There are some brands that are worthy of a special shoutout – and these five winners have truly impressed our panel of beauty experts.
The beauty industry is a crowded market, with new brands are launching daily. It can be hard to find the ones that are actually worthy of your time and attention and to cut through the jargon to pick products and companies that really do what they claim.
These winners have gone above and beyond, whether that’s by launching a game-changing product or taking sustainability seriously.
Our special recognition products and brands at a glance
RRP: £39.99
This brilliant serum is very aptly named. It’s an incredibly hardworking formula with a huge list of benefits, including improving texture, plumping, and hydrating, leaving skin looking smoother, firmer and brighter.
RRP: £34.95
An incredibly effective range that really repairs skin that’s been damaged, whether it’s by pollution, sun exposure or life in general. The serum is the hero product, which makes a noticeable difference to the texture and clarity of complexions.
RRP: from £19
If you’re looking for gorgeous products with a focus on natural ingredients, look no further than Ipsum. The products smell absolutely incredible and they harness Australian botanicals to nourish and plump skin.
RRP: from £29.99 a month
Take the confusion out of your skincare routine with this prescription service. Upload pictures of your bare face, answer some simple questions and dermatologists will create a bespoke serum for your skin’s exact needs.
RRP: from £14
This is a brand that really walks the walk when it comes to sustainability. What's especially impressive is that they've done so since its launch in 1967 - years, if not decades ahead of the curve.
5 award-winning products and brands, who deserve special recognition
Best new product launch for 2024
If you find doing your skincare routine laborious, try this wonder-buy with multiple benefits. It’s a true one-and-done fix for multiple skin concerns, saving you time, effort and money. This serum has launched to huge hype after huge success in the US, and we can confirm it’s absolutely justified. It combines five skincare superheroes, including Collagen Peptides, Niacinamide, Vitamin C, Vitamin E and Alpha Hydroxy Acids. The result? Plumper, smoother, and brighter skin, that’s quenched, content and looks more even.
Founder of The Tweakments Guide, Alice Hart-Davis was impressed with this formula. “This is a great product,” she says. “I love the design, which seems to me to be nodding back to some of the old Oil-of-Ulay designs of yesteryear. The simple, minimal design fits this all-in-one product, even though they’ve crammed everything but the kitchen sink in here.”
“There's a reason it's a sell-out in the US,” gushes Beauty Director Sarah Cooper-White. “It’s a great product with lots of impressive ingredients in one potent formula. It doesn’t pill and left my skin smooth and dewy.”
Best innovation in skincare
We’re huge fans of No7 skincare. They’re such incredibly effective products that provide real results, all without breaking the bank. We always feel in safe hands with No7, and the Future Renew range proves why. It’s made with a new game-changing ingredient, Pepticology™, which helps support the skin’s self-repair process. This has the ability to reverse years of skin damage, leaving skin looking plumper, smoother and all-round healthier. Sound too good to be true? Their claims are backed by impressive and robust trials, which showed that 80% of women noticed that signs of skin damage were reversed.
Their clinical trials are a factor which especially impressed Consultant dermatologist, Dr. Justine Hextall. “This is a brand that is really focused on the science of skincare,” she says. “The studies to demonstrate efficacy are robust and have far greater numbers than we usually see with skin care. I am really interested in this peptide technology for skin repair, and as it patent-pending technology that has never been used previously It’s a true innovation.”
If you buy one product from the range, make it the serum. It features the most potent concentration of the effective ingredients, meaning you’ll see a difference quicker. It also helps that the serum has a lovely texture - silky and smooth and sinking in beautifully.
One to watch
Natural brands have come a long way. There’s now a high demand for products that provide results without harsh ingredients or lab-created chemicals, and Ipsum are excelling in delivering exactly that. The products feel like a joy to use while providing real results. Plus, the packaging is so elegant-looking, with a minimal, understated design - a factor that’s often overlooked with eco-centric brands.
Beauty Editor Stephanie Maylor tried and loved the Vertiver body balm. “It’s definitely something I’d recommend for very dry skin. It’s thick, but that’s the point - even the following day my legs had a lovely sheen to them and it really helped cure my itchy, dry spots. The thing I loved the most about this balm was the vetiver scent - it’s essentially a spa break in a tube."
Aesthetic practitioner Shane Cooper also favoured the scents of the products. “The products smell divine,” he says. “They also last a long time because you only need a small amount, so a little goes a long way."
Best new brand
“If you're bamboozled by all the different skincare on the market and are not sure what to invest your money in, then look no further than And Begin, which makes finding your perfect skin cream easy,” says Beauty Director Sarah-Cooper-White. “Just fill out the online consultation and then await your very own bespoke formula designed to help with all the different issues a menopausal complexion has. Whether you're sensitive, dry, want to treat pigmentation, redness or wrinkles And Begin does it all, encapsulated in a nurturing cream that won't irritate your skin.”
We’ve been so impressed by the brand, which creates an easy-to-follow routine bespoke to your skin’s exact needs. It gives you access to powerful, prescription-only ingredients, like Tretinoin, and takes the guesswork out of any skincare issues you’d like to solve. We particularly love that it’s a brand that specifically caters for mid-life skin - an often overlooked demographic. The subscription is especially helpful for menopausal skin changes if you’re finding that your old routine is causing irritation or a lack of results.
In short, we're huge fans - and we're confident that you will be too.
Sustainable brand
There are so many things to like about Dr Hauschka - the brilliant products, the gentle but effective formulas and their affordable price range - but we wanted to champion them for their truly robust sustainability credentials. What’s most impressive is that they’ve had these high environmental standards since their inception in 1967 - when almost nobody cared about such things. They harness the power of plants and create natural products that are still effective - all while being impressively affordable.
“Dr Hauschka is a beautiful brand that is known for using the best of nature while respecting it and giving back,” says Skincare and expert facialist, Fiona Brackenbury. “Growing and harvesting many of their raw materials from their own garden really does allow them to be accountable for every step. They even use post-consumer recycled materials used to house products. They truly understand what it takes to be sustainable.”
With greenwashing (using eco buzz-words while being quite eco un-friendly) rife, you can trust that Dr Hauschka are the real deal, prioritising the environment while creating truly lovely beauty products.
