15 Products So Good They Cannot Be Duped
Alt Title: The Candidly Awards 2024
by The Candidly Team
We’ll begin with a confession. We try A LOT of stuff.
Sometimes that stuff is sent to us for free by brands, which we know might make us sound biased and unrelatable, but it’s also the only way we can afford to try a lot of stuff.
Most of it we buy with our own hard-earned money.
And some of it is sent to us by brands but ends up being so remarkable we go on to buy it over and over again with our own hard-earned money.
The point is we are constantly on the hunt for the things that will really make any sort of difference in our lives. Things that are infallible in their respective categories. Unfindable in other places. And un-dupable by other brands.
There are 15 things we have found to be uniquely enhancing to our lives, our skin, and our style as 35+ women. We buy them for ourselves, recommend them to friends, give them religiously as gifts, and now, we’re sharing them with you.
We hope you find them as remarkable as we do. We’re being modest. We know you will.
Much love,
Your Candidly Guinea Pigs
1. Aritzia Wilfred
sonder sweater
You might be thinking “Ok, that looks like a nice, simple sweater. So what?” And the truth is, like the photo, our words are probably not going to do it justice either. How do we write about something you need to physically touch in order to comprehend its specialness? I mean granted our Editor-in-Chief did write an entire article attempting to do just that (with MANY try-on photos by the way). But here’s the most important takeaway. This sweater is almost spongey with softness. Once you feel it, it will be the only material you want touching your skin until March of next year. Pair that with the fact that the arms have actual shape and it’s long enough to tuck and short enough to leave out without looking frumpy, and you have yourself the top half of every chic fall/ winter outfit you throw together. Stop buying sad, scratchy pullover sweaters. Get this one in 3 colors and be done.
Price: $118
2. Trinny London Miracle Blur
This is the kind of product we used to dream might be invented by the time our wrinkles started to be more pronounced. It’s a clear putty made with collagen and elastin that amazingly fills in lines, pores, and scarring so everything looks so the entirely of our skin looks evened out? Smudged? Blurred! The word is blurred. So much so we once called it “better than Botox.” We get excitable that way.
Price: $34
3. Vivaia Almond-Toe Running Heel Boots (Amanda)
We are incredibly picky about our feet. We will not tolerate an ounce of discomfort. But even we genuinely didn’t realize boots could be this comfortable. We walk all day in them feeling like we’re in tennis shoes. They’re light, breathable, flexible, and yet, there’s cushioning on the inside that we can’t fully explain because from the outside, it’s just a really graceful black boot. Needless to say we’re neglecting every other pair of boots we own.
Price: $159
4. Charlotte Tilbury Charlotte's Magic Cream
If we’re being blunt, texture is really the thing that makes us look older. Less taut, less supple, less youthful. Point is, our skin gets actual bounce from using this cream. We gain plumpness and a lit-from-within look that seems like it comes from a lifetime of perfect nutrition and zero UVB damage. The gorgeous ingredients sound like they’d be listed on the label of something being sold in Sandra Bullock’s apothecary shop in Practical Magic. Which incidentally is the perfect two-word description of the results we get from using this cream.
Price: $100
5. Paige Anessa 31" Wide Leg Jean
There are very few articles in our style section that don’t at least mention these jeans. That’s because they are just superior on our curvy, non-model bodies to any other jeans. And the reason is they look on us a lot like they do on the model. They flatter our bellies and butts without any gapping then fall gorgeously down our legs. They come in ankle length and long, plus and petite, as well as 27 washes. We own 3 pairs already in a light, dark, and black wash, but that doesn’t stop us from wanting more, because most days they’re the only jeans we want to wear.
Now, we admit - the price is steep for us. For jeans. The 3 pairs we spoke of were purchased slowly over time once we decided a single pair of these jeans were better than any two pairs anywhere else.. And we used this code from Paige to help. Use CANDIDLY15 for 15% off.
Price: $249
6. Eau Thermale Avène Spring Water
Our skin has been … weird … since we passed 40. Reactive. Sensitive. Inexplicably dry. Suddenly patchy and red. And this product was like a little gift from the French pharmacy gods. It soothes. It works on rosacea, breakouts, any irritation we throw its way. There are nearly 100 clinical studies showing that it calms all the things that fall into the category of skin sensitivity. We use it and feel … restored to factory settings so to speak.
Price: $19
7. Favorite Daughter The Jordan Croc Embossed Belt
This belt turns clothes into outfits. When we put it on, we look put together, elevated and yet still understated. Every boring black top and bottom, every jeans and tee, every tucked sweater and trouser is POOF, styled, by the addition of this belt. We first saw it when quietly obsessing over the clothes in THIS show, well not so quietly as we wrote a whole article about them. But we will say that this belt was the first thing we bought that we saw on screen. It has since been nothing short of life-changing.
