In our Beauty & Well-Being issue, we award top products in a variety of categories. As leaders in clean
beauty-I wrote the first piece on clean beauty for The New York Times Magazine decades ago-our knowledge of the subject and our passion for integrity runs deep. Our awards criteria is rigorous: We judge each product on ingredient purity, efficacy, innovation and sustainability. We vet every product to ensure that the ingredients are healthy for people and the planet we all share.
TOP AGE DEFIERS
Pai Skincare The Impossible Glow:
Glow for it, with hyaluronic acid and sea kelp, and vitamin C-boosted lemon water to mix with your moisturizer or on its own.
Yum Gourmet Skincare Serum Hydra-Lift:
With organic inca inchi oil, rich in omega 3, 6 and 9, this cult favorite spa serum lifts, firms and protects dry skin.
Yon-Ka Elixir Vital:
An iconic and extremely effective serum with
cold-pressed botanical oils, amino acids, vitamins-and at least a million other intensely nourishing natural ingredients.
Luzern Serum Absolut Firming Collagen Booster:
The original product was great, but the newly reformulated version is even greater. With peptides and plantderived stem cells, this lifting and firming product works magic.
Maya Chia The Advanced Response Complex Rapid Regenerating Hydrating Face + Neck Cream:
Loaded with peptides, amino acids and plant seed extracts, this lovely cream does it all: softens fine lines and wrinkles, firms and tones, night or day, face or neck.
TOP CLEANSERS
Josh Rosebrook Essential Balm Cleanse:
A luscious concentrated plant oil-base, with algae, transforms into a milky paste with water to gently lift away dirt and cleanse the skin.
Payot Herbier Face & Eye Cleansing Oil with Olive Oil:
A Parisian import, this COSMOS-certified oil-based cleanser not only removes every bit of makeup and dirt, it leaves skin looking plump, juicy and radiant.
Dr. Hauschka Cleansing Cream:
A classic and cult favorite, for good reason. This gentle cleanser cleanses and rebalances skin, with a blend of soothing calendula, anthyllis and sweet almond.
Detox Mode Renewing Foam Cleanser:
This soothing cleanser with exfoliating pineapple extract rinses away impurities and leaves all skin soft and silky.
Red Flower Hamman Mint Tea Silt Purifier:
Technically, a body wash, but we use this head to toe, because with oils of sage leaf, peppermint, lavender, Douglas fir needle, ylang ylang and more, it perks up the skin and transports you to a spicy forest - a fantastic way to start the day.
TOP FACIAL MASKS
Pipette Overnight Brightening Mask:
With oat bran extract and shea butter, this overnight exfoliating mask is designed to coax back a glow for tired postpartum moms - if it works for them, it works for the rest of us!
Tara Skin Therapy Soothing Gel Mask:
Instantly calms inflamed, sensitive skin and feels as refreshing as a cool glass of water for the face, with cucumber, mooring, got kola and aloe.
Immunicologie Vital Clay Mask:
This deeply nourishing mask with French green clay, salicylic acid and 12 essential minerals feels amazing on the skin while it clears, purifies and rebalances the skin's microbiome.
Nature of Things Rejuvenating Overnight Facial Mask:
Wake up with gorgeous skin, with a who's who of hero ingredients in this lovely mask: hemp rose geranium and ylang-ylang flower oils, alfalfa, got kola, Kakadu plum, lemon, pineapple.
Kahina Giving Beauty Moisture Mask:
A rich mask with vitaminK for brightening, prickly pear seed oil for moisture, it instantly plumps and softens the skin. Wear it for 15-minutes - or overnight, for an intensive treatment.
TOP BALMS
Conscious Coconut Travel-Ready Coconut Oil Tube:
This delicious, USDA-certified organic, Fair Trade coconut oil removes makeup, moisturizes all over, helps soften scars and even shaves your legs! We take it everywhere.
Province Apothecary Vital Nutrient Face + Eye Balm:
A soothing all-in-one moisturizer with antioxidants plus plumping hyaluronic acid and bakuchiol, truly a skin-soother.
