Counter's makeup grid is short, which I like. Each piece has one clear job, from gloss to brow gel.

Skin Twin Creamy Concealer is the one for under the eyes and around the nose, and I dot it on and pat with a fingertip. Glow First Serum Primer goes on before it, and it is a good pairing if you like skin that looks a bit dewy. Cheeky Clean Cream Blush is the color step, and Velvet Cream Bronzer is the warmth, used lightly along the cheekbones and temples. Brilliant Brow Tinted Brow Gel finishes the face.

Beyond Gloss is the last thing I would add, tapped onto the center of the lips over a bare mouth or a balm. The range also includes Dew Skin Tinted Moisturizer, which is the base I would try if you wear very little makeup, but it is not in this grid.

The small test I use for a cream formula: if it blends in a few swipes and still looks like skin, it is working. Set the whole face with nothing, or a light dusting of powder where you tend to shine. Carry the gloss and the blush in a pocket, and you can refresh both in a minute. Build the blush in thin layers, and keep the bronzer to the places the sun would actually hit.

Cream and liquid blushes are the easiest way to make a face look alive, and they are the reason I put a third grid here. If you like what Counter is doing with creams, these are the neighbors on the shelf.

Rare Beauty's Soft Pinch Liquid Contour is a liquid you dot on cheekbones and blend, and a tiny amount goes a long way. Saie's Dew Blush is a liquid cream blush with a fresh, glowy finish, and Merit's Flush Balm is a cream blush in balm form that suits fingertips. Benefit Cosmetics' Juice Stick is a dewy gel-cream blush, and Fenty Beauty's Match Stix Matte Contour Skinstick is the matte, precise one for shaping.

What I would skip: layering a liquid over a powder, or a cream over a set face. Liquids and creams want to go on skin or a light base, and the powder should come last, if at all. I would also skip applying a bold shade with fingers straight from a stick in the mirror of a dim bathroom. Check in daylight, dab on the apple of the cheek, and build slowly. Blend up toward the temple, not down toward the jaw, and the color will look lifted and natural. A clean fingertip or a damp sponge both work, so use whichever you already own. If you are choosing only one, pick by finish: dewy for bare skin, matte for shaping.

When a brand relaunches, I do not rebuy everything at once. I start with the pieces that give me the clearest picture of what the company stands for: a sunscreen, a serum, one cream blush. Use them for two weeks and see how they fit. Notice the textures, the finish on skin and whether the routine feels easier than the one you had before. That is a better guide than any launch announcement, and it keeps a relaunch from turning into a full restock.

If you are shopping for the older Beautycounter favorites, look under Counter now, and read each label for what is inside. Ingredient lists are useful, but they are not a promise for every skin type, so patch test anything new and see a doctor if a reaction does not settle.