Cult Classics

I have lost track of the number of cult beauty lists that tell me I must own MAC Ruby Woo matte red lipstick, NARS perfect-for-all Orgasm blush, or Estée Lauder Double Wear foundation. Yes, you need NARS Orgasm ($30, Sephora) because the peachy-pink hue invented to mimic a postcoital glow is flattering on almost everyone. Double Wear ($38, Macy’s), a best-seller, is so popular it’s probably already in your makeup stash. As for Ruby Woo, it’s not a favorite of mine.

My quibble with these lists isn’t the products themselves as much as their ubiquity. Beauty nerds and newbies alike already know about classic must-haves. Who wants to be told something they already know? I want to know what’s being whispered about and what products have made slavish devotees of beauty junkies. I love a secret. So I am going to tell you a few.

Before micellar water was made by several cosmetic giants and became readily available at Target, you needed a passport to get Bioderma Sensibio H2O, or be willing to pay two or three times the retail price on eBay or Amazon. I once asked friends and family traveling to Canada and Europe to bring the French product to me, and resorted to the secondary market when no other option was available. For the uninitiated, micellar water is made up of tiny balls of cleansing oil suspended in soft water. It gently and effectively removes makeup, without irritating or leaving oily residue on the skin. In 2015 beautylish.com brought Bioderma to the U.S. market ($6.95 – $16.95), no passport required.

If Lotion P50 1970 from Biologique Recherche ($62, vickimorav.com) had a theme song it would be Neil Young’s “Unknown Legend.” If exfoliating toner doesn’t sound like the kind of product to inspire zeal, that’s because you haven’t tried P50. It’s been called “a facial in a bottle.” Despite lotion in the name, there’s nothing lotionlike about this clear liquid. The toner is an unusual mix of familiar acids and a compound banned in the EU called phenol. Phenol kills bacteria and inhibits their growth. Plenty of skincare ingredients can do that, but phenol is also an anesthetic that slightly numbs (it’s safe, don’t worry; phenol frequently is found in throat lozenges). So although that unique mix of acids is exfoliating and helps to speed up cellular turnover, the phenol takes most of the sting out. What inspires fierce love of this product, and why you need to stop everything and buy it immediately, is P50 will make your skin look brand new. Brand. New.

I discovered Vintner’s Daughter’s Active Botanical Serum ($185, spacenk.com), the most recent entry onto my Holy of Holiest list, on social media. A couple people I respect and trust raved about it, so I had to see for myself. The eponymous vintner’s daughter is a winemaker’s child and a winery owner herself who applied winemaking methodology in developing skincare products. Perhaps it’s not surprising, then, that the result has a grapeseed oil base. The serum has 22 active botanicals and essential oils and comes with its own push/press method of application. All of this does wonders to brighten, oxygenate, reverse damage, and restore balance to skin. Use it and soon you’ll be whispering to your friends (but not too many of them!) about the new oil that’s making your skin glow … and that’s how cult products come to be.