Meet the products, brands, and people that are breaking the rules, smashing the patriarchy, and waging war against beauty standards, one lipstick at a time.
Introducing the products, brands, and people that are breaking the rules, smashing the patriarchy, and waging war against beauty standards, one lipstick at a time.
to get mouthy in
Speak softly and carry the perfect lip color.
The angled edges on this lipstick bullet make applying smooth, matte color a hell of a lot easier than calculating the circumradius of a square.
Doctors recommend 30 minutes of exercise per day, plenty of water, and a swipe of this vitamin-infused liquid lipstick for peak physical condition.
Potent pigments and a mesmerizingly creamy finish make this cult-favorite pick downright hypnotic.
The plush, pillowy, naturally flushed lips of your dreams, now available during waking hours.
Mascara More Intense Than Jackson & Ally’s Love
For lashes you’ll just want to take another look at.
The creamy cannabis oil-infused formula creates high-as-a-kite lashes that won’t get you stopped at airport security.
The revolution will be 3D-printed, and equipped with a combination of waxes that leaves lashes full and inky in a single stroke.
Peak pigment, hardcore volume, and mind-blowing intensity, for the best lashes you’ve ever had.
If good girls go to heaven, then bad girls go to space, thanks to gravity-defying aeroparticles that give lashes weightless lift.
Highlighter That Makes A Total Lunar Eclipse Seem Dull
The super blue blood moon has nothing on your cheekbones.
The bouncy gel texture will satisfy your inner child; the concentrated pigment and long wear time is practical enough for your outer adult.
Not all that glitters is gold — sometimes it’s a gleaming disco-ball silver, with all proceeds funding education, health, and emergency response programs around the world.
Sheer, pearly highlight + precise doe-foot applicator = a pretty little magic wand that illuminates everything it touches.
Smaller and more travel-friendly than your iPhone wall plug, this unsuspecting little nub charges your dewiness to 100%.
Catch a falling star and put it on your eyelids — just ideally not on your sister’s wedding day.
Because full-on shimmer and metallic sheen go together like Prince Harry and the Markle Sparkle.
This dewy cream formula is like fine jewelry for your face: sumptuous and only a little showy.
Bigger is always better when it comes to buttery jumbo-sized shadows that last for hours (and hours).
Finally, a glitter-packed gel that really stays put, no matter what the Space Force throws at you.
The One-Step Glow-Up
Put down the trendy 64 oz water jug; use this instead.
Proof that size doesn’t matter: This chubby stick fits perfectly in your hand, and gives dewy, fresh-faced coverage in 40 shades.
Never before has a foundation made us look so naturally lit-from-within — like wearing liquid highlighter on your soul.
If tinted moisturizer took uppers, it’d act a lot like this shade-adjusting tint, which is a lightweight one-and-done for airbrushed skin in a tube.
You don’t know “no-makeup” makeup until you’ve tried this dry-finish oil: Just a few drops will transform skin into an airbrushed version of itself.
Concealer That Covers Up Everything — & We Mean Everything
Breakouts, dark spots, redness, dark circles, collusion…
A soft-focus, full-coverage formula that makes skin look so convincingly perfect for so long, even you’ll start to believe it.
Fake smooth, bright skin until you make it with this argan oil-rich fluid, which combines instant gratification with long-term benefits.
This waterproof concealer does exactly what it says — whether your night ends with last call at 4 a.m. or at 9:30 p.m. right after Black-ish.
Busting the myth that a concealer needs to be heavy to hide it all, this one has a barely-there look and feel with very-much-there coverage.
You’ll Want To Be Buried In
'Til death — or a really good makeup remover — do us part.
If all the world’s a stage, then this fine-point waterproof liner deserves to land the role of a lifetime.
Give us your shaky hands, your minimal makeup skills, your desperate eyelids begging for just one perfect wing… and get yourself one of these instead.
So soft and creamy, you’d half expect it to slide off an hour in — which makes this silky shadow’s crease-proof staying power all the more impressive.
