My Top Things of The Year
6 products & 2 thoughts coming with me to 2024
Hello and Happy 2024! I hope you all found some way to relax and enjoy the lost week that is the week between Christmas and New Years Eve.
I love reading people’s top products of the year, in/out predictions and other end of year roundups. While there were a few standout products I discovered (or reignited my love for) in 2023, I found myself reflecting more on lessons and practices that have changed something about the way I treat skin, both my own and others. In fact, if I had to pick favorites, my top 2 things aren’t really products at all.
I also asked my Instagram followers the same question (“tell me your top things of the year!”), opening up the criteria to be literally anything – new products, old products you can’t quit, a routine change, new technique or tip that changed the game.
Some recurring products and trends I noticed from your responses:
Naturium continues to be killing it. The products, the price point, the user experience. Their Multi-Peptide Moisturizer is an old favorite, but their new serum counterpart seems to be giving it a run for its money.
A new brand, Prequel, hails from the same incubator as Naturium and is already making a name for itself. The Gleanser is a glycerin-based face and body cleanser that I implore you to try as a hand soap. Thank me later. They also are responsible for the single greatest mister I’ve ever used.
The people love Dieux. The people are mixed on whether it’s expensive or affordable, but they are in agreement that it’s worth the hype. Instant Angel has the biggest fan base, though I must admit I am finding the newer, Air Angel, much more up my alley.
Activist Manuka Honey Mask: you need to try it to believe it. Yes, it is a sticky, single (exceptionally pure and potent) ingredient, but no it’s not the same as the manuka you buy at the grocery store.
Thousands of new product launches, but still nothing could come for Tatcha’s Indigo Overnight Repair Serum in Cream. It was my top product of the year in 2021 and I continue to use it regularly, as do so many of you. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
Do I need to try Eminence again? I used to really like this exfoliant, but compelling cases were made for this cleanser and this essence. It was the only brand mentioned that I don’t currently own/use.
Learning when to outsource. From botox and professional dermaplaning to prescription retinoids and Spironolactone, we realized we can’t (and don’t need to) be the experts about this skin we live in. We also realized it’s okay to “take shortcuts” aka the joy of press-on nails.
Our skin is craving some TLC. Almost every single product mentioned was something in the hydrating/moisturizing/repairing category. Even the hair products! We loved watery and thin serums as well as thick and goopy ones. We particularly loved this pre-shampoo hair oil and this post-shampoo mask.
My Top Things of 2023: Products, Reflections, Lessons & Ideas!
Activist Manuka Honey Mask. Shocker! It’s a gentle cleanser! It’s a spot treatment! It’s a mask! It’s a hydrating, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, regenerative aluminum tube of magic goo. I slather on a generous layer almost every morning while I drink my coffee before rinsing off with a drop of gel cleanser.
Bioeffect Eye Serum. I call this the Bioeffect Gateway Drug because it’s the easiest way to understand the power of their proprietary growth factors. Watch them lift your crepey lids and smooth your crows feet in just a few weeks.
Crown Affair Dry Shampoo Powder. A perfect product with tragically bad packaging that still isn’t enough to deter me (or so many of you) from using it. It’s that good. Just don’t remove the plastic seal covering the holes to dispense powder. Instead, poke a few holes through yourself so you can shake out a small amount at a time.
Tok Beauty Eyes That Tok Mascara. I was sent this in PR and have since purchased 3. The brush is perfect for long, natural-looking, separated lashes and has never smudged on me. I wear with this primer.
Shiseido SPF Stick. This 3 in. x 1 in. stick is featured in pretty much every newsletter and it’s not because I’m paid by Shiseido (I wish! Call me!), but because it is a superior product for a universal need. It’s also not at all new, or even new to me, but this year is the year I finally bought one for every purse and pouch so that I have no excuse to reapply, even if I’m rushing out the door or wearing makeup.
Naturium Skin Renewing Retinol Body Lotion. The first time I finally got to use this $25 lotion, I immediately understood why it’s always sold out. For starters, it’s huge and $25 (it’s now available even-huger for only $44!) It uses encapsulated retinol for much less-irritating delivery without compromising on efficacy. It absorbs beautifully, leaving no residue or smell. Did I mention it’s a $25 body product with retinol?
Treat My Skin How I Treat Others. I give skincare advice for a living. Not to brag, but I’m quite good at it. Despite this, I’m still a human, which means it is so much easier to give advice than to follow your own. Over the summer, I had 2 G I A N T pimples behind my left ear that I couldn’t get rid of. As a seasoned eyeglasses wearer, I’m familiar with these types of things and usually am able to clear up glasses-related breakouts by cleaning my glasses with some alcohol and maybe a little spot treatment. But that wasn’t working for these monsters. For weeks, I was frustrated until I realized that I needed to start addressing my skincare concerns like I would with a client. Literally asking myself, what would I tell someone else to do? What questions would I ask to get to the root of the problem? What signs would I look to for an answer? With stubborn breakouts, in addition to products, I look at lifestyle. At climate. At technique. In this case, what tipped me off was that the breakouts were always in the exact same spot. It was summer, which meant I was wearing a lot of sunscreen. Everyday I was reminding clients to be really thorough with their cleansing, encouraging skeptics to double cleanse in order to really break their excess oil, sweat, makeup and sunscreen. For breakouts near the hairline, I remind people to be thorough with rinsing out hair products. So I took my own advice and was extra mindful to use my oil cleanser behind my ears and not make the back of my head an afterthought. I paid attention to make sure I was rinsing my whole hairline, not just the one framing my face. And you know what? Those suckers were gone in a few days.
Figure Out How to Make Your Routine Enjoyable. I genuinely think buying a bluetooth shower speaker has improved my skin, body and hair. Why? Because do you know how much fun a shower speaker is?! Do you know that a shower speaker has the power to get you off the couch, into the shower to actually spend some meaningful time with all your body washes and scrubbers and hair masks and body oils? It makes me want to spend a full 60 seconds washing my face (with tepid water, not directly hitting my face) and lather my shampoo and gently comb out my conditioner and exfoliate AND shave. It forces me to apply post-shower products so I can finish listening to the 1989 vault tracks. It makes me look forward to my routine in a new way and frankly, it’s fun as hell.
Figuring out how to make your routine something you actually want to do is the best way to make sure you actually do it. It’s the key to consistency which is the key to results. What’s preventing you from using your products or devices? Does water running down your arms make you dread washing your face? Buy some wristbands. Anxious about dirty washcloths? Use Clean Skin Club. I’ve been exclusively listening to Britney Spears’ audiobook while I use my LED. Is that the most efficient way to finish the book? No, but it makes those minutes go by much faster and feels like I’m being doubly productive.
My friend Sam is the one who really reinforced this idea for me. The Medicube is an incredibly popular skincare device from Korea that has been blowing up on TikTok the past couple of months. Essentially, it purports to create temporary channels in the skin using “electroporation” technology that drives product deeper, increasing absorption. It’s won many awards, has some convincing clinicals, I know people who think it’s the next big thing and more that think it’s a waste, but none of this is the point. The point is that I couldn’t find the motivation or time to use it, so I sent it to Sam and she sent me the text below.
What can you do to make your routine something you want to do? Let me know in the comments.
Some discount codes for you:
Naturium: JOLDEF15 for 15% off
Experiment: JOLIE10 for 10% off
Crown Affair: JOLIE15 for 15% off
Ställe Studios: HOTLINESKIN for 15% off
xx,
Jolie