"Summer Love List" from Beauty Editor Didi Gluck
August is my favorite month of the summer, so I'm celebrating it by asking discerning beauty insiders to share their favorite hot-weather staples.
Today’s expert: Didi Gluck, Shape Magazine’s Deputy Editor Beauty + Lifestyle
Didi Gluck, Deputy Editor Shape Magazine
Didi has been a beauty editor for close to two decades, reporting on skin, hair, makeup, nails and more for magazines such as Marie Claire, YM, Family Circle, Redbook, Real Simple, MORE and Shape. If you’ve ever read my bio, you may notice some resume overlap, as we both worked at Redbook, Marie Claire, Shape and MORE. This is because Didi was, for years, my work wife, and we shared office space (and giant bags of candy corn) at several magazines. To those of you who know us in real life, we answer to DidiandGenevieve. We can finish one another’s sentences, have shown up to an event wearing the same dress more than once, had our firstborns eight weeks apart, and we will move placecards on a table at a press event if you’ve not seated us next to each other.
Didi and I last spring at Blackberry Farms, attached at the hips. Photo swiped from Didi's Instagram account.
That said, as simpatico as Didi and I are, we’re akin to sisters not twins. In New York, I was more uptight and lived uptown, while Didi was cooler (and funnier) and lived in the West Village. I’m blonde (duh), she’s brunette. My firstborn is a boy, hers a girl. I’m an Army Brat, her parents were professional musicians. I keep new shoes tucked in their box, loathe to let them touch NYC sidewalks, while Didi wears hers out of the store. You get the idea. Thus, I thought she’d be a great expert for this series because, even though we’ve both been covering (and roadtesting) the beauty market for years, we almost never overlap in our top picks (except for you, Neal Schultz, MD, our shared and adored dermatologist). And I was right. Didi’s list—four products she stashes in her suitcase on summer trips— are great (I now want them all) and reflective of her expertise. But, per usual, totally different from mine. Enjoy!
SkinMedica Essential Defense Mineral Shield Broad Spectrum SPF 32 Sunscreen Tinted “Despite how many anti-aging stories I’ve written, I’m not as diligent about applying sunscreen to my face as I should be when I travel, and the two places I travel to most, the beach and the mountains, require it. I just don’t like the way it feels, smells, or even tastes when it inevitably runs off into my mouth. But this product is the equivalent of pulverized vegetables masterfully disguised as a sauce in your kid’s favorite dish. First and foremost, it’s a great tinted moisturizer. But because of its light, creamy texture, you barely notice that you’re simultaneously spreading on broad-spectrum SPF 32 protection.”
GrandeLash-MD Lash Enhancing Serum "Who puts lash-enhancing serum on their list of travel essentials? Anyone who has witnessed her stumpy, twig-like lashes restored to their long, lush glory simply by swiping on lash serum in the morning and before bed. For this reason, I keep a tube of this peptide- and amino-acid-packed miracle worker in my travel bag—as well as in my medicine cabinet, purse, and desk drawer—at all times. Vacation’s no time to get behind on lash growing, in my humble opinion."
Didi, selfie-style, on Fire Island last summer.
Amilab Lip Balm "It’s entirely possible that this lip balm, which is delightfully creamy and hydrating despite the fact that it comes in stick form, has only landed on my must list due to my pathological belief that anything from Paris, where I first bought it, = better. But I scoured the internet to refill it when I ran out because it’s just that good (you can find it as a third-party import on Amazon). It contains lanolin to soothe chapped lips and paraffin to seal in moisture, as well as a sweet, sophisticated light vanilla-citrus flavor and scent. It’s the General Foods International Coffee of lip balms: It brings me back to that drugstore…in Paris…every time."
Supergoop Play! Antioxidant-Infused Sunscreen Mist with Vitamin C Broad Spectrum SPF 50 "This is the one sunscreen that satisfies the very exacting needs of everyone in my family. It doesn’t feel, smell, or taste funny (me). It’s got a very high SPF (husband). It takes no time to apply (wiggly son). It doesn’t sting the eyes (daughter). It may be the greatest vacation product for the whole family since travel Scrabble."
Start the "Summer Love List" Series on day one with Celebrity Colorist Rita Hazan, here
