Welcome to Face Value, Highsnobiety’s monthly guide to the best new beauty products and the brands behind them.
Our bathroom cabinets are due for a spring cleaning. As the weather warms up, say goodbye to heavy creams and sweet fragrances and hello to all things light and fresh.
Consider Highsnobiety's favorite new beauty products a transitional wardrobe for your face. From Elorea's gorgeous take on perfumery's favorite flower to Dr. Barbara Sturm's grime-busting cleanser, read on for the beauty buys worth adding to cart.
Elorea - Be By My Side
You've heard of K-beauty, but how about K-fragrance? Elorea, a recently launched niche perfume brand, is turning customers on to South Korea's scent history, marked by practices such as religious incense rituals and the crushing of flower petals and spices to create personalized fragrances.
Be By My Side, part of Elorea's "The Forgotten Words" collection, is inspired by the Korean word hūnoni (흐노니), or to miss someone dearly. Highlighted with ginseng and forget-me-not, the rose-forward fragrance feels like a summer fling, doomed to fizzle out at the end of August. This one is a must-try for fans of Frédéric Malle's Portrait of a Lady.
Fara Homidi Beauty - Essential Lip Compact
ICYMI: Fara Homidi, the makeup artist behind your favorite fashion brands' runway beats, launched her own beauty brand. While the entirety of her first collection — a range of lip products in six, universally flattering shades that Homidi tested across the skin tone spectrum — is worth trying, we have to hand it to the Essential Lip Compact. Heavy and luxe-feeling, the palm-sized system includes a lip primer and "Colour Plush," a sweep of color with a soft matte finish.
Westman Atelier - Skin Activator
Westman Atelier, makeup artist Gucci Westman's namesake brand, launched its first foray into skincare: the Skin Activator, a lightweight serum-slash-primer that gives great glow. Wear it under makeup or use it on its own — either way, you'll look as dewy as a spring morning.
Diptyque - L'Eau Papier
Think of Diptyque's L'Eau Papier as the olfactive equivalent of a fresh notebook. Clean and understated, the fragrance is a musky, powdery concoction dotted hints of mimosa and wood. The cherry on top: rice steam accord, a subtly starchy nod to the smell of paper.
Dr. Barbara Sturm - Super Anti-Aging Cleansing Cream
No double-cleansing here, just Dr. Barbara Sturm's new face wash. As its name suggests, the Super Anti-Aging Cleansing Cream boasts a creamy formula that's gentle on dry and sensitive skin yet tough on makeup, dirt, and grime.
