April is the first full lockdown month for most of the United States. The beauty category has compressed dramatically — color cosmetics sales have fallen off a cliff, while skincare, hair color at home, and self-care candles are up. We are spending more time on our skin than we have in years and we are spending almost nothing on the things we used to consider essential. Here is the actually useful April beauty edit.
The retinol moment is real
If you have been retinol-curious for years and never had the patience for the four-week breakout-then-improvement curve, this is the month. You are home, your face is relatively unstressed by makeup or air conditioning, and the discomfort window is invisible to colleagues. Our recommendation lineup, in order of strength: The Ordinary Granactive Retinoid 2% Emulsion (gentle), The Inkey List Retinol (mid), and Drunk Elephant A-Passioni (strongest). Start at twice a week, build to nightly. SPF every morning is non-negotiable.
At-home hair color: gel-tox is the answer
If you are a regular salon client and your color is starting to fade, the bridge solution is what colorists are calling “gel-tox” — a clear color-depositing gloss that adds shine and refreshes existing tone. Kérastase Chroma Gloss is the prestige version. L’Oréal Paris Le Color Gloss is the drugstore version at one-fifth the price and surprisingly capable. Avoid box dye if you have ever had professional color — chemical interactions with existing tones produce results no salon will fully reverse for less than four hundred dollars.
The candle moment
Candle sales are up significantly across all prestige tiers. The product is filling the role that fragrance used to play — small, daily luxury at a price point that makes purchase easy. The picks worth knowing: Boy Smells Kush is the most cult, Le Labo Santal 26 is the prestige standard, and Aesop Aganice is the architectural choice. Any of the three transforms a working-from-home day in a way we did not appreciate before March.
Maskne management, six weeks in
For the front-line workers, healthcare professionals, and grocery employees who are wearing masks for full shifts, “maskne” is no longer a forum conversation — it is a real dermatological problem. The lineup that has worked for the people we know: a gentle cleanser like CeraVe Hydrating, a niacinamide serum (The Ordinary 10% is fine), CeraVe AM Facial Moisturizing Lotion under the mask, and a salicylic spot treatment from Paula’s Choice at night. No actives during the day under the mask.
What we are not buying right now
Continuing March’s discipline. We are not buying foundation, lipstick, mascara, or fragrance. We are not stocking up on luxury products that require an exit from the house to use. The category will recover and we will buy the new launches when life resumes — for now, the products we already own are sitting in our drawers waiting for a brunch.
What we are buying in April
Strategic, repeat-purchase, function-first. Two more tubes of CeraVe Moisturizing Cream. A new bottle of The Ordinary Granactive Retinoid 2% Emulsion. One Boy Smells Kush candle for the desk. Kérastase Chroma Gloss in our nearest tone for the color refresh. Total under one hundred and twenty dollars. We will see you on the first Tuesday of May. Stay home.