Truly the liquid liner of the people, the firm felt tip ensures a crisp, clean line every time, whether this is your first razor-sharp cat eye or your 5,000th.
For Brows That Won’t Make You Cringe On #TBT
Swipe up for more.
The classic middle-school writing tool goes highbrow with a 4-in-1 retractable pen that has everything you need for best-in-class brows.
The four-pronged tip on this pen is clutch for creating full, defined brows that will last longer than Ariana Grande’s “Pete” tattoo.
Thanks to a unique thickening formula, your dopest brows ever are just a sweep of this fiber-coated brush away.
Name a better trio than a built-in spoolie brush, super-slim pencil, and brow powder in one sleek package. We’ll wait.
Best Eye Cream For Wrinkles, Dark Circles, Fine Lines
Winner: Peter Thomas Roth Potent-C Power Eye Cream.
Packed with vitamins C and E, caffeine, and hyaluronic acid, this eye cream sends dark circles and fine lines running at the sight of it. Runners-up: Tatcha The Pearl Tinted Eye Illuminating Treatment, Drunk Elephant C-Tango Multivitamin Eye Cream, Olay Eyes Brightening Eye Cream
Best Curl Product
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
Winner: DevaCurl Super Stretch Coconut Curl Elongator
The answer to all your curl prayers moisturizes like a cream, holds like a gel, smells like a piña colada, and defines wash-and-gos and twist-outs alike. Runners-up: Oribe Curl Controlling Creme, Color Wow DreamCoat for Curly Hair, Marc Anthony True Professional Strictly Curls 7-In-1 Treatment Foam
The Best Cure For Shrinkage Since Little Blue Pills
For hair with serious BCE (Big Curl Energy).
The answer to all your curl prayers moisturizes like a cream, holds like a gel, smells like a piña colada, and defines wash-and-gos and twist-outs alike.
With a gel-like texture that’s a far cry from overly-rich lotions, this luxe, silky crème will help you get a humidity-proof handle on your ringlets without added weight or crunch.
Though it might feel like glorified water at first spritz, the "wow" factor of this lightweight liquid is legit, thanks to polymers that ensure shiny, bouncy curls and waves every time.
If your idea of multitasking is doing two things at once, allow this 7-in-1 to raise the bar. From detangling to adding shine, it does everything your curls need it to.
The Best Excuse To Skip A Morning Shower (Again)
That snooze button looks good. Your hair looks even better.
First, get over the fact that this dry shampoo is a liquid. Then shake well and spritz the powder-spiked spray all over for softer, "cleaner," significantly better-smelling hair.
If dry shampoo and wave spray met over a long journey on the high seas, fell in love, and had a baby, it’d be this refreshing mist, which boosts texture and smells like a cool breeze.
Biotin and collagen are the building blocks of healthy hair; they also give this dry shampoo its ability to transform tired, unwashed strands into a full, lush thing of wonder.
Ever wished your dry shampoo was a little more… hardcore? This one's for you. The charcoal powder sucks up dirt and oil like nothing else, even on way-more-than-second-day hair.
The Treatment That’s Like Pranayama For Your Hair
Control your breath and extend the life force of your last dusting.
Turns out all you need to rebuild frazzled hair is plant-based protein, baobab oil, and a simple scientific discovery that enables real-deal keratin to actually fix each strand.
Maximizing your hair treatment with a shower cap is the oldest trick in the book — but this one takes it to the next level by infusing the cap itself with nourishing oils and extracts.
There is vicuna wool, there is mulberry silk, and then there is your hair after using this mask, which leaves even fried ends extraordinarily soft and glossy.
Geisha soak their combs in camellia oil overnight to keep hair strong and silky; sleeping with this surprisingly light gel yields similar results for the average person.
And you thought your rotating curling iron was as visionary as it gets.
2018 may not have given us flying cars, but we did get a machine that uses a high-speed jet of air to vacuum up wet or dry hair and spit out perfectly styled curls.
