the promise of a clean, non-sticky formula piqued my interest. And OH MY GOD, let me just tell you both their almost sheer, hydrating balm and THIS gloss felt like hitting the holy grail. I don’t use them together. Nope. The balm, which I got in Mon Cheri, is great for a “no makeup” makeup look. And the gloss, which I got in Thorn, is the most glorious, natural, earthy but alive tinge of healthful glowiness that looks perfect all by its lonesome every single day and night.
Price: $26
Carolyn is the Managing Editor of The Candidly. Her favorite thing to do is to write about her favorite things, especially when they have even the slightest chance of making someone else’s something (mood, relationship, travel plans, or toiletry kit) a little better. You can find more of her articles here.
At The Candidly, we try a lot of stuff so you don’t have to. We only recommend things we truly love, and that we think you’ll love, too. All products are chosen independently by our creative team, and all details reflect the price and availability of products at the time of publication. If you buy something we link to, The Candidly may earn a commission.
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