New York - September 26, 2003

DailyCandy's Best in Beauty

DailyCandy's Favorite Beauty Products

Some might call you a drugstore junkie. You prefer to think of yourself as, well, experimental. After all, with lord-knows-how-many beauty magazines filled with lord-knows-how-many pages touting the miracle benefits of lord-knows-how-many products, it’s hard not to get sucked in.

How’s the average person to know? We’ve weeded through it all to present you with DailyCandy’s Best in Beauty: a peek into the beauty insider’s medicine cabinet.

Skin
Forget everything you ever learned about using oil on your face. If you find the right kind, oil — instead of moisturizer — can keep all skin types pimple-free and glowing. Our two favorites: Decleor’s Aromessence Iris (especially great for women in their late 20s to early 30s who want to combat the initial signs of aging) and Susan Ciminelli’s Sensitive Skin Formula Essential Oil, which contains thyme, peppermint, rosemary, and lavender (good for tightening pores and evening out skin tone).

Chantecaille’s Pure Rosewater is a godsend for reviving tired skin (in the office, on a plane); the miracle spritz soothes the senses (stick it in the fridge for hot, sticky days) and even calms screaming babies.

All right. Time to clean up with a classic: Erno Laszlo’s Black Sea Mud Soap.

Need to get even cleaner? Shiseido’s Pureness line rocks. Smells super fresh and pure.

Facial scrubs never seem to, you know, scrub. Have you forgotten that age-old wonder, the washcloth? And not just any old washcloth. Brit cult fave Eve Lom has a Muslin Cleanser Cloth that exfoliates gently — the way that makes your derm thrill.

A basic day cream? Benefit’s You Rebel tinted moisturizer has all the SPF and none of the icky orange overtones.

Fix the damage you’ve done by never going without SPF with Kinerase, a favorite of dermatologists and plastic surgeons. (And sit under the umbrella from now on, would ya?)

Speaking of sun streak, St. Tropez Self-Tan Remover — the only product of its kind — is disaster relief for self-tanning gone awry. (No, you’re not the only one who can’t figure out how to do it.)

Princess got a blemish? Smear a little Sonya Dakar Drying Potion before bed. It’ll be gone by the following midnight, Cinderella.

Makeup
Everyone knows Kiehl’s lip balm. But now it’s available in pretty tints.

Two other top contenders: For high-impact gloss, try Stila’s Lip Glaze. For ultimate pucker protection, go with Prada’s Shielding Balm, which comes in seven jazzy shades.

Too jaded to blush on your own? Pout’s Flush Blush in Raunchy Red will save your shot-to-hell reputation.

Lancome’s Definicils High Definition Mascara is, hands down, the best. Not only does it give you the longest lashes you could ever dream of, it’s ophthalmologist-tested and for contact lens wearers. Best of all, it doesn’t run, but washes off with soap and water.

Hair
Some might argue that the only thing that can be too thin is hair. Kerastase Masquintence deep-conditioning treatments give hair weight without, duh, weighing it down.

Baby wants straighter-than-straight? The only three products you’ll ever need: Barex Italiana Silicone Hair Treatment (shampoo and conditioner) and Farouk Biosilk Silk Therapy (just a drop and frizzies, begone!)

And sadly, as some see it, not all hair is good hair. Banish the ones you don’t want with Petite Tweeze, the cutest iteration of a torture device you’ll ever throw into your makeup bag.