Marcela Alcala @mexicanbutjapanese is a beauty & skincare content creator. She makes easy-to-recreate, elegantly bold makeup looks, and offers brand highlights & product recommendations to her growing social audiences. After working for years in the education departments of the beauty industry's leading brands (think: Sephora, L'Oreal, and Glossier), she's taken social media by storm. Her bright personality and editorial-level content makes her both your beauty best friend and trusted expert all at once.
As the go-to beauty expert from drug-store to luxury brands, we're excited to feature her Best of Beauty & Skincare favorites of 2023. From the one thing she recommends adding to your beauty routine, to her favorite beauty trends this year, check out her top ten favorites from this year.
1) The retinol craze! I’m so happy retinol has become more and more mainstream. Especially this year, you could really feel and see how many brands are coming out with retinol and/or retinol alternatives. Retinol is the gold-standard of skincare, so happy people are getting more and more comfortable adding it to their routine!
2) Latte Makeup, Strawberry Makeup, Tomato Makeup, basically all the fun beauty trends! I know people either love/hate them, but what I like about them is that they bring people together to create looks and share their personal approach to the look. I think it’s so cool that people like to participate and join the conversation.
3) My two top items from Tenoverten are The Rose Oil and The Cuticle Eraser. My cuticles are horrible! They get dry and they crack. So the oil has been amazing to treat my cuticles at night. I love the applicator, because it allows for a very targeted and effortless application. And The Cuticle Eraser is my favorite for cleaning up my cuticles. I have very “meaty” cuticles and need to groom my nails constantly and this just softens them so nicely and makes the removal part so so easy!
4) My favorite skincare discovery of the year are the $65 facials at Mario Badescu. They’re excellent and so affordable! You can’t go wrong!
5) Also, did you know that Tenoverten has a nail salon in the city? I feel that people don’t know this and it’s such a beautiful space and experience. It’s my favorite place to get my nails done!
6) My favorite holiday palette this year was the one by Patrick Ta! It’s definitely worth it!
7) I’m also loving all the glitter/shimmery holiday launches! Some great ones to check out are the Dior Liquid Lipstick Sequin Edition, The Shimmery Tarte Maracuja Lip Plumps, and the Mac Cosmetics Holiday Edition Lip Balms!
8) My favorite holiday beauty merch definitely came from Glossier! They have this super cool Tumbler for hot chocolate. It’s such a great gift!
9) A cool pop up to check out before the end of year is Pleasing by Harry Styles. Harry founded the brand and collaborates with different people and artists for his collections. The pop up is in Soho until the end of the year and it’s very cute, full of merch, and lot’s of holiday gift options.
10) Last but not least, the best massage I got this year was from The Well. I’m currently pregnant and I didn’t realize how much I needed pampering, muscle work, and relaxation. It’s a pricey one, but so worth it!
