Baby Foot Peel

We first saw this as a Japanese beauty product, but it’s now available in the US. Lo was the first to try this one and we warn you it is not for the faint of heart. You soak your feet in two small bags that come pre-filled with a solution of fruit enzymes, and let it penetrate for 45 minutes. About 5-7 days later your feet start to peel, and by peel we mean like a snake. It’s not a pretty process but you’ve never had a pedicure come even close to the results.

Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Peel Pads

Lo: I have a lot of hyperpigmentation due to fair skin / sun damage and nothing—and I’ve tried a lot of things—and nothing has worked better at lightening the dark spots than these pads. They’re also great for keeping skin firm, smooth, and glowing. If I had to keep one beauty product and trash the rest, I’d keep this forever and ever. (For the record, I also love the Ferulic + Retinol Brightening Solution)

It’s Skin Prestige BN Eye Gold Patch

C says: I’ve tried out a couple kbeauty brands, and these eye patches are no lie. They’re great for puffiness or when the under eye area needs a boost of moisture. Best of all they come in a tub of 50 for about $24, way cheaper than the individually packaged ones you’ll find at Sephora.

Too-Faced Primed & Poreless

We both always carry this with us—it is the perfect pressed powder—used either as a finishing powder, or anytime during the day when you need to take away the shine.

Kiehl’s SuperFluid UV Defense SPF 50+

Lo says: If you’re like me & the husband and you have a squicky thing about putting on sunscreen (i.e. it’s greasy or at least feels that way) but you don’t like sprays either, this is the perfect product. I don’t know how to describe it other than it feels like liquid powder going on. It is magical.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance Eye Shadow Palette

C says: There’s a reason you see this palette everywhere. Not only are the colors great, but the formula is perfection—easily blendable and with little fallout. If I could pick only one palette to keep with me, this would be the one.

Tarte Amazonian Eyebrow Clay

Lo says: I love this brow clay because it gives my brows such great definition, fills them in nicely, and doesn’t smear once it’s on.

Origins Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask

C & Lo say: We both swear by this night cream. Even if you have really sensitive skin, this mask is amazing. You wake up feeling like you just put lotion on your face, and an added bonus is that you smell delicious.

And one last important tip:

C says: Check out Tretinoin/Retin-A. This isn’t necessarily a beauty product but it’s life changing if you struggle with acne. Pimples were never a concern for me as a teen, but when I had my hysterectomy my skin went insane. There’s a lot of science involved in how retinoids work, but in this case they keep pores clear to prevent pimples, help heal the ones you do have, and lighten areas that have been damaged by acne scars or the sun by sloughing off older skin and replacing it with new. Because of this you have to be super careful about sun exposure (which we should all be doing anyway), and a good sunblock is a must (for face, Lo recommends Lancôme Bienfait UV 50+ or DDG’s Dark Spot Sun Defense 50+).

Bonus: removing old skin means it also treats fine lines and wrinkles. You need a prescription for any type of retinoid but according to my dermatologist EVERYONE should be using it.

About Christina Lauren

Yes, there are two of us! Lauren (on the left) and Christina (on the right).

Christina Lauren is the combined pen name of long-time writing partners/besties/soulmates Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings. The #1 international bestselling coauthor duo writes both Young Adult and Adult Fiction, and together has produced fourteen New York Times bestselling novels. They are published in over 30 languages, have received multiple starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews and Library Journal, won both the Seal of Excellence and Book of the Year from RT Magazine, and have been featured in publications such as Forbes, The Washington Post, Time, Entertainment Weekly, O Magazine and more.

Their third YA novel, Autoboyography will be released this week, followed by a contemporary romance, Roomies in December.

About Autoboyography

Fangirl meets Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda in this funny and poignant coming-of-age novel from New York Times bestselling author Christina Lauren about two boys who fall in love in a writing class—one from a progressive family and the other from a conservative religious community.

Three years ago, Tanner Scott’s family relocated from California to Utah, a move that nudged the bisexual teen temporarily back into the closet. Now, with one semester of high school to go, and no obstacles between him and out-of-state college freedom, Tanner plans to coast through his remaining classes and clear out of Utah.

But when his best friend Autumn dares him to take Provo High’s prestigious Seminar—where honor roll students diligently toil to draft a book in a semester—Tanner can’t resist going against his better judgment and having a go, if only to prove to Autumn how silly the whole thing is. Writing a book in four months sounds simple. Four months is an eternity.

It turns out, Tanner is only partly right: four months is a long time. After all, it takes only one second for him to notice Sebastian Brother, the Mormon prodigy who sold his own Seminar novel the year before and who now mentors the class. And it takes less than a month for Tanner to fall completely in love with him.