25 of the best beauty launches of 2025, from transformative skincare to offbeat scents

Augustinus Bader and Victoria Beckham joined forces once again this year to create a foundation that combined Bader’s cult skincare with Beckham’s exceptional approach to make-up (she is fast becoming every beauty and fashion editor’s go-to). Lightweight, high-coverage, and pore-refining, it not only improves the appearance of skin when you’re wearing it, but delivers anti-ageing benefits that make skin look better when you're not.

Make-up artist Fara Homidi is known for never launching a product until it's perfect, and the Soft Glass Lip Plumping Oil lives up to this exacting approach – all the more impressive for standing out in what is an oversaturated market of lip oils and glosses promising similarly plumping effects. Essentially lip filler in a bottle, the gloss leaves lips looking glassy, plumped, and perfectly smooth. 

The 5 Point Lift from Isamaya’s new Core Collection is a highlighter formulated with caffeine and bioactives to make skin look brighter and sculpted. Its de-puffing formula is particularly good for eliminating dark, under-eye circles, while its name refers to the five points on the face usually used for cosmetic injectables – something reflected in the playfully designed packaging (one of our favourites of the year).

Westman Atelier's Sun Tone Bronzing Drops are designed to be worn all over the face for a natural-looking sun-kissed look or used for a contouring effect along the cheekbones, forehead and temples. However you apply it, it melts into the skin beautifully – we've enjoyed its healthy, just-back-from-the-beach look all year long.

The ‘Mary Phillips underpainting technique’, which consists of highlighting and contouring before foundation application, has fascinated make-up aficionados for years. This year, the make-up artist created an easy-to-use palette so that anyone can achieve the technique’s chiselled look from home (her online tutorials show you exactly how).

It was a monumental moment in beauty this year when Louis Vuitton announced the launch of its make-up collection, designed under the auspices of the beauty industry ‘mother’ Pat McGrath. The brand’s lipsticks are some of the most luxurious ever made with weighty packaging and a rich colour range – they are an indulgent pleasure to use.

At the beginning of this year, Celine expanded its lipstick range to include 15 shades. The collection includes the brand’s signature red – ‘Rouge Triomphe’ – and everything in between, from a delicate pink to a rich dark purple. They are some of the best we’ve used.

Designed by Chanel’s Cometes Collective – a group of emerging beauty talents drafted by the house – the new Les 9 Ombres palettes come in three limited-edition eyeshadow combinations. Our favourite is ‘The New Singular' palette designed by Cécile Paravina with classic earth tones and shades like peach, mint green and glittery purple which feel totally unique.

Handmade in the brushmaking capital of the world, Kumano, Japan, Kraum's Micro Brush Set is designed to make the application of make-up easy with ultra-tiny bristle shapes designed with the perfect amount of firmness for pigment pickup – the result of years of experimentation.

One of the most impressive volumising mascaras on the market, the Diorshow Overvolume has a wand with three bristle types to create extreme volume and separate the lashes for a fan-like effect. Shaping waxes create curl while high-pigment black makes a statement. It’s like wearing fake lashes without the hassle. 

Guido Palau’s shampoo and conditioner for Zara rivals even some of the most premium brands when it comes to results. It leaves hair softer after just one use, has a scent developed by a French perfumer, and its bold packaging draws inspiration from the Memphis Group, making its affordable price tag is very impressive.

39BC is the new line of oil cleansers from powerhouse beauty entrepreneur Sharmadean Reid. Based on ancient bathing rituals, the brand’s luxurious oils moisturise skin and leave a delicate scent that lasts throughout the day –they are body care and scent, all in one.

Reservation Parfums is a new French fragrance brand inspired by the glamour of California. Our favourite scent from their collection is Suite 909 – an intense woody and spicy scent of cedarwood and suede meant to conjure a desert wind blowing through the window of an opulent hotel room. Like all good fragrances, it’s truly transportative.

This year, beloved London-based brand Perfumer H launched a special edition collection in collaboration with painter Will Calver. Called ‘A Painted Life’, the collection includes a candle and perfume with a ‘Smoke In the Woods’ scent that evokes the crackling warmth of a campfire and is adorned with gold decoration inspired by Calver’s paintings.

Miutine smells like Miu Miu’s clothes look – unexpected, idiosyncratic and playful, but always elegant. Master perfumer Dominique Ropion formulated the intriguing scent with wild strawberries and brown sugar, the sweetness of which is toned down by earthy patchouli and fresh gardenia.

A fine fragrance for clothes – in a beautiful bottle to match – L’Eaundry has a cotton–musk scent specifically designed to neutralise odour. It’s ideal for refreshing clothes in between washes, or freshening up delicate fibres that don’t stand up well to traditional washing like wool or silk.

Former winemaker Frances Shoemack created Abel to prove that 100 per cent natural perfumes don’t have to compromise on scent. The Apartment is a particularly noteworthy fragrance in the collection with a blend of white florals and rich rum and cacao that creates a unique dark floral gourmand, without the need for harsh petrochemicals often found in perfumes.

The Elixir from Budapest brand Omorovicza promises to give you all the benefits of retinol without using retinol. Formulated with a potent blend of the brand’s signature Healing Concentrate, it addresses a range of skin concerns: reducing wrinkles, firming, hydrating, boosting radiance and reducing pigmentation, while applying to the face beautifully.

The skincare line of New York-based dermatologist Dr. Macrene is one of our favourite finds of the year. A Fulbright Scholar with three Harvard degrees, Dr. Macrene has channelled her 40-plus years of research in plant sciences, molecular genetics, and dermatology into products that have a dramatically transformative effect on skin – I have honestly never received so many compliments.

The new serum from Augustinus Bader combines all the benefits of Vitamin C – skin brightening, even tone, and dark spot reduction – with the brand’s patented TFC8 complex for anti-ageing results. Mix it into your daily routine, and you’ll find skin looks dramatically more radiant within just a few days. 

Hard Sun is a New York City-born sunscreen brand that rethinks sports sunscreen with a mineral SPF formulation that’s actually comfortable, and flattering, to wear. For athletes, it has 80 minutes of sweat- and water-resistance, while for people who confine their outdoor adventures to city streets, it’s equally useful, with a tinted, mattifying formulation that leaves a pore-free finish. 

The brand formerly known as Haeckels may have got a new name – Dulcie – but its products are just as good as they ever were. The brand's cult Algae Plump Serum is formulated with seaweed and hyaluronic acid to hydrate and plump the skin – it’s light enough for summer, but still nourishes on the coldest days of winter.

Vida Glow’s delicious liquid collagen requires no mixing. Just drink out of the packet to get the Austrian brand’s high-dose marine collagen peptides and antioxidant complex that purports to reduce wrinkles from the inside. Whether it does or not remains to be seen, but their ease of use and satisfying taste means these have become a staple of our morning routine.

Celebrity trainer Kirsty Godso (Kaia Gerber, Hailey Bieber, Olivia Rodrigo, Charli XCX are a few of her clients) released her workout app Pyro so anyone can try her signature workouts in their own time. Video tutorials are designed to be used in the gym or home ‘studio,’ each focusing on different parts of the body, with different intensities and lengths – another simple addition to our wellness routine.

Created by an anonymous collective of fashion designers for their showrooms in Paris, London and Milan, Azophi candles are discreet-looking but make a big impact when you enter a room, making them stand out from their (many) peers. The brand has three fragrance options, but our favourite is Sirius Ember, a black pepper and cedarwood scent that has a burnt, lightly incensed quality.