In Light Beauty Deep Moisture Balm:
A lovely balm made with shea butter and macadamia oil, with soothing calendula rosehip and more, to deeply nourish parched skin.
Kadalys Banana Lip Balm:
For lubricious lips, with omega-rich yellow banana bioactive to firm and plump, plus jojoba, mimosa and castor oils to moisturize.
TOP FACE OILS
Eminence Organic Skin Care Camellia Glow Solid Face Oil:
We just can't get enough! With luxurious camellia oil, pink tourmaline gemstones and macula oil, this is a spa treatment in a jar - warm a small dab in your palm, watch it melt and pat on for soft, glowing skin.
Le Prunier Plum Beauty Oil:
From a family farm in California that is USDA-certified organic, this elegant plum oil is rich in essential fatty acids, polyphenols, powerful antioxidants and brings radiance wherever it goes.
Endota Organics Vitamin Treatment Oil:
Argan and avocado oil, plus vitamins C and E combine to make this Australian import, newly launched in the U.S., a highly effective face oil.
Vamigas Luz de Sur:
A blend of oils native to Latin America - maqui, maracuja, papaya, açaí, chia and prickly pear - this rejuvenating oil feeds, moisturizes and plumps tired skin.
Jolie Maroc Moroccan Rose Argan Oil:
With only two ingredients - organic organ oil and rose essential oil - this absorbs neatly into the skin, leaves skin irresistibly soft and helps support indigenous Moroccan women.
TOP SERUMS
Herbivore Bakuchiol Retinol Alternative Serum:
Bakuchiol, a plant-based retinol alternative, with hydrating mushrooms lightweight serum soothes and smoothes skin.
One Love Organics Botanical C Facial Serum:
Vitamin C is a powerful ingredient, but it is potentially irritating on sensitive skin. This is a gentle and highly effective serum, with no risk of irritation or inflammation.
The Organic Pharmacy Rosehip Serum:
This soothing and brightening organic serum, with virgin cold-pressed oils, is hard to beat for its effectiveness and it is a total pleasure to use.
HyaGlo Hydrating Serum:
Loaded with hyaluronic acid, a brand hallmark, this brings the glow back, softens lines and wrinkles and is a true skin rejuvenator.
LilFox Couture Haute C:
Even if you have trouble tolerating vitamin C serums, you'll love this. Kakadu plum, camu camu and 15 percent tetra-C, along with a soft citrus scent, make this a powerful brightener and skin-plumper.
TOP CBD
Saint Jane Luxury Beauty Serum:
More like an oil than a serum, this beautifully packaged product - with 20+ antioxidant-rich botanicals, including CBD - smells divine absorbs neatly and leaves skin wondrously soft.
Cause + Medic CBD Body Butter:
A cult favorite, this body butter - with rich oils and plant extracts - softens skin, eases sore muscles and relaxes the mind.
Antedotum Vital Face Oil:
Made from organic hemp, this light absorbent CBD oil - with a blend of botanicals - soothes and softens tired, worn-out skin.
TOP EXFOLIANTS
Lather Cactus Flower + Aloe Gentle Face Scrub:
A soft and gentle exfoliant for dry, sensitive skin, the ingredients - aloe vera, jojoba and yucca - conjure a walk in the desert.
Bluh Alchemy Exfoliating Cleanser:
Clean, simple and effective with oil-absorbing clay, soothing aloe, elderberry, horse chestnut, neem, mooring and more, this polishes away dull skin without residual dryness.
Eco Lips Lip Scrub:
It smells like a sugar cookie, with good reason - Fair Trade certified sugar with vanilla bean and a blend of organic plant oils will leave chapped lips looking soft and lubricious.
TOP FACIAL SUN CARE
Le Prunier Plumscreen SPF 31:
Relying on extracts of up cycled organic plum seeds from the founders' farm, Le Prunier created Plum Beauty Oil five years ago to instant acclaim. Now, that antioxidant-packed oil infuses this equally beloved, super-silky, fairly marzipan-scented sunscreen.
