Hi Friends,
I’ve been loving writing these “3 Things” emails because they’re a bit more off-the-cuff. Less polished, more real life. Just things I genuinely use, think about, listen to, or keep coming back to.
Sometimes they’re products from our shelves. Sometimes they’re not. But they’re always personal favorites—often the things that don’t get the biggest spotlight, but quietly become part of my routine anyway.
So here are 3 things I’ve been into lately.
1. SUNA Exfoliating Shampoo | REVERIE
This is technically a scalp scrub.
But somewhere along the way, it became one of my favorite body products.
I love a good body scrub, but I’ve always had two issues with most of them. First, salt and sugar scrubs dissolve too quickly. You barely get enough massage time before they disappear. Second, so many come in giant tubs—and I know this sounds oddly specific—but I don’t love unscrewing a slippery jar in the shower, getting water into it, scooping handfuls out… it always feels like more of a production than I want.
Instead of salt or sugar, it uses rhassoul clay and perlite for exfoliation. Perlite is a naturally occurring volcanic mineral that gets expanded into these ultra-light, rounded particles. In skincare, it creates this incredibly satisfying gentle friction that doesn’t dissolve while you’re using it—so you actually get a proper exfoliation experience without feeling abrasive.
It was designed originally as an exfoliating shampoo for the scalp, and it’s excellent for that. But I especially love it on the body—backs of arms, bikini area, chest—anywhere texture or congestion likes to show up.
And the packaging deserves its own applause. It comes in a big squeeze bottle, which makes it ridiculously easy to use in the shower.
The scent is also unbelievably good. Woodsy hinoki, black spruce, spearmint, fennel… fresh, grounding, clean, and slightly addictive.
The fact that it works beautifully for both scalp and body gives it bonus points. I use it about 2–3 times a week on my body and look forward to it every time.
2. Dewy Bean Dream | LILFOX
And, once you use it, you probably will too.
This formula was inspired by founder Alexis Rose’s fascination with K-beauty and gentle-but-effective skin renewal. Alexis always tells me that if she had to choose only one product from the entire LILFOX collection, this would be it—which says a lot considering how many beautiful formulas she’s created.
The namesake ingredient is “dew bean,” a plant-based form of vitamin A extracted from moth beans, a small legume long used in Ayurvedic traditions. It gives many of the benefits people seek from traditional retinoids—smoother texture, clarity, cellular turnover, glow—but in a way that feels far gentler and more skin-compatible for a lot of people, myself included.
This newest version is especially beautiful.
It combines dew bean extract with black willow bark, glycolic acid, lactic acid, niacinamide, and hydrating bamboo extract to encourage renewal while still feeling cushiony and hydrated on the skin. And now it also includes blue-green spirulina, which gives the serum this gorgeous electric-blue jelly texture.
It feels active—but not aggressive.
At 52, my skin can tolerate it nightly, though I’d still recommend starting slowly if you’re newer to exfoliating acids or vitamin A products. I love using it after one of my now 5X a week red light mask sessions. I usually mist first, apply it to damp skin on my face, neck, and chest, then mist again and follow with a face oil and/or moisturizer.
And like everything LILFOX makes, the aromatic experience is unreal.
3. Reflect, Refract, Resonate | Josh Rubin
This one isn’t a product.
It’s writing.
Josh Rubin—one of my closest friends for more than 30 years—recently started a Substack series called Reflect, Refract, Resonate, and it’s been exactly the kind of reading I’ve needed lately.
And hearing that from Josh hit me harder than I expected.
He’s one of the most thoughtful, steady, graceful people I know. A photographer, designer, journalist, and someone who has always moved through life with a kind of quiet perspective that I deeply admire. I honestly can’t remember hearing him complain before.
So hearing him, specifically, say that things feel hard made me feel less alone.
The series isn’t pessimistic. Not at all. It’s thoughtful. Observant. Creative. It’s about navigating difficult moments through process, reflection, attention, and light—literal light, as a photographer, but also metaphysically.
It reminded me how much I value people who can articulate what so many of us are feeling, but maybe haven’t said out loud yet.
If you like reflective writing, creativity, design, photography, or simply thoughtful humans sharing honest perspective, I think you’d really enjoy it.
That’s it for this month’s little collection of favorites.
A scalp scrub that became a body scrub.
A blue jelly serum I’m mildly obsessed with.
And some thoughtful words from a longtime friend.
Sometimes the quieter favorites are the ones that stay with you the longest.
Hero On!
Jeannie
