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. If it's any indicator as to how April went, this month's favorites are a day late. But they're here! And we love them as much as ever. Hope you do too.
Byredo Bibliothèque Room Spray
I'm a notorious fragrance hopper. Just can't seem to pick a favorite. So I have a tiered system: Birthday fragrances are the most special—and are only used on (you guessed it!) birthdays. Then there are the summer scents, the winter scents, the October scents (it's the best month; it deserves its own scent). On the lowest rung are the laundry + linen scents—fragrances I can't get rid of, but I also don't really wear. This is where you'll find Bibliothèque for me—it's a lovely scent, but I don't like it on my skin. "Get a candle!" they said. But this Room Spray bottle is just too pretty. (And very cost effective.) After a few months of questioning its place on my shelf, I used it to anoint my freshly spring-cleaned closet and now all my clothes smell like Ben Gorham's library. A good reason to keep organized for the season, I think. And to keep the bottle sitting around. —Emily Ferber
Thayer's Alcohol Free Witch Hazel Toner
No fragrance, no sting, my skin doesn't feel dry after using it. It's just EASY. I pour some into my hands and splash up onto my face, then pat all over. This method has been working great. My routine has needed a toner for a long time, and just as it's getting a little warmer out it feels like the right time to commit. This guy is $8 at the bodega down my street so there's no reason not to say yes. It's nice—giving my skin a little reset after cleansing and before I do my serums. I feel like I'm making the right choice using it." —Tom Newton
Sunday Riley Good Genes Lactic Acid Treatment
This month, I’ve cut down on wearing foundation and concealer to really focus on improving my skin, à la Manouska Jeantus. While it’s been a real kick in the butt to dedicate myself to a routine, it’s also pushed me to find a way to fade the acne marks on my cheeks ASAP. I’ve incorporated Good Genes on the nights I’m not using A313, and I’m slowly seeing scars smooth out. I've noticed my skin becoming less dehydrated (which is much different from skin being ‘dry,’ something else I learned this month!) Here’s to a May full of plump skin. —Utibe Mbagwu
Diptyque Eau Rose Hair Mist
You know the way the air smells when it starts to get warm outside? Like trees in bloom. That's one of my favorite things. It's also kind of what this scent reminds me of. Like a single, dewy rose. After a couple weekends in April ended up being warm enough to spend outside jacket-less, I felt like no other fragrance could be as appropriate as this one. The formula is light enough that it won't dry out your hair, but you can also mist it over your entire body as I do. The perfect summer smell, it's what I'll be wearing for the next five months. Catch me outside. —Anna Jube
Jason Markk Repel Spray
No, it's not for bugs! It's for your shoes. Basically any shoes. Because if you're going to wear them (and you should—I hate it when shoes just sit in the closet waiting for an occasion that never comes), you should make sure they're ready for the world. Let two coats of this bad boy set over 24 hours and white shoes stay white, nubuck stays nubuck, etc., etc. It also has one of the best non-aerosol continuous spray bottles I've ever used—like, I need this in a face mist for myself. Just goes to show: Shoes need beauty products, too, folks. —EF
Foreo Luna Mini
I've chilled out with my physical scrubs a bit, at the advice of oh, every aesthetician I've ever met. But with that has come a yearning to swap something scrubby back in. So I picked up this Foreo to suit that urge. I like the small one because I feel like it gets around my face a little better and sits in my shower nicely. The silicone is much more gentle than a normal scrub, and you can control how hard or soft you go (I don't even turn the vibration on sometimes). Since starting I think my pores have definitely gotten a smidgen smaller. Currently using with Renée Rouleau's Purifying Face Wash. —TN
Milani Matte Lipstick + Pat McGrath Gloss
My go-to “no-lipstick lipstick” is always a combination of things, and these days I’ve found a hero in Milani’s Matte Beauty 69 with Pat McGrath’s Flesh 4 Gloss swiped on top. The result is a warm, taupe-y brown that leaves a quiet shine and a surprising amount of hydration—but without stickiness! There’s so many things that could go wrong with lip gloss, but I’m pretty content with with this flushed finish. —UM
Laura Mercier Matte Bronzing Powder
As an individual who went a good 25 years without putting bronzer on my face once, I'm no expert. But the facts are that I used this matte bronzer one day last month. On just this one day I was randomly told—by more than one person—I looked particularly nice. Maybe these people were feeling especially generous that day, or maybe it was this product. Either way, I've been wearing it constantly since then. The matte texture + both the shades end up looking like nothing at all. Just a little sunshine; that's nice. —AJ
Photos by the editors.
