Lifestyle Mirror

In our youth we learned the excitement of receiving presents and the ceremony of unwrapping: loosening the bow, tossing it aside, and then making that first, fresh tear into shiny wrapping paper, exposing its hidden contents to reveal (we hope) something we’ve long dreamed of holding. It’s a carnal eagerness of possession—a celebration of greed and desire. However, it’s also part of the very reason so many beauty junkies shop compulsively without need or want: The packaging is, for some, the best part. Approaching the Sisley counter, we make our purchases wisely, but once we get home we slowly and deliberately savor the item’s unveiling, placing it reverentially in its rightful place on our well-stocked shelves. Right now, the prettiest of these products are rendered in pastel: shades of sorbet, mint, and cupcake-icing pink. The 16 items here are (of course) as effective as they are marvelous to behold. —Phillip Picardi