The Very Best Skin-Care Products

Sweetbitter author Stephanie Danler is a huge fan of Weleda’s Skin Food, which she learned about from a makeup artist. Now, she owns it in threes — one for her car, one for her bedside table, and one in her purse.

Writer Jinnie Lee found this No. 1–selling Japanese exfoliator through Amazon sleuthing. “I stumbled onto something seemingly too good to be true — a Japanese face peel called Cure Natural Aqua Gel, which is the No. 1 exfoliator in Japan (apparently one sells every 12 seconds). On your dry, post-cleansed face, slather two or three pumps of this jelly over your forehead, nose, cheeks, chin, down the neck, or wherever, and let it sit for five seconds. In an instant, the gel will react with your skin as it begins to dry a bit, at which point, you’ll use your fingers to gently massage the product in a circular motion around your face. This is the wild part. The gel will start to shed almost immediately, much like the way pencil erasers leave those squiggly rubbings behind.”

Writer Chloe Caldwell swears by her oat facial polish: “I am someone who’s had serious skin problems in the past. I’m an acne survivor. My skin is hypersensitive and I’m afraid of new products. But when I tried the oat wash for the first time, something amazing happened: My skin wasn’t ruddy when I left the shower. It was cool and calm.”

Writer Allison Schmidt discovered this olive oil–derived treatment that totally transformed her skin: “Unlike other oils that just sat on top of my skin, the clear and odorless Timeless Skin Care Squalane sinks in quickly (it’s like my skin is lapping it up) without that gross, slimy feel. It’s been a revelation of a moisturizer. I now have much less irritation — the dry patches are gone, and the pigment and hydration of my skin are more even throughout.”

A traditional Chinese beauty product, jade rollers are known to stimulate lymphatic drainage. Writer Maria Tallarico swears by the thing: “My dark under-eye circles, which have laughed in the face of every fancy cream and facial thrust upon them, are relieved by the smooth, cool jade and repetitive motions. I swear, it’s even evened my skin tone and dampened wrinkles (which, after all, improved circulation should do).”

Beauty writer and editor Hannah Morrill knows from working with dermatologists that sometimes the unsexiest products are the most effective. She discovered CeraVe foot cream while looking for something to smooth her calloused feet: “The best contender I’ve found for this job? CeraVe Renewing SA Cream, which itself was developed with dermatologists and contains both exfoliant salicylic acid (that’s what the SA stands for) and ammonium lactate in the first ten ingredients, meaning the concentrations are significant, not an afterthought.”

If you’re looking for a gel to use on your feet, our New York colleague Camilla Cho found one that even her discriminating mother approved: “The thick, icy blue gel goes on clear, and dries after a few minutes without any residue — sometimes I’ll use it on my rough elbows and cuticles, too. It’s become my go-to all year round: summer, when I’m practically living in sandals, and winter, when my feet are cracked from cold weather and dry air. After using the Heel Genius herself for a few days (per instructions, with socks), my persnickety mom was sold. She’s since adopted the goop as one of her own favorite things, gifting it to several of her friends — all of whom are now ready for sandal season.”

Anyone who’s visited a Turkish hammam can tell you how satisfying the experience is, especially when the massage happens. Rachel Raczka decided to re-create the experience at home with a hammam glove that worked wonders: “I didn’t notice clumps of dead skin washing away, but I did find that it created a sleeker-than-usual surface for shaving and soaking up moisturizer. It wasn’t until a few days of regular use that I noticed the bumps on my arms and legs had faded, and the rest of my bod appeared healthier and glowier from consistent use. It’s like those elimination diets that promote better skin from within, but instead of laying off dairy or wheat, you eliminate a layer of your epidermis.”

Writer Molly Young loves this coconut-scented body lotion so much, she buys it in bulk and keeps the stockpile in her refrigerator: “I found it as a youth living in a hippie town in Northern California, where the local co-op stocked eight-ounce bottles of Skin Trip alongside tofu sandwiches, yogurts made from unconventional milks, natural deodorants, and Nag Champa incense. The substance inside is thinner than most lotions — it doesn’t ooze like toothpaste when you give the bottle a squeeze but instead pools liquidly into your palm. What this means is, when you spread Skin Trip onto your desired skin region, it sinks in quickly and leaves no evidence behind. Your skin is left nourished and faintly coconut-scented.”

Hannah Morrill found a body-acne clearing spray that eliminated her bacne almost instantly: “My bacne cleared up nearly overnight. After about four days, crimson welts had subsided entirely, faded to a barely there blush, or had started healing. Within a week, I felt comfortable wearing a low-backed tank. I’ve since evangelically recommended the product to my trainer, my boyfriend’s brother, and a 22-year-old I work with.”

Writer Or Gotham found a pimple spot-reducing serum that worked miracles: “In the serum I tried, glycolic acid and hydroquinone supposedly work together to loosen dead skin cells and lighten discoloration. (Note that hydroquinone is currently being studied by the FDA for its potentially harmful side-effects.) The formula is concentrated. One pump of the potent jelly is typically adequate for each hemisphere of my face.”

The best body scrub smells just like peppermint, and it makes for the most refreshing post-beach wash.

The best oil to slather yourself in? Why not try Kim Kardashian’s? Writer Carson Griffith stole it from her mother and fell in love: “While my bathroom cabinet now features a rotation of upmarket beauty products, the one constant is Bio-Oil. It relieves dryness and makes my skin instantly smooth without clogging pores. When I’m sunburned or ravaged by the cold, I can apply several applications a day, letting my damaged and parched skin drink up the liquid. I’ve taken the bottle into the sauna with me at the gym so the vitamins A and E and plant extracts can commingle with the steam to do whatever they’re supposed to do to make my skin ageless. It’s so cheap I have no problem slathering my entire body in it.

Writer and performer Gaby Dunn discovered the mint julep masque by Queen Helene as a teenager and never looked back: “By now, I’ve used this product on and off for about 15 years. Sure, it clears up a zit, but no expensive face mask has ever worked as well at refreshing my skin either. There’s a tightening sensation you feel as the clay mask dries that I swear tightens my face even after I’ve rinsed it off. I hesitate to even tell you about it, because Queen Helene could triple its price and I’d still buy it.”

Writer Jen Doll loves this oil cleanser she learned about from her facialist: “You apply a couple of pumps of the light oil to your face, add a bit of water, and massage; there’s no intense foam or scrubbing involved, but suddenly, even if you’ve got a layer of makeup or city-day grime on your skin, it all washes away. All you’re left with is fresh, moisturized skin. I wasn’t sure I’d like washing with an oil (maybe you’re with me on this) — this one contains sunflower-seed, pumpkin-seed, and papaya-seed oils — but unlike cleansers that strip your face bare, this one leaves it clean, plumped, and vaguely moisturized (not oily).”