The 134 Best Beauty Products of 2018
W e’re living in a golden age of beauty. Never has it been so easy to discover and discuss products—can you imagine walking into the drugstore two years ago to buy a light-therapy mask? For $30! But this beauty revolution hasn’t come without its backlash. Critics claim—among other things—that devoting time and energy to beauty and self-care makes you vapid, somehow less of a feminist, or just another lemming embracing an empty pastime because it looks cool on Instagram, not because it’s genuinely useful. We firmly disagree. Beauty matters, and it’s OK that it matters. You can hoard all the skin care your medicine cabinet can handle and still fight for what you care about. If a lipstick makes you feel ready to take on the world, that’s important. Or if it just makes you feel good, that’s important too. And that’s exactly what our Beauty Awards are all about. Our experts spent months narrowing down this list of new products—along with 30 of our all-time favorites—to celebrate the items that changed our lives. We hope (but are fairly certain) they’ll do the same for you.
Meet Our Judges
Alba Ramos, @sunkissalba, covers nontoxic beauty on her YouTube vlog SunKissAlba, including everything from curly hair hacks to makeup tutorials.
Alessandra Steinherr, @alexsteinherr, is the associate creative and beauty director of Glamour U.K.
Alexa Rodulfo, @alexarodulfo, is New York City–based hair and makeup artist.
Amber Rambharose, @amberdeexterous, is Glamour‘s former beauty editor. Her hobbies include swatching new eyeshadow palettes and taking bubble baths.
Andrew Sotomayor, @andrewsotomayor, is a celebrity and editorial makeup artist, Emmy award winner, and passionate vegan.
Annie Atkinson, @shesintheglow, is the Zurich-based founder and editor-in-chief of natural beauty blog She’s in the Glow.
Bee Shapiro, @beeshapiro, is a beauty columnist for The New York Times and the founder of the niche, olive-bottled fragrance and candle line Ellis Brooklyn. She also recently authored the book Skin Deep: Women on Skin Care, Makeup, and Looking Their Best.
Charlotte Cho, @charlottejcho, is the cofounder and chief curator of Korean beauty shopping site Soko Glam. She’s also the author of The Little Book of Skincare and a licensed aesthetician, so you know that when she recommends a sheet mask, it’s good.
Clay Hawkins, @claytonhawkins, is a celebrity hairstylist and hair extension specialist. Hawkins counts Elizabeth Olsen, Lola Kirke, Aubrey Plaza, and Dakota Johnson as clients.
Dendy Engelman, M.D., @drdendy, is a board-certified dermatologic surgeon and an associate at Manhattan Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery. She’s also a fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology and volunteers annually in Haiti to provide free medical care.
DJ Quintero, @djquintero, is a celebrity hairstylist. When he isn’t busy working with Katie Holmes and Lily Collins, you can find him at the Serge Normant at John Frieda salon in New York City.
Djuna Bel, @djunabel, is a fashion stylist and lover of all things beauty and wellness. Djuna lives in Los Angeles with her husband and new baby Fox.
Estée Lalonde, @esteelalonde, is a Canadian-born, London-based beauty and lifestyle vlogger and author of Bloom.
Felicia Walker Benson, @thisthatbeauty, is a writer and expert who has been blogging about beauty for 10 years on her site This That Beauty.
Gucci Westman, @gucciwestman, is a celebrity and editorial makeup artist and skin care expert.
Huda Kattan, @hudabeauty, is a makeup artist, blogger, false lash expert, and cofounder of the Insta-famous makeup line Huda Beauty.
Jennifer Mulrow, @jenmulrow, is Glamour’s assistant beauty editor and an expert at face mask selfies.
Jessa Blades, @jessablades, is a natural makeup artist, herbalist, and self-care expert who splits her time between Brooklyn and Los Angeles. When she’s not doing makeup, she hosts workshops on holistic beauty.
Jessica Richards, @jrbeautybk, is the skin-care-obsessed owner and founder of Brooklyn indie beauty shop Shen Beauty. Richards is also the head of beauty and wellness for Free People.
Jordana Mattioli, @jordanamattioliskincare, is a medical aesthetician, beauty expert, and skin care enthusiast who works out of Complete Skin MD dermatology in New York City.
Justine Marjan, @justinemarjan, is a celebrity hairstylist, the North American brand ambassador for GHD, and global stylist for Tresemmé. Follow her for all of the wavy-lob inspo you’ll ever need.
Kandee Johnson, @kandeejohnson, is a beauty expert, makeup artist, and vlogger with 3.9 million YouTube subscribers. She’s also a host on the Lifetime makeup competition Glam Masters.
Katey Denno, @kateydenno, is a celebrity makeup artist and nontoxic beauty expert who recently started vlogging about green beauty on her eponymous YouTube channel.
Katie Jane Hughes, @katiejanehughes, is a makeup artist who lives in Brooklyn and loves glossy skin, bold colors, and natural brows. Follow her on Instagram for all her makeup tips and product recs.
Kelsey Deenihan, @kdeenihan, is a celebrity makeup artist from Los Angeles who frequently works with Reese Witherspoon, Kate Bosworth, and Lucy Hale.
