6 Editors’ Choice winners that were standouts in the GLAMOUR Beauty Power List Awards 2023
The best beauty products are transformational, but finding those holy grail heroes can take time. Enter the Editors' Choice winners. In order to provide you with the most noteworthy skincare, must-have makeup, hair gems and perfumes, the GLAMOUR beauty team has spent the past month swatching, slathering and spritzing. This year we also wanted to acknowledge the boom in new-gen beauty tech – from the practical to the boundary breaking – by championing a tools category.
We have put over 200 products, across six categories, through their paces, judging them against strict criteria – efficacy, innovation, inclusivity and sustainability – to bring you the best in beauty right now.
Discover all the Editors’ Choice winners the GLAMOUR team couldn’t get enough of…
Best body product
Body serums quench the skin below the jawline as effectively as those designed for our faces. This liquid hydrator is packed with five molecular weights of hyaluronic acid and niacinamide to plump and replenish lost moisture. The serum-in-gel formula is fragrance-free (ideal for all skin types, including sensitive) and more concentrated than a body butter – meaning the molecules are better able to travel beyond just the top layer of skin for limbs that feel cashmere-soft. But what really swung our vote was the fact that Nécessaire is B Corp Certified – the gold standard for environmental practices in the beauty industry.
Shortlist:
AKT The Deodorant Balm SC05 Ext Columbia Road, £19
Rituals The Ritual of Sakura Foaming Shower Gel, £9.50
Sanctuary Spa Signature Natural Oils Salt Scrub, £16
Best makeup product
Cream bronzer magically breathes life into tired, washed-out complexions, but we found that this Vieve bronzer goes one step further and also delivers an Olympic-calibre glow to the high planes of the face. The four shades are designed with different skin tones in mind, enriched with skin-loving squalene and vitamin A, and can easily be sheered out for a sun-kissed flush.
Shortlist:
Fenty Beauty Icon Velvet Liquid Lipstick, £24
Guerlain Terracotta Le Teint Healthy Glow Natural Perfection Foundation 24H Wear, £47
Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Tinted Lip Oil, £20
Best skin product
Retinol is considered a silver bullet for softening the look of wrinkles, dusting off pigmentation and imparting serious glow. But, on the the downside, it can be a gnarly ingredient that involves pushing through a period of redness and flaking. This creamy serum, which contains Medik8’s unique ingredient Crystal Retinal, is an innovative vitamin A derivative that works up to 11 times faster than other retinoids but without the dreaded irritation. Vitamin A newbies should start at level 1 and work their way up the different concentrations.
Shortlist:
Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel , £12.99
111Skin Eye Lift Gel NAC Y2, £140
Byoma Moisturizing Gel-Cream SPF30, £14.99
Best hair product
Fable & Mane is putting 'A' beauty on the map by taking ancient Ayurvedic practices and underpinning them with credible science. Everyone on GLAMOUR’s beauty team has a different hair type and texture, but we all agreed that this hair oil – spiked with circulation-boosting castor oil and the soothing adaptogen ashwagandha – created a glossy finish without weighing strands down.
Shortlist:
I Am Proud Hair Proud Glass Hair Heat Activated Smoothing Shine Spray, £8.95
Slip Skinny Silk Scrunchies, £39 for six
It’s A 10 Miracle Leave-In Product, £36
Best fragrance
For a beauty editor, picking their best-loved perfume is basically like asking which child is their favourite. But the draw of this fragrance is that it ticks a lot of sustainability boxes and leaves a scent trail that is guaranteed to get you compliments. The 100% natural origin ingredients are sourced using sustainable harvesting methods and sit in a simple base of water and naturally derived alcohol. It also doesn’t hurt that the formula is vegan, lacks filters and artificial colouring, and the glass bottle is made of 25% recycled materials. At the base of it all, though, is the scent itself – a spark of fresh bergamot and dew-dampened rose petals, tinged with slightly smoky, vanilla-soaked woods. It’s so wearable and chic we’ve coined this the fragrance equivalent of a designer white T-shirt.
Shortlist:
Elie Saab Elixir, £49 for 50ml EDP
Molton Brown Rose Dunes, £85 for 100ml EDT
Whind Néroli Bronzé, £180 for 100ml EDP
Best tool
A shower filter is officially the product you didn’t know you needed in your life, but once we made the switch, we couldn’t go back. Hard water is laced with chlorine and heavy metals, such as copper, magnesium, calcium and iron, all of which leave your skin barrier starved of moisture and hair feeling fragile. This shower head from Hello Klean not only looks impossibly chic for something so useful, but it is powered by a two-step filtration system that removes unwanted impurities, boosts your shower pressure and even reduces water usage by up to 25%.
Shortlist:
Revlon One-Step Blow-Dry Multi Styler, £69.99
Spotlight Oral Care Water Flosser With UV Steriliser, £120
Photographer: Mateusz Sitek
Stylist: Michelle Duguid
Makeup: Marco Antonio
Hair: Craig Marsden
Manicure: Metta Francis
Models: Fallon Havanna @ Select London, Carmen Garitano @ PRM, Isabella Moore @ Milk Management
Beauty Director: Camilla Kay
Design Director: Dennis Lye
Visuals Director: Dalia Nassimi
