The 5 Anti-Aging Essentials Our VERY Picky Editor-in-Chief Always Has In Her Bathroom
by Audie Metcalf
I am something of a beauty product……hound. I wanted to use another word but the Facebook algorithm won’t let us run this article if I do. But you and I both know what it is.
Even before I was the editor of this site, I had an alarming number of beauty and skincare products in my bathroom. I just love products. I love the moment when you realize something actually works and isn’t just cute packaging and marketing fluff. Though I am definitely, unequivocally, taken in by that, too. Let’s all have a gander at my TWO bathroom cabinets currently, shall we? Just so you can really trust that my obsession with products is verging on illness:
I show you that both to sort of out myself, and to show you that if it’s new, if it makes big claims, especially about aging, I’ve tried it. Now that I’m deep into my 40s, one might even call it “late” 40s though I would not, I think about products, especially skincare, very differently. I have wildly unrealistic expectations. I demand near-instant results, or at least some kind of instant satisfaction. They must smell luscious, or they must smell like nothing. They must immediately look and feel incredible on my skin. And, most importantly, they must have some kind of long-term anti-aging effect that I can actually witness.
I know, I know. The phrase “anti-aging” divides us. Just LOOK at this convo we started about it! But I use it. I like it. It’s clear, it’s efficient, we all understand what it means, and I choose to interpret it as wanting our physical selves to match our internal selves. If you hate it, I get that, too.
The beauty industry made 49 billion dollars off of us last year, and most of it is, how do you say? Ah yes. Useless. So I thought I’d pop in today to share the 5 anti-aging products I’ve come to rely on, from a sea of other products I’ve forgotten about.
They all work. They all do what they say they will do. And I will use them all until I am an old, wrinkled, prune.
Or maybe, if I stay consistent enough with my skincare…I’ll just stay glowy and ageless forever. Time will tell.
Here are the 5, in order of how anxious I would become if I was without them even for one day.
1. Furtuna Due Alberi Biphase Moisturizing Oil
WHY: My first choice today, tomorrow, forever, is this potent, potentially magical oil from the brand Furtuna. I could try and explain all of its very specific and otherworldly ingredients, but instead I will just say that this startlingly effective product is the ONLY thing I’ve ever used that have physically, demonstrably softened my dreaded vertical chest lines to the point of them being almost invisible. I also use it as a last step in my skincare routine morning and night—I press on maybe 4-5 drops and it gives this deeply hydrated, hyper-glowy but not greasy glow. My newest hack is throwing a few drops into my very cheap (but amaaaazing) drugstore body cream to add a glowy sheen all over my arms and collarbone on days I want to feel like I’m a model. Which is every day.
Use code CANDIDLY20 for 20% off.
Price: starting at $100
Furtuna Acqua Serena Micellar Cleansing Essence
WHY: Using toner is a newish discovery after having been emotionally scarred for life by experimenting with the various paint-thinner-adjacent toners from the 80s. Cough, ten-0-six, cough. I recently asked an older woman who had GORGEOUS skin what her routine was, and she said she uses a big swipe of toner, morning and night, before moisturizer. Welp. I ran to the store in what can only be described as a frenzy, to try many of the top-rated toners for mature skin. I wasn’t convinced.
Many toners with alcohol gave me a nice glow for a few days but then my skin began to dry out and crisp. Some of the highest rated toners I found on Sephora and Nordstrom just made zero difference at all (and I think some of the reviews skew younger for people who have extremely oily, congested, or acne-prone skin) so finding something that creates that squeaky-clean canvas without stripping was the miracle I was searching for. And this is it.
It’s an essence/toner so it both balances, and protects, and creates the softest possible skin for makeup. My foundation noticeably goes on more smoothly. I have it in the large size for my bathroom and I also bring the baby size when I travel. It’s become my emotional security product because I know it will give me a good skin day every day. On most days, I just press some of the above oil on and then THIS cheap SPF and call it a day. And I’ve never gotten more compliments and questions. Maybe EYE will be that old lady some day when someone asks about my skin when I’m 80!
Use code CANDIDLY20 for 20% off.
Price: $30 - $85
3. CeraVe Hydrating Mineral Sunscreen Face Lotion with Sheer Tint SPF 30
WHY: I know the last two prices have been difficult (though we always get codes for you guys whenever we can so hopefully that helps to manage the pain) but I am thrilled to be able to say that even as the obsessive beauty hound I am, who tries hundreds (thousands?) of SPF tints, tinted moisturizers, bb creams, etc etc etc, this $13 drugstore product reigns supreme. Why? It has that really luscious serum texture that glides over pores and wrinkles and just sort of blurs them out of existence. It’s such a beautiful finish that it makes me wear SPF—I’d say it’s the best tinted moisturizer even if it DIDN'T have SPF in it.
Price: $17
4. Solawave 4-in-1 Radiant Renewal Skincare Wand with Red Light Therapy
WHY: I would love to say that red light therapy is just another gimmick. But it’s not. When I am religious about using this for 5 minutes each night, my skin is noticeably better—less texture, more lit from within, smaller pores, less puffiness. It’s astonishing and it is almost immediate. I’m now wanting to try their full MASK because I am such a lazy pig that even 5 minutes is too much for me and I need something to multitask around, but it’s sold out at the moment. I will report back either way.
Use code CANDIDLY15 for 15% off.
Price: $169
5. True Botanicals Phyto-Retinol Sleep Serum
WHY: Retinol, tretinoin, etc, I’ve tried it all. But I always give up once I get to that pesky “your skin is peeling and flaking so much that you can’t go out into the world” stage of retinol. So I’ve never really known the benefits. This newish product by the clean brand True Botanicals is a fully plant-based version of retinol powered mostly by a CRANBERRY. I didn't have to work up to using it every night, no stinging or burning, zero peeling, I just swipe 4 pumps all over dry skin, wait a few minutes, and then slaaaather with THIS and finish with my beloved oil. But then you already knew that. I think the 30 day before and after results speak for themselves.
Use THECANDIDLY18 to get 18% off on your order.
Price: $90
Audie Metcalf is the Editor-in-chief of The Candidly, and lives in LA with her family. You can find more of her articles here.
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.
We have to eat.
