It is my job to test beauty products for a living — not for me but for you, because in an increasingly crowded space with thousands of new products launched every year, my aim is to save you money and to sort the beauty wheat from the chaff. Here are my best buys from the past 12 months.
Medik8 Liquid Peptides Advanced MP serum
This will hydrate dry, fine lines and crêpey skin, double as an eye and neck product and in the longer term tackle the underlying issues of lack of new collagen as we all age. It is a pleasure to use. I just wish the bottle were refillable. £79; medik8.com
Goddess BioTech BlowOut Leave-In Restorative Hair Mask
This is now my favourite blow-dry cream to beat frizz, repair damage and protect my hair from harsh dryers and heated tongs. A tiny 5p-sized blob is enough. Apply to hair after shampooing, detangle and style and then, if needed, dab an even tinier bit on dry ends. It has bond-repair peptides so works short and long term. £25.50; sallybeauty.co.uk
3. Best anti-brass mask
Jerome Russell Color Bomb
If, like me, you are a blonde with a propensity to go brassy, then a colour-toning mask is essential. This goes onto towel-dried hair, is left for ten minutes and lasts for ten shampoos. How something that doesn’t seem that intensely pigmented manages to knock back every hint of brassiness is astounding, but it is brilliant and outshines any other product in the category. Available in 11 shades, so brunettes are catered for too. £13.18; bblondehair.co.uk and Amazon
4. Best rich moisturiser
Naturium Multi-Peptide Rich Cream
This seems buttery and traditional, but after a minute turns to a watery lotion on the skin, offering the best of both worlds. Truly gorgeous and it delivers a hit of skin-firming peptides. £27; spacenk.co.uk
5. Best makeover
Ameliorate Transforming Body Lotion
This has always been my go-to skin-smoothing body lotion because it is rich in exfoliating and hydrating lactic acid, so works wonderfully on dry winter legs and arms, even tackling those annoying red tiny bumps that some of us get on our bodies. This year it had a long-overdue makeover, so now it not only performs well, it looks good too. £36; lookfantastic.com
6. Best vitamin A serum
The Ordinary Retinal 0.2% Emulsion
You have heard me say many times that a good retinoid is essential at night. This one is great value for money but it also packs a punch and is pretty much one of the strongest you can get before stepping up to prescription skincare. Retinal works faster than retinol and is basically the vitamin that speeds up skin cell turnover and collagen production, evens skin tone and fights sun damage. £15.20; boots.com
7. Best anti-dark spot serum
La Roche-Posay Mela B3 Serum
Pigmentation became a hot topic in skincare this year and this has the best clinical trials proving that it tackles, yes, age spots caused by sun damage, but also post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, aka those annoying brown and red marks left after a blemish or insect bite, cut or scratch. £48; boots.com
8. Best anti-redness cream
InnBeauty Project Calm the Red Down serum
A clever two-chamber bottle pumps out a peptide serum with azelaic acid at 5 per cent and centella to soothe and calm skin, tackle redness and inflammation but with a green tint that, I promise, blends into skin yet somehow also blurs the redness. £54; sephora.co.uk
9. Best new dry shampoo
K18 AirWash dry shampoo
This isn’t really a dry shampoo because it starts out wet, but trust the process. Within seconds, as you work it in with your fingertips, it does dry, refreshes day or two-day-old hair and adds oomph and volume. Very clever, if a little expensive. £48; spacenk.com
10. Best tinted sunscreen
Merit The Uniform SPF50
Part sunscreen, part tinted moisturiser, this was the summer skin tint of 2025. It comes in only 15 shades but a renowned dermatologist I know, who finds it hard to colour-match her dark skin, fell in love with it and so I am including it here. Perfect for minimal, barely-any-make-up days. £34; meritbeauty.com
11. Best long-lasting gel nail polish
Re:New Bio Sculpture Colour Builder Gel
If you have been concerned about gel polishes being bad for your nails, then Bio Sculpture is the brand to try. This Builder Gel now comes in clear and a further 14 soft, pretty, neutral shades that really last, help strengthen nails and are allergy tested. Your polish is only as good as the technician who applies it, but this company’s training courses are rigorous. From £30; to find your nearest salon, visit renewbeauty.co.uk
