Do you know what the best-selling beauty items are on Amazon.com? I do, because I spend 100 hours browsing there daily: #1 is Mrs. Meyers Liquid Hand Soap Refill, Basil Scent. #2 is this mask that I don't trust, and #3 is an economy-sized box of razor refills. Huh! The more you know.
Amazon is the world's bazaar. Where else on the planet can you buy a resonably-priced wooden kitchen cabinet, ugly hiking sandals, and a Japanese body exfoliating towel at once? (Those were the last three things I bought on Amazon Prime.) Not to mention, the benevolent gods who operate the site have made it insanely easy to purchase things. In the near future, "add to cart" will be a mind control function. I love it.
Bulk food and wood homewares aside, I would argue that the best thing to shop for on Amazon is beauty products. Not only because everything is a little cheaper, but also because of Amazon's extended network of sellers, which broadens the inventory to an international audience. Of course you'll run into the shady discontinued lipstick, the shoddily-photographed moisturizer, or the far-from-FDA-approved foot cream every now again. But the danger of Amazon.com (not unlike the danger of the real Amazon!) is what makes it sexy and fun. You have to browse with the dexterity of Magellan*, cutting through the dense results to find the One True Deal.
On Amazon, the rare birds of the beauty product world are commonplace. Here are the things I add to cart every time:
Homeoplasmine 18g Tube: Affectionately known as "my ointment." It's a French balm unavailable in the US that I use for nearly everything—lips, burns, and a pinch heavy (heavy) moisturizer. It's amazing and will tide me over until Biafine finally creeps onto the web.
CosRx Bha Blackhead Power Liquid 100ml: The cult no-nonsense Korean clarifying serum. One time I had a last-minute reason to look good, and I Primed this to my current location without shame.
Banila Clean It Zero Sherbet Cleanser 100ml: Another amazing, hard-to-find Korean product. The balm-to-oil texture makes this an amazing cleanse that'll erase any makeup you apply it to, while papaya extract exfoliates and brightens.
Instanatural Organic Rosehip Seed Oil Natural Moisturizer 4oz: Amazon is the place to find generic oils, and frequently, they're better than their pricey Sephora counterparts. This particular rosehip oil is a $20 multitasker. Also: a three-month subscription puts it at a discount. Just leaving that there.
Muji Makeup Facial Soft Cut Cotton Unbleached 60x50mm 180pcs: Bulk cotton pads for toning and lazy cleansing are essential. Amazon user EN Wags also said these are really good for vaping, which...? Whatever you use them for, they're the best.
I know, I know, I sound like a crazy consumer—the kind of person whose vision blurs when anybody mentions two-day shipping. Amazon has made me that person, and I'm embracing my identity. But enough about me—share your Amazon habits. What things do you buy on The 'Zon (TM me, Brennan Kilbane)? Order histories, current carts, and horror stories are also encouraged.
Photographed by Tom Newton.
*Magellan did not explore the Amazon rainforest—Francisco de Orellana did. But Magellan was better here for rhythm.
More shopping guides, like Emily Weiss' guide to Paris' City Pharma, can be found here.
