Spa & Beauty Today's April 2023 Editors' Picks

[Photo by Haley Lawrence]

One of our favorite things every month is going through all of the beauty and wellness pitches that we receive, then selecting the most innovative products to feature in our monthly Editors’ Picks. For the month of April, some highlights include:

• Pore-blurring mineral sunscreen

• A rest and recovery frequency therapy device that harmonizes any space and routine

• A handheld skincare tool that exfoliates, tones and extracts

• Home fragrances create in partnership with The Metropolitan Museum of Art

• Sustainable, hand-harvested flay sea salt from Iceland

• A Polly Pocket-inspired nail polish collection

• A cotton candy fragrance that instantly transports you down a sunny boardwalk

• Skincare based on an at-home test that analyzes proteins in your blood

• The latest launches from Beachwaver Co., Dermalogica, IMAGE Skincare, iS Clinical, Jurlique, KNESKO, Liquid I.V., Odacite, SHEGLAM, and many more…

Read on to discover and shop Spa & Beauty Today’s April 2023 Editors’ Picks. Let us know if you have any favorites and if there are any products we missed that you think should make the list!

#mydentity REFLECT Liquid Demi-Permanent Hair Color ($13.98)

This new REFLECT liquid demi-permanent color range features 15 new shades, from warm to cool, that process in 15 minutes to gloss, enhance, tone or intensify. The liquid viscosity allows for extremely easy mixing and application to hair. Formulated without ammonia or alcohol for a gentle process that improves softness of the hair and delivers shiny color results. Lasts up to 25 shampoos.

Angan Mini Body Duo Travel Size ($28)

Angan's skincare products from Iceland are made as sustainably as possible with ingredients from the earth. This set includes a Seaweed Bath Salt with a relaxing and detoxifying blend of geothermal mineral-rich sea salt and therapeutic oils that soften and hydrate skin, while the exfoliating Icelandic Moss Salt Scrub leaves skin feeling soft and energized.

Antica Farmacista Aperol Spritz Nickel Home Ambiance Gift Set ($124)

This stunning gift set includes a Home Ambiance Diffuser, Hexagonal Candle and a nickel-plated diffuser tray in a decorative two-piece gift box, perfectly packaged and ready for gift giving. Featuring the brand’s newest fragrance addition, Aperol Spritz, the scent will instantly transport you to happy hour with notes of zesty orange, grapefruit, tangerine, sweet sparkling Prosecco, and a dash of bitters.

ATTITUDE All-Purpose Cleaner ($12)

Part of ATTITUDE’s new Home Essentials Collection, this all-purpose cleaner is infused with luxurious essential oils and effectively eliminates dirt and dust without leaving traces or residues. The aluminum bottles with reusable pumps are designed to look good on countertops and be infinitely refillable to reduce plastic waste. The cleaner comes in three different scents (Sage & Orange, Lavender & Rosemary, and Geranium & Lemongrass).

Auria Vita Trio ($199)

Auria is a new brand that makes spa-worthy skin accessible at home. This portable device helps you achieve your healthiest skin ever with three different facial treatments: microdermabrasion, kinetic toning, and pore extraction. Smart Tip technology enables you to seamlessly switch between microdermabrasion, kinetic toning and pore extraction modes with the replacement of each tip.

Vita's Exfoliate treatment features a diamond tip that gently buffs away dead skin cells and promotes healthy, new skin cell growth. The Extract treatment uses the power of a suction to gradually pull debris from deep within your pores. And the Tone treatment works to stimulate your skin, increase circulation, and restore your skin’s natural luster with a combination of sonic vibrations, isometric compression, and a vacuuming effect.

Beachwaver Co. Neon Beaded Clip 3-Pack ($8)

Enjoy the ultimate throwback to the ‘90s with this colorful pack of vibrant, neon-inspired hair clips that will spice up your look! Perfect for everything from music festivals to parties and everything in between, these go well with any of Beachwaver’s other festival and neon items including their colorful rotating curling irons, neon fanny pack, oversized scrunchies and more. View the entire collection here.

