In terms of the Things I Finish, face wipes are far and away the most frequent. A: They're great for a lot of things. One time I went to a before-work workout class in a studio that lacked showers. This was an oversight on just about everyone's part—except for Burt from Burt's Bees, who makes my absolute favorite pre-moistened towelettes for $6/30-pack (in lots of flavors, too). No, it turns out, I am not above a makeshift face wipe shower in the bathroom at the Glossier office.
And B: I'm lazy. I love washing my face to the dulcet tones of Isabelle Bellis as much as the next person, but sometimes wiping off my mascara as I watch what happens on The Real Housewives of Orange County reunion (guys, can we TALK about Brooks?!) is just the way my evening is going to go. There's no stopping it.
I actually finished Dr. Dennis Gross' Antioxidant Cleansing Cloths with AHAs slower than my usual pack of Burt's. They remove makeup just as well as any other wipe—but everything else they do is superior, so simpler tasks must be delegated to lesser wipes. These wipes are for your stressed, sweaty, dull, on-the-verge-of-a-breakout skin. That's mainly thanks to the alpha hydroxy acids so gentle even the most tender-skinned among us can indulge in their exfoliating, glow-making powers. Coupled with the antioxidants (that could be a placebo, but hey, I live in New York and I'll take all the vitamin help I can get), you've got the glow of a 30-minute Heyday facial in a wipe. It took incredible self-control not to use them up in the span of a week.
During the summer, I simply wiped and left it at that. But now that I'm showing signs of radiator skin, I follow up with a couple spritzes of Glossier Soothing Face Mist, a pump and a half of my newly acquired Tammy Fender Quintessential Serum, and a heaping dose of whatever face cream is nearest. I like to think this is a routine that Dr. Dennis Gross himself would be very proud of.
—Emily Ferber
As we've learned, there's a drugstore face wipe for everything— read about those here.
