I’ve been analyzing my beauty arsenal (I analyze everything, I cannot help it) and realized that my make-up is mostly by boring brands: lots of YSL and Chanel, with only a few less mainstream items. Skincare, however, looks more promising.* I’ve done some extensive testing lately and as a result, have found some relatively new** and less well known brands that I seriously like. They have one unexpected common denominator – they’re all American.

1. Sunday Riley is probably my favourite skincare brand at the moment. Not just in an abstract way, but based on real, hard evidence – I use their Start Over eye cream and Good Genes treatment almost every day and the Ceramic Slip cleanser at least a couple times a week. I would also use the Disrobe body lotion, if it wasn’t already empty and prettttty expensive to replace. Sunday Riley is a good fit for me, as I want my thingies to be exciting and somewhat cult-y, but I also want them to work. SR sits at that happy intersection of fashion, green leanings and serious formulation work that hits my sweet spot hard. I don’t rave about beauty products often, because I have high standards and no product is perfect. But the fact that I don’t frighten small children on the street despite acute sleep deprivation and stress is partly the doing of Sunday Riley. The new Luna oil has just landed in Space NK and no matter how embarrassing it sounds, I MUST have it.

2. Tata Harper is one of those “movin’ to the country, gonna eat a lot of peaches and start an organic beauty brand” type of brands. I could easily live without the rhetoric (I get very irritated by the word “non-toxic” unless we are talking about actual poisons), but my general view is that if people can make something that works out of some flowers and spring water, then all power to them. Not all Tata Harper products do work for me, but their cleansers are very, very good. I have used up my mini Regenerating Cleanser and have just bought a full size Refreshing Cleanser. The creams and serums seem a bit too rich for me, but would probably work beautifully on more mature skin. They also do good starter kits and I’m very interested in the new body balm.

3. In the other end of the scale, we have Zelens. Founded by a proper doctor with a PhD from Oxford in the field of skin cancer, there isn’t much talk about meadows and nasty chemicals here. It’s all about results and I definitely approve of that – especially as the products are indeed effective. My favourites from the line are the the Triple Action Advanced Eye cream (forgot to photograph it, because it was in my travel bag) and the sunscreen, these two are probably also among the the biggest bestsellers for the brand. I also like that the line is well edited and I am definitely going to try the new cleanser, as soon as I can justify buying another one.

4. Tatcha is the prettiest of the four – inspired by the beauty secrets of the Geishas, the aesthetic is Japanese- inspired, too. I don’t care much about Geishas’ secrets, but I do appreciate a coherent and beautifully executed concept and Tatcha certainly excels at that. Everything about the brand is thoughtful, pretty, good quality and has a distinct look and feel. That would all be irrelevant, of course, if the products were bad, but everything I have tried has been at least good and some things are exceptional. The original Aburatorigami blotting papers really work and the One Step Camellia Cleansing Oil is the best oil cleanser I’ve ever tried. And I try a lot of stuff. I also like that you can buy most of the bestsellers in mini versions, before bankrupting yourself with full sizes. It is a very good place for gifts and the customer service is excellent.

As a reference, my skin is slightly combination and very, very dehydrated. It is not sensitive, however, and tolerates acids and constant testing well. Even if your skin is similar, it does of course not mean the things above will work for you, too. None of the brands I mention is cheap, so if you are tempted to try, I highly recommend mini sizes, if available. But what I can say is that as things currently stand, I would rather splurge on skincare from these four brands than Chanel or Dior.

*And my perfume collection is truly wide-ranging, but lets not get into that here.
**If you are a regular at beauty blogs, these brands will not be new to you, of course.