BRIXY Hair and Body Bars ($13.99 each)

Opting for bars instead of bottles, BRIXY is a luxe line of shampoos, conditioners and body washes that are good for you and the planet. Their products are available in several fun scents including Citrus, Mint Eucalyptus, and Coconut Vanilla. Marked as vegan and Cruelty-Free Certified by Leaping Bunny, BRIXY aims to help you build a better clean routine one bar at a time. On a quest to build a better bar for a better planet, the eco-friendly brand donates 1% of sales to support their very own non-profit ECOEVO, whose mission is to replenish the planet to safeguard against climate change and bring back the beauty of natural habitats.

Dermalogica Porescreen Mineral Sunscreen SPF 40 ($55)

This multitasking sunscreen delivers SPF 40 protection while supporting healthy-looking pores, minimizing their appearance with a blurring primer-like effect, and enhancing skin tone with a hint of tint for radiant skin.

Ekrin Athletics B37 Massage Gun ($229.99)

Treat yourself to a percussive therapy session that speeds up recovery time with this massage device that features an ergonomic design, ultra quiet technology, a level 3 brushless motor and 8-hour battery life. One unique aspects of the B37 Percussion Massager is a unique 15° angled handle that allows for less wrist extension and decreased arm fatigue, also allowing you to target those hard to reach areas. It includes five speeds and four attachments, and comes with a lifetime warranty.

essence Makeup Pure Nude Baked Blush ($5.99)

This creamy, silky blush features a highly pigmented baked texture that adds color accents to cheeks and any other area where you want to add a touch of color for a fresh, healthy looking complexion. The blendable, lightweight formula is available in eight gorgeous shades.

Filterbaby Advanced Water Filter with PRODermis ($95)

This clinically-tested and dermatologist-approved water filtration device will increase skin moisture, unclog pores and prevent breakouts, protect the skin barrier, prevent signs of premature aging, and increase skin radiance. It removes up to 99% chlorine and disinfection byproducts, resulting in more hydrated and healthier skin.

Holy Curls Oil Serum ($45)

Lightweight, silky and incredibly moisturizing, this oil serum is silicone and preservative-free, in addition to being 100% vegan. It features a unique blend of lipid-boosting ingredients that make it a multitasking primer, refresher, sealant and scalp oil—perfect for achieving beautiful curls every day.

IMAGE Skincare BIOME+ Smoothing Cloud Creme ($72)

IMAGE Skincare’s BIOME+ plant-derived emollient skin care collection contains fermented, microbiome-friendly squalane derived from sugarcane to help moisturize the skin and support a healthy moisture barrier. This certified microbiome-friendly cushioning moisture crème delivers cloud-like hydration and works to smooth skin texture while minimizing the look of pores. Fermented squalane derived from sugarcane, and superior extracts like- hyaluronic acid flax, snow mushroom, celery super-seed, micro-sunflower, and pink rock-rose will leave skin glowing. This product is produced in a LEED-certified, carbon-neutral facility with water filtered using solar power and packaged in a recyclable glass jar.

iS Clinical The Essentials Experience Kit ($105)

The Essentials Experience Kit features a selection of best-selling products suitable for all skin types, ages, and genders. These innovative formulas contribute to overall skin health, resulting in visibly brighter, smoother, and clearer skin. The Essentials Experience Kit includes:

• Active Serum

• Cleansing Complex

• Hydra-Cool Serum

• Pro-Heal Serum Advance

• Reparative Moisture Emulsion

• Youth Eye Complex

iuno Skin Assessment Kit ($99)

Founded by, bioengineer PhD couple, Anu Thubagere and Ashwin Gopinath, iuno is the first proteomics-based, customized skincare company that is revolutionizing the way we care for our skin and our health. The iuno Skin Assessment tests 1000s of blood proteomic biomarkers including inflammation-related cytokines and skin-development proteins for a complete analysis of your skin condition.

This test is for those who seek to go below their skin surface to improve their overall skin wellness, including hydration, firmness, blemishes and inflammation. iuno skin analysis detects whether your skin is in the optimal proteomic zone and then provides step by step personalized solutions to reach your skin goals.

