Beauty editors have no shortage of skin care and makeup goodies that come across our desks. So when we become obsessed with something, it says a lot. In our new “Beauty Product of the Day” series (#BPOTD, for short), we wax poetic about the items that are truly game changers for hair, skin, and nails.
When a beauty product reaches cult status, it inspires a mysterious allure. How does it make your complexion so dewy? How is the formula so much better? What’s the secret sauce? In the case of the Vintner’s Daughter Active Botanical Serum, it’s no secret. The formula contains 22 plant-based actives, and all of them show up to work.
When founder April Gargiulo (an IRL vintner’s daughter) came by the Well+Good office almost a year ago and dropped off the already cult-classic (it was only launched in 2014), it was as if I’d finally found the holy grail. She formulated this dreamy facial elixir herself on her father’s vineyard in Napa Valley, with the aspiration to create a formula free of fillers. (Fillers don’t do anything for your skin; they’re just in products to keep things blended, dilute them, or smell pretty.)
The formula contains 22 plant-based actives, and all of them show up to work.
The price point is high ($185) but that’s because the serum contains the highest quality ingredients. Plus, since it’s such a multi-tasker, it can truly stand in for multiple treatment steps in your routine, so you don’t need as many products in your rotation to achieve clear skin.
My skin practically jumped with excitement when she said that each individual extract in it—from bergamot and avocado oils to nettle leaf and turmeric—works symbiotically like an army to battle everything from inflammation to breakouts to aging and free radical damage.
As someone who still deals with hormonal acne and dryness, this sounded like a godsend. Come skin-care ritual time on my first evening with Vintner’s Daughter, I handled the chic black bottle like it was gold. When I filled the dropper with the elixir, it smelled strongly of intoxicating frankincense and neroli notes. Upon applying it all over my face, my skin literally drank it up. Unlike other serums, its velvety texture lingered—my complexion felt dewy until I fell asleep.
Unlike other serums, its velvety texture lingered—my complexion felt dewy until I fell asleep.
In the morning I practically sprinted to the mirror to check out the effect it had on my skin as I slept. The result? My face was uber-hydrated, but it had a glow unlike it’s ever had before. A former pimple was a mere remnant of its former self and my complexion looked exceptionally bright and even. I was sold.
Since then, I’ve used the serum religiously, morning and night. My breakouts? Almost zilch. My complexion? Even-toned without those pesky red blotches that were there before. My skin has just been wholly taken care of with the Active Botanical Serum’s nutrients on a whole other level.
The surest sign I’m in love with it? I won’t even let my boyfriend, who typically has access to my entire regimen, use it. Every last drop of this liquid gold is mine—all mine.
Snatch up a bottle of the liquid gold for yourself.
Vintner's Daughter Active Botanical Serum $185
For more glow-inducers, these are 8 new skin-boosting beauty supplements. And here are some lighter-than-air whipped moisturizers for fall.
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