If you're a practical person, you might choose your skincare products based on how well they work—do they do what they are actually supposed to do? Are they better than anything else you've tried? If you are me, you choose them based on a plethora of other random, completely unnecessary reasons. I can't tell you how many times I've tried to get people around the office excited over a subpar product with superb packaging. (OK, maybe it was just once, over some frivolous lipgloss rings but damn if it didn't hurt.) The girls of ITG don't mess around when it comes to product that is functional above all else.

That's why this stuff is sort of special—Annie brought it up as something she was sort of into around the same time as I was very into it. The brand is called Juniper Ridge, founded by “hiking enthusiasts who harvest the plants, blend the fragrances, ship the products, and head out on backpacking adventures together.” Which, to me, sounds like the most fun. These products are as crunchy-woodsy-outdoorsy as ITG will probably ever get.

I have the Cascade Glacier Trail Soap which comes in a canteen with—wait for it—a cap made out of wood. This isn't fake resin wood made in a factory. Someone chopped this shit down with an axe and now it's in my shower. I'm in love. The ingredients include tree pitch and plant sap. The smell makes me think of a crisp Adirondack morning, pine trees, fresh air, and running streams. Like home and heaven and everything I've ever wanted—and it makes your bathroom smell the same. My $5 Whole Foods shower gel just won't do anymore. I've officially upgraded.

—Tom Newton

Photographed by Tom Newton.