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The2024 Allure Best of Beauty Awardwinners are here.
Photographed by:Heather Hazzan;Fashion stylist:Christine Nicholson;Hair:Junya Nakashima;Makeup:Raisa Flowers;Manicure:Sonya Meesh;Production:Jean Jarvis/Area 1202;Models:Tess McMillan; Angeer Amol; Beri Smither;Location:NY Beach Club
Check out which products were dubbedbreakthroughs, as well as the honorees in other categories likeskinandtools.
Then we put the products through their paces.
Ingredients from outer space?
But they weren’t necessarily what bowled us over.
Now, we can’t believe we ever lived without them.
Now, keep scrolling to see every brilliant beauty advancement we’re celebrating this year.
Once you’re done, take a peek at the other winners of our2023AllureBest of Beauty Awards.
The faucet isn’t just leaky… it’s flooding.
No one really knows what causes primaryhyperhidrosis.
Of the estimated 15.3 million people with the condition, only half have sought treatment with health care professionals.
It was also one of the testing sites for Brella.
(Dr. Smith has no financial ties to the patch or its makers,Candesant Biomedical.)
Turns out, they don’t have anything wrong with their brain.
They just got a little bit of the medicine in their eye," says Dr. Smith.
Dr. Waugh was a prolific physician-scientist with more than 40 patents to his name, and 300+ pending.
He knew that heat is produced when an alkali metal like sodium meets water.
What if he could somehow leverage that energy to stop sweat?
If you aren’t sweaty enough, it just won’t do much.
“It’s also clever because its a completely novel method of sweat reduction compared to other modalities.”
“That all said, this is still a small study and the endpoint is only six weeks.
More is needed to better understand it, but it is exciting to have this novel tool.”
(Sweat production when weighted paper is placed under the armpits, says Dr. “I was really pleasantly surprised by how well tolerated Brella is,” says Dr. Smith.
And that was not the case."
Like most hyperhidrosis treatments, Brella isn’t covered by insurance.
(you’ve got the option to find a doctor who’s offering it atMyBrella.com.)
“It’s a much faster heat-generation treatment than miraDry,” echoes Dr. Anolik.
To the hands, feet, groin… and couch?
“In our wildest dreams, could we adapt our technology to an at-home, over-the-counter version?”
But for now, the potential for misapplication-related irritation is too high to have patients using the patch unsupervised.
Since breakouts are usually slightly raised and semi-slick,most concealerstend to slide on down like a slo-mo avalanche.
Hydrocolloid patches pose the same slip ‘n slide problem.
An in-office laser treatment gone awry had left her with burns.
Her dream was already a partial reality.
“I wouldneveruse one of those products on the face.”
The roles of solvent and film former are usually played by alcohol and nitrocellulose, respectively.
But nitrocellulose was a no-go for a matcha-sipping makeup pro.
I have tried next-to-imperceptible pimple patches on the face, but those don’t work well under makeup.
This product does."
But creating atopcoat-likeseal over the skin was only half the plan.
Both boons for breakouts and the traces they may leave behind.
Beyond the formula itself, the packaging also required several revisions.
Plus, the applicator dragged across the skin for an uneven finish.
(When youre finished, ensure to set it back so the arrow points to off.
Then simply coat the blemish with the brush, like you’re applying anail polish topcoat.
Scott was impressed by how user-friendly it is.
“Anyone who wants tocover blemishesand keep them clean under makeup will see the value in this product.
It will save them time in perfecting their skin and allow their blemishes to heal with less interruption.”
Plus, he adds, “the seal stays dry and doesn’t crepe under makeup.”
But that’s abreakthrough for another year.
Beauty-wise, we’d argue it’s all downhill after 3 p.m.
But there’s one area that hasn’t had an instant pick-me-up option until now lashes.
ConsiderMAC’s Lash Dry Shampooan espresso shot for your weary mascara.
What you might not know is that the reason it does this is hidden in the ingredient list.
This is true whether they cost $5 or $50.
The waxes are multipurpose; they help distribute the pigment and they also provide shape and hold.
Film formers are a bit like a cellophane wrapper that locks the whole formula in place.
And that’s the problem.
It’s a dilemma the product development whizzes at MAC know very well.
Removing and reapplying mascara is time-consuming and messy.
Putting new mascaraon top of old mascaratends to look like an arachnophobic fever dream.
Now, this isn’t exactly uncharted territory.
A glorifiedlash primer, it required applying another coat of mascara on top.
It created clumping when you used it with volumizing formulas and was soon discontinued.
But they also needed something that didn’t require any extra steps.
Well, lashes are ultimately just hair, thought Lynch.
So, she and her team took inspo from hair brushes.
“There’s a paddle brush that smooths out the hair.
There’s around brushwhere you get that curl.
We wanted to combine both,” she says.
After approximately 30 custom iterations, they had a winner.
“We call this the lash teaser brush,” says Lynch of the superthin applicator.
It features a plastic brush head with twisted-in-wire bristles.
“It teases the lashes back up and helps them to stay in the position you want.
“The wiper is really important because it does what it says.
It wipes off the product from the brush before you use it,” says Lynch.
Per our testers, they got everything Goldilocks-level just right.
“I was happy to see how it cut through clumps and separated lashes.
Then you just pull out the wand (no pumping!)
and coat lashes like you normally would.
“I’m shocked how much I love this stuff,” saysAllure’s deputy digital directorKara McGrath.
“So far, it’s worked on every mascara I’ve tried.
Your lashes are separated and lifted again.”
Will they look like they did in the morning?
Of course, Glossier is not the first to create a makeup brush with portability in mind.
There are plenty of brands that make brushes with a removal cap intended to shield bristles.
Too much would cause consumers to struggle; too little and the mechanism would unlock on its own.
Plus, metal mirrors the packaging of the brand’s new Stretch Fluid Foundation and Stretch Balm Concealer.
Of course, you could use the Stretch Face Brush with formulas other than those by Glossier.
Los Angeles-based makeup artist Robin Black used it to applyboth liquid and cream foundationsfor a smooth, even finish.
“The ergonomic shape makes blending easy,” she says.
The handle or lack thereof was also designed ergonomically.
“It fits nicely in my hand,” says makeup artistWilliam Scottof the circular base.
“It’s also pretty damn cute,” she adds.