Imagine styling your hair with a robot arm and you'll get a sense of what it's like to use this space-age curling wand; the damage-reducing titanium barrel bends four different ways.
Curved edges make this iron versatile for creating waves and straight styles; vibrating plates make it ingenious for the hair-smoothing action you didn't know you were missing.
Weighing in at under a pound, this dryer is lighter than lightweight, and features a patented silencer and 94 mph motor for your fastest, quietest, least tiresome blowout ever.
The Styler That Makes Bad Hair Days Go The Way Of Beepers
Two things nobody will ever miss.
Some of the best things in life come in a can: La Croix, Lime-a-Ritas, a texturizing spray that leaves hair just the right amount of tousled without getting your hands dirty...
That layer of dust forming on our heat tools is all thanks to this airy foam, which gives you Chrissy Teigen hair on a just-hit-snooze schedule.
The Swiss Army knife of hair products hydrates, softens, adds shine, tames flyaways, lays edges, and even comes with a cap to make it a night treatment that won't ruin your pillow.
This aloe- and vitamin E-infused detangling spray smells like the Platonic ideal of clean and transforms hair into the soft, shiny picture of health.
That Washes Away Blackheads & Bad Decisions
Life is better with a clear conscience and even clearer pores.
The rare deep cleanser that's potent enough to help kick hormonal breakouts, but gentle enough to wash away eye makeup without making anyone cry.
What is luxury, after all, if not the indulgent lather of a $90 facial cleanser scented with a designer rose?
As a hot cup of tea is to a weak winter constitution, this simple cleanser uses healing honey to coddle and restore struggling skin.
The gentlest, soothing-est cleanser your skin has ever met feels like a mild, lightweight lotion and can be used on a damp or dry face.
To All The Acne Products We’ve Loved Before
No hard feelings — it’s just time to trade up.
A unique fusion of gentle exfoliating acids and soothing botanical extracts forms a battle plan so strategic, your acne won’t know what hit it.
Out with the old skin cells, in with the new — this powerful problem-solver uses AHAs and BHAs to clean up clogged pores, curb breakouts, and leave skin smooth and bright.
These whisper-thin acne patches draw out pus like no other and disappear completely under a dot of concealer. Enrique Iglesias could never.
Like a life raft for acne-prone skin, these discs deliver a strong dose of salicylic acid, kaolin clay, and tea-tree oil to treat breakouts and cut down on shine.
Because we all know it’s not in Florida.
Whip skin into shape with this highly addictive all-in-one, which uses lactic acid, aloe, and a mild retinoid for instant results you won’t want to quit.
A vitamin D deficiency is no longer an excuse to roast in the sun: This serum has it in spades, and creates a realistic “where’d-you-go-I-didn't-see-it-in-your-Stories?!” glow.
Most "anti-wrinkle" creams are hard on skin, as if to punish you for having wrinkles at all. This one, however, smooths and moisturizes — just like you and your laugh lines deserve.
Real supernovae are temporary; the softer, firmer, more luminous complexion this retinol-infused serum leaves you with is forever.
The Face Mask You Should Never Go On A Netflix Binge Without
Best paired with sweatpants and zero plans.
This tingly, less-jarring take on the Scandinavian sauna ritual cools skin on contact, with AHAs and BHAs forcing clogged pores to fly south (and out of sight).
Turmeric: not just for curry and golden mylk. Here, the spice works with papaya enzymes and aspen bark to revitalize skin and ditch dulling buildup.
God is real, and she’s a life-changing pore-purging clay mask that keeps skin fresh and glowy without the drama of having gunk under your nails for days.
Lazy, hungover Sunday at home or 17-hour transatlantic flight to Sydney — either way, you’re going to want this minty moisturizing mask at your side.
That'll Be Your 3rd Favorite Part Of The Day
After coffee in the morning and finally taking off your bra at night.
We can’t even with this gel, which locks in moisture without suffocating skin thanks to an unbelievably light formula even the oily-skinned will die over.
