Introducing our first ever awards dedicated to the most exciting innovations in skin, hair, makeup products, and body treatments—plus the game changing beauty founders and experts to know now.
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Upgraded basics from your cleanser to your cream.
Editor's Choice
Powerhouse products that transform your complexion.
Anairam
Dr. Barbara Sturm
Boutique & Spa
Following a successful SoHo pop-up, Dr. Sturm (whose skin care is beloved by the likes of Nina Dobrev and Kourtney Kardashian) opened a permanent brick-and-mortar location with two private facial rooms. And if you miss Dr. Sturm for one of her IRL master classes, try a DM: The doctor herself is often on the other end.
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Foundations and tools that will help you glow.
Smart Tech
Innovator
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Hybrid formulas with pretty color and treatment ingredients.
anairam
Genius Debut
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Multi-taskers that make eye makeup a no-brainer.
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Genius innovations for perfect hair fast.
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Breakthrough fragrances and eye catching packaging.
Christelle Boulé
Artist and Photographer
When Christelle Boulé began experimenting with fragrances on photo paper in art school, she discovered that every perfume had its own signature look—droplets of oils and smears of unexpected colors caused by chemical reactions with the developing fluid. Her work caught the attention of famed nose Francis Kurkdjian, who commissioned a series utilizing his eponymous perfumes. The photos will be shown at Kurkdjian’s Miami boutique this month, just in time for Art Basel.
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Hi-tech inventions for head-to-toe beauty.
Regi
Beauty Service
Regi (developed by Allergan, the makers of Botox) is a beauty concierge that fits in your pocket. Available in New York City, Los Angeles, and Dallas, the booking service arranges facials, blowouts, waxing, pedicures, and injectables, and is manned by actual people who can cater to requests via text, like “Two pedicures in the West Village for 3 p.m. tomorrow, please.”
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Injectables and devices with next-gen capabilities.
InMode
Accutite Skin Tightening
This is the smallest, most minimally-invasive skin tightening treatment on the market. The super-precise device heats skin both internally and externally to tighten and reduce fat in a one-time procedure that only takes about 20 minutes to complete and will run you anywhere from $3K to $5K. With the smallest cannula that targets hard to reach places, AccuTite is able to tighten skin in a variety of body areas from brows and lower face to the inner thighs and even abdomen etching, all with only needle size access.
Emtone
Skin Smoothing Treatment
“This is a brave new world of body contouring,” Dr. Dendy Engelmen, MD, says. “With Emtone, you can just enter an office, do nothing, exert zero energy, and look better.” This skin-smoothing treatment that fights cellulite has impressive results: four 12-minute treatments (which can happen as quickly as 48 hours apart) of heating and manipulating (aka a firm massage-like technique) the bare skin will straighten out the fibrous septae that creates dimples on the skin, thicken dermal collagen, and help with lymphatic drainage. There’s no downtime and people typically notice results immediately, though the peak is three months later.
Candela
VBeam Laser
This pulsed-dye laser treats everything from rosacea to broken capillaries, and since the light is absorbed by your blood vessels (opposed to your skin), making the downtime some of the most minimal for lasers. And with only a few appointments typically needed, it’s also one of the most affordable options for long term, non-ablative results.
Silk Medical Aesthetics Inc.
Silk Enhanced Fillers
The next wave of filler could lie in a silk-enhanced variation of hyaluronic acid. Silk Medical Aesthetics figured out how to extract and liquefy pure silk protein, called activated silk, that can be combined with HA and injected into skin for a more natural-looking, malleable effect. While the product is still undergoing clinical trials, results from extensive experimentation have shown that there’s little to no swelling at the injection site and estimated availability is 2022.
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Gamechangers dreaming up industry-shaking ideas.
Dove
Crown Coalition
When Dove commissioned a study for its new initiative, the CROWN (Creating a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair) Coalition—in partnership with the National Urban League, Color Of Change, and Western Center on Law & Poverty—the results were revealing: black women are consistently rated as less ready for job performance when they wear their hair in its natural state. Revelations from the study have already helped advance the mission of workplace equality, like the CROWN Act, a California and New York law ensuring protection in those states against discrimination in the workplace based on hairstyle.
Lindsay Wray
Eighteen B
Lindsay Wray, chief science officer at Eighteen B, developed the first-ever biodegradable vegan silk, which has regenerative properties and helps improve the skin’s elasticity. She champions sustainability by researching common skin-care ingredients to determine their environmental impact and how to replace the harmful ones, like liquid plastics, with greener alternatives.
Dr. Shereene Idriss
#PillowTalk
When Shereene Idriss, a New York City-based dermatologist, signed on to Instagram live for the first time, she envisioned a one-time video where she answered a few questions in her direct messages. The demand and popularity of that video transformed into her now-weekly series #pillowtalkderm series, where she demystifies in-office skin care for her followers all over the world (and more importantly, places where a board-certified dermatologist might not be easily accessible) about everything from sunscreen and injectables to the work she’s had done and how to advocate for yourself in a doctor’s office.
Nordstrom
Beauty Haven
Nordstrom opened its New York City flagship this fall with a sprawling, two-story beauty department aptly named the Beauty Haven. The first floor features tech-y touches like digital skin analyses and a fragrance kiosk that administers a scent quiz; the second floor is a treatment zone with express facials from Heyday, blowouts from Drybar, manicures from Base Coat, and even injectables administered by the Kate Somerville clinic, making Nordstrom the only luxury retailer to offer injectables in-store.
Renee Rouleau
Skin Care Expert
In late 2018, celebrity- and editor-beloved esthetician Renée Rouleau lost her partner of 22 years and Chief Operating Officer, Florian Oger, to cancer. When she shared her experience on social media, Rouleau's brand transformed into something much deeper. “Being vulnerable opened the door to my life,” Rouleau says. “My story is about resiliency and making Florian proud.”
Doniella Davy
Makeup Artist
It happened practically overnight—Doniella Davy’s work appeared on HBO’s Euphoria—and the whole world became obsessed. Now, the glittering tears, bright splashes of color, and bedazzled brows (aka Euphoria-inspired makeup) have become part of our beauty lexicon.
Lisa Guerrera
See Thru
Part of the Sephora Incubate, See Thru CEO and founder Lisa Guerrera built an interactive platform for beauty websites that instantly decodes product formulas. Digestible info pops up for each. It’s already debuted with new green brands like HoliFrog.
Rob Peetoom Salon
Hair Spa
At Rob Peetoom Salon in Brooklyn, the Balinese Hair & Scalp Ritual (starting at $85) is similar to a facial, complete with steam, massage, and layers of hydrating products, all designed to foster hair growth. If you can’t get to Brooklyn, similar treatments are becoming available through the country next year, such as a scalp version of the popular facial service HydraFacial.
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A version of this article originally appeared in the December 2019 issue of ELLE.
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