Supermodel Natalia Vodianova, who celebrated her 28th birthday yesterday, was "discovered" at age 15, around the same time she was selling fruit on the streets of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia to make money for her poverty-stricken family. I say "discovered" because the ambitious young girl had actually enrolled in a modeling academy, where she became conversational in English—at the request of a model scout—in under three months. At 17, Vodianova signed with Viva Models in Paris, pursuing a career that would come to include contracts with Calvin Klein, Louis Vuitton, and Yves Saint Laurent. Aside from occasional red-carpet appearances and ad campaigns, what's she up to now?

Sometimes life isn't fair. Take, for instance, the idea of editor's picks. When fashion editors offer up their favorite picks for the season, it's usually non-fashion editors who are reading about it. But nobody ever asks the non-fashion editors for their go-to products—which is why fashion blogging is so popular, I gather. I digress. Since I am the only beauty editor in the room, I could just ask myself for my own picks and let everyone else I work with, who seem to use personal hygiene and beauty products on a daily basis, share their favorites on their own blogs, but what good is one opinion? Besides, I've Googled everyone I work with and can't seem to find their personal beauty blogs, so I decided to ask them to share their summer staples, because they look damn good. Their responses are pretty helpful. Especially Ben Barna's.