The luxe cream to end all luxe creams might smell like a damp wool blanket, but it feels like heaven and leaves skin looking like a million (clear, dewy) bucks.
“Exfoliating moisturizer” is an oxymoron. So is “minor miracle” and “terribly good” — and this dual-action formula is all of those things.
A moisturizer so beautifully soft and nourishing, it almost seems like a mistake that the price is so low… but we won’t tell anyone if you don’t.
Crazy Rich Eye Cream
After a few uses, you won’t even need a glamorous makeover scene.
Twist open this Poké Ball-like jar of tinted eye cream, and the equivalent of eight hours of sleep and a stress-free lifestyle will pop out.
Packed with vitamins C and E, caffeine, and hyaluronic acid, this eye cream sends dark circles and fine lines running at the sight of it.
It takes two to tango, but just one rich eye cream to brighten dark circles, deliver a potent dose of antioxidants, and strengthen the sensitive area over time.
It might not look like much, but what’s inside is an eye cream that just works — no frills, no five-peptide complex, just caffeine and glycerin to brighten and smooth fine lines.
Best Face Mask
Winner: Summer Fridays Jet Lag Mask
Ole Henriksen Cold Plunge Pore Mask, Kora Organics Turmeric 2-in-1 Brightening & Exfoliating Mask, Olay Pore Detox Black Charcoal Clay Face Mask Stick
Best Cleanser And Face Wash
Winner: Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare Alpha Beta Pore Perfecting Cleansing Gel
Lazy, hungover Sunday at home or 17-hour transatlantic flight to Sydney — either way, you’re going to want this minty moisturizing mask at your side. Runners-up: Dior Prestige Micellar Mousse, Farmacy Clean Bee Ultra Gentle Facial Cleanser, Neutrogena Hydro Boost Gentle Cleansing Lotion
Best Eyeliner
Winner: Fenty Beauty Flyliner Longwear Liquid Eyeliner
Truly the liquid liner of the people, the firm felt tip ensures a crisp, clean line every time, whether this is your first razor-sharp cat eye or your 5,000th. Runners-up: Diorshow On Stage Liquid Eyeliner, Vamp Stamp Vixen Wing Eyeliner Stamp, NYX Holographic Halo Cream Eyeliner
Best Mascara
Winner: Benefit BADgal BANG! Volumizing Mascara
If good girls go to heaven, then bad girls go to space, thanks to gravity-defying aeroparticles that give lashes weightless lift. Runners-up: Milk Makeup KUSH High Volume Mascara, Chanel Le Volume Révolution De Chanel, Nars Climax Mascara
Best Foundation
Winner: Nars Cosmetics Natural Radiant Longwear Foundation
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
Never before has a foundation made us look so naturally lit-from-within — like wearing liquid highlighter on your soul. Runners-up: Flesh Beauty Firm Flesh Thickstick Foundation, Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Perfector Blurring Skin Tint, Kosas Tinted Face Oil
To Stock Up On For Your Doomsday Bunker
2030 isn’t that far off, but do be sure to check the expiration date.
Believe the hype: This weightless, unscented, residue-free formula leaves behind an invisible blurred finish that’ll make you actually want to wear SPF.
A lazy-beach-day-friendly mist that mists on evenly, doesn’t leave skin sticky, and won’t make you complicit in the deaths of any coral reefs.
Splash on a generous amount of this lightweight sunscreen gel for serious coverage that feels hydrating and won’t piss off even crazy-sensitive skin.
Light, clean, full-spectrum sun protection for your face, but make it sexy (and pink).
The Best Reason To Stop Neglecting The Skin Below Your Neck
If only we treated the rest of our bodies as well as we treat our faces...
This spray bottle might not be sexy, but who cares about that when you can coat even hard-to-reach areas in dewy moisture that will keep you ash-free for days?
Perfect for your gym bag, your work bag, your going-out bag, your emergency 1-a.m.-“u up?”-text bag...