Jurlique Exclusive Edition Aloe Vera Mist & Hand Cream ($38 - $42)

Jurlique’s new Exclusive Edition Aloe Vera Mist and Hand Cream help create a sensory moment of self-care that will leave skin feeling fresh and senses awakened. Jurlique grows and harvests their own aloe from their biodynamic farms to harness its full healing power and use 100% natural fragrance to uplift the senses. The Mist keeps skin hydrated while the Hand Cream hydrates and soothes dry skin with the added benefit of antioxidants for daily protection. Allow the pleasant scents of citrus, green tea and cedarwood to take you on an uplifting sensorial journey.

KNESKO Green Jade Calm Collection ($16 - $140)

Designed to provide relief and TLC to sensitive skin, KNESKO’s Green Jade Calm Collection features a carefully curated range of ingredients to calm, replenish, and strengthen skin. The Calming Complex and Advanced Calming Complex harness proprietary GEMCLINICAL® technology and ingredients like Green Jade Powder, Tiger Grass, and Purslane to instantly provide hydration, reinforce the skin barrier, soothe skin conditions, and return skin to its healthiest, most supple state. Products in the collection include Collagen Eye Masks and Face Masks, a Green Jade Roller, and a Calm Discovery Kit (sold separately).

La Roche-Posay 10% Pure Niacinamide Serum ($39.99)

This anti-aging niacinamide serum clarifies skin discoloration and rebalances the look of uneven skin tone with visible results starting in one week. This formula, with 10% niacinamide, visibly reduces discoloration, post-acne marks (also called post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation), and even stubborn dark spots to reveal a brighter, more even complexion.​

LANCER Skincare Nourish Rehydration Mask ($100)

This multi-use, intensive hydrating mask is formulated to revive dull, dehydrated, and stressed skin caused by insufficient moisture levels. Bio-Peptide reduces the appearance of fine lines and promotes smoother skin while vitamin B3 boosts moisture providing a hydrating barrier to prevent water loss. Wrinkles appear less visible, and dry, lackluster skin feels softer and deeply hydrated.

Lights Lacquer x Polly Pocket ($7 - $60)

This nostalgic collab will take you down memory lane by combining the iconic ‘90s toy with modern nail artistry. The collection features four pocket-sized, unique jelly shades that are named after classic Polly Pocket play sets and feature bright shades of pink, teal, and purple. Each shade is inspired by the vibrant palette and whimsical designs of the vintage Polly Pocket world, in the award-winning formula Lights Lacquer is known for. The full collection includes Polly Pocket™ x Lights Lacquer Nail Charms, Polly Pocket™  x Lights Lacquer Nail Art Tattoos, and a Polly Pocket™ x Lights Lacquer Collector’s Edition Box with fun laptop stickers.

Liquid I.V. Hydration Multiplier in Strawberry Lemonade ($24.99)

Made with clean ingredients, Liquid I.V. hydrates faster than water alone with three times the amount of electrolytes in traditional sports drinks. Cellular Transport Technology, or CTT®️, is the delivery system, used in all of their products, designed to enhance rapid absorption of water and other key ingredients into your body. Features five essential vitamins including B3, B5, B6, B12 and vitamin C. Comes in convenient single-serve packets that are travel-friendly. Their newest flavor is strawberry lemonade, which will take you on a nostalgic trip down memory lanes.

Mojave Desert Skin Shield Organic Chaparral Protective Mist ($48)

Native to the deserts of the Southwest, rich in polyphenols, and with strong adaptive and antioxidant properties, chaparral has been used as a topical sun protectant and natural resilience booster for thousands of years. This blend of hydrosols and nourishing oils is excellent for quenching even the driest, most parched skin. Gently spray the face to use as a toner after cleansing, and as a moisturizing mist throughout the day. Dermatologist tested, safe, vegan and cruelty-free.

