This month's edit of the best new beauty launches span the ancient and the futuristic, from space-grown lip balms by new brand Exist, to 39 BC’s Cleopatra-inspired bath oils. In between, we have pistachio-scented candles from Loewe to give your house a springtime refresh, and a facial cupping kit from FaceGym to give your face a refresh, too.
Here, as selected by Wallpaper* beauty editor Mary Cleary, are the very best beauty launches of May 2026 – what they are, why we love them, and how to use them.
The nutty candle: Loewe's Pistachio Candle
What it is
The latest addition to the luxury Spanish house’s range of botanical home fragrances.
Why we love it
Loewe’s unconventional approach to home scents has made it a favourite of ours, with scents such as Tomato, Beetroot and Oregano that transform ingredients you would usually find in your kitchen into luxury fragrances. The latest addition to the family, Pistachio, is one of the best yet, with a nutty, slightly milky scent that develops into a sweeter notes as it burns.
Like all Loewe candles, it comes in a ribbed terracotta pot inspired by a 5th-century BC Greek mug owned by former creative director Jonathan Anderson, which, for this particular one, is a joyful pistachio green colour.
The unconventional at-home facial: Face Gym's Facial Cupping Set
What it is
A four-piece kit designed for at-home facial cupping. It includes small cupping tools for use under the eyes, around the nose, and around the mouth, as well as larger cupping tools for the cheeks, jawline, forehead and neck.
Why we love it
FaceGym’s raison d'être is creating tools that transform your facial structure by working the 40-plus muscles in your face. We love the Facial Cups kit because it’s one of their most effective (and fun to use) tools for doing this yet. Skin looks tighter after one use and, with regular use, the tool’s improvement of lymphatic flow and blood circulation helps skin look firmer and healthier long term.
How to use it
Simply place the cups against the skin, squeeze and then pull across the face, similar to how you would use a gua sha.
The ancient bathing set: 39 BC Alexandria Discovery Set
What it is
39BC’s Discovery Set: Alexandria is a collection of four 100ml versions of the brand’s oil body cleansers, designed for travel or testing a range of the brand’s products.
Why we love it
When word spread last year that beauty entrepreneur Sharmadean Reid was launching a new brand, everyone was curious what it would be. The result, unsurprisingly, has become one of the most lauded new brands among industry insiders.
39BC’s line of perfumed body oils is inspired by ancient bathing practices like those found in Roman bathhouses, Japanese onsens, and North African hammams. The Alexandria collection takes its inspiration from Cleopatra’s Egypt with a range of four scents: Silk Veil, Denarii, Fig Milk and Sage Water. Their oil-to-milk cleansers are formulated with sunflower, almond, avocado, and castor oils that leave skin feeling exceptionally soft. While the fragrances leave skin (and your bathroom) gently perfumed for hours.
How to use it
Apply directly to skin in the shower or pour into warm bath water.
The floral moisturiser: Chanel’s Hydra Beauty Micro Gel Crème
What it is
A gel-cream formulated with hyaluronic acid and camellia extracts to improve moisture and soothe irritation.
Why we love it
Chanel’s Hydra Beauty has a reputation as one of the industry’s best-performing skincare lines for a reason. The line’s fundamental, Chanel-patented ingredient, White Camellia PFA, is grown at the brand’s open-sky laboratory in Gaujacq, France and then reconfigured by an in-house team of scientists as skincare with exceptional hydration and repair benefits.
The ‘microfluidic technology’ in the newest addition to the line, the Micro Gel Crème, preserves the hydrating power of white camellia extract within thousands of micro-bubbles that release upon application. Its lightweight, gel texture creates a barrier on the skin that protects it from pollutants and creates an ideal primer for make-up. While its hydration bubbles release high-power moisturisation for quick relief from dry skin.
How to use it
Apply to a clean face morning and evening after your daily serum.
The lip balm grown in outerspace: Exist's Spacelip
What it is
Two lip balms formulated with a bioactive complex cultivated aboard the International Space Station to hydrate and repair lips.
Why we love it
Exist is a new beauty brand doing something truly different from any other brand out there by using extremophiles (ingredients that can survive extreme environments, like outer space or inside volcanoes) to create products with healing properties unlike anything grown above ground on Earth.
The Spacelip lip balms are the first products from the brand and use ingredients grown by Nasa to make lips visibly smoother and more hydrated within one use, while within three days creating smoothness and firmness usually only possible with filler use. It is available in two formats: Origin 001, a richer formulation scented with a fragrance co-designed with Givaudan; and Void 000, an unscented and lighter formulation.
How to use it
Use as you would any lip balm.