Which beauty products are worth the price tag? Telegraph experts reveal their 12 top buys (2024)

Sonia Haria Beauty Director

Which beauty products are worth the price tag? Telegraph experts reveal their 12 top buys (1)

Which products are worth spending my money on?’ This is a question the Telegraph beauty team is asked time and time again by our readers. We get it: beauty products can be a hefty investment, and certain lotions and creams will work brilliantly for some and not so well for others. This is precisely why we have launched the Telegraph Beauty Awards.

For the past month – and, indeed, for some categories far longer – a team of six judges has been putting the latest products to the test. Our judging panel comprised The Telegraph Magazine’s editor, Lisa Markwell; our head of fashion, Lisa Armstrong; the magazine’s deputy editor Naomi Greenaway; plus beauty editor Annabel Jones and me from the beauty desk. We also enlisted the help of our fantastic guest judge Cat Deeley. As the presenter of This Morning and the founder of her own perfume brand, E11even, she was perfectly placed to trial dozens of products for us and pass on her honest feedback. She even took some away on her family holiday last month – in particular, the sun protection category – to slather on and evaluate.

Which beauty products are worth the price tag? Telegraph experts reveal their 12 top buys (2)

So how did we choose what to test? We had an astonishing 734 entries within two weeks of launching the awards. There were perfumes, creams, lipsticks, foundations, cleansers, sun protection, tools and more. After intense deliberation, we settled on a shortlist of five products per category for our judges to test at home.

Below you will find all the winners that now carry the Telegraph Beauty Awards 2024 stamp of approval – the 12 products launched this year that scored highest and have made it into our daily routines (including the lip gloss Cat has been wearing on This Morning for weeks, so taken is she with it).

Which beauty products are worth the price tag? Telegraph experts reveal their 12 top buys (3)

As well as these winners, we have some special ‘Grand Prix’ awards to highlight the brands doing well in affordability, inclusivity and sustainability. We have chosen our favourite retailer, too, and awarded our much-coveted Beauty Brand of the Year prize. Our Telegraph subscribers also got involved: an incredible 1,883 of you voted for your favourite product.

These awards couldn’t have come at a more perfect time. You only need to wander into any department store to see that beauty is big business for Britain. According to the British Beauty Council, in 2023 sales of beauty products and services reached £27.2 billion – an impressive 11 per cent increase on the previous year.

That figure is predicted to rise further over the next five years, so let us talk you through our top buys. And because all the products we tested deserve to be on your radar, we’ve listed the highly commended second-place products and each category’s shortlist too.

As for the winners, for luxury lovers there are plenty of ways to smarten up your make-up routine, but there are also products costing from £7.99 – because there’s nothing more satisfying than finding a high-street buy that delivers big results.

Congratulations to all the brands shortlisted, and to our prestigious winners!

There are so many products in this category – with more launching every week – across brows, lashes and lids. Our ultimate winner, though, was the new mascara from Charlotte Tilbury, a thickening mascara with a curved wand that can get into the roots of every single lash. Cat Deeley says, ‘There is nothing Charlotte Tilbury doesn’t know about a smoky cat’s eye and this product delivered results.’ Naomi Greenaway adds that it will be ‘an essential in my make-up bag all party season’.

We have long been fans of Monika Blunder, an Austrian make-up artist who works with Jessica Alba, Kate Hudson and Amanda Seyfried. Her speciality is natural-looking make-up that is perfected in a matter of minutes. That’s precisely why her Sweet Talk Lip Oil scored so highly: it feels like a lip balm, and gives a subtle shine and natural-looking colour pay-off from its five shades (Feige is the ultimate suits-everyone pink).

Cat Deeley says, ‘This has gone straight into my This Morning studio kit. I hate it when lipsticks and lip glosses feel drying. This is super-moisturising, feels great and also leaves a lovely stain from the pigment. Magic!’

We all know that foundations are notoriously tricky to get right; if they are too heavy in texture they look cakey on the skin, or if they’re too light you may feel it’s necessary to layer on more than you need. Our winner, from Shiseido, gets it spot on. This foundation melts into the skin beautifully and evens out the complexion without looking like you have much on. Cat Deeley says, ‘I like skin to look like skin and even if I’m applying foundation I tend to just apply where and when I need it. This formula was so light and natural-looking that I couldn’t tell where the product stopped, and my skin began. Like real skin, only better!’

In a year when sweet, gourmand perfumes from big fragrance houses have reigned supreme, our winner comes from the quiet, luxurious Merit. There’s something nostalgic and deeply comforting about this blend, which comes in a gorgeous bottle. Annabel Jones says, ‘The other scents in this category were too sweet for me, but Retrospect is more balanced. Initially quite floral, it warms up on the skin and becomes almost musky. It’s interesting and sophisticated.’

