Welcome to The Empty’s Edit, a roundup of our beauty director’s products shannon lawler Every month ends up to the last drop. Shannon tests hundreds of products every year, so only the products she really likes reach “blank” status. Consider the void Edit your definitive shopping list of the best beauty products money can buy.
As I’m writing this, it’s 20 degrees outside, and for the first time this year, I feel like spring/summer has officially arrived. And with the arrival of warmer weather, longer evenings and brighter days, my summer beauty routine starts to take shape. I’m back to applying factor-50 sunscreen on both my face and hands, slathering my limbs in body cream every day, and slathering my dry lengths in nourishing hair masks.
And with my slightly higher maintenance routine in the summer, it’s almost needless to say that I start using up product at a much faster pace. This month, it feels like I’m testing more More beauty products than ever before, and yet only six of them were so good that I finished them down to their last drop. (I’ll admit, a few others are still on the way.) So, from winter perfumes to daily moisturizers that have won my heart, this is every beauty product I’ve scooped up in the last month.
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1. Medic8 Advanced Pro-Collagen + Peptide Cream
medic8
Advanced Pro-Collagen+ Peptide Cream
Since using this moisturizer for the first time in November, I’ve become addicted. Not a day passes when this soft, silky cream does not enhance the beauty of my face. With growth factors, NAD+ and peptides, it has been proven to increase collagen production by up to 45%, increase elasticity and visibly reduce the appearance of wrinkles. My skin has been looking so good since using it that my complexion has convinced several friends and coworkers to buy a pot for themselves, and they are just as crazy about it as I am. This is, perhaps, one of the best face creams I have ever encountered.
2. Color Wow Dreaming Advanced Repair and Resurfacing Treatment
color wow
Dreaming of Advanced Repair and Resurfacing Treatments
I admit, it took me a while to like this product. If you’re expecting a standard, nourishing, buttery hair mask, this is not it. The texture is thick and rich, but it has more of the consistency of a body butter than a hair product, so it doesn’t spread across my kinky lengths the way I’m used to. However, after a few tries with it, I realized that after letting it sit on my wet hair for a minute, everything starts to settle down, and each strand starts to feel smooth and soft. As a weekly treatment, it works to resurface and repair the hair’s outer cuticle to deliver shiny, soft results – and it also comes with the benefit of heat protection. Is it for thick or extremely curly hair? Probably not—but it works a treat on my long, straight, broken, bleached lengths.
3. Dr. Althea Green Tea Fresh Sunscreen
Dr.Althea
Green Tea Fresh Sunscreen SPF 50
I’ve never found a facial SPF that impressed me as much as this one. In fact, I like it so much that I’ve since collected two more bottles of it. Dr. Althea is probably my favorite K-beauty brand right now, and this sunscreen is one of the reasons why. If your skin often starts breaking out, becoming red or generally irritated by SPF, this is something you need to pay attention to. It has extremely high security, but its thin, lightweight consistency means it never feels heavy. In fact, it feels like a hydrating, soothing lotion that provides even the most beautiful daytime glow. I am Obsessed.
4. Aesop Oranon
aesop
Ouranon Eau De Parfum
Key Notes: frankincense, grass, myrrh
As a fragrance expert, I have hundreds of bottles of perfume, so I rarely finish one. In fact, this bottle of Aesop Oranon is my first perfume vac in 2026. I think the reason I got over this bottle of warm, spicy, juicy happiness so quickly was because my husband was spraying it behind my back. Each spray envelops you in a cloud of burning embers and smoking wood. In the winter months, it is very hot; In the summer months, it’s the dry, desert-like heat that drives me to the Moroccan markets in the evenings.
5. Santa Maria Novella Aqua Di Rosa Cleansing Gel
Santa Maria Novella
Aqua Di Rosa Cleansing Gel
Few beauty products feel as special as those produced by Santa Maria Novella (after all, it is the world’s oldest beauty brand — founded in 1221). This rose cleanser is rooted in the brand’s history of damask rose distillation and matches perfectly with modern cleaning preferences. Yes, the inclusion of rose provides a beautiful scent, but it also provides brightening hydration. It’s a perfect daily cleanser to keep skin clean, nourished and generally happy.
6. Fern Spring 26 Candle
fern
Spring 26 Perfumers Candle
Key Notes: wild mint, white thyme, valerian root
Fern is fast becoming one of the UK’s most influential beauty brands. The natural fragrances are produced in Somerset, and the brand releases only four seasonal fragrances per year in limited distribution. Recently, Pfeffern has expanded its fragrance offerings to candles, and Spring 26 is my favorite yet. With green, crisp mint and the sense-clearing earthy notes of thyme and valerian root, it smells of English meadows and fresh air.
