Good (Coconut) Things Come In Large Packages

Marketing has convinced us that the smaller the container, the pricier the contents. Think eye creams in wee jars accompanied by doll-sized spatulas or caviar in diminutive, shallow tins. (I’m so glad I never developed a taste for caviar.)

But if a bottle is huge like Renpure’s Coconut Milk & Vitamin E body wash, you might dismiss it as being somehow less than. And you’d be wrong, because Renpure’s coconut body wash is the ideal shower companion as Canadian winter approaches (insert portentous organ music here.)

Sulphate-free with coconut oil and hydrolyzed milk proteins, it is a gentle cleanser that won’t strip away your precious skin oils. This is especially crucial in the winter when central heating and low humidity conspire to turn your skin into crinkly tissue paper.

And more important to us picky fragrance people, in addition to its ‘clean beauty’ ingredients and post consumer recycled plastic bottle, Renpure absolutely nails the fragrance.

The creamy, light coconut scent is a dead ringer for Skin Trip, the luxe hippie cult favourite body lotion sold in posh health food stores like LA’s Erewhon Market.

But unlike Skin Trip, you can get Renpure in Canada. Its generously-sized bottle, all 710 ml (24 ounces in old money) is only $8.79 at Shoppers Drug Mart and $7.97 at Walmart. Be still my penny-pinching little heart.

Caudalie Fig Body Oil: Practically Perfect in Every Way

Caudalie’s new Smooth & Glow Oil Elixir, (Sephora Canada, $66) is for anyone who spent the summer in the water until their fingers got all pruney and their hair turned to straw. Or it’s for that optimistic soul who stayed too long in the sun, trying to bank enough residual heat to keep them warm throughout the winter. Pity that doesn’t actually work.

But dreading winter aside, this is the oil blend to take your dried-out, late summer skin from faintly reptilian to a hydrated, ‘let’s turn the clock back, shall we?’ dream state. Loaded with antioxidant-rich prickly pear, argan and shea oils, Caudalie Smooth & Glow Elixir also adds softness and shine to crispy, frizzed out hair. All with a wonderful, ‘fig bush after a summer storm’ fragrance. And while the scent is epically figgy, there’s also a faint undercurrent of warm cedar to temper the sweetness. (If you like Diptyque’s Philosykos, Caudalie Smooth & Glow is for you.)

But I’m betting you won’t truly appreciate this oil until you crack open a bottle in deepest darkest November. Then you’ll get a serotonin jolt of happy from the scent and your skin will be very grateful for the much-needed moisture. But why would I even mention November? That seems unnecessarily negative.

Sunscreen For People Who Hate Sunscreen: Shiseido Clear Sunscreen Stick

Choosing a sunscreen can bring out your inner Goldilocks — this lotion is too thick, this one is weirdly greasy,  this one makes your face ghostly white. It’s a boring exercise, especially when all you want is applause for your diligent sunscreen use.

So cynical me, I was immediately skeptical of Shiseido's clear sunscreen stick which promises to avoid all those issues and seemed too good to be true. But it is actually that good.

Shiseido’s Clear Sunscreen Broad Spectrum Wet Force stick ($40, Sephora) is a gel solid in a swivel-up stick that you swipe on with broad strokes, so your fingers never touch the product. When sunscreen application is simple and mess-free, you are hopefully more inclined to reapply, because for sunscreen to work, you need to keep topping up every two hours if you are outdoors and wet (preferably from being in a pool or lake, if it’s a day like today.)

Shiseido’s Clear Sunscreen stick protects against both UVA (aging) and UVB (burning) rays with broad spectrum SPF 50, and Shiseido’s proprietary Wet Force and HeatForce technologies that cleverly leverage heat and water to amplify the sunscreen's effectiveness. (It’s as if Shiseido is compelling you to get in the water.)

And because it’s a gel solid, It won’t drip into your eyes when you ride a bike, play tennis, tend to your garden or just live your life in our unreasonably humid climate. And if you are a makeup wearer (and props to you for wearing makeup in this heat) you can even swipe it over top and it won’t disturb your makeup at all. It is the easiest sunscreen to use by far. So no excuse. Go get it before it sells out again.

Crone Relief: L’Oréal Revitalift Line Plumper Is a Tatcha Water Cream Dupe

Pre-coffee morning face saver.

I love sharing well-priced skincare dupes. They’re the beauty equivalent of your grandmother adding a crisp twenty dollar bill to your birthday card.

New L’Oréal Revitalift Line-Plumping Water Cream, ($42, Shoppers Drug Mart) is a super skin hydrator that’s a twin to Tatcha’s best-selling Water Cream, but the Revitalift costs less than half. That’s good to know as inflation is still climbing and Loblaws now apparently charges seven dollars for celery according to this TikTok. (There are so many other food examples I could cite, but I enjoy that girl’s pure, crystalline rage.)

Water creams are high in ceramides, glycerin and hyaluronic acid to hydrate skin quickly, which is key when you are feeling shrivelled and pruney-faced. Revitalift Line-Plumper contains low molecular weight hyaluronic acid to plump skin quickly while ceramides (the ‘mortar’ between the ‘bricks’ that are your skin cells) work to strengthen your skin barrier which can get temperamental and needy as you age. A strengthened skin barrier acts younger and retains moisture better, making skin less sensitive and more resistant to redness, irritation and general discomfort.

On mornings when I wake up feel especially crinkly, I stagger to the bathroom, splash water on my face and get some Revitalift water cream on before hying myself off to the kitchen for coffee. By the time the caffeine hits, the cream has done its work and a much more presentable me greets the day.

And because the Revitalift is so well-priced, you can use it lavishly and still have money left over for things like celery.

REN Plumping Essence: Your Skin Barrier’s New Best Friend

Every Laura Ingalls Wilder fan knows that Farmer Boy is the superior book in every way (The ice cream scene! The endless pies!) but The Long Winter is more appropriate right now. We made it through February, yet here we have March to contend with.

Winter storms are back, and as much as I want to bury myself in books and tea (what a friend calls ‘the Jane Austen cure’) we all have to leave the house eventually. So before heading out, it is prudent (such a good Jane Austen word) to use a an essence to protect your skin from the wind and ice demons lurking just outside your door.

Essence can seem like a superfluous skincare step until you try it. A super hydrator with a ‘water, but thicker’ texture, REN Smooth, Prep & Plump Essence, ($70, Sephora) applied right after you wash your face, gives your skin much-needed moisture while cannily sneaking in skin barrier-protecting ingredients like hyaluronic acid and polyglutamic acid that will help your skin’s top layers retain moisture. It also helps your skin better absorb the active ingredients in serums you use afterwards.

And it makes your skin feel like actual skin, not crêpe paper. That alone should be all the motivation you need to try it.

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And how old is my copy of The Long Winter? Not only did it cost a mere $2.10, but WH Smith hasn’t existed in Canada since 1989.