Our Favorite Products: September 2018 Edition

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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. Especially now that it's fall. New season calls for new products. Let's go shopping.

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Bumble and Bumble Surf Spray

I know, I know—boring! But not boring to me. Because this month I got a fresh haircut courtesy de Jay Braff. We went back to the bangs and layers and texture of last fall. And soon afterward I realized that the reason I had been able to go without a single product in my hair all summer was because all my old layers had grown out and a shapeless broom doesn’t need product to achieve its shapelessness. Post haircut I desperately searched for something to help me out and landed on this, the OG of salt sprays. The one that holds texture without being sticky, bends as you wish, works if you apply in either dry or damp hair. And doesn’t smell insane or anything. So, the bangs are here to stay… probably. —Anna Jube

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Megababe Rosy Pits Daily Deodorant

Most deodorant is a chore. A public service of sorts, that you apply daily, mostly as a courtesy for those around you. I'm an on-again, off-again user of a number of brands and formulas (the Malin + Goetz, the Baxter, the Agent Nateur, and occasionally my boyfriend's Degree) and have never had much of an interest to say on the matter. 'Til Rosy Pits. Never has a deodorant (and a natural, non-anti-perspirant at that) made my armpits feel so goddamn pretty. Like, when I do that covert, nose-in-the-pit thing when I get to the office after my commute, I don't just not smell; I smell good. No irritation, no pilling, no staining my white t-shirts. I think this deodorant might be perfect. Get it before the waitlist grows to 13K again. —Emily Ferber

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RevitaLash

I don’t expect a lot from my eyelashes, only that they look like a doll’s without mascara. Washing my eyelid hairs off each night is not fun! I like them too much. I am now extension-sober seven months, but I have been using RevitaLash for four. Aside from making them noticeably longer, for some reason it also caused my stubby, stick-straight lashes to grow with a curl? Which not even prescription Latisse did. True story: people (coworkers, friends, an ex-boyfriend I ran into on the street) literally keep asking if I got my extensions back. My lashes just grow this way now! And I haven't finished the bottle yet. Good for getting a few extra minutes of sleep in the morning, very bad for my rampant ego. —Ali Oshinsky

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Biologique Recherche Silk Plus Serum

Major props to Biologique Recherche and its lifelong pursuit of stinky products. On a scale of homemade cookies to seafood shack dumpster, I’d say Silk Plus sits squarely at steamed broccoli—not totally putrid, not exactly mouth-watering. But it makes my skin look great! This one specifically—as the facialist at Paul Labrecque who applied it to my skin put it—is like a top coat for your skin. I pat it on in the morning after my essence, but before SPF. It makes my skin look a whole lot smoother, and the hydration! Much improved, even as the dry fall air takes over. There’s cucumber, witch hazel, hyaluronic acid, and yeast (for unclear reasons) in this guy, and I hate to sound dramatic but I’m obsessed. Even when I’m too lazy to wash my face at night, I know I can depend on this to make me glow in the morning. A perfect relationship, if anything. —Ashley Weatherford

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Agent Nateur Holi (oil) Youth Body Serum

Body oils are great. But no matter how smoothing or delicious-smelling they are, I was never a fan of putting body oil on before lotion—that’s my Nigerian mother’s fault. Her philosophy: Lotion after showering is a must. Any other bodycare is a special, layerable treat, when you’ve got time to spare. Is it safe to say this body serum changed...everything? On rushed mornings, I cut corners with this. A little goes a long way and it absorbs like a dream. With or without body lotion, my skin stays moisturized until my next shower and of course, it smells fantastic! Sorry, Mom. —Utibe Mbagwu

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Make Marine Lip Repair

The only time I apply lip balm is before bed. After I scrub my face and take a hot shower, I usually feel like I need some—it’s my last evening skincare step. I LOVE Balm Dotcom truly, but have been trying this on recommendation from a recent Top Shelf subject. It’s super thick and sticky, almost like glue—not ideal for midday for sure. But after wearing it all night, I wake up with the nicest, softest most moisturized lips. Honestly, I can't remember what having chapped lips even feels like anymore. —Tom Newton

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Glossier Boy Brow in Black

I’ve been a faithful Brown user since day one. But while the hairs on my head are definitely “Brunette” my eyebrow hairs walk the line between brown and black. Brack. For the first time ever this month I tried on Black—with very pleasing results! Basically, I no longer feel any sort of compulsion to fill in my brows. Since the shade is dark enough to define and shape my brows just a little more than their natural state, while appearing, somehow, more natural, I am left with the absolute perfect level of brow. —AJ

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Charlotte Tilbury Cheek to Chic in Pillow Talk

I don't love recommending sold out products, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity talk about my fall makeup focus: powders. The opposite of new, obviously—but it seems like the whole beauty community has been in bed with cream formulas for so long we've forgotten all about compacts, particularly for the face. Well, I've fallen back in love with the stuffy category now that my A/C unit can take a breather for 9-10 months. Charlotte Tilbury's Pillow Talk has been everyone's favorite nude lipstick for ages and now it's my favorite nude blush color. No more beach face or sunkissed glow. Mauve richness is what I'm looking for. The formula has a fair amount of glitter to it, but Nam Vo has 150K Instagram followers for a reason! That sparkle gives the glow! All fall long. —EF

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Nars Natural Radiant Longwear Foundation

Turns out that everyone on Instagram is right, this foundation is amazing. I resisted trying it for a while, but mama’s weak. With a name like “Natural Radiance,” it’s not all that hard to figure out what this liquid can do for you. It gives you radiance. Naturally. I’m still working with a few samples, which is going pretty well for me. I use two shades—Syracuse around my eyes and nose to conceal, and Tahoe over the rest of my face. It looks really good, and people are starting to notice—like the handful of folks around the office who asked what I’m doing differently to my skin. A compliment, certainly. Anyway, this stuff glides over my skin easily, and it covers a lot even though the formula is pretty thin. My one complaint is that I need to blot or powder my forehead and nose midday. But then again, when do I not? —AW

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Dior Diorshow On Stage Liner in Matte Yellow

As summer rounded out, it seemed like everyone was throwing some kind of housewarming, New-York-exiting, pre-fall or post-solstice get-together. I always found out about them the day before they happened, a blessing really—it gave me an extra day to think about my outfit situation and how much makeup I felt like wearing. Many Fridays passed, and Dior’s Onstage Liner stayed in my rotation. I applied it as a cat-eye, topped it off with lots of mascara, smothered the rest of my face with concealer, and everyone thought I looked so good whenever we met up. I will admit when I first wore it out of the house, I chickened out—I stopped by Duane Reade and layered a black Wet ‘n Wild liquid liner on top. The desired effect, a surprise sliver of yellow, was still there. Super easy to apply, and perfect for looking like you tried, in a cute way. —UM

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The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA

I keep dipping my toes into Reddit's Skincare Addiction products recommendations, and every time, they nail it. My skin in the fall can be all over the place, so I need a moisturizer that can do a little bit of everything. It’s strong but not too greasy, and my skin loves the hyaluronic acid in there (but doesn't improve from HA serums used on their own). This is a perfect transition moisturizer for me. Maybe for you, too? —TN

Photographed by Tom Newton.