Early Summer Beauty Finds.

Does anyone else go through beauty cycles where you are totally happy with your regimen/routine for months and months and loathe to change a thing and then all of the sudden you want to refill your makeup bag with a lineup of new items? I’m not sure whether this is a marketing message I’ve blindly consumed but I feel like sometimes, after using a product for a protracted period of time, my skin or hair just adapt, permanently, and the effects I originally noticed fade. Anyhow, a few new products I’m excited to test…

+This It Cosmetics SPF/Illuminator tinted moisturizer is sort of a competitor to my favorite SuperGoop product, but have been hearing consistently great things and will give a try. However! Supergoop is running its once-a-year 20% off sitewide sale at the moment (use code SUNNY20), so a good time to test Glowscreen while also stocking up on all your favorite sunscreens.

+This first-of-its-kind SPF-serum-niacinamide hybrid from Ilia is also getting a lot of buzz. I mentioned I was testing a new Vitamin C product last month that I ended up hating. (It might be one of the first products I actually just throw away before depleting or giving away — just not into it at all.) I was planning on going back to my beloved Biossance Vitamin C but now am curious about this guy, as, presumably, it would mean I could omit my usual layer of facial SPF and kill two birds with one stone.

+Wrote about this last weekend, but just ordered this cream bronzer from hot new label Tower 28. The price is right and it’s getting some strong reviews, as are all of their cream blushes.

+I need a new highlighter like I need a hole in my head but I am totally obsessed with this product category. I exercise fairly strong restraint in other categories, but I WILL layer on like three different highlighters when going out. This stuff is getting some serious buzz.

+Clean beauty line Fleur and Bee just launched a new retinol moisturizer that they were generous enough to send me a sample of. I was intrigued because I have stopped using retinol a few months ago after trying to make it work with my skin for nearly two years. I ended up just never getting the balance right — if I applied every other night, my skin ended up way, way too dry and it took weeks (!) for the flakiness to disappear. If I applied more sparingly (every 3-4 days, every 7 days – I swear I tried every cadence imaginable), I feel like it did nothing for my skin. I don’t know — I’m confused! When I first starting using it, I thought my skin looked fabulous, but then slowly it became drier and more flakey. I know so many people have great experiences with retinoids/retinol and swear it has changed their skin, but I could not get to a place where it was working for me despite trying various permutations. SO. I was intrigued by this moisturizer because it describes itself as “beginner friendly,” noting: “Retinol can be difficult and irritating. This is the best retinol cream for everyone new to retinol. We’ve combined 0.03% retinol with over a dozen nourishing and soothing ingredients like squalane and jojoba oil to reduce the risk of irritation.” So far, I have been impressed with the moisturizer — no irritation, no flakiness, and a good amount of hydration. I haven’t seen crazy effects (yet) but it does a good job hydrating skin. I will report back after using it for two months. All in all, though, I do have to say the price is good for a product that delivers so much.

+I ordered some of these Heliums hair ties — so clever that they offer such a broad range of colors to meet nearly any hair color (including gray!). I bought mainly for my daughter, but will keep a bunch for myself, too.

+Guys – scrunchies. They’ve been back “in” (as has everything from the 90s) for awhile now (you know it’s OK if Hailey Bieber is wearing it), but my sister wore one up in New York to tie her hair back and it looked so cute! I had to order some to match. Of course, Slip makes some but they are much more expensive and I held off. But you know how I feel about their skinny scrunchies — weirdly one of my absolute favorite discoveries from the last year. Gentle on hair but actually hold hair in place. My favorite for washing my face.

+Ilia mascara — I used this for awhile and was very impressed with it and then went back to my Armani favorite, which is a bit goopier and more dramatic. But my girlfriend, not knowing I had already enjoyed a fling with Ilia, gave me a tube and insisted I would love it. I am SO glad she reintroduced me to this mascara. It is really the best daytime mascara out there and honestly I find myself reaching for it most days over Armani. It is SO GOOD. Really lengthening and separating but never clumpy/fake.

P.S. In the weeds beauty thoughts.

P.P.S. What beauty tips have stuck with you?

P.P.P.S. My favorite home organization finds.