The Beauty Products Sarah Feingold Uses to the Last Drop

Our favorite beauty pros share the products they love — the ones so good they’ll make you hit that little “auto-refill” box at checkout.

Our favorite beauty pros share the products they love — the ones so good they’ll make you hit that little “auto-refill” box at checkout.

If you’re looking for beauty inspo, be prepared to add a handful of Sarah Feingold’s stunning Instagram photos to your next mood board. Feingold has made a name for herself creating awe-worthy beauty visuals — from sultry berry lips to perfect winged liners — for the likes of Glossier, MAC, Revlon, Dior, and many more. More recently, she’s begun directing her own beauty how-to videos, and coined the term cinetorial, a reimagining of the classic beauty tutorial in a more cinematic and artful way. “I love getting to work with people who inspire me and supporting upcoming designers and artists,” the Germany-born, New York and Paris–based creator says. For example, she’s now working on an editorial video series featuring her personal muses. “What I love about it is the sensation of total trust and creative freedom that we share on set. I started with friends in New York and soon I’ll be boarding a flight to Paris, where I’ll be continuing the saga,” Feingold adds.

Her work began taking off when she created her online publication, No Basic Girls Allowed — a space dedicated to sharing her writing and beauty looks — while studying economic science and psychology at the Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany. “I remember really wanting to put out the kind of content that I was hungry to see more of,” she shares. And, after launching, Vice offered to sponsor the platform. “With their help, I was able to transform it into an official digital magazine. It was such a surprising turn of events that led me into an electric new chapter in Berlin,” Feingold says.

Between all of her travels and creating in the world of beauty, Feingold makes at-home yoga, prayer, and an ice-filled skin-care routine a priority. “Self-care helps me find beauty in the broader sense in life — the beauty in silence, in boredom, in change,” she says. “Growing up, I didn’t have a lot of money to spend on clothes or to experiment with fashion — but a two euro lipgloss was always there for me! I learned from a young age that caring for myself is paramount. It’s the foundation of everything that I’m able to be and do.”

.

6:00 – My main philosophy when it comes to skin care is that less is more. During the night, our skin nourishes itself automatically and hydrates with the oils that it produces naturally. I really try not to overstimulate my skin with different products and don’t use any cleansing products that strip all-natural oils away. In the morning, I clean my face with a simple microfibre sponge and cold water just to wake it up.

6:03 – Then, I like to massage the IS Clinical Active Serum onto my face and follow that with my two favorite moisturizers, the Embryolisse Lait-crème Concentré and IS Clinical Youth Intensive Cream and finish with IS Clinical Eclipse SPF 50 and its LIP Protect SPF. This routine is simple, easy to remember, and takes care of the basics. When a fancier mood strikes, I take out my gua sha and give myself a little facial massage with the moisturizer for maybe ten to 15 minutes.

6:30 – During the summer, I also make my own serum-infused ice cubes for inflammation. I mix the Pro Heal Serum with distilled water and freeze them. The ice wakes my face up and gives me a fresh base.

6:33 – After handling my skin-care routine, I always pray and fit in a short yoga session just to get my mind aligned with the new day.

7:00 – I have Moroccan roots, so my hair is big and curly and it needs a lot of my love. I actually started my natural-hair-care journey during quarantine after bleaching all life out of it and realizing that I wanted to really start caring for what I had. A game changer for me has been deep conditioning and massaging my hair and scalp once a week with a mix of olive oil, rosemary essence, and caster oil. I like to keep the ends of my hair hydrated so I try to oil them every day. For scalp health, I use the Fable and Mane Cooling Scalp Mud Mask. Keeping my curls bouncy and defined has been made simple with Christophe Robin’s Luscious Curl Cream With Flaxseed Oil. Satin hair protection while I sleep is a must!

7:30 – I’m not a daily makeup wearer, but when I do want to spice things up in everyday life, my go-to products are MAC Cosmetics’ Face and Body Foundation, Glossier’s Stretch Concealer, and Simihaze’s Beauty Sun Flush blush. I set this with Dior’s Forever Perfect Fix setting spray. On my eyes, I love MAC’s Stack Mascara and Glossier’s clear Boy Brow gel. For a simple everyday lip, I go for MAC lip liner in Cork or Chestnut and either mix it with Dior’s Addict Stellar Gloss in J’adore or top it off with Byredo’s Liquid Lipstick Vinyl in the shade Fantôme.

7:50 – The cherry on top is a spritz of my favorite scent from Byredo, Bal d’Afrique, before I head out.

