Darling, You Look Radiant!
I’ve tried dozens of primers and tinted moisturizers that promise luminosity. But they’re often laced with shimmer that make my skin look older by sinking into and emphasizing pores and fine lines. One time I showed up at the office of my dermatologist, Neal Schultz, MD, wearing a radiance-boosting CC Cream, and he sighed in relief once the makeup was removed, saying, “Your skin looks so much better with that off.” However, I’ve just discovered a new duo that gives me the healthy glow promised (but not delivered) by those makeup products. Even better, they're not even makeup.
It Cosmetics' brand-new Miracle Water and Secret Sauce (whoever is naming these products deserves a raise) made my skin dewy and radiant—the way I look right after a really good hot-yoga class.
Secret Sauce is a moisturizing cream that contains “drops of light technology” and “diamond powder,” which are fancy ways of saying the formula contains optic-diffusing particles that blur the surface of the skin, diminishing pores, lines and uneven tone (think: a real-life version of Amaro, a soft-focus Instagram filter). It also contains anti-aging ingredients that aim to improve the skin over time (peptides, vitamin C, and topical collagen). Finally, it’s jam-packed with hyaluronic acid, which attracts water to instantly plump and smooth dehydrated skin. A little goes a long way (this product is rich), so it will also last you a looooooong time.
Miracle Water is a moisturizing micellar water (that’s a popular-in-France, no-rinse cleanser if you’re unfamiliar with this term) that leaves the skin clean and soft. In my opinion, it would not thoroughly remove makeup at day’s end—but it is an ideal way to score a quick refresh in the morning. (You could also use it as a moisturizing toner after cleansing in the evening.) It contains most of the same ingredients found in the Secret Sauce, albeit in less-concentrated quantities.
I quite like the one-two punch of using these products in tandem in the a.m., and I found the glow-getting results immediate. Last week, I was sipping an iced tea and pecking at my laptop at Morgan & York (an Ann Arbor cheese/wine/coffee shop with Wifi), when the woman seated across from me at a community-style table caught my eye and was like, “I have to ask what you use on your skin. It’s looks amazing.” I share this not to brag (I have had plenty of bad-skin days in my life), but to illustrate how speedy the radiance-boosting was—when she said this, I’d been testing these products for two days.
If you only want to spring for one (not both), I’d say go for Secret Sauce. It does cost more than the Miracle Water ($68 vs. $38), but it also gives you more bang for your buck. And if you do try these products, let me know what you think at genevieve@mediumblondeblog.com—or let us all know in the Comments, below.
