The Glossier Lowdown (yes, it's as good as you've heard)

If you follow me on Instagram you're probably pretty familiar with my full-blown obsession with millennial-founded beauty upstart Glossier. Over the past few weeks I've gotten a bunch of emails, texts, and Instagram messages from friends & followers asking about which products I'd recommend, and if the stuff is really as good as the reviews. To sum it up: YES, IT'S SO WORTH IT, I'M OBSESSED! I decided to write a blog post spelling it all out - so here is your reference guide! To be clear, this is not a sponsored post, I'm just a crazy fan of the brand and have a feeling you'll probably love it too. So bookmark this post, read it through, and the next time someone at brunch asks if Glossier is actually as good as they say, pull it up and drop some knowledge.

Read on for the lowdown - and my promocode for 10% off your first order!

Quick Prologue: I've never had the energy to care much about beauty products, and this is why I'm so obsessed with Glossier: almost every product I've tried is a knockout so it requires zero effort/research/shopping around at a zillion different brands.

Other than a preteen fixation on Bath & Body Works body glitter and a lifelong love of an at-home spa day facemask & manincure, I've never cared about beauty products. I don't wear much makeup, I don't follow any beauty blogs, and if something takes longer than 45 seconds to apply I'm tapping out. I'd never been able to find a brand that felt like true one-stop shopping for the essentials. In walked Glossier to fulfill my beauty routine dreams.

While house-sitting for my best friend a couple years back, I borrowed the face wash in her shower and was immediately surprised at how soft my skin felt. I looked up the brand, ordered my first bottle of Milky Jelly Cleanser, and have never looked back. Glossier makes phenomenal, low-maintenance, pretty, simple products that make my skin look radiant and dewy. They feel amazing to put on, only take a minute or so to use, and I've been genuinely impressed with almost every product I've tried. There's also a couple basic rules I have for any beauty products I use: they gotta be paraben-free & cruelty free. Glossier checks the boxes.

So! Here's what I'd recommend.

Best Starters: Skincare
Milky Jelly Cleanser + Priming Moisturizer

Milky Jelly Cleanser ($18) was my Glossier Gateway Drug, and boy oh boy did it get me in. It's extremely gentle and makes my skin feel insanely soft. The best part: it's safe and non-irritating to use on getting off tough eyeliner & mascara. And you can really go for it - no delicate application or desperately avoiding getting soap in your eyes - which is wonderful on the days I've used a little more eye makeup than normal. The Priming Moisturizer ($22) also leaves my skin feeling soft, hydrated, and dewy - it's a perfect everyday face lotion. And it really does seem to even out the texture of my skin, which is great for both makeup application or going with no makeup at all. Both are everyday essentials for me.

Best Starters: Makeup
Boy Brow and Balm Dot Com (in Coconut or Mint)

Boy Brow ($16) is actual magic. I have never had a brow product as no-fuss as this. It fills, shapes, and defines all in under 20 seconds of swiping. If you want killer natural-looking brows with absolutely zero daily effort, get it. It won't give you Kardashian fill & thickness, but I prefer a more natural vibe so it's perfect for me. Balm Dot Com ($12) is a wonder for my lips, in all weather, for all occasions. Each of the flavors has it's own vibe, but Coconut and Mint are my two faves. Coconut smells (& tastes) amazing, and gives a subtle sheer gloss on it's own. It's also gorgeous layered on top of a bright lipstick. Mint smells like a spa and doesn't really give any gloss, but is super moisturizing. I've used both of them on my hands if it's dry and I don't have lotion on me. I use both Boy Brow and Balm Dot Com every single day.

