Beauty Pie founder Marcia Kilgore on her product ride-or-dies

 

 

Pretty much daily, somebody asks me which BEAUTY PIE products are my favourite. Which ones constitute ‘ride or dies’. How many serums (or superdrops) I really layer on to prevent the inevitable.

The truth isn’t on my bathroom shelf. It’s in the things I’ve emptied out that are sitting in a bin on my bathroom floor, waiting to be rinsed and recycled.

 

Which BEAUTY PIE products I use…

 

…is a ridiculously difficult question to answer. Because this changes constantly, when I’m testing new formulas, revisiting old lab submissions and reminding myself of why something we launched 5 years ago still beats the newest ‘try hard’ on the block. (I reject hundreds of lab-submissions, even mid-project, because something we’ve already launched is just better.)

Plus, I rotate my skincare and makeup with the seasons. What I’m using in January will not bear much resemblance to what I’m slapping on with aplomb in August (except for the ABC + SPF, obviously). And if we’re in NPD high-season at BEAUTY PIE, the side of my sink might look like some kind of speed dating event for elasticity (or hydration, or brightening) serums. 

Which is why the most ‘honest’ answer I can give to the ‘what do YOU use?’ question is what’s in my ‘empties’. A rather unglamorous white metal IKEA basket with a wooden handle that sits on the floor until full (when I use it first and foremost as a physical reorder list, before rinsing and recycling).

My ‘empties basket’ is not influenced by TikTok or K-Beauty formula novelty, or the latest trend in snail mucus serums. It’s the cold hard truth of what is worth using up all the way to the end if you’re a skincare expert that’s been doing this for decades. And that is the highest compliment any beauty product can get. (Any beauty junkie will know this. There are entire YouTube channels that ‘do’ empties.) 

In fact, using something until the bottom of the bottle? It’s surprisingly rare. Think about your own bathroom. 

Somewhere in it is a moisturiser that you abandoned for a more exciting one. Your shower stall probably holds at any given moment three half-used shampoos. There’s that super-expensive-but-not-so-exciting serum that you keep meaning to use up. And 87 lipsticks bought for occasions that you’ll never really wear (until you break out of your lipstick ‘rut’).

 

You’ll agree, no? Beauty optimism is always hovering around, but beauty commitment is the real deal. 

My empties basket? That’s the ‘commitment basket’. 

And right now, here’s what’s in it that I need to reorder.

 

YouthBomb Five 

 

 

A fully depleted set of the YouthBomb Five, plus my very first empty bottle of YouthBomb Advanced Renewal Oil (launched just a couple of months ago). These I deploy for the Retinol, Niacinamide, Vitamin C, the Peptides, the doctor-developed extreme glow, the collagen boosting, the plumping and the cell longevity – courtesy of GGA AKA RENOVAGE – which lengthens your skin cell telomeres so your face, well, holds up longer. 

Also, I am over 40. Way. This is the ticket/shortcut/just-do-it-skincare if you’re over 40. Plus SPF, obviously. 

 

 

Stronger Shinier Hair Shampoo & Elastic Repair Treatment

Another tube of Stronger Shinier Hair Strengthening Shampoo, emptied.

Because my hair is spectacularly fine. Think baby hair with some highlights, some lowlights. And I’ve realised that sometimes I need conditioner, but most of the time, I need reinforcements. I use Elastic Repair Treatment in place of conditioner twice a week, as professional strength support. In fact, I panic a little when I run low on this. 

 

AcidEnzyme Face & Body Wash

 

 

Originally formulated for people with bumpy skin or back and chest acne, or teenagers with ‘breakout face’, I’ve started to use as a double-exfoliating wash (as the name implies, it has acids and it has enzymes) on heavy sunscreen days to make sure I strip away all the sunscreen from my neck, chest and arms. 

Then I discovered it gives the smoothest leg shave imaginable. 

And if you have those tiny rough bumps on arms or legs, you really should never be without a bottle.

It’s one of those products that every household with a teenager and anyone who shaves kind of has to have. 

Also incredible on razor bumps, btw. 

 

Daily Magnesium

 

I take two every evening around 8pm without fail. And my sleep is 100% sounder. It also seems to have put a stop to the 3am lower leg cramps, so I’m very happy about that! 

 

 

Chollagen Powder

 

 

 

 

Possibly the easiest way to ensure you take your daily hydrolysed collagen peptides, if that’s something that you’re trying to commit to. Supplement claim regulations are strict, so we can’t say anything about your joints feeling more elastic, your feet not hurting in the morning, your jawline feeling a heck of a lot firmer with regular use, but I go through one tub of this a month.

I've also finished two jars of YouthBomb Elasticity Support.

Do you detect a theme developing?

 

 

Dr Glycolic Glow Toner

 

 

 

Twice a week. Good cleanse first. Cotton pad. T-Zone. Back of ears. Done. Simple. Effective. 

Also £18 (if you’re a member) and it lasts for a year. 

 

 

Orris Florentina Body Crème

 

I. Am. Officially. Obsessed.

 

(Also officially obsessed with the original Super Healthy Skin orange scented version, but.. variety.) 

I have also just found out that the reason that the ‘bulk’ is so expensive for this stuff (it’s not an inexpensive cream to make) is that the chassis is actually the same as a certain luxury French brand’s face cream. Which explains quite a lot. 

 

Hyper Beach Eau de Parfum

 

 

 

This has entered what fragrance conservationists would describe as a ‘vulnerable’ phase. 

This summer’s batch is now on fumes. People coming in to grab the new Stole The Morning have seemingly also been grabbing themselves a side bottle of Hyper Beach (who wouldn’t, really). So we’re down to the last bottles. 

I’m ordering three backups. I highly recommend getting one before they’re gone. 

 

Featherlight SPF50

 

You know why. 

If you’re in the USA, where this stuff is not yet allowed, I apologise for even mentioning our iconic SPF50 (and for spelling apologise the British way). But we do have this fabulous mineral SPF 30 for you. Sunscreen isn’t the exciting part of your skincare, but it does ensure all that effort you’re making (the layering, the dropping, the LED-masking) isn’t going to waste.

 

 

 

 

Ok, that’s it (for the moment at least). 

I’ve still got many other ‘daily faves’ mid-flight and not in the recycling bin yet. 

But for the last two weeks, these are the items that have survived distraction, curiosity and having to test 10 new lab samples on various parts of my face and body. 

 

And if something keeps making it into the empties basket, it’s because in my beauty routine it’s irreplaceable. 

I’d love to know what’s in yours.