Perfume is, by its very nature, completely subjective: some prefer a light, refreshing spritz and others a heavy, rich perfume that lasts for hours. Our winner, Perseus by the French perfumer Parfums de Marly, is a pairing of grapefruit and vetiver, which makes for a classic, invigorating wear, and although it’s a traditional men’s fragrance, it’s a great option for anyone who loves a blend of citrus with woody notes. It was one of Lisa Markwell’s favourites: ‘Tested on the men I know, and their female partners, Perseus delivered a rich combination of fresh citrus and heritage “woodiness”. I’d stop a man in the street to ask what he was wearing if I got a waft of this… I might even wear it myself!’

Nécessaire is one of those brands that has created big waves in a short space of time. It launched in the US in 2018 and then in the UK in 2022, and its bodycare range is exceptional. The textures are luxurious and the packaging chic and minimal (and recyclable). The Hand Retinol is an innovative product that takes the skin-regenerating properties of vitamin A (of which retinol is a derivative) and packs it into a lovely hand cream you can use every day. Lisa Markwell says, ‘This came top of a hard-fought category because it was a light formulation that sank in quickly – the dream for busy hands – but had immediate and long-lasting effects. Bonus points for a recyclable tube too.’

It used to be the case that you’d have to pay a premium for a sunscreen that didn’t feel greasy, thick or leave a white cast on the face. And now that we’re being advised by dermatologists to wear sunscreen all year round, that could add up to a tidy sum. Thankfully, the high street has delivered some excellent, cost-effective options, such as this brilliant vitamin-packed sunscreen from Garnier. Annabel Jones says, ‘Vitamin C, peptides, hyaluronic acid and SPF50 offer superior UV protection for the face in a hydrating, brightening fluid that’s a dream to wear under make-up – a true skincare hero for every day of the year.’

It was once common to believe that getting a ‘squeaky clean’ feeling was a good thing when it came to facial cleansing. But the thinking is now that the best sorts of cleansers remove dirt, make-up and sunscreen from the face effectively while leaving it soft but not rid of all natural oils. This category was a hotly contested one, but the ultimate winner was the Daily Cleanser by Victoria’s Health. Lisa Armstrong says, ‘​I normally use cleansing balms but this pH-balanced wash is staying in my bathroom. Looks like a gel but turns creamy as it efficiently yet gently gets on with its job. A clever formulation that contains probiotics and vitamins and won’t leave skin feeling stripped or tight.’

Retinoids, as skincare ingredients, are fantastic for smoothing wrinkles, softening pigmentation and tightening the skin. They are also a complete and utter minefield: with so many on offer, and with some retinoid products causing skin redness and peeling, it’s no wonder people often avoid them. But this stand-out Murad eye cream uses retinal (a form of vitamin A) and is fantastic if you are concerned about fine lines around the delicate eye area or want to brighten dark circles underneath the eyes. Lisa Armstrong says, ‘This feels buttery and luxurious, as it should for the price. Better still, after a fortnight’s use, the skin under my eyes is smoother and looks puff-free.’

There were varied hair textures across our panel, but we wanted to find a product that worked for everyone. This budget buy from L’Oréal borrows skincare ingredient glycolic acid to deliver big results in minutes. Naomi Greenaway says, ‘I’ve been using this for months and it definitely ups my hair’s gloss factor – and it lasts for several washes. A gem!’

The wellness boom over the past five years has led to more supplements on our shelves than ever before. Besides helping the skin to glow, nails to grow and hair to strengthen, many of these supplements are designed to alleviate stress, too. The winner in this category, Vida Glow Pro Collagen+, is an excellent supplement. Sonia Haria says, ‘I have been trialling it for three months and have really seen a noticeable improvement in the overall quality of my skin (the brand claims you’ll see a difference within 21 days, but I’m now on month four as the results as so good). If you’re looking to add collagen into your wellness routine, this is a great product to invest in.’

Remember when hairstyling tools meant a hairdryer and a set of heated rollers? The past decade has seen the biggest innovation in hair tech, and the winner in our Best Tool or Gadget category is the brilliant Air Wand by BaByliss. While at £120 it’s not cheap, it comes in at the lower end of the pricing scale for something that does it all: dry, curl or straighten your hair. Annabel Jones says, ‘Gone are the days when you had to invest in multiple styling tools. This wet-to-dry wand innovation is the perfect hairstyler for the whole family – from teenagers experimenting with different styles to mums who have a finite getting-ready window – it does it all and for a reasonable price.’

An incredible 1,883 loyal readers voted in this category. That’s a lot of you! Out of a shortlist of 20 great products chosen by the team, the winner with 252 votes was Advanced Night Repair from Estée Lauder. This suits-everyone serum is a worthy winner, as Sonia Haria says: ‘Hydrating, plumping and skin-softening, this is a truly brilliant product.’

Lead artwork credits

Photographer: Adam Goodison

Retoucher: David Wood

Prop Stylist: Johanne Mills

Which beauty products are worth the price tag? Telegraph experts reveal their 12 top buys (2024)
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