Best Beauty of 2023

Happy New Year, everyone! This past year has been a year of incredible growth, and beauty-wise, another incredible year of discoveries.

I tried more products than I’ve ever tried before, but when it came to picking favorites, it was actually pretty clear what was the best of 2023. Trying all of these products wouldn’t have been possible with each and every one of you and all of your support, so thank you for sticking around!

I’ve separated out favorites for each category by my favorite new release of 2023, marked by 2023 in parenthesis, as well as my overall favorite of 2023, regardless of when the product was released or purchased by me. Not every category has a favorite, and not every category has a favorite for a new release, so I only picked products I truly loved in the past year. 

If you’re short on time to read this post, all my favorites are also saved in Shop My Shelf so you can just browse visually!

MAKEUP

Base

Primer – Glow Recipe Strawberry BHA Pore-Smooth Blur Drops (2023); Smashbox Photo Finish Mattifying Face Primer and Sisley Double Tenseur Instant and Long-Term Lifting Primer

Foundation – Glossier Stretch Foundation in shade Medium 1 and YSL All Hours Foundation in LW 9 (2023); Chanel Water Fresh Tint In Medium or Medium Plus (for the summer) and Westman Atelier Vital Skin Stick Foundation in Shade V

Corrector – Sigma Dual Corrector in Light Medium (2023); Bobbi Brown Corrector in Peach

Concealer – Tower 28 Swipe Concealer in EP or Ktown (2023); Cle de Peau Stick Concealer in Almond

Powder – Givenchy Prism Libre Setting and Finishing Loose Powder in 3 Voile Rose (2023); By Terry Hyaluronic Hydra Powder

Runner Up –  Colourpop Pretty Fresh Pressed Face Powder in Light 8 and Fenty Invisimatte Powder (specifically for touch-ups and mattifying)

Cheek

Cream/Liquid Bronzer – Jones Road Beauty Gel Bronzer  and Phytosurgence Spectral Sunlight Cream Bronzer in Rosy Warmth (2023)

Powder Bronzer – Surratt Artistique Bronzer and Jones Road Beauty The Bronzer in Dusty Rose (2023) 

Cream/Liquid Blush – Charlotte Tilbury Matte Beauty Blush Liquid Blush in Pillow Talk (2023)

Runner up – Danessa Myricks Yummy Skin Flush Balm in Jubilee (2023)

Powder Blush – Dior Rosy Glow Blush Rosewood and Berry (2023)

Cream/Liquid Highlighter – Chanel Baume Essentiel Highlighting Stick in Dragee (2023) and Westman Atelier Super Loaded Highlighter in Peau de Peche

Face Palette – Hourglass Ambient Edit Unlocked Palette in the Snake colorway (2023) and Les Filles en Rouje Lip Palette (used for lips and cheeks)

Eyes

Eye Primer – Milani eyeshadow primer (the only primer I used in 2023 and my favorite!)

Cream/liquid eyeshadow – Make Beauty Eye Shaping Stylos and Merit Solo Shadows (2023)

Eyeshadow Topper – Colourpop Super Shock Shadow in Ritz and Hourglass Scattered Lights Eyeshadow in Ray

Small Eyeshadow palette (under 6 shades) – Tom Ford Forbidden Pink and Tropical Dusk (both limited edition in 2023); Dior Soft Cashmere and Charlotte Tilbury Super Nudes Palette

Runner up: Charlotte Tilbury Luxury Eyeshadow Palette in Golden Goddess

Large form eyeshadow palette – Natasha Denona I Need a Nude and Byredo Remembrance (2023)

Runner up: Colourpop 11:11 palette

Eyeliner – Gen See Beauty Cruise Line Eye Pencil in Milano 

Mascara – YSL Lash Clash Extreme Volume Mascara (2023); Surratt Noir Lash Tint and Heroine Make Volume Up Mascara 

Lips

Lipbalm/lip treatment – Mara Sea Silk Lip Balm and Rhode Lip Treatment (2023);  Kinship Supermelt

Lipliner – Dior Contour Lip Liner and Victoria Beckham Lip Definer 

Lipgloss – Merit Shade Slick Gelee (2023); Tom Ford Gloss Luxe Lip Gloss in Phantome

Lipstick – YSL Candy Glaze Lip Gloss Stick, Kulfi Beauty Heirloom Satin Lipstick, Make Beauty Cream Supreme High Impact LIpstick (2023); Merit Signature Lip and Byredo Liquid Lipstick Vinyl

Runner Ups: Jones Road Beauty Lip Tint and Hourglass Unlocked Satin Creme Lipstick (2023)

FRAGRANCE

2023 release

1. Diptyque L’eau Papier Eau de Toilette
2. Maison Margiela Replica – On A Date
3. Phlur Father Figure
4. Moodeaux Punk Star Intenscensual Eau de Parfum
5. Beautypie Le Smash Santal (limited edition/discontinued)

Other 2023 favorites 

1. Phlur Missing Person
2. Nemat Amber Fragrance Roll On Oil
3. D.S. and Durga I Don’t Know What

BODYCARE and HAIRCARE

Shower Gel – Salt and Stone Antioxidant Body Wash in Bergamot and Hinoki and Necessaire Sandalwood Shower Gel

Body Moisturizer – Osea Body Butter and Fenty Skin Butta Drop Whipped Oil Body Cream

Body Oil – Caudalie Moisturizing Fig Body Oil Elixir (2023); Osea Undaria Algae Body Oil

Hand Cream – Skin Fix Eczema Plus Ceramide Hand Relief Cream and Byredo Mojave Ghost Hand Cream

Nail Polish formula: Static Nails Liquid Glass Lacquers

Dry Shampoo – I Dew Care Tap Secret Mattifying Dry Shampoo Powder; Living Proof Advanced PHD Dry Shampoo

SKINCARE

I didn’t try a ton of new skincare that truly stood out to me in 2023 so this is a short list- but I also don’t try out of a lot of new skincare in general, and skincare isn’t one of my big interests. 

I have a list of my all time favorite skincare products and staples saved in Shop My Shelf in case you want a reference!

First Cleanse: Shu Uemura Sublime Beauty Cleansing Oil

Second Cleanse: Shani Darden Cleansing Serum (2023)

Face mist: Surratt Hinoki Facial Mist (2023) and Peach and Lily Glass Skin Veil Mist

Eye Cream: Youth to the People Peptides + C Energy Eye Concentrate

Serum: Medik8 Clarity Peptides

Moisturizer: Glow Recipe Plum Plum Hyaluronic Cream

Lash Serum: The Ordinary Multi-Peptide Lash and Brow Serum

SPF: Naturium UV Reflect Antioxidant SPF 50 (2023); Charlotte Tilbury Invisible UV flawless Poreless Primer SPF 50; Lancome UV Expert Defense SPF 50 and Anessa Perfect UV Sunscreen

Runner Up: Ultra Violette Lean Screen (only for oily skin)

Were any of these products also one of your favorite products of 2023? F one, what were your favorites? 

As always, thank you for reading and all of your support! Here’s to another year