Nine we buy ourselves

Brands we love

Nine brands in the categories where we spend our own money. Some are here on trial data, some on an ingredient list short enough to read aloud, some for surviving twenty years of competition. And some are here for the lazy daisies among us: one strip, one drop, one stone, done.

Skin

OneSkin

Topical peptide skincare built around OS-01, a peptide the literature knows as decapeptide-52.

Most body lotion is moisturiser with a story attached. OS-01 has ex vivo work on markers of skin cell senescence and small company-funded human trials behind it: early evidence, and labelled as early, which is more than nearly anything else on the body-lotion shelf can say. A peptide with a paper trail is exactly the kind of bet this site exists to explain.

OS-01 BODY Peptide body lotion with the OS-01 decapeptide
Amazon ~$99
OS-01 FACE Face topical, same peptide at facial strength
Amazon ~$110

Dermalogica

The professional line estheticians train on, sold without a counter or a ritual.

The formulas run on actives our skincare library already grades on their own merits: salicylic acid, lactic acid, broad-spectrum SPF 50. Daily Microfoliant has held a place in working routines for over twenty years, which in skincare is geological time. You pay for formulation discipline, not for packaging.

Special Cleansing Gel Soap-free foaming gel cleanser, 8.4 oz
Amazon ~$39
Daily Microfoliant Rice-based enzyme and salicylic polishing powder
Amazon ~$66
Dynamic Skin Recovery SPF 50 Broad-spectrum moisturiser, the two jobs in one step
Amazon ~$79

Eyes & smile

LUMIFY

One eye drop with one job: brimonidine 0.025 percent, the only over-the-counter redness reliever in its class with FDA approval.

The older redness drops constrict the wrong vessels and rebound harder each time you use them. Brimonidine is selective for the vessels that matter, works in about a minute, holds for up to eight hours, and earned its approval with published trials. One drop is the entire routine.

Redness Reliever Eye Drops Brimonidine 0.025% ophthalmic drops, 7.5 mL
Amazon ~$26

Zimba

Hydrogen peroxide whitening strips at a corner-store price.

Peroxide strips are one of the few cosmetic categories with randomised trials behind them: measurable shade change inside two weeks, with tooth sensitivity as the cost. Zimba runs the same chemistry as the household name for roughly a third of the money, which changes the maths of trying it at all.

Teeth Whitening Strips 28 strips, 14 days of hydrogen peroxide treatments
Amazon ~$25

Body

Crystal

A potassium alum stone that replaces the deodorant aisle.

We will be plain about what it is, because the label rarely is: alum is an aluminium salt, so "aluminium-free" is not the claim. The claim is that it is not an antiperspirant. Nothing plugs a sweat duct; the mineral film simply makes skin a poor host for the bacteria that turn sweat into odour. The formal evidence is modest, the mechanism is plain chemistry, and one stone lasts about a year.

Deodorant Stone Potassium alum mineral stone, fragrance-free
Amazon ~$9
Mineral Deodorant Travel Stick The same alum in a glide stick
Amazon ~$7

Makeup

Estée Lauder

Double Wear Stay-in-Place, the long-wear foundation the rest of the category is measured against.

On the market since 1997 and still the reference for staying put through heat and humidity. Makeup is cosmetic and we grade it as cosmetic: wear time, transfer, and how it behaves at hour eight of a Florida afternoon. By that grading, a pool party is a materials test, and this is the material that passes it.

Double Wear Stay-in-Place Makeup SPF 10 long-wear liquid foundation, 1 oz
Amazon ~$52

Haus Labs

Foundation formulated like skincare, in fifty-one shades.

The Triclone line leans on fermented arnica and a shade range wide enough to actually include people, which is a measurable fact rather than a mood. What earns the place here is wear quality and the ingredient list; the promises on the box get the same shrug we give every box.

Triclone Skin Tech Foundation Medium-coverage foundation with fermented arnica
Amazon ~$45

Pantry

Cymbiotika

Supplement blends built around liposomal delivery.

Our supplement reference grades ingredients, not brands, and several of theirs grade well on their own merits: omega-3, magnesium, B12. Liposomal packaging has real absorption logic for compounds the gut treats roughly. The blends price at the top of the market, so buy for the ingredient on the label, and let the reference tell you whether that ingredient earns it.

Magnesium Complex Liposomal blend of magnesium taurate, bisglycinate and glycerophosphate
Amazon ~$68
Omega-3 DHA + EPA Algae-derived vegan omega-3, fish-free, in liposomal form
Amazon ~$72
Vitamin B12 + B6 Sublingual liposomal B-vitamin blend
Amazon ~$38

Home

Dr. Bronner's

Castile soap with an ingredient list you can read aloud.

Fragrance sits near the top of the contact allergens dermatology tracks, and most household cleaning is a surfactant plus theatre. A castile soap of certified organic oils covers body, dishes, floors and the dog, and the unscented bottle is the one we hand people with reactive skin. The fair-trade supply chain is on the label and audited, which is rarer than it should be.

Pure-Castile Liquid Soap, Unscented 32 oz concentrate, dilutes to most household jobs
Amazon ~$20
Sal Suds Biodegradable Cleaner The harder-working cousin for floors and laundry
Amazon ~$18
Pure-Castile Bar Soap The same soap in a bar, travels without a bottle
Amazon ~$6

Product links are Amazon affiliate links: if you buy through them, Awake Inside Wellness may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Prices are rough references, not live quotes. No brand on this page paid to be here.