Upgrade Your Makeup Routine With These Top Products

Erica Metzger
·7 min read

Photo Illustration: Kailey Whitman

bhg - 22 Available at Smashbox

bhg - 11 Available at Walmart

bhg - 25 Available at Sephora

bhg - 27 Available at Clinique

bhg - 11 Available at Ulta

bhg - 25 Available at Charlotte Tilbury

bhg - 30 Available at Sephora

bhg - 10 Available at Amazon

bhg - 10 Available at Ulta

bhg - 5 Available at Ulta

Makeup is officially back, and our favorite lipstick, mascara, primer, and beyond will have you ready for a busy social schedule. Shop the winners here.

The best way to ensure your makeup lasts is to start out with an effective skincare routine with our top picks for facial products. But don't stop there. To create a true at-home spa experience, add in the best of body products and top-rated hair care items, too. If you're curious how we came up with the picks for the 2021 Beauty Awards, read about the process here.

Best Eye Shadow

With a built-in primer and matte finish, Smashbox Always On Cream Shadow is ideal for mature or oily lids. You can wear it alone or as a long-lasting base for powder shadow. It comes in 15 pigment-rich shades, including bright colors and plenty of everyday neutrals. One staffer noted her search for a primer eyeshadow is over: "This one is long-lasting, and the color is subtle."

Buy It: Smashbox Always On Cream Shadow ($22, Smashbox)

Best Primer

Primer might seem like a supplement to foundation or tinted moisturizer, but this satiny, brightening base for makeup earmarks it as a must-have. A pea-size drop can smooth the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles and improve overall skin texture, while its pink tint works to even out skin tone. Not only that, but it contains a serum designed to improve skin tone and texture over time too. "It feels good going on, like lotion or moisturizer. I felt like it really helped even out my skin tone and laid down a good, satiny base for foundation," says one staffer, who credits this product with converting her to primer. "This one's a winner."

Buy It: L'Oréal Paris Age Perfect Blurring Face Primer ($11, Walmart)

Best Liquid Eyeliner

Whether you're a cat-eye-newbie or winged-liner pro, creating that crisp, clean line can be tricky due to the runny consistency of many liquid liners. This luxe formula, however, has a rich, smooth texture and a brush tip that provides easy-to-control definition. Testers remarked how simple it is to use without making a mess. "I'm not the best with liquid liner, but this one isn't too liquid, so it glides in a precise line without bleeding," one staffer says. Others praised it for longwear and smudge-resistance. "I love the rich black definition that stays put until you wash it off. I use it instead of pencil because it doesn't run," says a staffer.

Buy It: Bite Beauty Upswing Extreme Longwear Liquid Eyeliner ($25, Sephora)

Best Concealer

Clinique Even Better All-Over Concealer + Eraser hides dark areas and pigmentation without settling into fine lines or pores, our testers note. It contains skincare ingredients like vitamin C, hyaluronic acid, and caffeine to treat the delicate undereye skin. The extensive shade range (42 in all!) includes options across many different skin tones. And there's a bonus sponge inside the cap for blending. "I will 100 percent be adding this concealer to my regular routine. I love how the satin finish looks so skinlike and natural. Blending and feathering out the edges require barely any skill or effort. It truly is user-friendly. Don't sleep on Clinique! This is one the best things I've ever tried from the line," Monterichard says.

Buy It: Clinique Even Better All-Over Concealer + Eraser ($27, Clinique)

Best Mascara

This formula became a viral mascara phenom for 2021 with good reason. It delivers dramatically longer, thicker, and lusher lashes with just a few coats. What's its secret? Volumizing bamboo fibers and a springy wand that literally bends over backward to give each lash the fullest coating as you brush through it. "I'm always trying new mascaras, and this drugstore tube gives an amazing faux lash look but costs half as much as similar formulas," one staffer says.

Buy It: Maybelline New York Lash Sensational Sky High Mascara ($11, Ulta)

Best Eyebrow Pencil

The refillable pencil's fine tip and waterproof color make you feel like a pro. "It's great for filling in the ends of my eyebrows where the hair is more sparse," one tester says. "The brush end is high-quality and brushes brows into place. The pencil formula is creamy and goes on easily," notes another staffer.

Buy It: Charlotte Tilbury Brow Cheat ($25, Charlotte Tilbury)

Best Lipstick

Longwear matte lips never looked (or felt) so luxe. This splurge-worthy lippie won high marks for the smooth finish, comfortable wear, and high level of pigment. "This formula is amazing. Easy to apply, gorgeous matte finish, feels soft on (unlike so many stiff, drying matte/longwear formulas), and almost zero transfer onto, say, a mask," Monterichard says.

Buy It: Pat McGrath Labs Liquilust: Legendary Wear Matte Lipstick ($30, Sephora)

Best Foundation

Want to downsize your makeup bag without giving up a flawless look? This concealer, primer, and foundation has SPF 18 in 21 full-coverage shades. We also love that it's Leaping Bunny certified. "Absolutely keeping this on my vanity! The coverage doesn't budge, and I love the additional sunscreen coverage," Walker says.

Buy It: CoverGirl Outlast Extreme Wear 3-in-1 Full Coverage Liquid Foundation ($10, Amazon)

Best Blush

One of the OG Earth-friendly brands, you can count on Burt's Bees for beauty bag staples made with naturally derived, responsibly sourced, and cruelty-free ingredients. This cream blush is no exception. It adds a hydrating, healthy-looking flush to cheeks, thanks to vitamin E and fruit berry wax, and comes in three flattering shades. "This has a nice amount of pigment, and you can layer on the apples of the cheeks for a really soft, pretty highlight," one tester says.

Buy It: Burt's Bees Color Nurture Cream Blush ($10, Ulta)

Best Lip Balm

Lip balm is always a must, in part because the lips are different from the rest of your skin: They lack the same oil glands that serve as your face's built-in source of moisture. That said, this isn't your average balm. It's infused with a blend of marine ingredients, such as blue sea kale, sea algae, and a marine flower extract, as well as two nourishing staples, aloe and botanical shea butter. Together, they work to comfort lips while minimizing the appearance of fine lines around the mouth. It also feels a little more elevated than your average balm. "The scent is pleasant, and the feel of the product is really nice," one tester says. "It feels luxe on my lips."

Buy It: ChapStick Total Hydration with Sea Minerals Nourishing Lip Balm ($5, Ulta)