And now, we’ll briefly pause to show you a photo of our Editor-in-Chief, Audie, wearing this belt with the jeans we just talked about (#5 on the list) and the sweater that kicked off this article.
Easy, right?
Price: $98
8. Embryolisse Lait Creme Fluid+ Face & Body Cream
And here we are right back at the French Pharmacy, telling you about the most enchanting body cream around that oops, you can buy on Amazon for $14 ($30 if you spring for the big size which we highly recommend because it lasts for-ev-er). It is deeply hydrating but it instantly melts into the skin unlike many pricy body creams that take 12 years to absorb. Then there’s the clean, fresh, chic Parisian lady scent. We’ve tried so many other lotions. We keep going back to this.
Price: $14 - $30
9. Cozy Earth Bamboo Jogger Pant
We can pretend we’re in carefully curated, Pinterest-inspired outfits everyday, or we can be honest and tell you that most days, we work from home in joggers. Needless to say we’ve tried 837 pairs. These are the best. We weren’t the first to say so. Oprah was. But she was absolutely right. The bamboo viscose material is soft and buttery on a level that makes us weak. They never pill. Ever. And the fit is somehow … flattering. Why? We don’t know. We just know that when we wear these around the house we feel like the cozy-seeking slobs we are inside, but we actually look really cute on the outside, especially when we wear them as a SET with the matching crew. Heaven to be head to toe in this material.
Oh, and huge! You can use our code CANDIDLY for 35% off.
Price: $150
10. Furtuna Skin Due Alberi Biphase Moisturizing Oil
Are you sick to death yet of our flowery language? Well how about just gazing into a before and after photo?
Left: Before Right: After using the oil for 5 weeks
It isn’t just fine lines that start to melt away with the dabbing of this oil onto our skin. It adds instant radiance, dewiness, and glow, and over time (not much at that), we see a kind of smoothness we just can’t achieve when we skip a month of this oil. It’s not an easy price, but it lasts ages, and the kind souls at Furtuna gave a us a code for 20% off. Use CANDIDLY20.
Price: Starting at $100
11. Bombas Women's Quarter Sock 4-Pack
In our many adult years, we never, ever bought ourselves the “nice” socks. But we heard so much hype about these for so long that we finally caved, and we cannot begin to tell you the difference they have made. This sounds reeeeally dumb but when we started wearing these socks, we started to work out MORE. We wake up, slip them on (with the below sneaks FYI), and our feet feel ready to move. They are so particular in their comfort level, we are slowly replacing all our socks with these. It’s a process, but it will all be worth it.
Price: $56
12. Jones Road Miracle Balm
When your skin … matures, powder blushes start to look really cakey, drying, and just bad. They age us and so do streaky, heavy cream blushes. This glowy, gorgeous balm doesn’t sink into lines or pores but is so light and luminous, we do actually think miracle is an acceptable name for It. If you want to read a whole screed about its magic, go HERE. Or just buy yourself one using THIS color match guide, and we swear it will be the best gift you gave yourself in years. Years!
Price: $38
13. The Colette Pants By Maeve
Notice there are several pants on this list, and that is frankly because pants are hard. So much so that it is an emotional experience to find a pair that fit us the way we want them to. This pair is one we also go on and on about because they’re made of this “magic” material that has stretch and hold at the same time. So we look all smoothed out. They’re incredibly versatile, come in a thousand colors, and a superb size range. They’re just a foolproof pair of everyday pants that feel like we’re still in joggers. The jackpot!
Price: $120
14. HOKA® Clifton 9
All we actually want from our sneakers is for them to make us feel like we are air itself walking on a cloud. Is that too much? No, but seriously, these sneakers are a joy to exercise in, a dream to walk miles in (which we do daily because walking is UNBELIEVABLY good for us). They make us feel lighter. and the support, comfort, weight is all 10s across the board.
Price: $145
15. Marcella Elizabeth Coat
Anyone interested in having a classic capsule wardrobe requires the perfect winter coat. This one is so relaxed and chic and has room to move our arms and layer 3 sweaters under it. However it still has such a pretty, feminine silhouette. It’s actually really hard to find a gorgeous coat that doesn’t either swallow us up and look like a giant rectangle or feel restrictive and stiff. This 100% Italian virgin wool with a silky soft lining. We actually bought it in cream, and it was an excellent decision. But black and tan are, of course, perfect neutrals to wear daily.
Price: $277
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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