Nightwork Candle Showgirls of Death Valley ($36)

This beautiful and fragrant candle is made with a paraffin-free coconut soy wax blend and a cotton, lead-free wick. The scent features head notes of heliotrope and lily of the desert, heart notes of tonka and clove, and soul notes of sandalwood and cedarwood. The fragrance, which is made with custom blends of fragrance oils and essential ois, is paraben-free, phthalate-free and vegan/cruelty-free. Burn time is around 50 hours and the candle comes in a translucent black glass candle vessel that can be reused as decor or storage.

Odacite Jojoba Pearls Daily Hydra-Exfoliant ($55)

Formulated in a hydrating cream base, Odacite’s revolutionary Proprietary Exfoliating Complex gives you that fresh, clean, just-exfoliated feeling while respecting and protecting the delicate skin barrier. Reveals visibly smoother, more radiant and refined skin in 30 seconds. Helps remove dead skin build-up, dullness, uneven skin, congestion and clogged pores, and improves skin texture. Great for all skin types including sensitive.

Perricone MD Cold Plasma Plus+ The Essence ($179)

This lightweight, fast-absorbing treatment intensely hydrates, balances and brightens, leaving skin looking and feeling smooth, plump, and revitalized with a youthful radiance. The powerful essence features a potent blend of ingredients including niacinamide, copper tripeptide and fermented rice water that work together for transformative results in only 28 days. 

Pisterzi Italian Grooming Art Solid Serum ($144)

Created by Italian master barber Gian Antonio Pisterzi, this grooming line is made of sustainable and multifunctional skincare and grooming products. This Solid Serum is a multifunctional product that can be used as a pre-shave to soften skin and beard hair, a beard treatment to nourish and soften facial hair, as well as an intensive daily facial moisturizer after cleansing or as a mask when strong moisturizing is needed. The water-free product is based on coconut oil to preserve skin hydration and enriched with a blend of vitamins C and E that make skin more luminous and radiant.

Pura x The Met Collection ($17.59 - $89)

Smart fragrance company Pura has partnered with The Metropolitan Museum of Art for a special collection that features six fragrances. The scents, compatible with the signature Pura Smart Fragrance Diffuser, were developed to enable customers to experience art across time and cultures through fragrances inspired by extraordinary pieces at The Met. The Pura smart fragrance diffuser plugs into any wall outlet and uses wifi and Bluetooth technology to connect to an accompanying app that allows customers to adjust fragrance intensity, set schedules and timers, switch between scents, and more with fragrances that are clean and safe. The collection’s scents include: Blue Water Lotus, Egyptian Sandalwood, Bamboo Forest, Spiced Woods, Terracotta Rose, and Perfume Immortelle.

R+Co Bleu Rebounce Natural Texture & Curl Defining Creme ($68)

Infused with nourishing Jamaican black castor seed oil, shea, mango and murumuru butters, this luxurious lightweight crème adds hydration, softness, control, and shine. The ultimate finishing touch for defined, refined natural curls with movement and bounce!

R+Co Dallas Biotin Thickening Treatment ($38)

This mega-thickening treatment helps build texture for a long-lasting, voluminous effect. It fortifies hair without weight, delivering instantaneous, visible results in minutes. Offers visible results after one application.

RéVive Skincare Sensitif Calming Serum Skin Barrier Repair ($250)

This ultra-restorative serum features skin-calming ingredients and RéVive’s signature Bio-Renewal Peptide to soothe skin, rebuild the protective skin barrier and replenish moisture. Helps improve signs of irritation including dehydration, visible redness, and dullness for an even, healthier-looking complexion. Especially effective for stressed or dehydrated skin, or after a skin treatment.

Saint Jane Deep Sleep Bath Salts ($58)

These luxurious and soothing bath salts soothe muscles and soften skin after every use. They’re enriched with magnesium, Evening Primrose and Sacred Lotus, while peptides and hyaluronic acid deliver rich skincare benefits. Add two to three scoops into a warm bath and relax, or for an exfoliating body scrub, mix a handful of bath salts with Saint Jane’s Luxury Body Serum for soft, resurfaced skin.

