The January 2018 Allure Beauty Box
Richard Pierce1/5Sunday Riley C.E.O. Rapid Flash Serum
The first time I tried vitamin C was a decade and change ago. I’d just started as an assistant at Allure and was willing to test any product in the beauty closet. I was a kid in a candy store, emphasis on “kid.” I had no dark undereye circles or postpregnancy dark spots. I didn’t need such a serious skin-care product. You see, vitamin C is no joke — when it’s well formulated. Which brings me to this innovative serum. It contains 15 percent tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate, a vitamin C derivative that penetrates skin so well that you get the full pigment-fading, glow-inducing power of the ingredient. The citrus-scented gel (which also contains glycolic acid) has brightened my dull patches and dark spots and made my pores look smaller. It was worth the wait for the right product — at the right time in my life.
2/5This Works In Transit Camera Close-Up
Have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror and thought, How did I get so tired/hungover/old? I’ve been there. Plenty of times. Most recently in an airplane bathroom, where I was frantically trying to make myself decent so that I could go straight from the airport to giving a presentation. I’d just received this sample and figured the mask-moisturizer-primer hybrid could at the very least cut down on the amount of time I would be spending in that bathroom. It contains skin plumpers (hyaluronic acid, glycerin) and a tightener (caffeine). The balmlike texture feels a little sticky at first but quickly melts into skin. Like many primers, it creates a smooth canvas for foundation. But it also gave my cheeks a pretty radiance, took down my undereye bags, and made a hopeless situation look not so bad at all.
3/5The One by Frédéric Fekkai One and Then Some Dry Texturizing Spray*
Before I get into how this spray delivers soft volume, let me tell you about the scent. It smells so good that a perfect stranger in a New York City subway car tapped my shoulder to ask what it was. And my husband prefers it to any of the actual perfumes on my vanity. Imagine a supremely chic Frenchwoman on a yacht off the Amalfi Coast — sunny, bright, effortlessly regal — that’s the scent. But of course scent alone is no reason to worship a product. What has kept me spraying it is the way it gives my roots a natural-looking lift. As if I just casually flipped my hair. Or stepped onto a breezy deck for an Aperol Spritz.
The One by Frédéric Fekkai One and Then Some Dry Texturizing Spray*, $29.
*Your box contains either the One and Then Some Dry Texturing Spray or the One More Day Dry Shampoo, which can be sprayed on for a similar windswept effect.
4/5Make Up For Ever Artist Liquid Matte Lipstick in Rosewood
I’ve always thought that matte liquid lipsticks are for the selfie generation. They let you color outside the lines (er, lip lines) of reality. So I used this wand to make my meager lips fuller, with perfectly defined peaks and valleys. I practiced my pucker, smoothed the edges with a cotton swab — and the opaque pinkish-nude shade looked great on my screen. What I didn’t expect was how amazing it looked in real life.
Make Up For Ever Artist Liquid Matte Lipstick in Rosewood, $20.
ERIC5/5Rodial Smokey Eye Pen*
It’s kohl! It’s creamy! It’s sharpenable! This pencil is everything I love and nothing I hate. The point delivers a rich brown or black color that stays crisp, should you desire a clean line. But it also smudges easily if you’re feeling a still-rocking- last-night’s-makeup vibe. I suggest going over the line three times before smudging with a cotton swab for maximum sexiness.
Rodial Smokey Eye Pen, $21.
*Your box contains either Rodial Smokey Eye Pen in Brown or Black, Beauty for Real I-Line 24-7 Eyeliner in Whiskey, Grande Bat Your Lashes Mascara, or PopBeauty Kajal Pen in Inky Purple.