Gwyneth Paltrow Launches New Hair Serum + More Beauty News You Missed This Week

Including a gel mask from Michelle Obama’s facialist, a new Dermalogica daily exfoliating cleanser and the re-launch of an iconic body butter.

Gwyneth Paltrow launches hair serum with GOOP

GP sat down with her assistant Kevin on Goop’s Instagram this week to dish on some of her most notable hair looks, including that his-and-hers haircut she shared with Brad Pitt. And yes, they did go to the same hairstylist. And yes, it was celebrity hair mastermind Chris MacMillan (who just happened to also cut Jennifer Aniston’s fame-making layered look on Friends right before she met Pitt. Hmm.) Like any celeb who’s let their hair be a punching bag for their director’s whims, Paltrow says she has suffered major hair damage and as a result, created the new GOOPGLOW Restore + Shine Hair Serum with mega-hydrators such as squalene, sea buckthorn and monoi oils. Plus, instead of worrying about greasing up your freshly-washed hair with yet another product, you can drip this mask-like oil on dry hair, let it sit for 20 minutes, and then shampoo as usual.

Lise Watier creates business training and funding for Toronto women with YWCA

The Lise Watier Foundation announced this week that it’s bringing its Let’s Start Up Program to Toronto, in partnership with the YWCA. The program has already been up-and-running in Quebec since 2017, where it provides personalized 18-week business training, personal coaching and loan resources to women affected by poverty (34 per cent of working Canadian women earn less than $20,000 a year) and other social or professional vulnerabilities. The program is tailored to those who are either interested in going back to school, entering the job market or entrepreneurship. Lona Accessories, co-founded by program graduate Valérie Lachance is one such success story. Marie-Lise Andrade, president of the Lise Watier Foundation, says that one out of five entrepreneur-driven participants this year were interested in either beauty, fashion or wellness projects, including accessories, styling services, and natural cosmetics. “Our role is to provide women the tools and support they need to gain confidence in their ability to lead their business to success. When a whole community believes in you, you start believing in yourself.” If you’re interested in potentially taking part in this program, visit the YWCA Toronto.

Dermalogica’s new hard-working exfoliating cleanser

We can’t rave enough about the benefits of glycolic acid. The alpha-hydroxy acid (AHA) is a star when it comes to sloughing away dead skin cells to reveal smoother, more radiant skin underneath. It has the lowest molecular weight of all AHAs, allowing it to get deep inside your pores to clean out all the—for lack of a better word—gunk in your skin. The one downside? The hardworking molecule is most often found in potent serums, which can be irritating for sensitive skin types. Enter Dermalogica’s new Daily Glycolic Cleanser, featuring 3 per cent glycolic acid, plus nourishing calendula extract and jojoba oil to condition and soothe skin as the glycolic acid quickly does its job before being washed off. No pain, all gain. –Souzan Michael Galway

The Body Shop relaunches its iconic body butters

If you’ve ever gone on a beach holiday without The Body Shop’s Coconut or Mango Body Butters, we don’t know you. The good news is, if you’re still unfamiliar with these iconic heavy-duty body moisturizers, they’ve just been re-launched (29 years after founder Dame Anita Roddick dreamed them up), complete with a new and improved vegan formula with at least 95 percent natural ingredients and 100 per cent sustainable packaging, including infinitely recyclable aluminum lids. The community fair trade shea butter sourced from Ghana ensures a must-have formula as the seasons (and scents) unfold. We hear there may even be a new seasonal edition dropping very soon, which just might thrill all the pumpkin-spice-latte-obsessives out there.

Michelle Obama’s facialist launches a flower-filled gel mask

If you’re feeling like your complexion could benefit from a post-summer facial, Canadian skincare brand JB Skin Sävvi just-launched, limited-edition mask could be just the trick. (The brand’s founder, Jennifer Brodeur, has tended to the faces of both Oprah and Michelle Obama, after all.) Le Masque Floräl is a seriously luxe, soothing gel mask which comes with five applications. Each one comes as a powder you mix with water to form a paste, and is fortified with calming and brightening cornflower, calendula and chamomilla. During your fifteen minutes of DIY facial heaven, the paste turns into a gel and is even dotted with charming, natural flowers. Summer doesn’t feel so far gone after all.

This new trio of perfumes from Aesop will transport us all  

Othertopias is a new collection of three gender-neutral fragrances developed by ultra-chic French perfumer Barnabé Fillion for Melbourne-based brand Aesop.  Joining their four existing scents, these three eaux de parfums, titled Miraceti, Karst and Erémia, are unique to say the least, and were designed to take you on adventure sequentially from “the boat, to the shore and the wasteland.” But, not to worry, the latter is actually a lovely citrus-floral with notes of yuzu and iris, while Miraceti is a spicy, woodsy scent, and Karst is fresh and herby with notes of juniper and cumin. Consider us swept away.