Welcome to Our Favorite Products, a monthly feature in which ITG's editors discuss our favorite products. They're the best things we've tried all month long, reviewed, photographed, and anthropomorphized before we have the opportunity to get sick of them and move on to something new. The roundup this time includes everything from travel cases to a single-product solution to wean your skin off benzoyl peroxide. More below:
Diorskin Forever Undercover Concealer
Since the days when Lancôme Hypnose Drama Mascara was the most glamorous thing I’d ever purchased, I’ve been on a perpetual hunt for the concealer—one I’d love enough to be buried with (or in?...Can anyone tell me a mortician's go-to concealer?). For the longest time, YSL Touche Éclat was it. (Not technically a concealer, I know, don't tell me what to do.) This month it’s been dethroned: Dior’s Undercover in 020 is my new makeup bag mainstay. The texture: Creamy! The coverage: Covered! The shade: Matches my skin exactly! The fact that it’s Dior doesn’t hurt either: Chic! Glad to have found my concealer soulmate, baby. —Anna Jube
Rodial Super Acids Sleep Serum
I've been trying to quit benzoyl peroxide for a while. I'm tired of being dependent on something that bleaches my towels and irritates my skin. Motivated by this guide to acids and Or's glowing Curology review, I decided to see what the OTC options there were (fucking none!!). But finally—with a direct recommendation from Jordana Mattoli—I found the perfect replacement: I swapped BP out for azelaic acid. Rodial's Super Acids Sleep Serum proved, after one night, to be incredible. It made my whole face tingle in a good way and I woke up with matte, calm skin. Really, it's all I can ask for. And while I really hope benzoyl peroxide is missing me and thinking of me and feels lost without me, I'm a changed man. —Tom Newton
Epicuren Aloe Vera Calming Gel
Summer needs to end. Really. It's taking a toll on my skin, on my hair, and on my electricity bill. I don't know if it was my mid-August allergies (a thing!), leftover sunscreen, or the fact that I live in front of my a/c unit, but my face has gone into rebellion. I'm talking rashy, irritated, oily, and unfriendly—no product seemed to calm it down. That is, until I finally took Tom's suggestion and rubbed aloe all over it. Epicuren's version is scentless, weightless, and sinks in instantly. I use it morning and night without any companion products and I'm finally balanced. But still really craving fall. —Emily Ferber
Muji Small Travel Containers
I have to admire my former self for trucking through life without Muji. Given that the meditative trips I take to their essential-oil-diffused storefronts are now the most crucial part of my regular schedule, I'm not sure how I ever survived before. This past month I gained a particular appreciation for the brand's various and perfect travel spray bottles, squeeze tubes, plexi-pots, and tiny boxes. Good for literally everything. Flying across the country for a week, I packed makeup remover, mouthwash, salt spray, scrunchies, bobby pins, face wash, body wash, moisturizer, sunscreen, shampoo, conditioner and cotton pads; all stuffed easily into a Glossier pink pouch. Is there something to be learned from the fact that I derive such an inordinate amount of pleasure from filling many, tiny, geometric figures with my belongings? —AJ
Senteurs D'Orient Rough Cut Lavender Bath Soap
After getting kinda hooked on charcoal facial bar soap, I decided to expand my body wash horizons from gels to bars, too. There's something really nice and tactile and turn-of-the-century about using a bar of soap to wash up. This one smells INCREDIBLE. Lavender as aromatherapy at the end of a long day always works for me, and it leaves my skin not slimey (like some bar soaps) but also not too stripped. Here for it. —TN
Lancôme Le Lip Liner
Shoutout to Lancôme, the brand that consistently launches makeup that appeals to my fickle, impolite, generally dispassionate soul. First, it was the Miracle Cushion Foundation that converted me to face makeup; then Le Stylo Waterproof in 31 of the most artfully selected shades shifted my attention away from my lips up to my eyes. Now, with at least four Le Lip Liners in my possession (Caprice, Tangerine, Sheer Raspberry, and Attraction), I'm contemplating my mouth again. With the precision of a pencil, the pigment of a lipstick, and the hang-on-for-dear-life-ness of a stain, lip color doesn't seem like such a chore anymore. Plus there's a brush on the back for some control. Lancôme—they think of everything. —EF
Still looking for the best concealer? Read here for some of the latest and greatest.