New York Times recently published an article about why essences may be more important than moisturizer. I beg to differ - I think that if you had to choose one, a good moisturizer for your skin type will serve you far well - but I do agree that essences are important to our skin. A serum, toner, and moisturizer in one, essences (or sometimes called lotions) can help moisturize and plump up the skin without adding extra texture underneath your moisturizer. Good ones typically contain actives for better results. You can use them alone if you layer them several times (read here about the Korean 7-Skin Method), but I find them most effective as a booster for my regular moisturizer.

One of my pet peeves when it comes to beauty products? Crazy claims. Anyone who knows how to read labels can easily see past what the product promises heaven and earth to do. And so, as someone who has been doing this for almost ten years, I can be a little jaded when something like the La Mer The Concentrate comes my way. It promises to be "beauty's best kept secret" as it "improves tone and texture, deepens hydration and helps skin feel more like itself: flexible, resilient, soft, more supple."

Masking has become a habit - okay, an obsession - of mine in the last couple of years. It's the most effective way to jolt my skin back to life, after I've abused it with stress, poor diet, and unwise skincare choices! This is why I have so many different masks (mud, sheet, leave-on, you name it) stocked up in my shelf. I've got masks for acne, dry skin, tired skin, or just generally unhappy-with-the-world skin because one never knows when disaster will strike.