Jose Maran Get Even Sun Milk SPF 33:
Somehow both ultra-lightweight and rich in nourishing oils (organ, jojoba, marigold, squalene), the newest addition to Josie Maran's organ Milk collection is especially good at layering.
Taos Aer SPF 30 Broad Spectrum Mineral Sunscreen:
The rare mineral sunscreen that's both hardly enough to apply to your body for strenuous outdoor fun - and bendable enough to use on your face, too - this formulation was, in fact, road-tested on the creators' hikes through the namesake high desert.
Juice Beauty Stem Cellular CC Cream SPF 30:
The perfect gateway product for the CC-curious (or the CC-disenchanted), this organic stem cell-infused multitasker packs seemingly generous pigment - but blends shockingly easily for a dewy, soft and natural finish.
Tower 28 SunnyDays Tinted Sunscreen SPF 30:
For a drop more coverage than a tinted lotion typically provides, this sunscreen-foundation hybrid is ideal and - like all things Tower 28 - sensitive-skin friendly, per National Eczema Association guidelines (among other clean beauty guidelines).
TOP EYE CREAMS
Reviva Labs Eye Complex Firming Cream:
utterly addictive, this soft, lightweight, extremely well-priced cream does it all: firms, smoothes and helps de-puff the eye area.
Hollybeth Organics Eye Balm:
USDA-certified organic, with a delicious texture, this highly absorbent water-free, plant-based balm is luscious and plumps up dry skin around the eyes.
Beauty PlantGenius Line-Filling Eye Balm:
With wild-crafted botanical and age-defying ingredients like bakuchiol, vitaminC, and tripeptide-29, this de-puffing eye balm truly brightens and tightens.
Cyprus Ad Astra Nighttime Eye Emulsion:
With expertly curated ingredients, this product is not playing: It revitalizes, softens and brightens even the most tired-looking eye area.
Eavara Ultra Radiant Eye Cream:
With hyaluronic acid, and organic jojoba, borage seed and primrose from Hawaii, this soothing, softening eye cream brightens and tightens skin around the eyes.
TOP MOISTURIZERS
Odacité Green Smoothie Quenching Creme:
A lightweight cream loaded with algae, seaweed, cucumber extract, hyaluronic acid and botanical actives to refresh, soothe and soften the skin, for long-lasting hydration.
Anda Super Creme:
A highly absorbent cream with a clean scent that instantly plumps and beautifies the skin. We love the simple, elegant tube, easy to take anywhere.
Ranavat Eternal Reign Renewing Bakuchi Creme:
This silky cream makes the skin feel super smooth and silky, too, with Baluchi seed, lotus flower, ashwagandha , shea and more luscious ingredients.
Mukti Organics Hydrating Moisturizer:
A powerhouse packed with Australian plant extracts - plum, banksia and flame tree serve up vitamin X along with Coenzyme Q10, kukui nut, rosehip and pomegranate - plus, this happy hydrator is a sensorial pleasure.
Saharan Nourish Creme Riche:
Deliciously creamy and packed with powerful Ayurvedic herbs, and soothing aloe and coconut oil, it is a forever go-to.
TOP HOLISTIC HEALERS
H. Gillerman Organics Stress Remedy:
Expertly formulated by healer Hop Gillerman, this portable roller ball is a perfect blend of beautiful stress-reducing essential oils that calm you down and please tension every time.
CV Skincare Labs Body Repair Lotion:
An ultra-absorbent lotion that is targeted toward extremely dry, inflamed skin, especially skin suffering from dermatitis, eczema, radiation burns and irritation from post-laser hair removal, waxing and shaving.
MOST SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING
Ethique:
Back in 2012, the founder of this New Zealand-based brand was frustrated by the amount of plastic and water waste in beauty and personal-care products. Brianne became one of the first to formulate waterless shampoo and conditioner bars, and her latest innovation is plastic-free lipsticks, packed in compostable tubes.