A soothing sulfate-free body wash that leaves skin gloriously clean but not parched, and smells so much like a spa day you might actually buy into the “anti-stress” claims.
Fair warning: You’ll never be able to go back to regular razors once you’ve used this idiot-proof model, which shaves forwards and backwards for smooth skin and reduced risk of injury.
Nail it like the pros.
A single drop of this vegan, cruelty-free formula seals polish in under five minutes, so you’ll be back to eating Doritos straight from the bag before you know it.
No nail-art skills, no problem: These stickers give you straight-from-the-salon vibes and staying power without having to part ways with your couch.
If bold color is your jam, this base coat will make your life that much easier by creating a clear barrier that prevents staining, so you're never caught (literally) red-handed.
You’re no Cinderella, but that doesn’t mean you don’t need a long-wear lacquer that holds up whether you’re scrubbing dishes or out dancing ‘til your carriage becomes a pumpkin.
The Fragrance We Want To Scent Our Lives With
Does this come in shower gel, body lotion, hair mist, and room spray, too?
Made up of creamy, animalistic notes of musk and amber, this sexy skin scent smells different on everyone — which is good, because that’s exactly who’s wearing it.
An olfactory trip to the Sonoran Desert captures the crisp, slightly mineral scent of cactus flower and iris and doesn't require sacrificing your precious PTO days or your WiFi connection.
Not quite a traditional perfume in and of itself, this clean, musky fragrance enhancer layers over any other scent to lend a certain je ne sais quoi.
The name is a nod to the not one, but many women who may see themselves in the complex blend of orange flower and cedarwood — and to the female perfumers who created it.
Best Highlighter
Winner: Giorgio Armani Neo Nude A-Highlight
Sheer, pearly highlight + precise doe-foot applicator = a pretty little magic wand that illuminates everything it touches. Runners-up: Farsali Jelly Beam Illuminator, Fenty Beauty Killawatt Freestyle Highlighter (CLF Edition), Sleek Makeup Strobe Dome Stick
Best Brow Product
Winner: Maybelline TattooStudio™ Brow Tint Pen Makeup
The four-pronged tip on this pen is clutch for creating full, defined brows that will last longer than Ariana Grande’s “Pete” tattoo. Runners-up: Benefit Cosmetics Brow Contour Pro Pen, Milk Makeup Kush Fiber Brow Gel, Shiseido Brow InkTrio
Best Anti-Aging Serum And Cream
Winner: Shani Darden Texture Reform Serum
Whip skin into shape with this highly addictive all-in-one, which uses lactic acid, aloe, and a mild retinoid for instant results you won’t want to quit. Runners-up: Drunk Elephant D-Bronzi Anti-Pollution Sunshine Drops, ROC Retinol Correxion Max Daily Hydration Cream, Joanna Vargas Super Nova Serum
Best Acne Product
Winner: Hero Cosmetics Mighty Patch Invisible+
These whisper-thin acne patches draw out pus like no other and disappear completely under a dot of concealer. Enrique Iglesias could never. Runners-up: Murad Outsmart Acne Clarifying Treatment, Glossier Solution, First Aid Beauty Skin Rescue Acne Clearing Pads with White Clay
Best Moisturizer For Dry And Oily Skin
Winner: Clinique Dramatically Different Hydrating Jelly
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
We can’t even with this gel, which locks in moisture without suffocating skin thanks to an unbelievably light formula even the oily-skinned will die over. Runners-up: Augustinus Bader The Cream, Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare Alpha Beta Exfoliating Moisturizer, Olay Regenerist Whip Face Moisturizer SPF 25
Best Makeup Buys
Have your mascara and your matcha soy latte, too.
Mix a drop or two of this lightweight, silky highlighting fluid in with your moisturizer or foundation for a fully bespoke glow at an off-the-rack price.
This dual-chamber wand houses two brushes: one larger for volumizing, the other teeny-tiny for precision, so you can make the most of your lashes — all approximately 188 of them.
