Y et Beauté

Inspired by a transformational yoga sojourn in Mysore, India, Y et Beaute has come out with the Birkin bag of lipsticks. This is the most luxe lipstick experience, outranking anything you'd find at Sephora or an upscale department store and I'm completely obsessed.

Take the packaging, made in (where else?) Italy. Cool, sleek bullets with the perfect amount of weighted heft, a cap that slides like melted butter and clicks satisfyingly shut with a magnetic closure. This lipstick takes itself (and whomever is wearing it) seriously. 

And then there's the lipstick itself, also manufactured in Italy. The shade I have is Bisou, a densely pigmented warm and earthy pink. It goes on like a classic lady's lipstick in that it's opaque, on the matte side of creamy and stays put. Swipe it on in the morning, and by lunch, you'll still have color. It functions beautifully as a lip stain by tapping it against the lips and blending it softly out with fingertips, or as a long lasting cream blush. 

I'm already eyeing Tranquille, a lively and modest pink for my next acquisition. 

You can find the line now at Credo Beauty, or the Y et Beauté website.

Inlight Skin-Easy balm + Face Oil

Winter can be especially brutal on the skin, and I often find myself shelving lightweight oils and brisk tonics in favor of dense balms and emollient-heavy oils that require a few minutes to sink in. Enter these two hero products from UK-based Inlight: a nurturing vanilla scented facial oil, and a medicinal catch-all balm to heal a spectrum of skin complaints.

Formulated by a doctor using only organic ingredients, Inlight doesn't have one star ingredient that the line is built around, rather a cocktail of proven botanicals.

The Facial Oil is a rich, slippery golden oil that faintly smells like vanilla (thanks to a hint of vanilla oil) and feels as comforting as a soft duvet. Anti-inflammatory blue mallow, skin strengthening jojoba, and vitamin A rich rosehip oils provide an all round effective facial oil for daily use. It layers well underneath sunscreen, just give it a couple minutes to settle.

The Skin-Easy Balm is particularly useful to keep in the medicine cabinet. The metal tube holds an herbal scented balm (thanks, no doubt, to the anti-bacterial neem oil within it) that's exceptionally heavy with minimal slip. A blend of beeswax, coconut, castor and olive oils envelope whatever problem area it's applied to, and the concoction of antibacterial, cleansing ingredients inlcuding neem, propolis, frankinscence, tea tree and lavender oils do its work. This balm is lauded for healing acne (though, if like me, coconut oil causes you to break out, it's best to reserve this for skin maladies away from the face – with the notable exception of raw, red noses from seemingly endless days of nose-blowing during cold season). I've also found it fantastic for bug bites, rashes and garden-variety skin afflictions for myself and my little ones. 

Both of these products, as well as the rest of the Inlight line can be found in the US via hugyourskin.com.