ITG intern Kim Johnson (Barnard Class of 2015!) is always on the hunt for the next best skin-brightening potion. Here, she shares her latest fixation:

If we’re being honest here, I’m not really a “makeup girl.” Of course I love a good cat eye as much as the next person, but that’s really where makeup and I go our separate ways. What I am obsessed with is skincare, specifically anything that promises to “brighten.” Mists, masks, BB creams, illuminators, I love them all. The only hurdle to a great glow has been my naturally oily skin. Yes, I know I sound all too much like a Clean & Clear commercial, but it’s true! What does a girl have to do to get a dewy glow in this city?

I was pretty certain I’d perfected my daily ritual a few months ago, when I switched from using a basic, drugstore tinted moisturizer to mixing my new MAC Studio Moisture Tint with a dab of MAC Strobe Cream (thanks, Azza Yousif!). I would top that off with a bit of Nars Orgasm Illuminator and a spritz of Caudalie Beauty Elixir, and I was on top of the world—yes, a tad of a beauty-intern cliché—but on top of the world nonetheless. But soon I began to feel stifled, unfulfilled, just not-quite-there yet. I couldn’t put my finger on it. Was my illuminator just not illuminating enough? Was my tinted moisturizer too mattifying? Whatever the reason, I felt dull on the outside and—let’s be real—that begins to affect the inside. When I first spied Tatcha’s Luminous Dewy Skin Mist on a Gloffice shelf, I didn’t think much of it because, hello, I already own the best beauty elixir of all time: Caudalie. But boy, was I wrong, my friends. (Let me say here that I will stand by my Caudalie Beauty Elixir until the end of time—it was my first facial mist, and as the taker of my mist-virginity, I won’t soon forget it. But there is something to be said for different seasons calling for different products.)

Being the impatient child that I am, I decided to try the Tatcha as soon as I got home from ITG HQ. (Hey, it’s never too early, or late, for a little bit of dewy mist.) My best friend, who also happens to be a beauty junkie, wanted in on the action, and probably described it best: “It’s like air on your face!” It was true. Almost as soon as I finished spritzing my face (three pumps), the liquid was gone. Nothing. No leftover mist sitting on my skin. No strange elixir-y scent filling my nostrils. Nothing. Just a dewy-looking and illuminated face staring back at me in the mirror..

Needless to say, I’ve been using the Tatcha for the past few weeks now and I’m loving it. Not only have I started to get compliments on my skin in the morning right after I’ve done my makeup, but also at night, when I haven’t touched up my face one bit. Looks like the Tatcha is here to stay. Now, about that perfect highlighter…Suggestions anyone?

—Kim Johnson

Kim Johnson photographed by Emily Weiss.