September’s Must-Have Beauty Launches Include Pumpkin Spice Palettes

Before it racked up an impressive 550 million views on TikTok, Lady Gaga’s Haus Labs’ Triclone Skin Tech Foundation had already been declared “the foundation of the year” by makeup guru Mikayla Nogueira. It’s so good that I have to turn off the Touch-Up feature on Zoom when I’m wearing it because Skin Tech Foundation plus a filter makes me look eerily smooth. Thanks to an iPhone note I keep updated, I can tell you that I have never worn this foundation out of the house without receiving at least two compliments on how great my skin looks.

Best of all, it comes with a wide range of undertones across its shade spectrum so you look like you’re glowing instead of wearing makeup. Honestly, I might never be able to wear another foundation ever again.

I’ve been waiting weeks to rave about these little Lime Crime powerhouses. The dual-ended Electric Slide Eyeshadow and Brush Sticks are perfect for creating budge-proof graphic liner moments as well as smoked-out gradient looks. The slanted, wedge-shaped tip of the shadow stick means you can vary the width of your lines from ultra-fine to thick and dramatic, while the brush side allows you to smooth out the six vibrant shades to create a traditional eyeshadow look.

When I reviewed the Harry Potter x ColourPop Collection, I was especially taken with the Lux Liquid Lip shades. After years of old-school liquid lipsticks that dried out my lips, I’m a sucker for a richly pigmented matte lip color that leaves my mouth feeling super smooth thanks to a whipped, hydrating formula. The Harry Potter x ColourPop Lux Liquid Lip shades give major fall vibes and are also just $10 a pop.

Skin care isn’t always about exfoliating, detoxifying, or plumping up your skin. Sometimes, the act of skin care should simply remind you to be present in (and grateful for) your wonderful body. That was my experience the first time I rubbed Molton Brown’s Rose Dunes Body Lotion into my skin. Molton Brown scents are always uniquely captivating and Rose Dunes has quickly become one of my favorites (apologies to Re-Charge Black Pepper). Its rich scent is intoxicating without being overpowering and its layers of amber and rose linger throughout the day. It’s non-greasy, but still hydrating, and a perfect product for taking time to ground yourself in a moment of decadent self-care.

Anastasia Beverly Hills dubbed this perfectly autumnal set of 12 eyeshadows the Rose Metals Palette, but I will refer to it as the 2022 PSL Palette from now until forever because it’s packed with the perfect shades for creating pumpkin space makeup looks. While I’m lightyears away from being able to create a smoky eye without professional help, I am able to blend the matte and metallic shadows in this palette to create moody, rich looks.

Picture the bouncy texture and weightless feel of cushion foundation — that’s what Sunnies Fluffmatte Matte lipstick feels like on your mouth. It almost seems wrong to call these lipsticks matte because the look and feel of them are so different from the severe, drying effect of liquid matte lipsticks. The Fluffmatte Matte finish is diffused, smooth, and silky. For September, the brand dropped a shade expansion featuring a collection of vibrant pinks I plan to wear all fall and winter long.

Just like haters stay mad, my brain stays anxious even hours after I stop replying to work emails. To stave off the to-do-list night terrors, I’ve started working Tatcha’s new exfoliating body into my pre-bedtime bath routine. It’s clean, cruelty-free, uses cellulose as an exfoliant instead of harmful microplastic beads, and really calms my anxious headspace. According to the brand, this calming effect stems from essential oils that contain phytoncides, chemicals emitted by trees that make humans feel good. Despite my personal zen experience, I was skeptical, so I did my own research. It turns out, there are scientific studies that link phytoncides to lowered stress hormones. If your cortisol levels are through the roof, I highly recommend this one.

I love experimenting with eyeliner, but I usually work with fine-tipped brushes and pigments liquified by a mixing medium because I’ve found most felt-tip eyeliner markers to be a bit blotchy and unreliable. Sure, there are some that get the job done, but there’s nothing worse than creating a complicated floating double cat eye and having an eyeliner marker blend all your hard work away. ONE/SIZE’s Point Made Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner is precise and, in my experience, impervious to bleeding or blotching, and the September launch of the One/Size Disney Fantasia version presented me with the perfect opportunity to talk up this iconic product.

As anyone with curly hair knows, drying curly hair with a regular towel disrupts your curl patterns and creates frizz. What you might not know is that curly hair-drying technology has come a long way, and AQUIS is the brand making the most major moves with its latest launch, the AQUIS Flip. Like standard microfiber headwraps, the Flip speeds up drying time without sucking the moisture from your hair. Unlike other microfibers out there, the Flip’s fabric is made from recycled water bottles (six bottles per wrap) and reforms hair’s hydrogen bonds. It’s basically Olaplex, but a towel. Trippy, right? While my curls always tend towards frizz, they’ve gotten noticeably shinier since using the Flip.

I’ve never been a fan of eye creams. I’d rather have puffy bags under my eyes than spend money on creams that promise (and fail) to make me look awake. Even so, I had to try Glow Recipe’s Guava Vitamin C Bright-Eye Gel Cream because this is a banger beauty brand, no skips. This bouncy gel cream includes all the usual eye cream ingredients like caffeine and niacinamide but also has an encapsulated vitamin C complex that has noticeably brightened the usually bruised-looking skin under my eyes.

Most hair perfumes make my scalp itch, so I rarely recommend them, but Gisou’s new Honey Infused Hair Perfume just hits differently. The warm blend of honey, ginger, and lavender notes isn’t overly floral and a few sprays, followed by a hair flip, creates an immersive sensorial experience that lasts all day. At $44, it’s definitely an investment, I consider it a perfume replacement. When you think of it that way, it’s actually more affordable than most luxury scents.

Duochrome doesn’t even begin to really describe the limited-edition Lightwork IV Transcendence Palette from Danessa Myricks Beauty. Myricks is a master of the makeup art form and this palette is no exception. It’s definitely one of the most expensive products I’ve ever touched, but the pans are huge and the product is one of a kind. From the shimmering light-shifting shadows to the solid chrome flakes, every single pan in this palette is filled with, no joke, magic. While the first drop of the palette sold out in record time on the brand’s site, it’s still currently available on Sephora.