Like a silk slip dress for your lips, this crème imparts soft, sexy color and a tingly cooling sensation that subtly plumps and smooths.
This straightforward, low-fuss pencil makes quick work of adding definition to brows, thanks to lightweight fibers that attach to hairs for natural-looking fullness.
Best Under-$20 Hair Buys
Saks Fifth Avenue hair, Saks Off 5th budget.
The moringa oil-rich recipe for shiny, can’t-stop-staring hair comes in an extremely cute packet, which can be resealed for multiple uses.
In addition to smelling like a rosewater cream puff and coming in a 100% recyclable bottle, this color-friendly conditioner uses fast-rinse technology to save water and time.
Your scalp deserves better than harsh clarifying cleansers. Use this purifying wash instead — charcoal powder does all the work to nix buildup without turning hair into hay.
You won't even miss your aerosol after you've switched to this loose powder, which sucks up grease on contact and leaves hair light and fresh without any white residue.
Less financial stress = fewer stress breakouts.
30 minutes with this skin-cooling, deeply-quenching gel mask, and you’ll finally understand why those women in the Neutrogena ads are always smiling like that.
Packaged in an easy-to-use twist-up stick, this brightening oil is as convenient as a belt bag — and can be stashed in one easily.
The moisturizer equivalent of a panic button for desperately dry skin, this hypoallergenic cream absorbs quickly for virtually instant relief.
Use the included spatula to mix up one of these rubbery, high-potency masks for brighter, healthier skin and the unique joy of looking like Mrs. Doubtfire for 15-20 minutes.
Readers’ Choice: The Best Under-$20 Beauty Buy
New, noteworthy, and not about to send you into the negatives.
Remember when matte lip color used to be crusty and drying? Rihanna doesn’t — and neither do we, thanks to this slim stick, which provides intense pigment and a velvety-soft feel.
Organic coconut oil, sweet almond oil, Bulgarian rose petals: not the start of a secret recipe from a patisserie, but the main ingredients for a decadent hair-smoothing treatment.
A long-wearing, under-$10 liquid foundation with the perfect soft-matte finish is rare enough; the fact that this one comes in 40 shades makes it a goddamn unicorn.
Think of this as an Instagram-friendly Tide To Go pen for your zits: The stainless-steel tip massages in benzoyl peroxide, tea-tree oil, and salicylic acid to zap breakouts at warp speed.
Beauty Brands Saving The World
Because why shouldn’t your makeup come with a side of fighting the patriarchy?
Seed Phytonutrients
shop
Driven by the need for sustainability, this brand sources its ingredients from independent farmers and packs them into post-consumer paper bottles that miraculously hold up in the shower.
Lipslut
shop
Katie Sones founded Lipslut to support groups threatened by the Trump Administration. There's been no shortage of those — and she's raised thousands for feminist and human rights causes.
The Lipstick Lobby
shop
What better way to raise money for the social-justice causes you care about (gun control, civil liberties, women’s healthcare) than by stoking awareness without saying a word?
BeautyCounter
shop
The EU has banned over 1,000 chemicals from use in cosmetics; the US, only 30. Beautycounter is lobbying to even that score and bring under-regulation in the beauty industry to light.
Innovator of the Year
They came, they saw, they conquered, they looked really good while doing it.
Jackie Aina
more
Aina's unapologetic honesty and fierce advocacy for women of color in the industry turned a YouTube channel into a career and a Too Faced collab into a major statement about inclusivity.
Marianna Hewitt & Lauren Gores
more
By channeling social-media smarts into a skin-care brand, the duo behind Summer Fridays has mastered putting out products that are both highly effective and innately Instagrammable.
Nikki Nelms
more
The self-described Hair McGyver is fast approaching household-name status thanks to the whimsical, wildly original looks she creates on stars like Solange, Zoë Kravitz, and Janelle Monáe.
Linda Wells
more
This year, the founding editor of Allure debuted her second act, Flesh, which earned instant praise for its provocative product names, wide shade range, and no-B.S. approach to beauty.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT