We award the best beauty products in the world
It is with great pleasure that we can finally announce the winners of this year’s Marie Claire UK Prix D’Excellence Beauty Awards.
A panel of beauty experts and beauty directors from across the world have been testing and trialing products that launched over the past year. The products are judged on everything from the science, the formulas, the packaging and, most importantly, the efficacy. The winners must be products that can be recommended to readers in good conscious. Past years have seen us find some of the industry’s most iconic products.
We are now thrilled to be able to reveal the best beauty products in the world to you. We are also awarding some beauty initiatives that we think deserve some attention. They’ve shown support to the industry through what has been the most challenging year. They are pushing for the beauty world to do better. And they are leading by example.
Please join us in congratulating the Marie Claire UK Prix D’Excellence Beauty Award winners…
Product captions by Madeleine Spencer
Kérastase Genesis range, from £23.50 | Lookfantastic
British Winner: Hair
Products designed to address hair loss and excess shedding rarely take into account that hair is lost both from the root and as a result of breakage. This range comprising 10 products combines Edelweiss Native Cells, Ginger Root, and Aminexil to add resilience and strength to the scalp and to the hair shafts themselves is comprehensive and impressive.
Elemis Superfood AHA Glow Cleansing Butter, £30 | Lookfantastic
British Winner: Skin
The ritual of cleansing has become as much about a moment of escape and of pampering as it is about cleaning skin. This cleanser does both perfectly. Containing a unique blend of fermented pumpkin enzymes and acerola cherry to gently slough off dead skin along with omega fatty acids to nourish, it is a joy to smooth across skin and can be used as a daily cleanser or deep hydrating mask if you want to leave it on for that bit longer.
Giorgio Armani Beauty Neo Nude Glow Foundation, £33.50 | John Lewis
British Winner: Make-up
Great foundation is hard to come by - it has to provide coverage that looks like skin, look after skin while it’s on, and come in a wide range of true to tone pigments. This lightweight formula that is packed with hyaluronic acid to hydrate and plump and glycerine to moisturise and smooth is spot on - and it comes in 24 shades.
Caudalie Tan Prolonging After-Sun Lotion, £15 | Space NK
British Winner: Body
If you love a hint of sun kissed glow and want to prolong it while taking care of your skin after being in the sun (hopefully with SPF on, I should add), this is going to be your new best friend. The 98% natural formula contains grape water and aloe vera to soothe and hydrate while boosting the skin’s intrinsic tanning process.
Beauty Banks
British Winner: Beauty Gives Back
The co-founders of this organisation were appalled by the term “hygiene property” and for those suffering the blows to their physical, mental, and emotional health as a result.
So in 2018 founded a social movement designed to distribute unused toiletries to registered charitable organisations throughout Britain in order to get them into the hands of those who were in desperate need.
Halo Collective
British Winner: Beauty Gives Back
Despite hair being a protected racial characteristic under the law, hair discrimination remains a source of racial injustice.
This alliance of organisations and individuals are working to challenge the idea that black hairstyles aren’t suited to formal settings, or that they’re messy or unhygienic, with their core principle being that nobody should have to change their hairstyle to thrive. And that suggesting otherwise attacks the freedom and dignity of black people.
Beauty Backed
British Winner: Beauty Gives Back
This trust was set up in response to Covid-19 with the aim to alleviate hardship and assist beauty professionals, and to stand together and make a change to help the sector that represents an 88% female workforce.
One which has repeatedly been underfunded throughout the pandemic. The goal? To support as many beauty industry workers as possible and to get them back to work.
Weleda
British Winner: Sustainability
Sustainability has rightly been a talking point in the beauty industry for years now, but few brands can claim that they’ve had an eye on reducing their impact on the planet for 100 years.
This brand can, and they’ve really done the legwork, earning themselves the status of a world authority on making sustainable, organic, and effective products.
Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Multi Recovery Complex, from £60 | Lookfantastic
International Winner
This much-loved serum has been a favourite of beauty insiders since its launch for its silky, quickly-absorbing texture and for the impressive results. The updated version also contains Chronolux Power Signal Technology to give skin extra juiciness and up to 72 house of hydration along with a reduction in the appearance of pores, and lines.
YSL Pure Shots Serum, £59 | Feelunique
International Winner
We all want to wake from our night’s sleep - however short it may have been - with glowing skin, and now thanks to this serum, it’s a whole lot easier to achieve. Containing a potent form of the rare Moonlight Cactus flower extract, the exfoliant-in-oil hydrates while all sloughing off dead skin. The result? Luminous, fresh skin.
Chanel Hydra Beauty Camellia Repair Mask, £52 | John Lewis
International Winner
Whether stuck indoors with the heating on or outside with the wind whipping our faces, it’s safe to say that almost all of us put our skin’s barrier under stress, and now that we are aware of its huge function in skin health, products are being designed to protect and fortify it while we go about our day. This deeply nourishing mask locks in hydration as well as soothing dehydrated and overworked skin, making it a must have for anyone with a compromised skin barrier (so pretty much all of us then).
Hermes Rouge Hermes Lipstick, £58 | Selfridges
International Winner
After a year where we didn’t go out a lot and were masked up when we did, we’re all desperate to wear lipstick again and to enjoy the fun of colour and of applying it from a beautiful bullet. This lipstick is a rare find: a matte that’s hydrating and feels like a second skin in a covetable brushed metal casing which can be refilled, we can’t get enough of it.
L’Oreal Paris Revitalift Laser Ampoules 10% Glycolic Acid Peel, £24.99 | Feelunique
International Winner
The best facials use highly concentrated ingredients that are unsealed only before applying to really give skin a boost. Now, you can achieve the same results at home thanks to the seven skincare ‘shots’ containing 10% glycolic acid that come in this kit.
More potent than a serum, these will over the course of a week’s treatment make skin look clearer and more radiant.
Clarins Total Eye Lift, £58 | Feelunique
International Winner
An eye product has to be hard-working nowadays, combatting screen fatigue along with dehydration and the lack of sleep we all seem to be suffering from right now. This silky gel-cream is a one-stop shop for happier eyes, with over 80% of testers reporting back that it made their skin firmer and tighter, while reducing the appearance of bags and making their eyes appear more rested. The magic is in the formula: a mix of horse chestnut to brighten shadows, guarana to take on bags, and cassia to tone.
Aveda Botanical Repair Range, from £26 | Lookfantastic
International Winner
It is commonly accepted that the key to healthy hair is a strong core and plenty of hydration - but what can you do when yours is damaged and tired? This range is the answer, harnessing the power of botanicals to repair and strengthen the core of each strand while smoothing the cuticle to leave hair soft, silky, and detangled.
