Your Routine Is Only as Good as Its Worst Ingredient—so I Created Drunk Elephant

Whether or not you’re a skincare lover, you’re likely familiar with or have heard of the mega-popular brand Drunk Elephant. Founded by Tiffany Masterson back in 2012, the skincare line has that ever-elusive ability to maintain a cast of longtime holy-grail favorites (such as the C-Firma Fresh Day Serum and the Alix Earle–approved D-Bronzi Anti-Pollution Sunshine Drops) while consistently debuting exciting new launches, always abiding by the brand’s founding Suspicious 6 ingredient-elimination philosophy.

As a consumer frustrated by skin issues she couldn’t solve, Masterson took the matter into her own hands and began studying ingredients nonstop for three years, which led her to a unique process of elimination. “I was taking things out, adding them back in, and that’s what eventually evolved into the Suspicious 6,” she tells me. “This was shorthand for the six categories of ingredients that I felt were at the root of the skin issues I and others had battled: essential oils, fragrance/dyes, silicones, sodium lauryl sulfate, drying alcohols, and chemical screens.”

All of Masterson’s research led her to think about skin differently too. “It was my experience that many of the skin behaviors people struggle with, including myself—acne, sensitivity, dryness, excessive oiliness—are caused or worsened by the very products we are using to treat those concerns,” she says. For example, she explains that many products designed to treat acne or oily skin often use harsh ingredients like drying alcohols, and those that are marketed to dry and sensitive skin often contain fragrances/dyes and essential oils. Essentially, it can all become a vicious cycle, which was something she was looking to change with Drunk Elephant. 

“It’s what has really set us apart from everyone else,” she says. “Your routine is only as good as its worst ingredient, and for a comprehensive routine, you don’t need a lot of steps. A gentle cleanser, a moisturizer that’s loaded with antioxidants and soothing ingredients, a good vitamin C serum to help brighten and protect skin, a physical sunscreen, a well-formulated AHA/BHA exfoliant, and a stable, effective retinol—that’s all you really need for healthy skin, and depending on your age, you might not even need
all of it.”

In celebration of Drunk Elephant’s newest launch—B-Goldi, a niacinamide-spiked illuminating serum—we asked Masterson to share her complete beauty routine. Below, you’ll find the specific cocktail of Drunk Elephant products she uses daily in addition to her other go-to beauty and wellness essentials. Keep scrolling!