Most Indulgent Favorites:
Priming Moisturizer Rich & FaceMask Duo

While my recommendations for Starters are products I use every single day, the products I get the most excited to use are these three indulgences. Once a week I will go an extra mile for my skin and treat myself to a little at-home spa action. The FaceMask Duo ($40 for the set, or $22 each separately) is two masks that you use one right after the other: the Mega-Greens Galaxy Pack mask is a clay-based mask that's all about detoxification, and the Moisturizing Moon Mask is all about hydration and glow. They both work well on their own, but I feel like you get the full impact when you pair the two together. Sometimes I even sleep with a verrrry thin layer of the Moon Mask on my face if I want to wake up extra glowy. I feel immediate results when I use these guys, but it's the next-morning-wakeup where I really feel the magic. Which brings me to the next product: Priming Moisturizer Rich ($35). This stuff is GOLD. GOLD, I TELL YOU. Probably my favorite Glossier product to date. On the days I need an extra kick of moisture I replace regular Priming Moisturizer in my routine with the rich version, and I swear my skin feels like luscious thick velvvvvet every single time I use it. It also smells like peppermint & lavender.....so delicious. My face glows, it feels insanely hydrated, and I almost never wear any makeup on the days I use Rich. If you're ever looking for an immediate jolt of glow & deep hydration, you've gotta try Priming Moisturizer Rich. Seriously. Do it now.

Most Shockingly Immediate & Dramatic Results:
Solution

My whole adult life I'd used a textured exfoliator about once a week. I used exfoliators to clear away dead surface skin cells, and it always seemed to help my complexion. But I had heard from friends in the beauty industry that most rocky, scratchy exfoliating scrubs are actually pretty terrible for your skin because they physically scrape your cells apart, often before new cells are fully formed. I'd also never used toners because the alcohol in them always seemed to dry out my skin. Solution ($24) is a liquid exfoliator...which is to say, it seems like the halfway point between a toner and an exfoliator? It contains no alcohol and doesn't have any textured exfoliating particles....so, I don't know, don't quote me, I don't know anything about how this actually works, but I've been using this stuff daily for 3 1/2 weeks and my skin feels completely renewed. The redness in my cheeks has calmed down. My pores look about half as big as they did when I started using it. The dark circles under my eyes are less pronounced. I haven't used my regular exfoliant in a month. I don't understand how it works, but Solution has honestly done wonders for my skin. I apply it at night (apparently if you apply in the morning it increases sun sensitivity & makes it more likely you could sunburn) after cleansing and before moisturizing, and for me it has 100% lived up to the hype. My boyfriend has been using it too, out of pure curiosity, and he is also seeing crazy results.

Slightly Underwhelming, but still alright:
Super Pure Serum and Soothing Face Mist

Almost everything I've tried from Glossier has knocked it out of the ballpark, but there have been two products that were good...not great. I do still see some results from both of these products, but they didn't blow me away. The Soothing Face Mist ($18) smells lovely and does make my skin feel dewy, but it's a bit expensive and always makes my eyes burn. (If you're looking for a rosewater face mist that will amaze you, go with Mario Badescu's version. It's $7 and feels like a glorious indulgence. I use it to tame flyaways in my hair, wake up my face, and soothe redness.) The Super Pure serum ($28) does help to tame some redness in my face, but for the price and reviews I honestly expected more results. I do use it when I'm PMS-ing, and it has been somewhat helpful in taming hormone related flare-ups, but based on how amazingly the other products have worked I don't know that I'd recommend Super Pure.

What I can't wait to try next:
Body Hero Duo and Perfecting Skin Tint

The Body Hero Duo ($35 for the set) is a combo of a daily moisturizer and oil-based body wash that I have been hearing rave reviews about for a few months. I love the idea of using an oil-based body wash to extract dirt instead of one based on harsher chemical like sodium lauryl sulfate (which is in most body washes and is also used to clean out car engines...yikes).

I have been using a NARS liquid foundation for years to do the occasional touch or cover up on my face, but did you guys know NARS just recently walked away from being cruelty-free? Yah, they're going to START testing on animals when they haven't been for years. WTF. No. Bye, NARS. Now that I need a new coverage product, I have heard great things about Perfecting Skin Tint ($26), so I'm gonna give it a shot. I hate looking like I've got anything thick on my skin, so I'm hoping that this gives a bit of coverage while staying sheer as advertised. I will report back!

SO,

that's it!

And if after reading alllll of that, you're curious at all,

I have a present for you!