One year, one bathroom shelf, and the 7 things that earned their place on it.
Best by Lauren may earn a commission when you shop through certain links. Every product here was bought with my own money or tested for at least six weeks. No brand has paid to be included, and nothing is ranked higher because it pays more.
Everything I tested this year, narrowed to 7. The rule for making this list was simple: I had to have bought it again, or be about to.
There is no order of importance here beyond the first five, which are the ones I would take if I could only keep five.
I resisted this for two years because of the price and the hype, in that order. Then a facialist in Seoul put it on half my face and I spent the flight home touching one cheek. It is thick without being greasy, and skin looks like it slept eight hours when it slept four.
I have tested more sunscreens than is reasonable and this is the one I hand to people. It sinks in like a moisturizer, sits under foundation without rolling, and costs less than lunch. I buy it four at a time.
PDRN was everywhere in Seoul and I was ready to be unimpressed. Two weeks in, someone asked what I had done. That is the entire review.
I have tried four of these and returned three. This is the one where the before-and-after was obvious enough that people noticed before I mentioned it. Six weeks of nightly use, and now I keep one in every bag.
Expensive for a can of dry shampoo and I have made my peace with it. Nothing else takes hair from unwashed to deliberate in one minute.
The rare body lotion that does not announce itself. I layer it under everything and it has never once argued with a fragrance.
Not glamorous and not trying to be. This is the tube I reach for when I have overdone the actives, when the plane has dried me out, or when a new product has gone badly. It fixes things in a night.
I have to have repurchased it. That single rule cuts a year of testing down to about twenty-five things and removes everything I was excited about for a fortnight.
No. Nothing on this site is included because a brand paid for it, and nothing is ranked higher because it pays more. The full policy is on the editorial standards page.
