Wow.

But they are also receiving product throughout the time.

So we try to get the first batch before the h- Christmas holiday, but we have another submission time in January.

And so you might receive more product throughout, which just actually works really well, 'cause if you're testing something like skincare, obviously, you know you gotta give it at least a month.

So it's better to get some at the beginning and some near the middle.

Uh, but they're testing, they're taking notes, and then after the majority of the testing is done, we all get in a room.

And whether we go down the list and we're like, "Okay, the three people..." Because also, more than one person tests every catego- every category.

Yeah.

There's a lot out there

There's a lot out there, and we spend nine months, we tested over 5,000 products and came up with 319 that we can guarantee you are the best.

Mm-hmm

... that really help boost the brightening effect, but also protects you from free radicals.

So I like to put this on before I put on sunscreen in the morning, and look, it smells, it smells a little bit.

Ooh

... and get treatments and, um, you know, I'm really excited about this event that we started.

It's year four, so this is one of my, uh, things that we've done around Best of Beauty, and Best of Beauty has had an event for decades.

So, um, I think the first event that they had was in like 2001, and it was like a marketing party.

You know, it was a breakfast for all the executives that are taking home Best of Beauty Awards, because it was a big accomplishment for them and their teams, right? But we have changed that in the last four years to be a reader-centric experience that allows the readers to take home big gift bags of products, of Best of Beauty Award-winning products, but also to have one-on-one interactions with dermatologists, aestheticians, makeup artists, to hopefully, what I hope, learn about themselves, right? And it's not one of those events where you just line up, you play the game, and you get the product.

Truly, yeah.

You really don't.

But, you know, I think one thing that has really excited me about media is, you know, it used to be that the primary way that you spoke to readers was through the print publication.

She got all the somehow she fit in Pilates and she's

right.

Okay.

So I think it's interesting because this idea of a woman who puts herself first, I think when you say it, people are like, yeah, girl, we love that.

But when you actually do it, people like, oh, you're so selfish.

Yeah.

Like, you don't want kids? How dare you not fulfill your biological purpose? You're so selfish.

isn't Esther, but we

Mm

... for several years, and, uh, worked my way up.

You know, worked at different publications, all focused on beauty.

After those internships, I realized beauty was the target, uh, of what I wanted to cover, uh, which also includes wellness in a, in a lot of ways.

And so I worked my way up, worked at Self magazine for a while.

I worked at, uh, Refinery29 for a while, and then about five years ago, I landed at Allure, and three and a half years ago, I became editor-in-chief of Allure.

Yeah.

I luckily really enjoy my own company, and any place I wanna go, anything I wanna do, I'm able to do it by myself.