The 12 Essential Products For That Glazed-Donut, Luminous Skin We All Want
Image from Charlotte Tilbury
by The Candidly Team
For any of our 40+ comrades marching steadily away from the year 1990, despite it feeling only like twenty years ago (ahem, it’s actually thirty years ago), we have discovered the secret to luminous skin, minimized wrinkles, smoothed pores, and disappearing eye bags. And that secret is?
Glow.
When we get older, we must run as fast as we can, away from powders and cakey foundations and opaque textures, right into the arms of sheer, exfoliated, glow-giving luminosity.
So many of us make the mistake of using thick products or “full-coverage” makeup thinking it will hide our age. When in fact, those products exacerbate our bags, texture, our wrinks, our crags.
We’re not trying to look young. We’re just trying to look rested, gorgeous, natural, healthy, ageless. And these 12 products are a good first step in that dewy direction.
Let’s go.
1. Ilia Super Serum Skin Tint SPF 40
If you’ve been searching for the perfect “no makeup makeup” foundation your entire life, this is that foundation. It plumps your skin, has incredible glow, and looks like you’re wearing nothing at all.
Find out more about why we love it here.
2. Nudestix Nudies All Over Face Color Bronze + Glow
Unlike many (most) highlighting products, this won’t make you look shimmery or glittery—two words which are the kiss of death for mature skin.
Tap this on cheekbones and nose and admire your perfect glinting sheen in every mirror you pass.
3. bioClarity Barefaced Enzyme Exfoliating Jelly Cleanser
Is it weird to include a cleanser in an article for luminous skin? No it’s not! It couldn’t be less weird.
If you try to pile a bunch of glowy products over dull skin, you will look like the crypt keeper. A shiny crypt keeper, to be sure, but a crypt keeper all the same. This cleanser gives your skin that “squeaky clean” feeling, while leaving it wildly hydrated. A clean, smooth canvas is a non-negotiable first step for any ultra luminous, no-makeup look.
4. Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream Moisturizer
This gives an instant plumping effect that creates an actual bounce to the skin, and without question, there is no better moisturizer to wear under makeup.
Find out more about why we love it here.
5. Weleda Skin Food
If you’re not quite ready for triple digit prices with your skincare, this ultra-rich, drugstore gem is your girl. There’s a reason this cream has achieved cult status— it’s plant-based, extremely thick, slightly tacky, and sinks into the skin to deeply hydrate. Smear it on in the morning and you’ll still be glowing come dinnertime.
Find out more about why we love it here.
6. Saie Glowy Super Gel Lightweight Dewy Highlighter
This feather-light highlighting gel is made with 75% water so it feels like nothing. Smear it on, post moisturizer, for a blinding but natural glow, mix a pump or two into your foundation for extra radiance, or drink straight from the bottle for potentially eternal youth. (Please don’t do that last one).
Find out more about why we love it here.
7. PCA Skin Hyaluronic Acid Overnight Mask
If nothing thrills you more than skincare with instant results, have we got a doozy for you. One of the hardest working ingredients in many glow-giving products, is hyaluronic acid. And this overnight mask is chock-full of it. Layer a pump or two on top of any of your evening skincare, and wake up with remarkably juicy skin.
8. Tower 28 Beauty BeachPlease Luminous Tinted Balm
A few finger smears into the pot and some taps on the cheeks and nose give you that après-ski glow, with an almost second-skin finish. It doesn’t look like blush. It looks like you’re blushing.
Find out more about why we love it here.
9. Maelove The Glowmaker Serum
Look, they don’t call it the “Glow Maker” for nothing. It truly, honestly, makes the skin actually glow from within.
Find out more about why we love it here.
10. Elemis Dynamic Resurfacing Facial Pads
A blend of lactic acid and probiotics work gently to resurface the skin, along with some physical exfoliation from the actual texture of the pad itself, revealing baby soft skin. We like dipping into this pot once or twice a week to be sure our canvas is as primed as humanly possible.
Find out more about why we love it here.
11. Thayers Rose Petal Facial Mist
This mist is entirely alcohol free, crafted with pore-cleansing rose petals, which intermingles with their famous Witch Hazel formula. We spritz it on, over makeup, roughly 7-437 times daily. Instant boost. Instant glow.
Find out more about why we love it here.
12. By Terry Hyaluronic Hydra-Concealer
If you have lines and bags but find that most concealers make both of those issues worse, behold your new favorite product.
But this concealer covers darkness while remaining sheer, plumping, glow-giving. Your eyes look brighter, your skin looks like skin, your face just looks as though you’ve had a long weekend away to somewhere remote, with an enormous bathtub, and without anyone making demands on you. Heaven.
At The Candidly, we try a lot of stuff so you don’t have to. We only recommend things we truly love, and that we think you’ll love, too. All products are chosen independently by our creative team, and all details reflect the price and availability of products at the time of publication. If you buy something we link to, The Candidly may earn a commission.
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