July 2018 had two specific cultural anchors — the World Cup, which ran through the first half of the month and culminated with France winning the final on the 15th, and the heat dome that stretched across most of the country in the third week. The bathroom counter shrank to maybe six products. We were drinking water, reapplying SPF more aggressively than we ever had, and reading every editorial roundup of the new tinted-SPF launches. The post-Met Gala beauty conversation had quietly cooled, the Royal Wedding influence on bridal beauty had stabilized, and the dominant conversation in beauty editorial through July was how to keep skin functional in actual heat. We tested a lot, kept very little, and ended the month feeling lighter than we had since last September.
The after-sun rescue, evolved
The after-sun routine that had stabilized in July 2017 got a small upgrade this year. CeraVe Moisturizing Cream remained the daily after-sun cream — boring, effective, $16 a tub. Weleda Skin Food earned its place again on the worst-burnt patches. The new addition this year was a small bottle of The Alchemist’s Kitchen‘s tamanu-and-arnica oil — a calming compound layer we put on after the moisturizer at the worst end of the day. The routine ran under $60 in total and worked better than any prestige equivalent. The lesson — that the after-sun answer is to use less and to use proven things — has held now for two summers running.
The gua sha routine, eight weeks in
By the third week of July we had been running a gua sha routine for almost two months, and the results had stabilized into something measurable. The face was demonstrably less puffy in the morning. The under-eye drainage was real. We were not going to claim the technique had reframed our face, but the small daily improvements added up to a lasting change. The Wildling Empress Stone we had picked up in May had earned its slot; we used it most mornings with a small drop of facial oil before makeup. The category was real and the routine was earning its place. The lesson, again, was that the technique was more important than the stone — but the stone was worth the upgrade for daily comfort.
The drugstore SPF wars, 2018 edition
The drugstore SPF category had matured by 2018 into a real prestige-equivalent conversation. CeraVe‘s Hydrating Sunscreen for Face delivered a clean, fragrance-free SPF 50 at under $15. L’Oréal Paris‘s Revitalift Triple Power had launched a tinted SPF that read as believable on the skin. Neutrogena‘s Hydro Boost Water Gel Sunscreen had earned a permanent slot in the rotation for daily wear. The drugstore SPF category was now genuinely competitive with the prestige equivalents at one-quarter the price, and the prestige tier was going to face more pressure on this dimension as 2018 progressed.
The Glossier Phase Three preview
Glossier had been quietly teasing its Phase Three lineup through July, with the brand’s Instagram showing previews of what would become the Lidstar liquid eyeshadow line — six shades of buildable shimmer in a doe-foot applicator, $18 each. The launch was expected in August. The Lash Slick mascara from April had matured into the brand’s most consistently re-bought product of the year; we had finished our first tube and ordered a second. The Glossier expansion was now feeling deliberate rather than hesitant, and we were watching the brand build a real product range. Phase Three was going to land, and we had pre-cleared a Saturday afternoon for the order.
The hair conversation, in mid-summer humidity
July hair is always about humidity, and the routines we settled on this year leaned hard on bond-building plus surface smoothing. Olaplex No. 3 stayed at twice a week. The new Olaplex No. 6 Bond Smoother — a leave-in styling cream the brand had launched in late spring — had become our daily styling product, used after a shower and through to the next wash. The surface smoothing came from Oribe‘s Anti-Humidity Spray for events. The category was the most stable it had been in years; the brands that did the technical work were now the brands we used.
Closing
By the end of July the bathroom counter was a study in summer minimalism — three SPFs, the after-sun trio, the gua sha stone in the drawer, the Olaplex No. 6 cream on the side, a Pat McGrath gloss for evenings. August will bring the back-to-school launches, the Glossier Phase Three drop, and the early fall preview content. We will see you on the first Tuesday of August.