7:51 – I need to go out for fresh air every morning. It doesn’t matter how many products you use, if you don’t practice gratitud, and cater to your mind, body, and soul, there’s no glow from within.

.

.

10:00 – My skin-care routine can be a little more complex at night. This is the time for cleansing, peeling, and nourishing my skin. I start off with Naturium Purple Ginseng Cleansing Balm to melt my makeup down and wash it off.

10:03 – I shower. Hammams are a type of steam bath prominent in Moroccan culture. When it comes to taking care of my skin, I peel my whole body with coffee grains and a hammam cloth in the shower. Afterward, when the skin is still wet, I soak my whole body in oils. It leaves my skin supersoft and kills the chance of ingrown hairs.

10:30 – Then I go in for another round of cleansing with MAC’s Fresh Canvas Cleansing Oil, followed by IS Clinical Cleansing Gel. I massage the cleansing gel into the skin, let it sit for one to two minutes, and then wash it off.

10:37 – Maybe three times a week, I peel my face with coffee grains from my morning coffee! Coffee grains are surprisingly very gentle. I add a tablespoon to my IS Clinical Cleansing Gel. I learned this trick from my mom, who is the original skin-care queen in our family. She sends me plant-based skin and product recommendations to this day. On peeling days, I also like Caudalie’s Instant Detox Mask or a Dead Sea mud mask to calm the skin.

11:00 – Right before bed, I dab the Glossier Universal Pro Retinol Cream on my face with some vitamin-C-infused eye cream from Farmacy. For the final step, I massage castor oil on my lashes for one minute, tap some of Kaufmann’s Baby Creme on my lips, and I’m done! To unwind and generate some peace before bedtime, I light candles, read a book, and try to stay away from my phone and laptop entirely.

.

Exaggeration! I feel like we all know that life isn’t the movies. We know we don’t wake up with a perfect blowout or a “no-makeup makeup face,” but so much beauty marketing still revolves around selling this idea of total perfection. It doesn’t make me “cringe” per say, but like, it’s 2023 — let’s get real!

.

I’m proud that the beauty industry is probably the only industry where women make more money than men. I also wish it was easier to navigate as a beginner and as an independent creative in general. The path to success in this industry can seem so enigmatic and out of reach when you’re first starting as a freelancer. It’s not linear like many other career paths. No one is really helping you in a tangible way or lining out a path for you to reach the goals that you want to reach. You basically have to figure it out yourself. My heart goes out to young people who want to be a part of this industry because I think a lot of them may be asking themselves, How do I get to where I want to go? And this next one might be obvious, but I’d just love to see more diversity behind the scenes. I want to see more of reality reflected there.

.

Collagen! One hundred percent. My dermatologist just recently told me that by growing collagen in our skin for anti-aging purposes, it’s not really possible to soak up collagen topically. It is this huge molecule that doesn’t penetrate through our normal skin barrier, but I notice that beauty products are always being heavily advertised with this ingredient. Another good option is argan oil. Let me just say that I love argan oil. It actually is magical; it comes with so many benefits, and it only grows in Morocco so it’s very special in our culture. Some say that it can even heal scarring wounds. In its purest form, it is more than worth the hype, but I just found out from a chemist recently that most hair-oil products we buy thinking the main ingredient is argan oil actually contain less than 0.5 percent of the real thing.

.

Everything that features a more natural base. I try to make masks for myself with fresh ingredients for hair and skin and use ingredients like rich oils like argan oil, aloe vera, honey, and coconut oil. I also love making my own toner with roses and creating my own rose water.

.

To keep it real, I’m so picky when accepting gifts from skin-care brands! I hate wasting anything so if I’m not going to use it, I’d rather the product go to someone who will. I always do my research first, I read the reviews and check the ingredient list, and I let them know if I’m interested in testing it out.

.

I was never really a big facial girl, but around two years ago, I started trying out different facial procedures and treatments to document my experiences for NBGA. I recently had a LaserMD resurfacing facial done at Glo Spa in New York and it exceeded my expectations. I’ve had three sessions done in total, and I’m taking a break now that it’s summertime because it’s not recommended to stay out in the sun for three weeks after the treatment. But if you do choose to stay out of the sun, my favorite tanning product is called Tanrevel Pro. It’s a spray-tanning product that you can use at home. The vegan serum is created with really soothing ingredients like aloe vera, walnut extract, and vitamin C. It’s my go-to secret weapon when I need a quick glow.