I don't like waiting, I don't like secrets, I don't like keeping good things to myself. I really don't like embargoes, which in the beauty biz is a word that makes you do the former three for a certain period of time. So when I got my hands on Ami Colé's debut collection earlier this month, my initial reaction was "oh my God I love this," quickly followed by "nooooo." There, in my hands, was an extraordinary makeup line I wanted to shout about from the top of my Brooklyn stoop. The first new makeup line I've been excited about since the start of the pandemic—but that damn embargo! And so finally, with its official debut today, I can properly (and legally) gush.

Created by my former Glossier colleague, Diarrha N'Diaye (who absolutely didn't ask or expect me to write anything about this—it's so good how could I not?), Ami Colé is a petite line of makeup basics. Their baobab seed-powered Light-Catching Highlighter is a highlighter that doesn't look like a highlighter. Which is to say that it doesn't look like makeup at all, but just your actual skin in the very best light. I think the trick is in the highlighter's base, which unlike essentially every other highlighter I've tried, is a clear solid gelee that's punctuated with specks of gold shimmer. It glides on to create perfect, manufactured dewiness.

The Skin-Enhancing Tint has a pillowy, buildable texture that doesn't compete with my moisturizer—huge, I tell you, huge! It covers evenly, sinks in, and doesn't feel like yet another layer of goop. But I have to tell you, the Lip Treatment Oil is now my absolute favorite lip oil on this planet. When I asked Diarrha why she made it, she explained to me that she takes lips seriously, and that she knew she had to make something that would treat them well, first. But what if you wanted to moisturize your lips and get a bit of color? And so the Lip Treatment Oil, with its red-brown tint, was born. It is the shiniest, reflection-level lip product I have ever used, but it's not tacky or even remotely sticky. Since it gives only a small amount of color, it does the work of evening out your lip tone without completely obscuring its natural hue. I like it for the look as I'm wearing it, and I love how soft my lips feel after it wears off. And the scent? Kind of like a sugar cookie. It's delicious—I just gave myself an extra taste now.

—Ashley Weatherford

Photo via ITG.