SALTVERK Lava Salt ($12.99)

SALTVERK produces sustainable, hand-harvested flaky sea salt in Iceland's remote and wild Westfjords. The mineral-rich waters in the area give the salts a bold and unique flavor. SALTVERK's production is 100% powered using geothermal energy, leaving zero carbon footprint. Part of their collection of unique salts, the Lava Salt is Icelandic flaky sea salt blended with activated charcoal. The charcoal naturally smooths the bitterness that one can sometimes experience with salt, rounding the flavor to create a softer, more subtle salt.  The salt's dark color also brings great contrast and finish to any dish.

Sanitas Skincare Collagen + Elastin Recovery Mask ($70)

This intensive overnight mask combines the powerful properties of vegan, micro collagen and elastin with skin-mimicking ingredients to reset skin overnight. Lightweight yet enriching, it supports natural self hydration to deeply infuse moisture and bring new life to dry skin. It simultaneously helps support the natural skin barrier to limit the appearance of skin redness while visibly lifting and firming the appearance of sagging skin.

SEEN Restore Scalp Serum Fragrance-Free ($48)

This fast-absorbing and non-greasy serum optimizes and resets your scalp with balanced hydration. The soothing treatment relieves dry scalp, while reducing the appearance of flakes and irritation; supports a healthy microbial ecosystem, and protects the scalp barrier.

SHEGLAM Dynamatte Boom Long-Lasting Matte Lipstick ($5.99)

These high-coverage, highly-pigmented, transfer-proof matte lipsticks give you the perfect matte pout for all-day wear. Long-wearing and cruelty-free. Available in 16 stunning shades including Plot Twist (pictured).

Skinfix Barrier + Triple Lipid + Collagen Eye Treatment ($54)

This bouncy, lightweight cream is powered by caffeine, niacinamide and peptides to visibly brighten, depuff, and tighten the eye area. Ingredient highlights include six peptides to visibly reduce lines while firming and tightening the look of skin, niacinamide to visibly reduce dark circles and brighten the look of skin, and 0.5% caffeine for a more refreshed look. Opthalmologist-tested, vegan, gluten-free and cruelty-free.

Skylar Boardwalk Delight ($90)

This delectable and clean scent is perfect for summer with notes of sweet cotton candy, raspberry sorbet, and creamy coconut milk. This scent is balanced by pure vanilla in the base, meant to inspire you to relive and recreate the memories of your youth with the power of fragrance. The box, bottle, and cap are 100% recyclable.

Somavedic Vedic ($980)

Somavedic is an innovative rest and recovery frequency therapy device that harmonizes any space and routine by working on the principle of controlled release of natural energy from precious minerals, stones and metals, together with its supportive frequency therapy technology. The digital pollution-neutralizing effects generated by Somavedic devices have therapeutic effects on our body’s cells, which manifests into improved sleep, energy levels, and cellular regeneration.

The Vedic model is the new successor of the previous bestseller Medic Green Ultra and features a completely updated core with a new composition of minerals. The inside of the handmade corpus is silver-plated for even more powerful emanation. Suitable for larger properties, households, offices, clinics, hospitals, as well as spas and salons.

TIRTIR Collagen Core Glow Mask ($28)

This therapeutic whipped bubble mask exfoliates while clarifying the skin with nine different types of collagen to boost elasticity and plump up the appearance of skin. Vege-zyme Complex and LHA evens out skin texture while 243 da low molecular collagen penetrates the skin to provide elasticity and hyaluronic acid boosts to defend against stress.

Yon-Ka Paris Serum C20 ($168)

This powerful brightening face serum is infused with a potent, all-natural 20% vitamin C stabilized for maximum efficacy and tolerability. Composed of 99.9% ingredients of natural origin, this dark spot serum features Ascorbyl Tetraisopalmitate, an all-natural, oil-soluble form of vitamin C derived from green science. The antioxidant face serum helps defend against environmental skin aging and supports the body’s collagen synthesis to help firm skin.

[Photos courtesy of brands]

Kamala Kirk is a University of Southern California graduate and has been an editor/writer for more than a decade. She has written for E! Online, Total Beauty, TravelAge West, Malibu Times Magazine, and many more. She resides in Los Angeles and is a proud pug mom. Follow her on Instagram: @kamalakirk