Kira Nasrat, @kiranasrat, is a Los Angeles–based makeup artist who recently started the beauty site Currently Kira, where she shares makeup tips.
Lacy Redway, @lacyredway, is a Jamaican-born celebrity hairstylist who got her start studying hair braiders at an African American salon in New Jersey. Today Redway is known for her expertise with all hair textures and her editorial and red-carpet work.
Lara Eurdolian, @prettyconnected, is the founder of the beauty and lifestyle blog Pretty Connected. In 2014 Eurdolian cofounded a nonprofit called Share Your Beauty that distributes beauty products to shelters in New York City.
Lindsay Schallon, @lindsayschallon, is Glamour’s senior beauty editor, who’d give anything to be best friends with Emma Stone’s glam squad.
Macrene Alexiades, M.D., @37actives, is a dermatologist, the founder and director of the Dermatology & Laser Surgery Center of New York, and the president and CEO behind luxury skin line 37 Actives. Dr. Alexiades is also associate clinical professor at Yale University School of Medicine.
Marianna Hewitt, @marianna_hewitt, is the beauty junkie and lifestyle blogger for Life With Me, a site she created.
Matt Fugate, @mattshair, is a Seattle-born hairstylist living in New York City with his wife and two shih tzus, Thor and Loki. Fugate is a brand ambassador to Kérastase and works out of the Serge Normant at John Frieda salon.
Miranda Mendelson, @slashedbeauty, offers makeup tutorials and reviews about affordable beauty products on her blog and YouTube channel Slashed Beauty.
Ni’Kita Wilson, @nikitacosmeticchemist, is a cosmetic chemist who has created over 2,000 products for brands like La Prairie, Tarte, DevaCurl, and Philosophy.
Nikki Nelms, @nikkinelms, is a hairstylist and braiding pro behind many of the amazing styles of Zoë Kravitz, Hannah Bronfman, and Solange Knowles.
Patrice Grell Yursik, @afrobella, is a beauty writer and the founder of Afrobella, a beauty blog that focuses on natural hair and embracing the beauty of all skin tones.
Rachel Nussbaum, @thefakerachelnussbaum, is Glamour’s beauty writer and resident curly girl.
Robin Black is the makeup artist and photographer behind the site Beauty Is Boring—along with its very regrammable Instagram account @beautyisboring.
Sai de Silva is the beauty, fashion, and lifestyle blogger behind @scoutthecity and has some of the best curls in the business.
Sarah Potempa, @sarahpotempa, is a celebrity hairstylist who made messy waves a possibility for all by creating the beloved Beachwaver.
Shani Darden, @shanidarden, is a Hollywood aesthetician who works with January Jones, Jessica Alba, Chrissy Tiegen, and many more. She’s also the creator of the cult retinol serum Resurface by Shani Darden Retinol Reform.
Simone Kitchens, @simonekitchens, is Glamour‘s former associate beauty director, an organic beauty lover, and a face-mist connoisseur.
Sunnie Brook, @sunniebrook, is a celebrity hairstylist living in Los Angeles, whose soft, pretty styles can be seen on Allison Williams, Elizabeth Moss, and Hailey Baldwin.
Tara Mackey, @taraamackey, is the founder of The Organic Life blog, where she covers clean beauty, self-care, holistic recipes, and mental health.
Tauni Dawson, @tauni901, is a senior stylist at West Hollywood’s Nine Zero One Salon who’s known for the perfect, sun-kissed highlights she gives her clients.
Ying Chu is Glamour‘s executive beauty director. Follow her @yingchunyc.
About Our Methodology
You may assume that choosing the best beauty products of the year is a simple, straightforward thing to do. (It isn’t. But fun? Yes!) So where did we even begin? We started with a master list of thousands of new products. From there, our editors tested and singled out the most special. Finally, our panel of 45 judges (ranging from backstage pros to beauty personalities) voted on the finalists to help us select all 134 winners.
Produced by Lindsay Schallon and Sarah Evans. Written by Katheryn Erickson. Additional reporting by Erin Reimel. Edited by Ying Chu and Lindsay Schallon.
On-figure photographer: Katie Friedman. Portrait photo producer: Michelle Sulcov; stylist: Amy Hou; stylist assistant: Roberto Johnson; hair by Mia Santiago at See Management; makeup by Joseph Carrillo at Atelier Management; manicures by Rachel Shim at ABTP; models: Seynabou at JAG, Riane at DNA, Izzy at Wilhelmina, and Ella at Marilyn. Stills photographer: Matthew Martin; prop stylist: Jen Tran.
Fashion Credits: Skin: Frame jacket, $329, neimanmarcus.com; Stillhouse earring, $360, stillhousenyc.com; Zoe Chicco studs, $595, zoechicco.com. Curls: Alexander Wang top, $695, alexanderwang.com. Makeup: Rings, from top: W. Britt, $295, wbritt.com; Vrai & Oro, $175, vraiandoro.com; Vita Fede, $315, vitafede.com.
About The Author
