These days, there are new things I find soothing. Yanking out weeds, it turns out, is better and more satisfying than pimple popping. Watching a crew of elders do tai chi alongside the East River gives me the same kind of warm feelings as watching puppy TikToks. And touching Kate Somerville’s new moisturizer is as calming as YouTube ASMR.
It feels like an Italian sorbet. Or maybe it’s like car wax? I can’t quite figure it out. The unique “pressed,” solid texture has the look and consistency of very fine butter spread and is #oddlysatisfying, as the YouTubers say. Like leaving your footprint in wet cement as a kid, it’s a pleasure to push your finger into the surface of this moisturizer and gaze with simple wonder at the mark you’ve left. When you regain your sense of adulthood, it feels even better to nick off a little piece of the moisturizer and gently rub it between your fingertips, where the heat of your hands melts it into a moisturizing, enveloping balm.
I love coating my skin in the balm because it feels so soothing, especially following long days of mask wearing. It could all be in my mind, but the “pressed” texture makes me feel like the formulation’s mix of ceramides and soothing fruit extracts is being absorbed more directly into my skin — it feels more nutritious somehow, like it’s a pressed juice. It’s unscented, doesn’t leave my skin tacky, feels soft for hours, and gives me a slight dewy sheen.
Kate Somerville recommends this cream for “stressed skin.” Whether it’s your mind or your skin that is stressed, this makes it a little bit better.
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