Glow Obsessions

A few weeks ago, I woke up to skin that looked like old paper. I tried several rejuvenating creams—no glow. Shimmery powder blushes: Terrible (pink crepe paper). Highlighting creams? More moist, but still not truly glowy.

Because of course, glow really comes down to skincare. When a skin product's name includes the words "Radiant Glow" or "Brightening" or sometimes the slightly dubious "Energizing," it's usually code for "Hey! I Exfoliate, But Not in a Way That Will Make Your Skin Angry." That, in turn, is code for a number of exfoliating ingredients—namely, glycolic acid, retinol, vitamin C, or various fruit acids (papaya or pineapple, most frequently). So I set off with these ingredients in mind—and discovered two skin-sloughing agents that worked: one, a twice a week (okay, fine, I did it four times a week), scrub/fruit acid peel/mask deal, the aptly named Facial Glow from the new organic British line Elemental Herbology. The instructions say to rub it into your face for three minutes, but I was way too impatient, and washed it off after a minute—and it seemed to do the glowifying trick.

Glow product #2 is this bottle of once-a-day Dr. Denese's glycolic acid pads. I dearly love the convenience of a swipey pad, and this is particularly good because you don't need to rinse your face after you put it on—just put on your face cream as usual afterward. And lo and behold, the website has automatic redelivery—which I always think is pretty neat.

—Cristina Mueller, senior beauty editor