12. Best easy-use cleanser
CeraVe Balancing Air Foam Cleanser
This clever super-gentle cleansing foam is perfect for in the shower or first thing in the morning. It is pH-balanced and doesn’t leave skin dry or tight, making it suitable for all ages and all skin types. I promise you will need to wrestle it from teens’ and your partner’s hands. £14.50; boots.com
13. Best budget vitamin C serum
Geek & Gorgeous 101 C-Glow 15% Vitamin C Serum
Not new this year but new to the UK at Superdrug, this is a powerful vitamin C at 15 per cent L-ascorbic acid, at a fraction of the cost you would pay for most other brands. Use every morning as a first step and help protect your skin from pollution and, to a degree, sunlight, while brightening your complexion and boosting collagen production. £11.99; superdrug.com
14. Best face mask
Biodance Bio Collagen-Real Deep Mask
There’s no denying that 2025 was the year of Korean beauty and this viral mask is worthy of a place here. In two parts, it is designed and formulated to be worn while you sleep, where it super-hydrates and adds a glow and plumpness to skin of any age. I’ll be honest, I have never managed to last the whole night in it, but even after a few hours the results are impressive (even on my old, tired face). £14.90 for four; boots.com
15. Best salmon sperm serum
Anua PDRN Hyaluronic Acid Capsule 100 Serum
While on the subject of K-beauty, this serum is second to none for instantly hydrating and giving a glow. What’s more, it sits beautifully under make-up, so little wonder my make-up artist at This Morning loves it and uses it on every guest on the show. PS the salmon sperm is the source of the PDRN, by the way, the building blocks of skin DNA and originally formulated to heal wounds. £18; boots.com
16. Best superlight SPF
Naked Sundays CabanaClear Water Gel Serum SPF50
A superlight gel serum SPF that doesn’t feel thick or sticky, doesn’t pill under make-up, sinks in within seconds and just works. Protection perfection. £17.50; cultbeauty.co.uk
17. Best face cloth
Jordan Samuel The Skincare Cloth
You wouldn’t think it would be hard to find a good face cloth, but it was until this came along. You need white to see the make-up come off, you need sizeable for face and neck and you need microfibre because it cannot be beaten for softness and efficacy. This ticks all the boxes and can be washed with your undies. £9 for two; cultbeauty.co.uk
18. Best under-eye patch
Beauty of Joseon Revive Under Eye Patch
Most of these gel-type under-eye patches just hydrate, but add in brightening ginseng and retinal, the most powerful form of vitamin A, and you take eye masks to a whole new level, to tackle under-eye dark circles and fine lines. £14.45; boots.com
19. Best dry-eyelid cream
SVR Crème Palpebral
This is not new, but it is really good at sorting a new problem that a lot of you seem to suffer from: dry, irritated eyelids. This can be used on eczema, sensitive, irritated and flaky eyelids with impunity to instantly soothe. The cause is usually not cleaning make-up brushes often enough or it can be an allergy to gel nail polish, but this is most definitely the solution. £18.50; lookfantastic.com
20. Best skin stick
RoC Derm Correxion Firming Serum Stick
I am not a fan of neck creams (skin is skin; just take your face products right down to your chest), but this stick is so perfect for fine lines on the neck and chest because it is easy to apply and slightly cooling. I presume it is relatively low-level retinol too, so good as a starter strength or for the thinner skin on your neck and chest, but that only serves to make it more perfect for the task of tackling sun damage from the jaw down. £39.99; boots.com
21. Best setting spray
Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Setting Spray Matte Blur
I have never been convinced by setting sprays — until this one came along. It truly does make your make-up last longer and it gives a flattering velvety finish (matt seems too harsh a word for the soft-focus effect). If you plan to apply make-up and never reapply (welcome to my world), then this is well worth a try. £32; spacenk.com
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