You can thank me later, but your week (and maybe even your entire month) is about to get so much better. Beauty lovers, take note. It's officially time for one of the most anticipated events of the year: Dermstore's super-epic Beauty Refresh Event, which runs March 3 through March 12. You have a little over a week to restock everything you're currently out of—from skincare to beauty tools to makeup to haircare—and discover tons of cool, new products your beauty aesthetic will crave in tune with the changing seasons. Spring, is that you?!
Dermstore only has a few site-wide events per year, so this is not the time to be passive, folks. (Nor is this event the stuff of flimsy clickbait. This is an amazing dollar-saving situation.) In celebration of spring, Dermstore is offering up to 20% off so many of its most sought-after beauty brands. Just enter code GLOWUP when checking out to save. Even the brands that aren't taking part in discounts, like Ilia, Oribe, and EltaMD, are offering double points on purchases for Dermstore's loyalty shoppers. These savings are definitely worth a celebration, so I've gone through all of the glorious beauty pickings and chosen 21 standout products that I'm either currently using and obsessing over or that are on my "need to try ASAP" list. Keep scrolling and get ready to shop till you drop.
The Hair Picks
This stuff made my brows grow so amazingly fast that I actually had to curb my usage. (Yep, it's really that effective!) It's expensive, but it's worth every penny if you're looking for the best brow-growth serum.
If I was lazy about styling my hair before 2020, you can imagine what my relationship with my collection of styling tools has been like since COVID (very estranged). However, once in a blue moon, I get inspired to pick up a new styling tool for a test-drive. When it comes to curling my hair, I can't be bothered with clamps, so I almost always use a wand. I've been staying with my family in Arizona for the past couple of months, so I don't have my usual favorite. Thus, when Harry Josh sent me its 3-in-1 Ceramic Curling Iron, I was excited to give it a whirl. First of all, it's brilliant because you can get the professional-level results of a marcel clamp or a spring clamp with the easy, breezy flexibility of a wand, or you can remove the detachable marcel or spring clamps (what I do) to use the ceramic wand alone. One would think all curling wands are the same, but they're definitely not, and this is my new favorite. I don't know if I've ever had such voluminous, crimp-free, and long-lasting results as this one effortlessly delivers. I literally have no reason to be curling my hair right now, but the results are so pretty I just. can't. stop.
This is a product I've been using for years, and no matter how many leave-in formulas I try, nothing ever seems to compare. (Although, I have yet to try the one from Prose, so stay tuned!) I have gotten so many people hooked on this stuff—from my friends and fellow beauty editors to my mom, who is in her 70s. It instantly detangles (and I mean instantly) while simultaneously adding moisture, lost protein, shine, and thermal protection back into your strands. Over time, it's definitely been a major player in helping to repair the damage I experienced from some botched highlight jobs and a stint with bonded extensions years ago. And it smells amazing—it just might be the best-smelling hair product I've ever tried.
So many dry shampoos are ultimately disappointing, and out of the hundreds (thousands?) that are on the market these days, I can name five that actually make your hair look, smell, and feel amazingly clean and fresh. This one from Living Proof is number one!
I love and adore all things Leonor Greyl, but these nifty little ampoules have been a new discovery in the past year that I'm super grateful for. If you have thin or fine hair or if you're concerned about hair loss and thinning, this supercharged formula will help breathe life and health back into your scalp and tresses. You apply the formula after you shampoo, condition, and towel-dry. For best results, the brand recommends using three vials per week for three consecutive months if you're dealing with severe hair loss or one vial per week if your hair loss is more moderate.
I'm not a huge product person when it comes to my hair. I despise the feeling of product in my hair (residue, no thank you!), so I've never been one to spray my hair silly with volumizers, mists, or texturizers. That said, this new root-teasing and texturizing spray from R+Co has quickly become my latest favorite thing, and when paired with my new fave curling iron (see above), the results are truly so damn good. Technically, this formula is all about adding volume and texture to the roots, but I also love it on my mid-lengths and ends. It smells heavenly (like palo santo, white cedarwood, smoky tobacco leaf, fresh pine needles, and water lily), absorbs oil, and blends seamlessly into every hair color. It's almost like the longer you wear it, the more pillowy and voluminous your strands get. Does it expand? Is it bewitched? Is it the perfect dry shampoo/texturizing spray? I honestly don't know, but I haven't been this hooked on a styling product in, maybe, forever.
