Mustela Stelatopia Emollient Cream is the Best Drugstore Moisturizer for Dry Winter Skin
In the summer my face is an oil slick or, as kinder souls have put it, "so glowy!" Then fall turns to winter and severe dry patches begin appearing beneath my eyes and around my nose. It happens every year, like clockwork.
In the past this signaled a mad scramble to find any solution that actually worked. Back before I knew better, I tried the multipronged layering approach, sandwiching serums between face mists and ointments and salves while muttering under my breath about the complexities of my skin's love language. This fixed the problem to some extent, but it also meant going to bed with my face marinating under an inch of greasy product (woe to my pillowcases if I happened to turn over in my sleep). It was also totally out of the question for my morning routine—if a tiny gust of wind blew so much as a stray leaf my way, I was done for.
It took a few years of trial and error, but eventually I discovered a far easier, smarter option. And I will happily reveal it to you now because it requires only that you make a trip to your nearest Target (where you're probably already planning to go for snacks, holiday decorations, and more things than you can carry anyway). Once you enter, walk toward the skin care aisle and then keep on moving; what you want isn't located here. Instead, set your sights on the baby section, where you'll find a few shelves stocked with my holy grail French skin care brand Mustela.
Mustela is a line geared toward those between the stages of newborn and toddler; the products are all tested on a patented baby epidermal model (please do not ask me what this means, but I know that no actual baby faces are involved in the process) and evaluated by a third-party toxicologist to ensure safety. I'm not exactly in that target audience, but the products work fine on adults as well—just consider them a great choice for sensitive skin. Everything I've tried from Mustela has been incredibly effective, even when my face is at its most dry and inflamed. The Hydra-Stick With Cold Cream is my faithful plane companion, a creamy, comforting block that pulls double duty as lip balm and moisturizer. The Cleansing Wipes never leave my face feeling stripped or overly dry. And the tiniest bit of 1 2 3 Vitamin Barrier Cream under my nose saves me every allergy season, when my skin becomes chapped and red otherwise.
The one I go back to again and again, though, is the giant tube of Stelatopia cream, which I slather on generously. (Alternately, you can get the smaller Emollient Face Cream—I just love how long the supersize version lasts.) I dispense a pea-size amount in my palm morning and night and pat it into my skin. Sometimes I combine it with a serum if I'm in need of a brightening or firming boost, but often I wear it alone, content to let it work its magic without any extra frills.
