We scoured our own more.com stories for the finest tips, cleverest tricks and most effective products. Here, in one place, the best ideas from the past twelve months:
The perfect hybrid between a tinted moisturizer and a light foundation, this product ($48; Click here to buy) makes my skin look more even in tone without erasing all of my natural color (there are few things more unflattering—or aging—than the mask-like effect of a heavy foundation). I wear shade #2 and top it with a bit of bronzing powder. This combo makes my skin looks believably glowy, like I come by a clear complexion naturally.
You've Got Gray or Dark Roots—and a Lineup of Social Events
Speedy Solution:
Roots rebellion can be thwarted by a little planning, says Jennifer J., a consulting colorist for L’Oréal Professionnel and owner of the Juan Juan Salon in Beverly Hills. “I mix custom to-go kits for my superbusy clients so they can do their own touch-ups between appointments,” she says. She also recommends glossing treatments (which typically take five to 15 minutes at the salon) at about the three- or four-week mark. “A gloss is like putting a tinted top coat on a dull manicure,” says Jennifer. It deepens the color and camouflages lines of demarcation.
Can’t get to a salon? Try an at-home gloss like L’Oréal Colorist Secrets Shine Gloss ($10; ulta.com). Or consider QuickTint ($15; quicktint.net), eight shades of temporary hair color housed in a wand-styleapplicator—or TouchBack Plus Color System($30; touchbackplus.com), a shampoo, conditioner and leave-in treatment spiked with temporary dye to blend away incoming grays.
For very dry skin, this tinted über-hydrator ($52; Click to Buy) is like the second coming. It evens out tone and boosts overall radiance—but it also gives thirsty skin a long, cool drink of water.
Portable but big enough to fit the essentials, this kit ($20; Click to Buy) is a handy thing to keep in your purse. The miniature set includes a metal file, cuticle pusher and cuticle snipper to keep your nails groomed to perfection.
This mist-on hair refresher ($24; Click to Buy) is clinically proven to reduce sebum by 45 percent—without water, natch. In a consumer survey, an impressive 96 percent of testers claimed their hair looked fuller and cleaner after use. We're sold!
This perfume ($85; neimanmarcus.com) smells like the kind of floral fragrance a grown-up would wear: sophisticated, understated, subtly. . .expensive—like a woman dressed in (logo-free) head-to-toe designer duds.
Kate Somerville: "I created this product ($48; Katesomerville.com) for Paris [Hilton] and the girls obsessed with spray tans. Nothing they were using went on evenly and all were a pain to remove. This product can be taken anywhere. Applied to clean skin, it dries in minutes and four hours later, you’re tan!"
Instead of trying to eliminate frizz, Gwen uses it to her advantage with her perfectly-teased curls. The result? A soft, dramatic style that looks almost ethereal. Pump up your strands with a volumizing mousse and use a diffuser on low heat to achieve a similar effect. We love Living Proof Full Thickening Mousse ($24; amazon.com): it transforms limp hair by enhancing volume, texture and fullness.
Quick Fix: The crushed pearls, mineral color and nutrients in the Pacifica Coconut Crushed Pearl Bronzing Body Butter ($24; Sephora.com) moisturize skin, while leaving it subtly aglow.
Prevage Body Total Transforming Anti-Aging Moisturizer
Like an anti-aging cream for your body, this lotion ($135; Nordstrom.com) contains age-spot blasting idebenone and moisturizers to smooth over rough skin.
Do: Swipe on a pale pastel (non-shimmer) eyeshadow along your lashline to bring out your eye color. We like NARS Eyeshadow in Gorgeous ($23; Click to Buy).
This serum ($72; Click to Buy) uses ingredients from both the Dead Sea and the Himalayas, two places where the extreme climate means plants have to be tough to survive. That hardiness is then translated into this serum, with the goal of firming skin and boosting radiance. The consensus? Testers were hooked. “I loved the way my skin absorbed this serum, and the results were dramatic! My skin was smoother after only two applications,” said one. Another added, “I noticed immediate results in both my skin’s clarity and tone—including on my neck and under my chin.”
Members of More’s Reader Panel scrubbed and spritzed their way through hundreds of new fall beauty launches. Find more of their favorites here.
If naturally luminous skin eludes you, don't feel bad—even Gwyneth Paltrow gets a little help. She raved about Perricone MD products in a recent GOOP newsletter. She relies on the No Foundation Foundation ($50; Click to Buy) for sheer coverage and instant radiance.
Absolution, a new brand out of Paris, combines multi-tasking properties with organic ingredients. We love the gentle cleansing water ($40; Click to Buy) which removes makeup and tones with Witch Hazel, Hazelnut Oil and Vitamin E.
The company’s take on a lipstick ($23; Click to Buy) combines all the moisturizing benefits of the best balm (it’s packed with sugar, a natural humectant, hence its name) with the dark plummy hue. Swipe it on for a hint of tint or add additional layers for a deeper, more dramatic look.
Talk about instant inner-glow. Bobbi herself says she won't look in the mirror in the morning until she's applied this moisturizing face oil ($60; Click to purchase).
Acids and bases aren't just for high school chem class. Julien Farel's Restore Treatment (from $25; Click to Buy) brings hair back to its optimal pH of 4.5 for a soft, shiny finish. Neutral water causes brittleness or dryness, but by taking hair back to its acidic roots (pun intended), the formula seals the cuticle to lock in moisture, strengthen strands and add a healthy sheen.