My adoration for this iconic hair mask is the one and only similarity I have with the celeb set. It's a grand slam if you're trying to treat stressed-out strands to lots of TLC.
The Skin Picks
I've been around the block more times than I'd like on the retinol front. So many are too harsh or drying, or the purging period where I break out is just too intense. However, one of my favorite facialists at Vanessa Hernandez Skincare, Dakota Katt, recommended this SkinMedica formula to me, and I'm officially hooked. Remarkably, it doesn't irritate my skin (start slow!), and I've noticed slow but sure improvements in the tone and texture of my complexion since I started using it.
If you want bright, even, hydrated, and positively glowing skin, this vitamin C serum from Sunday Riley comes highly recommended from your truly. (It's one of my all-time favorite Sunday Riley formulas to date!)
I recently talked to two of the biggest skincare icons in the Korean beauty world, Alicia Yoon of Peach & Lily and Charlotte Cho of Soko Glam, and they officially have me sold on the importance of face essences. Don't squirm, but this one is enriched with snail mucin (an underdog hero ingredient in the K-beauty world!), and the reviews and ratings are exceptional. It's the one I have my sights set on, and a sale is the perfect time to spring for it!
So many makeup artists use these exact eye gels on their A-list clients before they go in with makeup. I'm also aboard the Skyn Iceland Hydro Cool Firming Eye Gel bus, and quite honestly, they're the only ones on the market that give me instantaneous, visible results. Puff and blotchiness, begone!
I'm all for instant gratification, and this handy-dandy vitamin C–spiked eye serum from Dermalogica gives my peepers a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed appearance, even if I spent more time rewatching This Is Us episodes than actually sleeping the night before.
I've tried plenty of facial rollers, but this one from ReFa is the only one that matters to me. I'm ridiculously attached, and it saves me time and again after I've had five too many pieces of soy sauce–drenched sushi.
I wish I was above whining about missing professional facials, but I really, really miss professional facials. So I got unreasonably excited when I spotted this awesome at-home facial set (steamer and all!) among Dermstore's sale offerings.
The Makeup Picks
Meghan Markle is notoriously mum when it comes to her beauty regimen, but a few years back when I was working for a different beauty publication, I did receive inside intel from her makeup artist that this fan-favorite organic luminzer is a MM all-time fave!
Anyone who's ever used Becca's cult-loved Pressed Highlighter definitely wept a few tears when the brand announced it would be going out of business this coming September. Here's my advice to you: Buy as many of your favorites as your budget can handle before they're gone for good!
What more could you want! This ingenious palette is my one-stop shop when I need some blush, bronzer, highlight, and sculpting help in under two minutes.
I've used this double-sided eyeliner from Tarte for years, and I have yet to find a multipurpose eye pen that can compete. I used to be devoted to my inky-black cat eye, but lately, I've been into this pretty brown hue.
Whenever my fellow beauty editor Courtney Higgs recommends a product, I immediately add it to my next shopping haul, no questions asked. This natural complexion-boosting CC cream from Juice Beauty is the most recent example.
I recently credited this universally flattering liquid blush as one of the best of all time, and I stand by that statement! It's a sheer, gel-cream formula that delivers the perfect burst of "I woke up like this" flush. Plus, it's enriched with great ingredients like vitamin C and Chinese ginger plant extract.
I'm a self-proclaimed mascara fiend, and this is one of my favorites. You get plenty of length, curl, and volume with none of those icky side effects like clumping, smudging, or flaking.
Up next, I Tried SkinCeuticals's New Serum, and It Just Might Eclipse C E Ferulic
