The 2022 Best of Beauty: Splurge winners are a thoughtful curation of the finest hair, makeup, skin, and body products. There’s no more gratifying (and, yes, expensive) way to keep your lips luscious than by wearing a gold-plated locket around your neck — with a luxe lip gloss inside. It’s as fancy as fancy gets. The same goes for a monogrammed hair brush, a lavish hand soap and hand cream set that’s delivered on a tray, and an Hermès blush brush.
These are the posh beauty products that have Allure editors’ attention. They are well above average — and so are their price tags, to be frank. But, we must say, these little luxurious exceed all of our expectations in terms of quality, efficacy, and innovation, and for that, we don’t hesitate to say, they are worth the splurge. So, upgrade your bobby pins to a dazzling new crystal set; coddle your skin in a cream that transforms your face overnight; pamper yourself with upscale bath salts — and delight in knowing it will be money well spent.
On that note, go ahead and treat yourself to some of the finer things. And while you’re at it, peruse all of the top picks from the 2022 Best of Beauty winner list.
Best of Beauty Awards 2022: Splurges
Jump ahead to a specific winner or keep scrolling to see every single product we’ve deemed worth the splurge:
Hair
Dyson AirWrap Multi-Styler Complete
Why it won: Math isn’t always been our strong suit, but ask us to calculate how much we’ve saved on professional blowouts with this do-it-all tool, and we turn into Will Hunting. Attachments — a new curler for extra-long hair, a comb for coily textures — cater to every length and curl type.
Oribe Hair Alchemy Resilience Shampoo + Conditioner
Why it won: A shampoo and conditioner that help strengthen strands from the inside out sounds like first-rate marketing jargon, but we’ll be damned if this duo (with chia seed and bamboo leaf) didn’t leave our hair noticeably less brittle and breakage-prone.
Jennifer Behr Supernova Bobby Pin Set in Crystal
Why it won: Do yourself a favor and don’t wait until your wedding day or a black-tie dinner to wear a little sparkle in your hair. Tucked at the base of a low ponytail or just above your ear, these Swarovski crystal pins pair just as beautifully with a white T-shirt as a ballgown.
Prose Boar Bristle Brush
Why it won: As if selecting your own style of bristles isn’t personal enough (boar for finer hair, the addition of nylon is great for medium-to-thick), you can also have your monogram stamped onto the handle — perhaps the most elegant way one can say “This is my brush. Hands off!”
Balmain Hair Couture Overnight Repair Serum
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Why it won: We just added “bottle of Balmain hair serum will last longer” to the list of reasons we’re contemplating getting a bob. That‘s how crazy we are for this blend of seed oils and vitamins which, when used weekly as an overnight treatment, leaves our strands soft, smooth, and incredibly shiny.
Body
Tata Harper Skincare Resurfacing Body Serum
Why it won: If your arms and legs feel rough, itchy, or dry, why not slip into something a bit more comfortable? This featherlight lotion is spiked with exfoliating acids that slough off dead cells to reveal the smoother, healthier-looking ones that lie beneath. And since it absorbs so quickly, it’s perfect for layering with your favorite body oil, says deputy digital director Kara McGrath.
Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle Portrait of a Lady Hand Cream
Why it won: If someone asks you to share a dollop of this $50 hand cream (and once they catch a whiff of its rose, amber, and patchouli fragrance, they will), you have our permission to send them a Venmo request for two dollars.
vVARDIS New White Enamel Anti-Aging Ritual
Why it won: It’s as though the founders of this dental brand waved a magic wand over our medicine cabinet and pronounced that everything within become… chicer. After you swirl mouthwash from a glass decanter or apply whitening serum with a delicate paintbrush, you’ll never look back.
Homecourt Steeped Rose Tray Set
Why it won: The “you” you’ve always wanted to be definitely owns this four-piece set, which corrals onto one sleek tray the bottles of dish soap, hand wash, and lotion kicking around your kitchen sink. (And did we mention this set smells like a bouquet of fresh roses?)
Costa Brazil Bath Salts
Why it won: We’re considering asking human resources if our FSA dollars can be applied towards bath products — because taking a nightly dip with this blend of Brazilian white clay, epsom, and mineral salts has exponentially improved our mental health.
Skin
RéVive Intensité Volumizing Serum Ultime Targeted Skin Filler
Why it won: Sometimes it feels like we lost our skin’s remote and accidentally sat on the mute button. That’s a roundabout way of saying there’s been a sudden loss of volume. But when used over time, this peptide-rich serum helps restore plumpness, especially between the brows and around nasolabial folds.
La Mer The New Treatment Lotion
Why it won: Apply liquid on a dry sponge and it sits on the surface. Apply it on a wet sponge, and it soaks right in. That’s the thinking behind patting on this essence as your first step after cleansing: It helps your skin get the most out of all the stuff that comes after.
SK-II Skinpower Cream
Why it won: Not all heroes wear capes: This one is outfitted in a red jar. The quick-to-absorb blend of amino acids and plant extracts leaves skin remarkably soft and supple.
Chantecaille Bio Lifting Mask+
Why it won: This mask makes more promises than the membership coordinator at our local gym. But we’re pleased to report the peptide-laden formula actually delivers: After a few applications, tester Amber Angelle reported her skin felt firm and looked more lifted. Now, about that free personal-training session….
SkinMedica TNS+ Advanced Serum
Why it won: With elastin-building growth factors, this serum might just be the closest science has gotten to a Magic Eraser for skin: A clinical study found that twice-daily application led to visible improvement in tone, texture, and the reduction of the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles after two weeks.
Makeup
Jillian Dempsey Lip Locket
Why it won: Some people like to wear lockets that hold a portrait of their partner. We prefer this one, which secretly stores our favorite tinted lip balm — and that’s just about all you need to know about our relationship with makeup.
Sisley-Paris Ombré Eclat Liquide Liquid Eyeshadow
Why it won: They say money can’t solve everything, but shelling out for this liquid shadow eliminated virtually every problem we’ve ever had with eye makeup (creasing, running, flaking). And it takes all of five seconds to apply and blend, says beauty and wellness editor Taylore Glynn.
Hermès Blush Plus Brush
Why it won: We could tell you this powder is so finely milled, it spreads like butter. Or that the fibers of the brush — hand-assembled by a French artisan — are so soft, you could sleep on them. But as with everything packaged in an orange box, luxury is kind of understood, right?
Gucci Beauty Palette Beauté Des Yeux Floral
Why it won: If you’re like us, you’ll hit pan on these 12 shadows — in a mix of matte, satin, and metallic finishes — in no time. But since the inner tray is removable, you’ll never have to part with the floral-patterned palette, which can be used as a small jewelry box or a perhaps inconveniently sized evening bag
Byredo Lipstick Mad Red
Why it won: At Allure HQ, this raspberry looks what-is-that-shade-and-where-can-I-get-it incredible on everyone (yes, all of us). You can’t put a price on that.
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